Who we are
Our website address is: https://virtualtaxassociates.com
Use of this Website constitutes your agreement to the terms of this Notice and the application of any applicable laws and regulations. Whenever you submit personal data and any other information via this Website, you acknowledge that data and information will be collected, used and disclosed in accordance with this Notice.
Our services are geared towards businesses and not aimed at children. We do not collect information from children 13 and under. If you are using our services to file personal tax returns, we may receive information about children from you.
We will use and process your personal data lawfully, fairly and in a transparent manner. “Personal Data” is data relating to you from which you can be reasonably identified. Examples of Personal Data include your full name, email address, postal address, telephone number, job title or the company you work for. We recognize that your Personal Data is valuable and we process it in accordance applicable law.
We will collect and use your Personal Data solely for the specified and legitimate purposes stated in this Notice. We use your Personal Data to:
• set up your account and verify your identity;
• provide the services and related activities you request;
• provide direct and digital marketing communications via email, direct mail and telephone communication or through personalized online experiences;
• contact you, if you request that we contact you or to send you the requested information;
• provide better customer service when you contact us;
• improve the quality, content and overall user experience of the Website and the Applications;
• notify you of new features and updates to the Website or our Applications and services;
• administer surveys; and
• address other business needs such as website administration, security and fraud prevention, legal compliance and business continuity.
The Website and the Applications actively collect information from its visitors both by asking you specific questions when you interact with us such as:
• registering on our Website or Applications;
• signing up to receive information from us;
• making a purchase for services;
• accessing certain parts of the Website or the Applications, such as the Client Portal;
• benefiting from specified Website features;
or otherwise by permitting you to communicate directly with us via e-mail. You can choose not to enter any of your Personal Data into the Website or Applications. However, if you choose not to provide us with your Personal Data in these circumstances, we will be unable to respond to your inquiry, engage in further communications with you and/or provide the requested services.
We will, depending on the nature of your communication with Virtual Tax Associates with respect to your visit to the Website or the Applications, use your Personal Data as follows:
• If you are making an inquiry about how our services could help your business: we will use your Personal Data to respond to any inquiry you may make and/or provide you with information that you request from us because we need to use your Personal Data to communicate with you, to respond to your request and develop the relationship between us;
• If you view or download a content asset (e.g., white paper, case study, competitive analysis, etc.): we will use your Personal Data to provide you with information and materials that could be relevant or related to the content asset that you viewed or downloaded;
• If you are making an inquiry about how we can provide the Virtual Tax Associates services to your business: we will use your Personal Data to consider how your business could utilize our services;
• If you are an existing client, supplier, or partner of ours and you are making an inquiry about your agreement or relationship with us: we will use your Personal Data to respond to you as an existing client, supplier or partner of ours in relation to a pre-existing agreement or relationship.
When you provide us with your information, you are giving your consent for your Personal Data to be used by us to contact you by email, direct mail and telephone, and to deliver personalized website experiences, to share information about relevant products, services, best practice information, industry news and events. You are entitled to withdraw your consent to us contacting you or to amend your communication preferences by contacting us at the email address listed under Contact Information below or by logging into your Client Portal.
If you decide that you do not want to receive any correspondence from us about the services we could provide your business, including communications regarding product information, press releases, newsletters, marketing, promotions, and/or other topics please click the “unsubscribe” link provided in that promotional email message or go to your Client Portal ( Intuit Link ). Withdrawing your consent will not affect our use of the Personal Data prior to you withdrawing that consent but it will mean that we will not be able to contact you about the services we may be able to offer you or your business in the future.
Information we collect from your browser and your device
As you navigate through the Website and Applications, we will automatically collect information about your interaction with the Website and Applications such as your IP address, traffic data, clickstream information, time stamp, location data, web logs, other communication data and the resources that you access when you visit the Website and your browser or other applications on your device interact with it. We automatically collect this data using various technologies such as cookies, web logs and beacons and internet tags as described below. This information allows us to better tailor our content to users’ needs and is only gathered while you are on the Website and/or Applications. We may also – with your permission and only if you opt-in to such functionality — collect certain information such as GPS data or automobile trip mileage to enable tax reporting.
