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Terms of service

TaxAct Express

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Score20.0
Reviewed
Policy typeTerms of service
Concern findings8
Protections0
Source supportStrong

Source provenance

Verified official source
Retrieved
Last checked
Published

What changedMaterial language shifts detected around cancel, refund, arbitration, class action. 162 new line(s), 2 removed line(s).

Snapshot hash 1a01746ad359b285c680066c3e33c4290a3c0eb1f32f68376a326c806d8335b0

Snapshot of the source text at fetch time, not a live mirror of the policy page.

Plain-English summary

The TaxAct Terms of Service contain several significant risks for users. It mandates individual arbitration, waiving your right to participate in class action lawsuits, and explicitly limits legal rights such as jury trials. The terms also state that any guarantees offered are your sole and exclusive remedy for errors, severely limiting your recourse. Additionally, you broadly release TaxAct from liability for third-party actions and, if you are a California resident, waive rights under Civil Code section 1542. The company limits its liability to the amount paid for services and excludes indirect or consequential damages. Furthermore, TaxAct can terminate your access to services at its sole discretion, and you must follow a 60-day informal dispute resolution process before taking formal legal action.

90% confidence

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Risk Flags

8 findings

These clauses contain risks that are material, hard to reverse, and can lead to significant harm. They can include: money you cannot easily recover, lasting privacy exposure, loss of account access, weakened dispute rights, or broad ownership/control of user content.

high95% confidence

Mandatory Individual Arbitration

This agreement requires that any disputes between you and TaxAct be resolved through binding individual arbitration, waiving your right to participate in class action lawsuits. You can opt out of arbitration within 30 days of agreeing to the terms.

Mandatory arbitrationClass-action waiver

Why it matters: You cannot sue TaxAct in court or be part of a class action lawsuit unless you opt out of arbitration within 30 days.

Unless you opt out of arbitration within 30 days of the date you agree to this Agreement, you agree that any dispute that cannot be informally resolved between us will be resolved by binding, individual arbitration and you waive your right to participate in a class action lawsuit.

TaxAct Terms of Service, paragraph 1 · Citation strength: strong

high95% confidence

Waiver of Jury Trial and Class Action

The agreement states that it limits certain legal rights, including the right to a jury trial and the right to participate in any form of class, collective, or representative claim, dispute, or action, as well as the right to certain remedies and forms of relief.

Mandatory arbitrationClass-action waiver

Why it matters: You waive your right to a jury trial and cannot participate in class action lawsuits, and your rights to discovery and appeals may be limited in arbitration.

PLEASE READ THE FOLLOWING SECTION CAREFULLY BECAUSE IT LIMITS CERTAIN LEGAL RIGHTS, INCLUDING THE RIGHT TO A JURY TRIAL, THE RIGHT TO PARTICIPATE IN ANY FORM OF CLASS, COLLECTIVE, OR REPRESENTATIVE CLAIM, DISPUTE OR ACTION, AND THE RIGHT TO CERTAIN REMEDIES AND FORMS OF RELIEF. YOU UNDERSTAND THAT THE RIGHTS TO DISCOVERY AND APPEALS MAY BE MORE LIMITED IN ARBITRATION THAN IN COURT.

Privacy Notice, paragraph 1 · Citation strength: strong

high95% confidence

Sole and Exclusive Remedy for Errors

The guarantees offered by TaxAct set forth your sole and exclusive remedy and their only obligation in the event of any errors or inaccuracies with their services.

Why it matters: Your options for recourse are limited to what TaxAct explicitly guarantees, restricting your ability to seek other forms of compensation for errors.

UNLESS OTHERWISE SPECIFICALLY ALLOWED BY LAW, THE BELOW GUARANTEES SET FORTH YOUR SOLE AND EXCLUSIVE REMEDY AGAINST TAXACT, ITS AFFILIATES AND REPRESENTATIVES AND OUR SERVICE PROVIDERS AND OUR ONLY OBLIGATION, IN THE EVENT OF ANY ERRORS OR INACCURACIES WITH OUR SERVICES.

Maximum Refund Guarantee, paragraph 5 · Citation strength: strong

high90% confidence

Broad Release of Liability for Third-Party Actions

You release TaxAct from responsibility, liability, claims, demands, and/or damages arising out of or related to the operation or your use of the services or content that are related to the acts or omissions of third parties.

Why it matters: You cannot hold TaxAct responsible for issues stemming from third-party actions related to the service, potentially limiting your ability to seek damages.

To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, you release TaxAct from responsibility, liability, claims, demands, and/or damages of every kind and nature, in any way arising out of or related to the operation, or your use, of the Services or any Content that in any way arise out of or are related to the acts or omissions of third parties (" Third Party Disputes ") except as expressly provided in Section 7, TaxAct Guarantees for Registered Users.

