Privacy Policy

Last updated on January 4, 2023

YOUR PRIVACY IS A PRIORITY TO US

At TaxSlayer, we are committed to safeguarding customer information collected through the IRS Free File Program delivered by TaxSlayer website (freefile.taxslayer.com)(“Platform”). As a financial services and technology company, TaxSlayer LLC (“TaxSlayer”, “we”, and “us”) provides these guidelines to explain what information we may gather and how we may share it. This Privacy Policy explains TaxSlayer’s collection, use, retention, and security of information about you. It also describes your choices regarding use, access, and correction of your personal information.

Since your privacy is a priority to us, TaxSlayer will not share non-public information about you with third parties outside of the TaxSlayer corporate family without your consent, except as explained in our Privacy Policy.

SCOPE OF THIS PRIVACY POLICY

As a U.S. based company offering products related to the preparation of U.S. federal and state tax returns, TaxSlayer does not market to nor target subjects of other countries including those in the European Economic Area. In addition, as a provider of tax preparation software, TaxSlayer may be considered an exempt financial institution under certain U.S. state privacy laws. While the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and various data privacy laws do not apply to TaxSlayer, we meet the rules and regulations relating to data protection and security promulgated by the Internal Revenue Service and its Security Summit ( https://www.irs.gov/privacy-disclosure/security-summit  for more information) and comply with the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act.

As a service to our customers, our Platform may contain links to various tax agencies/services such as IRS.gov. The links provided are maintained by these separate entities and are not the property of, or affiliated with, TaxSlayer in any way. If you submit personal information to any of those sites, your information is governed by their privacy policies. We encourage you to carefully read the privacy policy of any website you visit.

INFORMATION WE COLLECT

We collect information from you directly, the devices that you use to interact with us, and third-party analytics providers.

Information You Give to Us

You may provide the following information to us directly when you enter and use our Platform, contact us for support, or purchase products and services:

• Contact information, including name, email address, and phone number.
• Account information, such as username and password.
• Payment information, including credit card information (collected by us or our third-party payment processor) is used only to complete your transaction.
• Information contained in communications to us, including your requests for support or assistance and information necessary to contact you or otherwise fulfill your request. We may ask you to share your screen or chat with us via video conferencing, and we will always ask your permission before recording any of these sessions.
• Information you provide to us to prepare or file a tax return using our Platform, which information may include your Social Security Number, date of birth, income, employment status, marital status, claimed deductions, credits, and other information necessary to accurately complete your tax return (collectively, “Tax Return Information”).
• Banking information, such as account and routing numbers, which we use to facilitate refunds.
• Demographic information.
• Information that you make available to us via a social media platform, including content that you post on our social media pages and community pages.
• Information you submit to inquire about or apply for a job with us.
• Information you provide when you provide customer testimonials or feedback; post comments on our blog or community forums; or participate in our surveys, training, or product research.
• Any other information you submit to us.

Information We Collect Automatically

We and partners working on our behalf may use cookies, web beacons, pixels, tags, or other digital tracking technologies to collect the following information from the device you use to interact with our Platform and services. We also create records when you make purchases or otherwise interact with the Platform or services.

• Internet service provider
• Device identification number, including mobile device ID and IP address
• Operating system and browser type
• Analytical information about how you interact with our Platform and services, including how often you use the Platform; access dates and times; your activities on our Platform, including page views, mouse clicks, movements, and scrolling activity, events that occur on the Platform; performance information; and referring and exit pages

• Cloudflare: To read Cloudflare’s privacy policy, click  here . To read Cloudflare’s cookie policy and to opt out, click  here .
• Decibel: To read Decibel’s privacy policy, click  here . To opt out, click  here .
• Google (Google Analytics): To read Google’s privacy policy, click  here . To opt out of Google Analytics, click  here .
• Heap: To read Heap’s privacy policy and to opt out, click  here .
• Medallia: To read Medallia's privacy policy and to opt out, click  here .
• Optimizely: To read Optimizely’s privacy policy, click  here . To read Optimizely’s cookie policy and to opt out, click  here .
• Tag Inspector: To read Tag Inspector's privacy policy and to opt out, click  here .

