Privacy Policy

Last updated on December 28, 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”). This Privacy Policy is provided for website visitors and users of our products and services (“you”). As a financial services and technology company, TaxSlayer LLC (“TaxSlayer”, “we”, and “us”) provides these guidelines to explain what information we may gather about you 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 nonpublic 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 (or some of the data that TaxSlayer collects may be exempt) 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 strive to meet all 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 the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act ("GLBA").

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, such as 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.
  • 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, promotions, marketing events, trade shows, webinars, conferences, 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 technologies on our Site, or portions thereof, that collect 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. The information collected may include:

  • 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

For more information and to opt out of cookies, see our section on Your Rights and User Controls below.

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. Tax Return Information may also be considered “Nonpublic Customer Information” protected under the GLBA. 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 provide products and services you request, including to process payments, fulfill orders, import data for tax return preparation, verify your identity, process forms, and facilitate 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 Tax Return Information or other sensitive personal information with nonaffiliated third parties for their own use or commercial purposes. You can opt out of certain online technologies as described below.

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 with 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, to fulfill a service you request, to provide analytics about our product, to improve our product or services, or to provide other services related to the support, maintenance, and management of our tax return preparation products and services. Our service providers include companies that use web analytics software or tools, deliver downloadable products, process forms, verify your identity, assist with data import, 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.

HOW WE PROTECT YOUR INFORMATION

TaxSlayer understands the importance of protecting customer information and we have implemented reasonable administrative, technical, and physical security measures designed to protect personal information from unauthorized access, use, or disclosure. This includes a designated information security team, written information security policies and procedures, incident detection and response measures, network firewalls, encryption, password protections, and restrictions on which personnel can access any customer personal information. For example, TaxSlayer employees are only allowed to access customer information necessary to perform their job functions and only for the purposes for which it was collected.

With respect to your Tax Return Information, 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 Tax Return Information for at least three tax years to comply with our legal obligations, or as needed to provide you services. Other information may be retained for as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes outlined in this Privacy Policy, unless a longer retention period is required or permitted by law. 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.

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 cookies and other website technologies

A cookie is a small file sent to a browser by a website you visit to help that website remember information about your visit. Other technologies, including unique identifiers used to identify a browser, application or device, pixels, and local storage, can also be used for these purposes.

The following sets out the different categories of cookies and other technologies or tools that our website uses, why we use them, and how to opt out.

Please note that if you do not accept cookies or other technologies, some features or activities may not be available to you. Also, if you use a different browser, or use a new or different device, you may need to renew your cookie preferences.

  • Essential Cookies: Essential cookies are necessary to allow the technical operation of our Services. We use these cookies to authenticate you, run your session securely while you’re logged in, help detect and prevent fraud, and provide you with our Services.
  • Functional Cookies: Functional cookies are used to help remember your site preferences and choices so that we can deliver Services, monitor our Services, and offer you enhanced functionality when using our Services.
  • Analytics Cookies: Analytics cookies are used to help us understand how you access our Services so we can make improvements.

We do not share sensitive personal information (including financial information you provide to prepare your tax return) with any business except service providers that provide a service related to our tax preparation software business. These service providers are contractually obligated to use that information only for the purpose of providing services to TaxSlayer and to protect such information from disclosure to other parties. Under the GLBA, you may not opt out of sharing with our service providers.

We may share some information about your website experience that is not sensitive or financial in nature with third parties that operate cookies on our site. We work with the following vendors to provide services on or help us improve our site. Since business structures and relationships may change, the information below may not always be comprehensive or up to date. For a complete list of our vendors, please contact us at support@taxslayer.com.

Please refer to the vendor's privacy policy for information on managing cookies. You can also learn more about managing cookies in your browser below.

  • Cloudflare: To read Cloudflare’s privacy policy, click  here . To read Cloudflare’s cookie policy and to opt out, click  here.
  • Digicert: To read Digicert’s privacy policy, 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 .
  • JScrambler: To read JScrambler’s privacy policy, click here. 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.

If you delete your cookies, you may also delete your opt-out preferences.

You can also set your Internet browser (e.g., Chrome, Safari, Edge, Internet Explorer, etc.) to warn you each time a cookie is being sent or to turn off all cookies (except Flash cookies). Check your browser’s Help menu to find out how. You can also use third-party tools to identify and make additional choices about many technologies, including cookies.

The following websites provide more information about your choices to opt-out of tracking through certain third-party advertising and analytics Cookies:

  • Digital Advertising Alliance: DAA’s opt-out page provides information on companies that participate in its WebChoices tool and how to opt out using its browser tool.
  • Network Advertising Initiative: NAI’s opt-out page provides information on its member companies that deliver tailored online ads and your choices to opt-out of receiving them.

Opt out of 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:

TaxSlayer.com Privacy
945 Broad St
Augusta, GA 30901

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 Platform.

;