Except for the information which you specifically choose to have collected from the Applications, we automatically receive and record such information on our server logs from your browser. As discussed below, we use this information to diagnose problems with our server, report aggregate information for statistical analysis, determine the fastest route for your computer to connect to our Website and administer and improve the Website and/or Applications.
To the extent this information constitutes personal data, we use it to ensure that content from the Website and Applications is presented in the most effective manner for you and your device to improve our customers’ online experience in relation to the Website and Applications.
Sharing of information with third parties
We do not sell, rent or lease your Personal Data to unaffiliated third parties without your consent. However, we may share your Personal Data with third parties in certain situations in order to confirm your identity, respond to your request and facilitate your use of the Website and Applications.
By visiting the Websites you agree to the following disclosures:
a. we may check your Personal Data by searching for your name and that of your business in publically available and private databases of business and individuals, which will use the details entered by us to provide us with the search results. For example, we may use databases such as those retained by LinkedIn or data.com for this purpose;
b. we may pass your information on to selected third parties including:
• our service providers and sub-contractors for the performance of any contract we enter into with them or you;
• our business partners, but only to the extent you have purchased or expressed an interest in a product or service of such business partner or interacted with or otherwise authorized the sharing of your Personal Data with such business partner;
• advertisers and advertising networks that require the data to select and serve ads to you and others;
• a purchaser or successor entity in the event of a sale or other corporate transaction involving some or all of our business or as needed to affect the sale or transfer of business assets, or as needed for external audit, compliance or corporate governance related matters;
• analytics and search engine providers that assist us on the improvement and optimization of the Website and Applications; and
• a third party to which we have a duty to disclose or share your information (i) to enforce or apply our terms of use and other agreements; (ii) as required by applicable law, court orders, government regulators or legal process (including subpoenas); (iii) as necessary to protect the property, safety and rights others. This includes exchanging information with other companies and organizations for the purpose of fraud protection and credit risk reduction.
We also share your Personal Data with our affiliates for the purposes set forth in this Notice.
Our Website and Applications use “cookies” to enhance your use of the Website and/or services and to monitor your activity during your visit(s) to the Website and Applications. Cookies are small text files that are stored on your browser and the hard drive of your computer, mobile or other handheld device. The cookies store information about your visit to the Website and Applications and distinguish you from other users. Our use of cookies allows us to provide you with a good experience when you browse our Website and Application.
The use of cookies helps us to display content on the Website and Application and also allows us to obtain and analyze statistics about the use of the Website and Applications so that we can improve it. By continuing to use the Website and Applications you consent to our use of cookies as explained in this Notice.
Below is a description of the types of cookies used on the Website and Applications, and provides detail about what they are used for. When you use the Website and Applications for the first time, cookies which are essential to make the Website and Applications operate (see those identified as “essential cookies” below) will have been set. If you do not want other cookies set, please adjust your browser settings as described below under “Disabling or deleting cookies.”
Some cookies are deleted when you close your browser. These are known as session cookies. Others remain on your device until they expire or you delete them. These are known as persistent cookies and enable us to remember things about you as a returning visitor.
If you do not want cookies to be stored, then you may turn off certain cookies described below individually or you can select the appropriate options on your web browser to delete some or all cookies. Please note, however, that if you block some or all cookies (including essential cookies) you may not be able to use or access all or parts of the Website and Applications, such as being able to log on to member specific areas.
How we use Cookies on our Website and Applications
Session Cookies
We use session cookies for the following purposes:
• To control access to paid for subscription services.
• To allow you to carry information across pages of our Website and avoid having to re-enter information.
• To allow you to access stored information for future use, such as registration.
• To compile anonymous, aggregated statistics that allow us to understand how users use our Website and Applications and to help us improve the structure of our Website and Applications.
Persistent Cookies
We use persistent cookies for the following purposes:
• To control access to paid for subscription services.
• To help us recognize you as a unique visitor (just a number) when you return to our Website and to allow us to tailor content to match your preferred interests.
• To compile anonymous, aggregated statistics that allow us to understand how users use our Website and to help us improve the structure of our Website.
• To internally identify you by account name, email address, customer ID, and location (geographic and computer ID/IP address).
• To tailor content to your preferences.
