Privacy Policy

Our commitment to protecting personal information is one of our guiding principles established by our founders when we started offering tax products online in 1996.

MyFreeTaxReturn.com does not sell, share, disclose, or rent any information provided to us in relation to the preparation of a tax filing to anyone for any reason except as described in this Privacy Policy. This Privacy Policy incorporates by reference and includes our website Terms of Use. The Terms of Use can be found by clicking here: Terms of Use

As a leader in the industry we develop and implement proactive policies to protect and safeguard your information. We do not share your Personal Information with third parties for their marketing purposes without your consent.

This Privacy Policy applies to our online tax software products, MyFreeTaxReturn.com, and all related products and services, including our mobile applications and white-label products and services we offer to other companies. This Privacy Policy does not apply to: data that is not collected online; information submitted publicly; or other websites and social media sites, including those you may access through our website. Please review the privacy policies of any other websites and social media sites you use prior to submitting your personal information there.

What information do we collect?

We collect information from you when you create an account, begin a tax return or other filing (Return) on our site, place an order, subscribe to our newsletter, or fill out a form (our Services). In many cases, agencies to whom we submit your data, such as the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), require that we collect your Internet Protocol (IP) address and related information.

While using our Services to construct your Return, we are required to collect personally identifiable information about you and your devices in order to comply with laws and regulations. Some examples of the information we collect are:

To aid in customer service, we record transaction information while you are accessing our Services. In some cases, we also record how you arrived at our websites.

How do we get this information?

We ask you to provide this information during our interaction. In some cases, you may authorize third parties including other companies or the government to send information to us. As permitted by law, the government may also share information with us.

As required by the IRS of all tax software companies, we employ technology to obtain Device Information from your browser or system used to access our Services.

Our web server and related software routinely collect anonymous usage data. This information is used to ensure that we provide you the highest levels of security, reliability, and availability. This demographic data is not directly associated or identified with you personally.

What do we use your information for?

We use the information to enable your access to our Services. Your information is used in the following ways: when you instruct us to construct and file Returns with the government; to fulfill your instructions to share information with third parties; to collect our fees; to develop statistical profiles; and to mitigate abusive use of the system. We will also comply as required by law with any demand, summons, order or subpoena of any court, grand jury, administrative or regulatory agency, body or commission, law enforcement agency or otherwise, and will comply with any written requests for, your information that are in compliance with applicable laws, rules, and regulations.

We also use your information to personalize your experience, improve our website, improve customer service, process your transactions, and to send periodic emails.

We are required to send certain emails to you about the filing of your Return and the availability of our Services. You may not opt-out of emails that are required by regulation or government rules.

If you decide to opt-in to our mailing list, you will receive emails that may include company news, updates, related Service information, etc. If at any time you would like to unsubscribe from receiving future emails, we include detailed instructions at the bottom of each email how to unsubscribe.

Do we disclose any information to outside parties?

We do not sell, trade, or transfer to outside parties your personally identifiable information other than as indicated in this privacy policy.

We disclose information with your consent and at your direction. We disclose your information to the IRS and other Government agencies when you give us the instruction to file your Return.

We also have relationships with other companies that provide products and services that we may offer. These companies have separate and independent privacy policies, and we encourage you to review them before sharing your information with them. In these cases there are strict government regulations, including IRC 301-7216, that govern disclosure of your information. If you give us consent, we may share information with these other companies. We do not share information with these companies otherwise.

We employ service providers who assist us in in operating our website, conducting our business, or servicing you. For example, when you submit payment with a credit card, your payment information may be shared with First Data, card associations, card processors, and your financial institution. As another example, we also use Google to process anonymous data about how our users use our website before they log in. To learn more about how Google uses the user data see www.google.com/policies/privacy/partners/.

We may disclose the information we obtained from you to the Government(s) as required. This includes disclosure of information before your Return is submitted, at the time your Return is submitted, or after your Return is submitted. As required by regulation we may disclose your information to the IRS and Information Sharing and Analysis Centers (ISACs) for the prevention of stolen identity refund fraud and as related to potential cyber security threats.

We may also disclose information when we have a good faith belief that the information is required or permitted by law pursuant to a legal request. Most often this is in relationship to an order of a court, legal process, or other judicial, administrative or investigative proceeding that produces a request for information from us. This includes a requirement to disclose personal data in response to lawful requests by public authorities, including meeting national security or law enforcement requirements.

Your information may be disclosed in connection with a proposed or actual sale, merger, or transfer of all or a portion of our business.

We may disclose your information when we believe it is appropriate to enforce or apply our products’ Terms of Service and other agreements; or protect our rights, property, or our safety, our users, or others. We may disclose information to other companies or proper federal, state, or local officials in order to inform the officials of activities that may constitute or may have constituted a violation of any criminal law, or to assist the officials in investigating or prosecuting a violation of criminal law. This disclosure is not for commercial purposes.

In the case of dishonored checks and unauthorized or disputed use of credit cards, certain information may be shared with all pertinent parties, including but not limited to the collection organizations, law enforcement agencies, the courts, and government agencies, including those which received the tax filings.

How do we protect your information?

