Get IRS Pub 4557 compliant in 30 minutes. Free.
IRS Publication 4557, Safeguarding Taxpayer Data, expects every tax preparer to keep a Written Information Security Plan (WISP). Download the free WISP template 4,000+ tax professionals use: a complete example plan you adapt to your practice.
How this WISP template works
A complete example plan arrives instantly as an editable Word document and PDF, structured section by section.
The IRS only publishes an example; a compliant WISP has to reflect your real practice. Every section arrives pre-written, so your work is naming your people, your systems, and the safeguards you actually use.
Keep it with your records and check the box with confidence at PTIN renewal. Review and update it once a year.
What’s inside your WISP template
IRS Publication 4557 spells out what a compliant Written Information Security Plan must address. The template drafts every required section for you, written by cybersecurity professionals, with clear marks where your firm’s real details go.
What IRS Publication 4557 actually requires
Publication 4557 is the IRS’s Safeguarding Taxpayer Data guide. It walks tax professionals through the safeguards the law expects: naming someone responsible for data security, assessing your risks, protecting client records, training staff, and planning for incidents. The document that proves you have done this is your Written Information Security Plan.
The IRS only publishes an example plan; it is on each firm to produce a WISP that reflects its own people, systems, and safeguards. PTIN renewal now asks you to confirm you have one, and Pub 4557 overlaps almost entirely with the FTC Safeguards Rule, so one properly adapted plan covers both.
Why tax preparers trust this WISP template
I spent two weeks trying to write a WISP from scratch before finding Bellator’s template. It covered everything I missed and I had it customized for my practice in under two hours. This should be required reading for every tax preparer.
I downloaded the free WISP template and had it customized for my practice in under an hour. When I was ready for full protection, Bellator handled everything — EDR, monitoring, the works.
Common questions about IRS Pub 4557
It is the IRS’s Safeguarding Taxpayer Data guide, the checklist the IRS points tax professionals to for protecting client data. It expects every preparer to maintain a Written Information Security Plan documenting how those safeguards work in your firm.
No. Pub 4557 is the IRS guide describing what to do; the WISP is your firm’s own written plan showing you do it. This template turns the Pub 4557 requirements into a complete example plan you adapt to your practice.
Yes. The requirement applies to every professional preparer, including solo practitioners. Firm size changes how long the plan is, not whether you need one.
Non-compliance can mean FTC penalties, problems at PTIN renewal, and serious exposure if client data is breached. A missing WISP is also the first thing that looks bad in any IRS or FTC inquiry after an incident.
They overlap heavily: the FTC Safeguards Rule is the law treating tax preparers as financial institutions, and Pub 4557 is the IRS’s guide to meeting it for taxpayer data. One properly adapted WISP satisfies both.
The template is genuinely free and complete. Bellator is a cybersecurity firm for tax professionals. Some preparers who start with the template later ask us to review their plan or manage their security, and that is the whole business model.
Don’t wait for the audit letter.
Download the free Pub 4557-aligned WISP template now and be audit-ready before your next client walks in.
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