Maximum Refund Guarantee, paragraph 13 · Citation strength: strong

high90% confidence

California Civil Code Section 1542 Waiver

If you are a California resident, you waive any rights you may have under California Civil Code section 1542, which generally protects individuals from unknowingly releasing future claims.

Why it matters: You are giving up rights to pursue claims against TaxAct that you may not know about at the time of agreeing to the terms, even if they would materially affect your settlement.

If you are a California resident , you hereby waive any rights you may have arising out of these terms under California Civil Code section 1542, which says "A GENERAL RELEASE DOES NOT EXTEND TO CLAIMS WHICH THE CREDITOR OR RELEASING PARTY DOES NOT KNOW OR SUSPECT TO EXIST IN HIS OR HER FAVOR AT THE TIME OF EXECUTING THE RELEASE AND THAT, IF KNOWN BY HIM OR HER WOULD HAVE MATERIALLY AFFECTED HIS OR HER SETTLEMENT WITH THE DEBTOR OR RELEASED PARTY."

Maximum Refund Guarantee, paragraph 13 · Citation strength: strong

high90% confidence

Limited Liability for Damages

TaxAct's entire liability for any reason shall be limited to the amount you paid for the services and content, except as provided under guarantees for registered users.

Why it matters: Your ability to recover damages from TaxAct is severely limited to the fees you paid for the service, even if your actual losses are much higher.

TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, THE ENTIRE LIABILITY OF TAXACT AND THE PARTICIPATING PARTIES (JOINTLY) FOR ANY REASON SHALL BE LIMITED TO THE AMOUNT PAID BY YOU FOR THE SERVICES AND CONTENT.

Maximum Refund Guarantee, paragraph 13 · Citation strength: strong

high90% confidence

Exclusion of Indirect and Consequential Damages

Neither TaxAct nor participating parties will be liable for any indirect, special, incidental, or consequential damages, such as loss of business or profits, even if advised of the possibility of such damages.

Why it matters: You cannot seek compensation for significant indirect losses like lost business or profits that might result from using the service.

TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, NEITHER TAXACT NOR THE PARTICIPATING PARTIES WILL BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING DAMAGES FOR LOSS OF BUSINESS, LOSS OF PROFITS OR INVESTMENT, OR THE LIKE), WHETHER BASED ON BREACH OF CONTRACT, BREACH OF WARRANTY, TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE), OR OTHERWISE, EVEN IF TAXACT OR THE PARTICIPATING PARTIES HAVE BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES AND EVEN IF A REMEDY SET FORTH HEREIN IS FOUND TO HAVE FAILED OF ITS ESSENTIAL PURPOSE.

Maximum Refund Guarantee, paragraph 13 · Citation strength: strong

high90% confidence

Right to Terminate Access at Sole Discretion

TaxAct reserves the right to terminate your access to or use of the Services immediately for any activities that breach the agreement or conduct that, in TaxAct’s sole judgment, interferes with the operation or use of the Services.

Unilateral amendment

Why it matters: TaxAct can terminate your access to the service at any time based on their judgment, potentially without warning, which could disrupt your tax preparation or filing process.

TaxAct shall have the right to immediately terminate your access to or use of the Services in the event of any activities which breach this Agreement or conduct which, in TaxAct’s sole judgment, interferes with the operation or use of the Services (e.g., excessive usage of the Services which disrupts the use of the Services by other users) or your failure to consent to the terms of this Agreement, any updates or amendments to this Agreement, or other policies or terms, such as our

Maximum Refund Guarantee, paragraph 13 · Citation strength: strong

Data Use

All clear

These clauses describe how your data is collected, processed, and shared. They can include: broad grants of use, redistribution, or licensing of your content; lack of clarity around data anonymization or aggregation; or sharing with a wide variety of third parties with inadequate protections.

Looking good

No data-use concerns flagged

Verbaterm only flags concerns it can cite. No source-backed data-use findings are shown here.

Cancellation and Renewal

All clear

These clauses describe how you can cancel the service or how the service will renew. They can include: automatic renewals that are difficult to cancel, punitive cancellation terms, or loss of data upon cancellation.

Looking good

No billing surprises spotted

Verbaterm only flags concerns it can cite. No cancellation, auto-renewal, or refund terms needed attention here.

Gotchas

All clear

These clauses contain service features or terms that are not immediately obvious and can result in unexpected costs, privacy implications, or limitations to your rights as a user. They can include: non-refundable purchases, limitations on guarantees, or one-sided modification clauses.

Looking good

No hidden gotchas

Verbaterm only flags concerns it can cite. Nothing easy-to-miss stood out in this section.

Protections

0 findings

These clauses are commitments that benefit the user. They can include: clear refund windows, advance notice before material changes, meaningful user deletion/export controls, or explicit data-minimization commitments.

Looking good

No source-backed concerns shown

Verbaterm only flags concerns it can cite. Uncited model claims stay out of the review and do not count against the company.

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