Clear Tax Accountants respects your privacy and understands the importance of protecting your personal information. We comply with the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth), the Australian Privacy Principles, and, when required, the relevant privacy laws of Australian states and territories. This Privacy Policy outlines how we manage and protect your personal information.
In this Privacy Policy, ‘Clear Tax,’ ‘we,’ ‘us,’ and ‘our’ refer to the Clear Tax Accountants entity, including any business operating in Australia under the Clear Tax Accountants name.
We may occasionally update this Privacy Policy to align with changes in our privacy practices or to adhere to new laws, regulations, and industry standards. Any updates to this Privacy Policy will be posted on our website to keep you informed.
Information we collect
When you use our services, we gather various types of information to provide and improve our offerings. This may include personal information about you, your spouse, your dependents, your business, and other individuals related to your business (such as employees). The information we collect includes, but is not limited to:
Contact Information: Your name, company name, email address, phone number, and mailing address.
Business Identification: Your Australian Business Number (ABN) and other government-issued identification numbers.
Personal Identifiers: Dates of birth for you and relevant individuals.
Payment Details: Information such as your payment method, cardholder name, card number, expiry date, CVV, and payment history.
Transaction Information: Invoice numbers, due dates, customer references, and additional references related to your transactions.
Digital Interaction Data: Information on how you use our website, mobile applications, and emails, including login details.
We collect this information from the following sources:
We gather information about you from several sources to deliver our services effectively. Here’s how we collect this information:
Information You Provide Directly
We collect information that you voluntarily provide when you use our services or request assistance.
If you choose not to provide certain information, it may limit our ability to offer you some of our services, tools, or calculators, as they depend on that information to function correctly.
Information Collected Through Your Use of Our Services
Whenever you interact with us—whether in person at our offices, online, through our mobile app, or via email—we automatically collect certain data. This includes details like the websites you visit, the links you click on, and the timing of your activities. These actions may be tracked by us or by a service provider acting on our behalf.
Information Required by Regulatory Authorities
To comply with regulations, particularly when preparing or electronically filing your tax return, we may need to collect specific personal and system-related information as required by the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) or state taxing authorities. This may include your name, tax file number, IP address, and unique device identifiers.
Purpose of collecting the information
We will only collect, use, store, and share your personal information if we have a valid or lawful reason to do so or if you have given us your consent. The reasons we may collect, use, and share your personal information include:
1. To Provide Our Services
We use your information to deliver our services to you or our clients, as outlined in any engagement letter, service agreement, or employment contract. This can include tasks such as payroll processing, tax filing, superannuation management, and accounting services.
2. To Enhance and Manage Our Offerings
We continually work to improve our products and services, and we may use your information to:
- Respond to your inquiries or requests.
- Verify your identity.
- Conduct surveys and seek your feedback.
3. To Stay Connected
We use your information to maintain contact with our clients, partners, and other stakeholders, including alumni. This allows us to keep you informed about our services, industry developments, seminars, and other events that may be of interest to you.
4. For Administrative Purposes
Your information helps us manage various administrative tasks, including:
- Processing payments and transactions.
- Charging and billing.
- Detecting and preventing fraud.
- Ensuring compliance with our terms and conditions.
5. For Governance and Compliance
We use your information to ensure we meet our governance and compliance obligations, which may include:
- Managing quality, conduct, and risk, including conflicts of interest and auditor independence.
- Fulfilling regulatory requirements.
- Complying with laws, industry codes, or standards.
6. For Business and Strategic Purposes
In some cases, we may use your information as part of business activities, such as:
- During mergers, acquisitions, or divestitures.
- When entering into alliances, joint ventures, or referral arrangements.
7. For Development and Analytics
We also use your information to enhance our expertise and drive innovation. This may include:
- Benchmarking and business intelligence activities.
- Quality assurance and thought leadership initiatives.
- Analysing website trends and performance.
8. Use of Non-Personal Information
We may also utilise non-personal, de-identified, or aggregated data for purposes like data analytics, research, and thought leadership. In these cases, we ensure that the information is anonymised so that it cannot be traced back to you.
How We May Share Your Information
We may share your information under the following circumstances:
1. Communication with the ATO and State Tax Authorities
To process or electronically file your tax return, we may be required to share certain personal and system information with the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) and state taxing authorities. This could include details like your name, tax file number, IP addresses, unique device identifiers, bank account numbers, and data on your tax return preparation activities (e.g., time spent completing the tax return).
2. Business Transfers or Asset Sales
If our business or assets are sold or transferred, information about our clients may be included in that transaction. Should such a sale or transfer result in significant changes to this Privacy Policy, we will notify you using the same process we use to inform you of any updates to this Privacy Policy.
3. Legal Obligations and Permitted Disclosures
We may share your information with federal, state, or local authorities to report activities that might constitute a criminal offence or to assist in an investigation or prosecution of such offences. We may also share your information with the ATO to help prevent refund fraud and potential cybersecurity threats, as allowed by law.
4. Aggregate Data Sharing
We may share aggregated information that does not identify you personally. For example, this might include sharing the total number of visitors from a specific region or the average age of our users.
How Long We Keep Your Information
We hold onto your information for as long as necessary to meet our legal obligations and to serve you.
We keep your information for as long as your account is active or as long as we need it to provide you with our services. Even after your account is closed, we may retain your information to comply with our policies, fulfil legal requirements, resolve disputes, and enforce our agreements.