Privacy Policy

Last updated: October 24, 2026

A tax return holds some of the most private details of your life. In plain language: we collect only what we need to prepare your return, we use it only for that, we never sell it, and we delete your tax details 30 days after we last hear from you. This page gives the details that Canada's privacy laws require.

Who we are

Tax Decoder is a free service. We prepare income tax returns for you to review with your own accountant, who files them. We are not accountants, and we never file anything with the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) or contact CRA for you. We are the organization responsible for the personal information described here. If you have a question about your privacy, contact us:

Which privacy law applies to you

Canada's federal privacy law governs how we handle your personal information. If you live in a province with its own private-sector privacy law, that law applies to you as well:

What we collect

We collect only what we need to prepare your return. That can include:

• What you tell us: your name, contact details, date of birth, address, marital status, dependants, and anything else you choose to share in the chat.
• Your Social Insurance Number (and your spouse's or dependants' where a return needs it), because CRA forms require it.
• Your tax documents: slips (such as T4s), receipts, past notices of assessment, and other records you share with us.
• Basic technical information: standard data your device sends when you use the chat (for example, your time zone), used only to make the chat work.

We do not ask for, and you should not send, information we don't need, such as your CRA My Account login, bank login details or passwords.

Why we collect it

• To prepare your income tax return for each year you ask about.
• To answer your questions and keep track of your file.
• To send you your return package and the notes for your accountant.
• To keep our own records and meet our legal obligations.

Your consent

We collect, use and share your personal information only with your consent. When you start a chat, we ask for your okay before going further, and that's your consent. You can withdraw your consent at any time by telling us (subject to legal or contractual limits and reasonable notice). If you do, we'll stop and delete your information.

Who we share it with

• Not CRA. We never send your information to CRA. You or your accountant file your return.
• Your accountant, only if you ask us to send your package to them directly.
• Service providers who work for us, such as the companies that run our chat, AI assistant and email. They act under confidentiality and only so they can provide that service to us.

We never sell your information, and we never share it with marketers or advertisers. Tax Decoder is operated from outside Canada, and some of our service providers store or process information outside Canada. Wherever that happens, your information is still protected by this policy and the law that applies to you.

How long we keep it

Your tax details are deleted 30 days after your file goes quiet. Every contact on your file restarts the 30 days: a chat, an email, a document you send. Once 30 days pass with none, we permanently delete your SIN, income, slips, receipts and any return we prepared. We keep your name and contact details, our conversation and our emails, so if you come back you don't start from zero. If we're still preparing your return, we keep everything until it's done. Keep your own copy of your return package: CRA can ask you for your records for six years. You can ask us to delete your information sooner at any time, and we will, except for the records the law requires us to keep.

How we protect it

We use reasonable safeguards to protect your information against loss, theft and unauthorized access, and only the people who need it to prepare your file can see it. No system is perfectly secure, but we treat your information with the care a stressful, private situation deserves.

Your rights

Wherever you live in Canada, you have the right to:

• Access the personal information we hold about you.
• Correct information that is wrong or incomplete.
• Withdraw your consent and ask us to stop using or to delete your information.
• Ask how your information has been used or disclosed.

Depending on where you live, you may have more rights. In Quebec, for example, you can ask for your information in a portable format and ask about automated processing. Contact us at the address above and we'll honour the rights that apply to you. If we can't resolve a concern, you can contact the privacy regulator for your province, listed above.

Changes to this policy

If we update this policy, we'll change the "Last updated" date above and post the new version on this page.