Privacy Policy

1. Introduction

TaxMath ("we," "our," or "us") operates the TaxMath website and tax comparison tools. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, and protect information when you use our site.

2. Information We Collect

Information you enter: The tax figures you enter (income, capital gains, selected states or provinces, etc.) are processed in your browser. We do not send this data to our servers unless you explicitly use a feature that does so (e.g., a future optional cloud save). Saved scenarios are stored locally in your browser (localStorage) by default.

Saved Form 1040 returns: When you use the Form 1040 calculator, your return is saved to your browser’s local storage on the device you are using, under keys beginning taxmath.return.. TaxMath has no account system and no server that stores returns — nothing you type on that page is transmitted anywhere (see “Analytics and cookies” below for what the analytics tag does and does not see), and the code that handles saving is barred from making network requests at all. A saved return therefore exists only in that browser on that device: clearing your browser data, or opening TaxMath elsewhere, means it will not be there.

What a saved return leaves out: By default, names, Social Security numbers (including dependants’), your street address and your bank routing and account numbers are not written to storage, because no figure on the return is computed from them. Every amount is saved, so a resumed return computes identically; you re-enter the identifying details only when filling the official PDF. You can opt in to remembering them from the “Saved returns & privacy” panel on the calculator. Turning that option back off blanks those fields straight away in every return saved on that device — not only the one you happen to have open — and stops them being written again. In the rare case where a saved return cannot be rewritten, most likely because the device is out of storage space, the panel says which one and it stays until you delete it. What is on screen is left alone, so you can finish what you were doing.

Exported files: A return you export is a plain JSON file saved wherever your browser puts downloads. It contains whatever the saved return contained — including names, Social Security numbers and account numbers if you opted in to keeping them. Treat an exported return as you would a paper copy.

Deleting saved returns: The same panel lists everything saved on your device, deletes any single return, and can delete all of them at once. That removes them from this browser only; it does not affect files you have exported.

Analytics and cookies: TaxMath uses Google Analytics, a web analytics service provided by Google, on every page to understand how the site is used in aggregate: which pages are visited, how visitors arrive, and roughly where they are. Google Analytics sets first-party cookies (named _ga and _ga_<id>) that hold a random identifier, so repeat visits can be counted without telling us who you are. It collects information such as the pages you view, the referring site, your browser, device type and screen size, and approximate location. Google states that Google Analytics 4 does not log or store IP addresses; it uses the address to derive a coarse location (city, region, country) and then discards it. We see only aggregated reports, not individual visitors, and we do not send Google your name, email address or any other information that identifies you.

What Google Analytics does not receive: the figures, names, Social Security numbers, addresses and bank details you type into a calculator or the Form 1040 tool. We do not send them to Google, and the tag is not configured to read form fields. Calculations still run entirely in your browser.

Google’s use of this data, and opting out: Google processes this data under its own privacy policy; see How Google uses information from sites or apps that use our services. You can prevent Google Analytics from collecting data about your visits by blocking cookies for this site, or by installing the Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on. TaxMath sets no other cookies, and loads no other company’s script: the fonts are served from this domain, not from a font provider. Apart from Google Analytics, the only request the calculator makes is for a blank IRS PDF, by form name, when you press the button that fills one.

Server logs: The site is static files served by Cloudflare Pages. Like any web server, it records ordinary request data — IP address, browser type, the page requested and the referring URL. Those logs are Cloudflare’s, are kept to their retention schedule, and contain nothing you typed into a calculator.

3. How We Use Your Information

We do not sell personal information, and we do not have any to sell: the figures you enter never reach us. We cannot see your return, cannot recover it for you, and cannot produce it to anyone else — not because of a policy we could change, but because the data never leaves your browser.

Targeted advertising: TaxMath does not process or sell personal data for targeted advertising, and runs no advertising or ad-targeting script of any kind. We use Google Analytics to measure how the site is used, not to target or personalise advertising.public/ads.txt does not exist; the ad-network authorization it once carried was removed, and re-adding one is a decision this site has not made.

Large language models: TaxMath does not collect, use, or sell personal data for the purpose of training large language models. There is nothing of yours for us to use that way, for the same reason there is nothing for us to sell: it never reaches us.

4. Data Storage and Security

Who can reach a saved return: you, on that device. There is no account, no server copy and no administrator with a way in. TaxMath staff cannot read a saved return, because there is nowhere for us to read it from.

What that does and does not protect against: a saved return is ordinary browser storage. It is not encrypted, and anyone who can use your unlocked device — or any browser extension you have installed — can read it. Treat a shared or public computer accordingly, and use the delete controls before you walk away from one.

How it is disposed of: the “Saved returns & privacy” panel deletes any single saved return or all of them, which removes them from your browser’s storage immediately. Turning off the option to remember names, Social Security numbers and bank details also blanks those fields in every return already saved on that device, not only the one open in front of you; if a saved return cannot be rewritten, the panel names it rather than letting you believe otherwise. Clearing your browser’s site data removes everything. None of this reaches files you exported yourself — delete those the way you would delete any other document.

The promise that saved returns never leave the browser is enforced by the build, not only stated here: the code that handles saving is barred from making any network request at all, and a change that tried to would fail the project’s checks before it shipped.

5. Service Providers

Two. Cloudflare hosts the site and serves its files. That is a hosting relationship, not a data-sharing one: Cloudflare receives the same ordinary request data any web host receives, and no part of a return. Google provides Google Analytics, described in section 2, and receives the usage data listed there and no part of a return. We use no advertising network, no error-reporting service and no customer-data platform.

The one outbound request the site makes on your behalf goes to irs.gov, through this domain, to download a blank federal form. It carries the name of the form and nothing else.

6. Children

TaxMath is not directed at children under 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13.

7. Your Rights

Depending on your location, you may have rights to access, correct, delete, or obtain a portable copy of personal data we hold about you, or to object to or restrict certain processing. Those rights presuppose a copy for us to act on, and we do not have one: nothing you type into a calculator reaches us, so there is nothing for us to return, correct, delete, or export on your behalf. The “Saved returns & privacy” panel on the calculator already gives you that control directly over your own device’s storage — it lists everything saved there, deletes any single return or all of them, and exports a portable copy — without a request to us at all.

How to exercise these rights, and how to appeal a refusal: if you believe we hold data about you that this policy does not account for, or want a request handled that the saved-returns panel does not cover, contact us at feedback [at] taxmath.org. We will respond in writing, including an explanation when we cannot fulfill a request because we do not hold the data it asks about. If you disagree with that response, reply to the same address to appeal it — we have no separate appeals process or board, and say so here rather than describe one that does not exist.

8. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. The "Last updated" date at the top will reflect the latest revision. Continued use of the site after changes constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.

9. Accessibility

This notice is reasonably accessible to, and usable by, individuals with disabilities: it is ordinary HTML on a standard web page, with no separate app, login, or PDF viewer between you and it, so it works with browser zoom, screen readers, and other assistive technology the same way the rest of this site does.

10. Contact

For privacy-related questions or requests: feedback [at] taxmath.org