Privacy Policy of Aegis Tax Partners
At Aegis Tax Partners, we are committed to protecting the privacy and security of your personal information. This Privacy Policy describes how we collect, use, and disclose information when you interact with our services, including our online platform, and explains your choices and rights regarding that information. We provide comprehensive tax and financial consulting services for individuals and small businesses, and this policy applies to all our services, including tax preparation (personal and business), tax planning, IRS representation, payroll services, accounting software consultation, financial statement preparation, and audit support.
Information We Collect
We collect various types of information to provide and improve our services, including:
- Information You Provide Directly: This includes personal and financial data necessary for tax preparation, payroll, and consulting services. Examples include your name, address, social security number, occupation, income details, financial account numbers, employer information, and any other data you choose to provide in relation to our services.
- Information Collected Automatically: When you access our online platform, we may automatically collect certain information such as your IP address, browser type, operating system, referring URLs, access times, and activities on our site. This helps us understand how our platform is used and to improve its functionality.
- Information from Other Sources: We may receive information from third parties with your consent or as permitted by law, such as from financial institutions, employers, or government agencies, to assist in providing our services.
How We Use Your Information
We use your information for the following purposes:
- To provide our tax and financial consulting services, including processing tax returns, managing payroll, providing advisory services, and representing you before tax authorities.
- To communicate with you regarding your services, appointments, updates, and important notices.
- To improve and personalize your experience on our online platform.
- To comply with legal obligations and regulatory requirements, including those related to anti-money laundering and tax compliance.
- For internal record-keeping, auditing, and analytics purposes.
- To protect the security and integrity of our services and to prevent fraud.
Disclosure of Your Information
We do not sell or rent your personal information to third parties. We may disclose your information in the following limited circumstances:
- With Your Consent: We will share your information with third parties only when we have your explicit consent to do so, such as when sharing necessary data with the IRS or state tax authorities for tax filing purposes, or with financial institutions for specific transactions.
- Service Providers: We may share information with trusted third-party service providers who assist us in operating our business and providing our services (e.g., IT support, cloud hosting, payment processing). These providers are contractually obligated to protect your information and use it only for the purposes for which we disclose it to them.
- Legal Requirements: We may disclose your information if required to do so by law or in response to valid requests by public authorities (e.g., a court order or government agency request).
- Business Transfers: In the event of a merger, acquisition, or sale of all or a portion of our assets, your information may be transferred as part of the transaction. We will notify you via a prominent notice on our online platform or other appropriate means of any such change in ownership or control of your personal information.
Data Security
We implement a variety of security measures to maintain the safety of your personal information. We use industry-standard encryption, secure servers, and access controls to protect against unauthorized access, alteration, disclosure, or destruction of your personal data. We regularly review our security practices to ensure they remain robust and effective. However, no method of transmission over the Internet or method of electronic storage is 100% secure.
Data Retention
We retain your personal information only for as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes for which it was collected, including for the purposes of satisfying any legal, accounting, or reporting requirements. This typically includes retaining tax records for the periods required by tax law (e.g., 7 years for IRS purposes). When we no longer need your information, we will securely dispose of it according to our data retention policies and applicable laws.
Your Rights
Depending on your jurisdiction, you may have the following rights regarding your personal information:
- Right to Access: You have the right to request access to the personal information we hold about you.
- Right to Rectification: You have the right to request correction of inaccurate or incomplete personal information we hold about you.
- Right to Erasure ( "Right to be Forgotten"): In certain circumstances, you have the right to request the deletion of your personal information.
- Right to Object: You have the right to object to our processing of your personal information in certain situations.
- Right to Restriction of Processing: You have the right to request that we restrict the processing of your personal information in certain circumstances.
- Right to Data Portability: You have the right to receive your personal information in a structured, commonly used, and machine-readable format and to transmit that data to another controller.
- Right to Withdraw Consent: Where we rely on your consent to process your personal information, you have the right to withdraw that consent at any time.
To exercise any of these rights, please contact us using the contact details provided below. We may need to verify your identity before fulfilling your request.
Changes to This Privacy Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices or for other operational, legal, or regulatory reasons. We will post any changes on this page and, if the changes are significant, we will provide a more prominent notice (including, for certain services, email notification of Privacy Policy changes). Your continued use of our services after any changes signifies your acceptance of our updated Privacy Policy.
Contact Us
If you have any questions or concerns about this Privacy Policy or our data practices, please contact us:
Aegis Tax Partners
2847 W. Madison Street, Suite 210
Chicago, Illinois, 60612
USA