Your information is protected by administrative, physical, and technical safeguards.. Physical safeguards include but are not limited to high security access control to our server infrastructure. Electronic safeguards utilize the technology available to prevent unauthorized users from accessing the data. Administrative safeguards include the NIST Cybersecurity Framework.

Our personnel that are in contact with data are very familiar with our written privacy policy and have been trained and understand the privacy issues relevant to the data and the requirements of safeguarding the data. Personnel’s access to data is also electronically limited and monitored, based on the authority and task level required for the performance of each person’s duties.

While communicating with you, either receiving personal data from you or transmitting personal data to you, or while we are communicating with the Government service centers OnLine, we will require encryption of the data sent.

You should be aware through your browser that an Extended Validation (EV) Digital Certificate will be used to authenticate us to you during our communications with you.

Your and our data is encrypted at rest in our systems and databases and access is only permitted to those authorized with special access rights to our systems, and these authorized persons are required to keep the information confidential.

How long do we keep your information?

We will keep your information in order to comply with government retention requirements and our policies, to serve you, to comply with our legal and reporting obligations, to resolve disputes, to enforce our agreements, to complete any outstanding transactions, and for the detection and prevention of fraud. If you terminate your account, close your account, or stop using our service this Privacy Policy still applies and we may continue to communicate with you about our services and provide you updates that may affect you, unless you opt out.

How do you update or delete your information?

If you have an account with us, and wish to change your Personal Information provided, you can access your account and view or make changes.

All users of our site may make any changes to their information at any time subject to Federal and State laws, regulations, and requirements regarding the retention of taxpayer data.

EU individuals and Swiss individuals have certain rights to access Personal Information about themselves, and to limit use and disclosure of their Personal Information. For instance, if the information you provide contains special categories of personal data, we will only process it with your explicit consent, which can be withdrawn at any time. We are committed to respect those rights. If you wish to request access, to limit use, or to limit disclosure, or to request erasure of your data please contact us at taxman@FileYourTaxes.com or the mailing address provided below and please provide the name of the customer who submitted your Personal Information to us. We will refer your requests to that customer, and will support them as needed in responding to your request.

We will not charge or discriminate against you in connection with any such request.

We may require additional information to verify your identity. We might not delete your personal information, if it is necessary to complete the transaction for which the information was collected, or to protect the security of our website and the information we collect, or to comply with a legal obligation, or if your information will be used solely for internal purposes connected with your relationship with us.

Do we use cookies?

We do not use cookies. We use third party services like Google Analytics that may use cookies to collect information about the usage of our website. These cookies are not required for site functionality. You are not required to accept any cookies to use the site.

How do we respond to “do not track” browser settings?

We do not respond to web browser “do not track” signals; we treat all user data the same. As described in this Privacy Policy, we give you choices about sharing your information. You can exercise your choices as described in this Privacy Policy.

Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act

With reference to COPPA (Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act), we do not knowingly collect any information from anyone under 13 years of age. Our website, products, and services are all marketed and directed to people who are at least 13 years old or older.

Credit card security compliance

McAfee, Inc. issues reports of compliance to MyFreeTaxReturn.com as required by the payment (credit) card industry, in presumed compliance with the CHILDREN’S ONLINE PRIVACY PROTECTION ACT OF 1998, the HEALTH INSURANCE PORTABILITY AND ACCOUNTABILITY ACT OF 1996 (HIPAA), the GRAMM-LEACH-BAILEY ACT (GLBA) protecting financial information, and the SARBANES-OXLEY ACT (SOX).

Payment Card Industry (PCI) Data Security Standard, or PCI compliance — Signifies device, as of the date of this report, is compliant with the remote vulnerability audit requirements of the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI-DSS), Visa USA’s Cardholder Information Security Program (CISP), Visa International’s Account Information Security (AIS) program, MasterCard Internationals Site Data Protection (SDP) program, the American Express Data Security Standards (DSS), and Discover Card’s DISC program.

California and US Law Apply To Any Disputes

This website is controlled and operated in the United States and in the State of California, and is not intended to subject us to the laws or jurisdiction of any state, country or territory other than the United States. We do not represent or warrant that the website or any part thereof is appropriate or available for use in any particular jurisdiction other than California. In choosing to access our website, you do so on your own initiative and at your own risk, and you are responsible for complying with all local laws, rules and regulations.

Your consent

By using our site, you consent to our Privacy Policy. You should not submit any personal information unless you consent to the use of your information as stated in this Privacy Policy or disclosed elsewhere on the site.

Changes to our Privacy Policy

If we choose to change our Privacy Policy, we will post those changes on this page, and update the Privacy Policy modification date below. Please check this page regularly for updates. Policy changes will apply only to information collected after the date of the change.

This policy was last modified on 11/5/2020.

Contacting Us

If there are any questions regarding this privacy policy you may contact us using the information below.

Via email
taxman@FileYourTaxes.com

Via the US Mail
PO Box 7657
Oxnard, CA 93031
United States

Via Telephone
805.256.1788

Further Information

MyFreeTaxReturn.com participates in the Trust-Guard.com privacy verification program, and complies with all Trust-Guard privacy verification standards. Further information about this program and its dispute resolution process is available at www.Trust-Guard.com

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