Privacy Policy

FileMax Tax ("we", "us") runs an online service that matches people who need their taxes done with independent, licensed tax preparers. We do not prepare tax returns ourselves. This policy explains what we collect, who we share it with and what you can ask us to do with it.

What we collect

• Contact details: name, email, phone number (optional), state.
• Information about your tax situation that you give us: filing status, income types, dependents, and answers to our questions.
• Documents you upload (for example W-2, 1099, photo ID, last year's return) and the fields read from them, which you review and confirm.
• Your consent choices, with the exact wording, date, time, IP address and page where you gave them.
• Limited technical data needed to run the site securely (IP address, browser type, security logs).
• Basic visit statistics: pages viewed, the site or campaign that sent you, device type, operating system, browser, approximate location (country, region, city), and your IP address and network provider so we can tell real visitors from automated traffic. IP addresses in visit statistics are deleted after 90 days; we count visitors with a one-way code that changes every day, and a session cookie that expires after 30 minutes. We don't use advertising cookies.

The full Social Security numbers (or ITINs) you type in for yourself, your spouse and your dependents, and your bank account number, are kept encrypted in a separate vault. They are shown only to the licensed preparer handling your return, and every time someone views them it is logged. When we read your documents, we keep only the last 4 digits of any Social Security number printed on them.

Who we share it with

Licensed tax preparation partners. The purpose of the service is to connect you with a preparer. When you sign up and agree to it, we share your contact details, your answers, and the documents you upload with licensed tax preparation partners (CPAs, Enrolled Agents or PTIN holders) who can take on your return. These partners pay us for the introduction. Each partner is an independent business responsible for its own handling of your information.

Your documents and the data read from them go only to the preparer you are matched with, not to every partner. Partners who receive only an introduction get your contact details and a short summary of your situation.

Service providers that host and operate the site for us, under confidentiality obligations. Authorities, when the law requires it.

We do not sell your information to anyone other than licensed tax preparation partners, and never for unrelated marketing.

Calls and texts

We, or the preparer you are matched with, only call or text you, including with automated technology, if you checked the box agreeing to it. Consent is not required to use the service. Reply STOP to any text to opt out at any time; we honor it immediately.

How we protect it

Documents are stored privately (never on a public web address), are available only to signed-in users with permission, and every access is logged. Connections to the site are encrypted.

Data retention

• Uploaded documents are deleted 3 years after your last activity, or sooner if you ask us to delete them.
• Contact and qualification details are kept for up to 3 years after your last activity.
• The raw text read from a document is deleted right after the fields are extracted; only the fields you confirm are kept.
• Consent records are kept as long as needed to prove consent, including after you opt out.

Information already shared with a preparer is also kept by that preparer under their own obligations; IRS rules require preparers to keep certain records.

Your choices

You can ask for a copy of your data, a correction, or its deletion, and you can withdraw your consent to sharing at any time for the future. Email [email protected]; we answer within 30 days.

Contact

Privacy questions: [email protected].