Third Party Cookies
Third parties serve cookies via our Website and Applications. These are used for the following purposes:
• To serve content on our Website and Applications and track whether this content is clicked on by users.
• To control how often you are shown particular content.
• To count the number of anonymous users of our Website and Applications.
• For Website and Application usage analysis.
• To link the information we store in cookies to any personally identifiable information you submit while on our Website and Applications.
You can set your browser so that installed cookies are deleted and you do not receive cookies during your next use of the website. Below are links to instruction on how to remove different types of cookies from different browsers:
• Chrome
• Mozilla
• Explorer
• Safari
• Opera
If you disable or delete cookies, it may be that you do not have access to (parts of) the website or that the website does not work optimally. To find out more about these functions, it is best to consult your browser instructions or the help function of your browser.
To find our more about cookies, including information on how to see what cookies have been set and how to manage and delete them, visit www.allaboutcookies.org.
Please note that Google and other third parties (including, for example, advertising networks and providers of external services like web traffic analysis services) may also use cookies as a result of you visiting other websites, over which we have no control. To opt-out of Google Analytics, please click here.
We do not currently commit to responding to web-browser do not track signals or other mechanisms that provide users the ability to exercise choice regarding the collection of Personal Data about a user’s online activities over time and across third-party websites or online services (“DNT”). This is due in part, because no common industry standard for DNT has been adopted by industry groups, technology companies or regulators. We will continue to monitor developments around DNT browser technology and reassess our practices with respect to DNT as needed.
We have implemented appropriate technical and organizational measures on our servers, which are designed to protect your Personal Data from accidental or unlawful destruction, loss, alteration, unauthorized disclosure of, or access to, Personal Data transmitted, stored or otherwise processed. You should keep in mind that Internet transmissions (including emails) are never completely secure or error-free. As such, you should take steps to protect yourself, especially online and take special care in deciding what information you send to us via e-mail or other transmissions. Moreover, where you use passwords, ID numbers, or other special access features on the Website and Applications, it is your responsibility to safeguard them. You should choose a strong password, do not use the same password that you use on other websites and do not share your password with anyone else. Also remember to sign out of your Client Portal and close your browser window when you have finished so that others who may have access to your computer cannot access your Personal Data.
Links to other websites, social media and public forums
This site may contain links or references to other websites. Please be aware that we do not control other websites and, except as otherwise noted in the applicable website, this Notice does not apply to those websites. We encourage you to read the privacy and cookie policy of every website you visit. We are not responsible for the security or privacy of any information collected by these third parties.
We may offer certain “share” or “social media” functionality on our Website and Applications. If you choose to use these functions, we may and/or the third party social media networks may collect certain information about you depending on the function or feature you use. With respect to the social media features (such as allowing you to post information about your activities or share your information with others on a social media site), the collection and use of information by and your interactions with the third party social media network will be governed by the privacy policy of the company providing those social media features. We are not responsible for the security or privacy of any information collected by these third parties. By providing us with Personal Data about other people, you warrant that they have provided you with their consent to receive the relevant “share” or “social media” communication.
We store and process your personal data in the United States and our services are intended to be used to file and report on United States federal and state tax obligations. By providing us with your Personal Data, you consent to this transfer. Your Personal Data shall be protected in accordance with this Notice regardless of where it is processed or stored.
Changes to this Privacy Notice
We may from time to time amend this Notice to reflect any changes in our practices, services and legal obligations. If we make any material changes to the way we collect, use or share your Personal Data, we will notify you of those changes by posting an updated notice on the specific site to which it relates or by an electronic communication to you, which will indicate the effective date of the proposed changes. Your continued use of the Website and the Applications and the services following the effective date of a change to this Notice signifies your acceptance and agreement to the terms of the revised notice. We encourage you to periodically visit this page to determine the current terms to which you are bound. This Notice has been revised at the “Last Updated” date displayed at the top of this Notice.
If you have any questions, comments or concerns about this Notice or our privacy practices or wish to file a complaint, please contact us in one of the following ways:
By mail:
Virtual Tax Associates
ATTN: Privacy
30606 Marigold Lane
Lindstrom, MN 55045
By phone:
1-651-347-8795
By Email:
support@virtualtaxassociates.com