For more information about cookies and a list of our partners that collect the information described above, please contact us at support@taxslayer.com .

You may be able to limit access of some of these technologies at the individual browser or device level; however, this limitation may disable or limit some of the features offered. For example, our mobile application may send you push notifications from time to time in order to update you about any events or promotions that we may be running. If you no longer wish to receive these types of communications, you may turn them off at the device level. To ensure you receive proper notifications, we will need to collect certain information about your device such as operating system and user identification information.

Children’s information

Our products and services are not intended for or directed to children under the age of 13, nor do we knowingly collect personal information from anyone under the age of 13.

HOW WE USE YOUR INFORMATION

We may use the information we collect for the following purposes:

• Tax preparation and related services:Section 301-7216 of the Internal Revenue Code (“Section 7216”) specifically governs the use and disclosure of “Tax Return Information” as that term is used in Section 7216. Some states may also have additional laws and regulations related to use and disclosure of the same information. We use your Tax Return Information only in accordance with those applicable laws and regulations to prepare and assist in preparing your tax return, to provide services associated with preparing your tax return, and to provide you with other products and services you specifically request or consent to, unless otherwise allowed under applicable law.
• Service functionality:To complete purchases of products and services you request, including to process payments, fulfill orders, and service communications, as well as to conduct general business operations, such as accounting, recordkeeping, and audits.
• Service improvement:As permitted by law, to improve our services and analyze our customer base.
• Customer support:As permitted by law, to address questions submitted to our customer or technical support systems and to send updates or security alerts.
• Personalization:To personalize your online experience, such as by recording your preferences and settings.
• Security and fraud prevention:To monitor and investigate fraud, identity theft, and other illegal activity; to protect your rights and safety or the rights and safety of others; and to protect and secure our services, Platform, assets, network, and business operations.
• Legal compliance:To comply with legal process, such as subpoenas, court orders, warrants, and other lawful regulatory or law enforcement requests and to comply with legal requirements.

Unless allowed by applicable law (including Section 7216) and we have your consent, we do not:

• Sell or rent your personal information for money;
• Use Tax Return Information to market products or services unrelated to tax preparation; or
• Share your personal information with third parties for use in their own commercial purposes.

DISCLOSURE OF INFORMATION

The privacy and security of your information is important to us. As indicated below, we may share your information to support the products and services you request, or provide your information to third parties, upon your specific consent, for products and services that may benefit you.

We may share your information with the following types of entities:

• IRS and State Revenue Authorities:We disclose Tax Return Information only in accordance with your requests, such as when filing a tax return with the IRS or state revenue authority, or as allowed by applicable law (including certain permitted disclosures to other tax preparers or providers of auxiliary services).
• Public Authorities:TaxSlayer may be required to preserve and disclose personal information including Tax Return Information, and any part thereof, without your consent as provided by law, such as, to respond to lawful requests by authorities, including to meet national security or law enforcement requirements, a subpoena or court order, judicial process or bankruptcy proceedings, or regulatory authorities to protect against fraud and in compliance with the IRS Security Summit. We may also disclose your personal information when we believe disclosure is necessary to protect your rights and safety, or the rights and safety of others. We may disclose your information to federal, state, or local officials to assist in the investigation or prosecution of a crime. As permitted by law, we may disclose your information to the IRS and Information Sharing and Analysis Centers (ISACs) to prevent stolen identity refund fraud (SIRF) and as related to potential cyber security threats.
• Acquiring Businesses:Your information may be disclosed in connection with an actual sale, merger, acquisition, dissolution or transfer of all or a portion of our business or relevant operating unit. We reserve the right to transfer your information as part of the transaction. In such an event, you will be notified via email and/or a prominent notice on our website of any change in ownership, incompatible new uses of your personal information, and choices you may have regarding your personal information.
• Affiliates:We may share information about you and the products and services you have purchased from us to members of the TaxSlayer corporate family and our parent company of Rhodes Financial Services, LLC, all of whom follow our Privacy Policy.
• Service Providers:In some cases, your information may be disclosed to our service providers to complete a product purchase or to fulfill a service you request. Our service providers include companies that use Web analytics software or tools, deliver downloadable products, offer online software applications, or send emails on our behalf. Not all service providers may be applicable to you. Some service providers are only relevant if you use certain tax forms or otherwise prepare a tax return using our software. While these relationships may require us to share information, our service providers are prohibited from using your information other than to act on our behalf. For a complete list of our service providers, please contact us at support@taxslayer.com .

