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Our Commitment to Privacy
This
tax service is provided to you through TAX HUT INCORPORATED
and CCH INCORPORATED (CCH), as a technology
and hosting partner. We are committed to keeping your
information private and recognize the importance all
customers place on the privacy and confidentiality
of their information. While new technologies allow
us to more efficiently serve our clients, we are committed
to maintaining the rigorous privacy standards that
are synonymous with the best practices in the industry.
In
keeping with our privacy policy, we provide this notice
explaining our online information practices and the
choices you can make about the way your information
is collected and used. To make this notice easy to
find, we make it available on our home page and at
every point where personally identifiable information
may be requested.
Covered Web Sites
The
privacy policy described herein is applicable to this
entire web site, including all areas where financial
information is gathered and income tax data is input,
printed and/or transmitted. It does not apply to any
other online services, or to any other web sites published
and/or maintained by CCH or its tax service partner.
Please
Note: Our service is applicable to filers of resident
U.S. Federal income tax returns only, and the statements
made in this privacy notice apply solely to residents
of the United States.
Our Commitment to Data Security
To
prevent unauthorized access, maintain data accuracy,
and ensure the correct use of information, we have
put in place appropriate physical, electronic, and
managerial procedures to safeguard and secure the
information we collect online.
Internal Controls
When
collecting, storing and retrieving your personal data,
extensive internal controls are maintained throughout
the process to ensure security and confidentiality.
Our
Internet-based systems are protected behind firewalls,
and all mission critical servers are deployed in a
cluster environment to provide an even greater level
of security and protection against system failure.
All data is maintained and backed-up on a regular
schedule to provide adequate redundancy and ensure
that the integrity of information is never jeopardized.
Our
employees are subject to strict guidelines regarding
confidentiality, and internal access to customer data
is restricted to highly trained personnel on an 'as-needed'
basis. Information you provide to us is used strictly
for lawful purposes and is never shared with Federal,
State or other taxing authorities without your consent,
except as required by law.
Transmitting Information
When
transmitting information between you and our server,
as well as when communicating with the Internal Revenue
Service (IRS) for electronic filing, data security
is handled through a protocol called Secured Sockets
Layer (SSL). SSL is an established and mature Internet
security standard with two dominant features: web
server authentication and data encryption.
Data
Encryption
Data
encryption is the process of transforming legible
information into a complex arrangement of illegible
information. SSL uses a private/public key combination
to encrypt data when it is sent and to decrypt data
when it is received. SSL encrypts data using a mathematical
formula, also referred to as a "key."
Encryption
strength is measured by the length of the key used
to encrypt the data; the longer the key, the more
effective the encryption. Using the SSL protocol,
data transmission between you and our web server is
performed at a standard level of encryption strength.
Web
Server Authentication
An
SSL certificate is issued to ensure authentic and
accurate identification of a secured web server. This
translates into a digital ID, an electronic fingerprint,
which is included in the key used to encrypt the data.
Only our web server, in this case, is able to decrypt
the data that you transmit because it is the intended
(and digitally certified) secured web server for this
data transmission.
The Information We Collect
This
notice applies to all information collected or submitted
on our web site. In addition to tax return information,
we collect the following credit card and personal
information:
Cardholder's
Name
Credit Card Type
Credit Card Number
Expiration Date
Cardholder's Billing Address
Daytime Phone Number
E-mail Address
Employer's or Relative's Phone Number
The Way We Use Information
As
previously stated, the tax return information that
we collect is used strictly for lawful purposes and
is never shared with Federal, State or other taxing
authorities without your consent, except as required
by law. If you choose to electronically file your
return, we will transmit your tax return to the appropriate
Federal and State taxing authorities.
The
IRS requires us to provide the Internet Protocol (IP)
address of the computer from which the return originated,
as well as the e-mail address of the person who electronically
filed the return.
The
above listed credit card information that we collect
will be used strictly for order processing and billing
purposes, and will not be shared with any other party.
When appropriate, bank account or credit card information
is also passed to our bank, for processing purposes,
if you choose to use our Advance Refund Deposit (ARD)
or Credit Card Payment of Balance Due options. You
will enter this information during the routine course
of a purchase. In the event that our Internet Service
staff should need to research and resolve any status
or billing issues associated with an order, the information
will only be accessed by authorized personnel.
Our
Basic Service entitles you to notification via e-mail
of filing deadlines, estimate reminders, tax law changes,
as well as tax planning and financial information
that may affect your tax return. In order for us to
provide you with the Basic Service, it is required
that you provide us with your e-mail address and consent
to our limited review of your tax return information
with our proprietary software program to determine
whether your tax return information would trigger
such notifications.
In
addition to our Basic Service, we may send to you,
via your e-mail address, information and promotional
messages about other products and services that we
think may be of interest to you.
We
do not sell any nonpublic personal information to
third parties.
Consent to Use Information
Your
use of this service means that you consent to our
limited access and review of your tax return information
necessary to provide you with the Basic Service described
above.
If
you wish to opt-out of receiving such information
and promotional messages, you may check the box relating
to promotional messages located in the User Agreement.
The User Agreement is displayed when you start a new
return. You can update this option at any time from
the User Agreement link, which can be accessed on
each page where income tax data is entered. Declining
to receive e-mail promotional messages will not affect
our ability to deliver our Basic Service to you.
Third Party Services
For
the purpose of providing you with additional information
or services, this web site may also provide links
or references to our primary third party providers
web sites or to other third party web sites of online
information providers, advertisers, and other business
partners. When offering partner services the partner
who will be receiving your information will be clearly
identified.
Through
our partnership with Refunds Now, you may apply
for a "refund anticipation loan" (Quick
Refund). When you apply for a refund anticipation
loan, you authorize us to disclose your relevant personal
and tax return information to Refunds Now.
Through
our partnership with Official Payments Corporation,
you may request to pay your balance due via credit
card. When you make this request, you authorize us
to disclose your relevant credit card and tax return
information to Official Payments Corporation.
Information
entered into the Tax Calculators (through Time Value
Software) is used solely to provide you with estimates
of various tax situations. The information used in
these calculations is not saved.
Retrieving Your Information
Our
Internet tax service is available from approximately
mid-January through mid-October of each tax year.
You may use your User ID and Password to access and
modify your return information as often as needed
during that time period. To view your return information,
you may access a free summary report and/or pay a
fee to print, view, and electronically file your actual
return. Once you have paid, you may access your tax
return as often as you like.
After
paying for your return, the financial information
used to make your payment (e.g. credit card number),
as well as the record of your payment, will not be
retrievable by you.
How To Contact Us
Should
you have other questions or concerns about this privacy
policy, please submit your questions using our Contact
Us link, or send and e-mail to: info@taxhut.com
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