CB Tax Accounting Data Security and Identity Protection Policy
“Taxes-Security-Together”
CB Tax Accounting Inc values your trust with respecting, protecting and keeping your personal and identity information private and secure. We are committed to protecting all personal data obtained about you. Our privacy and identity protection policy applies to the relationships built with our current and former clients with our firm. We use your information in order to make available our services and products to meet your private tax and accounting needs. Using your information in this way, through authorization you provided as part of your approval to prepare tax and accounting services, help us to improve our services and products we bring to you. Please take a few moments to read this privacy and identity protection policy, which includes our privacy and identity protection promise to you about your personal and financial information.
Mandatory Regulations:
The Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, enacted by Congress November 1999, established federal rules governing the disclosure of personal financial information by financial institutions and tax practitioners about their customers. The Act proclaimed a federal privacy policy that each institution “has and maintain an affirmative and continuing obligation to respect the privacy of its customers and to protect the security and confidentiality” of customers’ non-public information. IRS Circular 230 authorizes us to inquire from 3rd parties but the information must be accurate.
Who Is Affected?
These rules and regulations apply to any individual or business entity providing financial services to individual customers, including accounting firms, and tax return preparers. The Act is limited to services by such persons provided to customers, who are “consumers”, defined as individuals who obtain financial products or services used primarily for personal, family or household purposes, not for business purposes.
Additional Information
Internal Revenue Code (IRC) Section 7216, which prescribes a criminal penalty (a misdemeanor or fine not to exceed $1,000, or imprisoned not more than 1 year, or both, together with the costs of prosecution), prohibits us from knowingly and recklessly disclosing your tax return information, such as social security numbers and income, bank account numbers, balances and transaction history, credit history and payment history, for a purpose other than for preparing or assisting in preparing an income tax return. For purposes of the Affordable Care Act, the requirements and restrictions under IRC Section 7216 also apply under IRC Section 6713 (a $250 penalty not to exceed $10,000 annually, imposed on tax preparers).
How Does CB Tax Accounting Protect Your Personal Information?
CB Tax Accounting recognizes that privacy and identity protection are very sensitive and important matters. CB Tax Accounting adheres to the strictest standards of security, confidentiality and privacy with regard to your information. The IRS, the states and the tax industry joined together to enact new safeguards and took additional actions to combat tax-related identity theft. Many of these safeguards will be invisible to you, but invaluable to our fight against these criminal syndicates.
We comply with Federal and State requirements for the protection of your identity, personal and financial information. In order to protect your information, we maintain physical, electronic and procedural safeguards that restrict access to your personal data. Such safeguards are reviewed regularly to ensure we are keeping with technological advancements.
Property and assets used primarily for clients businesses are protected with level-5 security software that encrypts clients data. Such software program is monitored daily for any data breaches or illegal entries. Online browsing is protected with firewall protection, from malware, spyware, viruses, provides password protection with VPN encryption and web shields which are actively protecting website roaming. Clients data are backed up on external hard drives that are safely and securely stored away from the work site, not in any cloud storage facility.
Please note: The IRS does not initiate contact with taxpayers by electronic communication to request personal or financial information. This includes any type of electronic communication, such as emails, text messages and social media channels. IRS does not make threatening phone calls to collect a tax, or threaten to arrest, incarcerate or otherwise if a tax liability, interest or penalty may or may not be owed by the taxpayer.
CB Tax Accounting will not communicate, sell or share your information among companies or third parties without your permission by way of Power of Attorney, or upon the issuance of a court order!
You can help in taking precautions to protect your identity and sensitive personal information by securing your bank account(s) and PIN numbers, not disclosing confidential information to unknown callers, and using current virus detection software on your computer system.
Our Commitment
If you are comfortable with the handling of your private information we collect or protecting your identity, you do not need to take any action at this time. Please be assured that your privacy and confidentiality are top priorities to CB Tax Accounting tax and consulting practice. If you have any questions, please contact us.