HOW WE PROTECT YOUR INFORMATION

TaxSlayer understands the importance of protecting customer information and we have a team dedicated to keeping your information secure. TaxSlayer meets all rules and regulations relating to data protection and security for the tax industry promulgated by the Internal Revenue Service and its Security Summit ( https://www.irs.gov/privacy-disclosure/security-summit for more information).

TaxSlayer’s web-based and mobile applications secure information by utilizing a variety of security-related technologies to comply with regulatory standards and our internal information security policies.

DATA RETENTION

We retain your information for up to three tax years to comply with our legal obligations, or as needed to provide you services. If you wish to cancel your account or request that we no longer use your information to provide you services, contact us at support@taxslayer.com .

YOUR RIGHTS AND USER CONTROLS

You have control over your personal data and how it’s collected, used, and shared. You have the right to access any information held by TaxSlayer that you either input directly or information collected as described above, subject to our data retention policy above.

Request a copy of your information

Upon request, TaxSlayer will provide you with certain personal information you specifically request by contacting customer support at support@taxslayer.com or via a request sent to our address provided below. Your information will be provided in a machine-readable format. Any tax returns will be available in a non-fileable format.

Change or correct personal information

You may view, manage, and/or make changes to your personal information by visiting your account online at freefile.taxslayer.com and selecting “Edit Account Information” in the My Account dashboard; by emailing our customer support; or via mail as set forth in the Contact Us section below.

Opt out of technologies

You may choose to opt out of certain technologies used on TaxSlayer’s website. However, the choice to opt out of certain technologies may affect, alter, or eliminate the functionality of certain features of or the products and services offered by TaxSlayer.

• Cloudflare: To read Cloudflare’s privacy policy, click  here . To read Cloudflare’s cookie policy and to opt out, click  here .
• Decibel: To read Decibel’s privacy policy, click  here . To opt out, click  here .
• Google (Google Analytics): To read Google’s privacy policy, click  here . To opt out of Google Analytics, click  here .
• Heap: To read Heap’s privacy policy and to opt out, click  here .
• Medallia: To read Medallia's privacy policy and to opt out, click  here .
• Optimizely: To read Optimizely’s privacy policy, click  here . To read Optimizely’s cookie policy and to opt out, click  here .
• Tag Inspector: To read Tag Inspector's privacy policy and to opt out, click  here .

Opt out of email communications

We may communicate with you via email for transactional purposes. If you visit our commercial site (taxslayer.com), you may receive marketing email communications. To unsubscribe from receiving general marketing messages from us, please go to our unsubscribe page .

CONTACT US

If you have questions or concerns regarding this Privacy Policy, you may contact customer support at support@taxslayer.com .

You can also write us at:

Any claim, controversy, or dispute arising out of or in connection with this Privacy Policy shall be subject to the informal resolution and arbitration provisions in our Terms of Service . If you have an unresolved privacy or data use concern that you feel has not been addressed satisfactorily, you may also contact our U.S.-based third party dispute resolution provider (free of charge) at https://feedback-form.truste.com/watchdog/request .

YOUR CALIFORNIA PRIVACY RIGHTS

California law provides California residents with additional rights regarding our collection and use of your personal information. To learn more about your California privacy rights, visit the Privacy Notice for California Residents ;.

PRIVACY POLICY CHANGES

We reserve the right to change this Privacy Policy at any time.

Any material changes to our policy will be immediately posted and made available to consumers on our website. Notification of changes may be made by email or by means of a notice on the Site.