Privacy
How we handle the information you give us.
What this covers
This page describes how Pacific Sunrise Tax Services handles the information you give us when you become a client or ask us for a quote. It is written to match what our systems actually do.
What we collect
- Contact details: your name, email address, phone number and mailing address.
- Tax documents you send us, and the information inside them. This includes income statements, deduction records, prior returns, and identification where a filing requires it.
- Information about your business, if you have one, including entity type, ownership and bookkeeping records.
- Records of our work for you: notes, correspondence, invoices and payment history.
Why we collect it
To prepare and file your returns, to answer your questions during the year, to bill you for the work, and to meet the record-keeping obligations that apply to a CPA firm.
Who else handles it
We do not sell your information and we do not share it for marketing. We do use outside services to run the firm, and your information passes through them. These are the categories, and what each is for:
- Secure storage and hosting. Your documents and records are stored on Google Cloud infrastructure.
- Email, calendar and file sharing. Google Workspace, for correspondence with you and for the folders your documents live in.
- Document processing. Automated services from Google and Microsoft that read uploaded documents to identify the form type and pull figures from it, so we are not retyping your W-2 by hand.
- Tax preparation software. The professional software used to prepare and electronically file your return.
- Accounting software. QuickBooks, for bookkeeping clients.
- Payments. Stripe processes card payments. We do not store your card number.
- Engagement letters and scheduling. Services that send your engagement letter for signature and book your consultation.
- Audit representation. Protection Plus, if you are selected for examination and we file a claim on your behalf.
We also disclose information where the law requires it, and to tax authorities as part of filing your return, which is the purpose you gave it to us for.
Your consent
Federal law restricts how a tax return preparer may use or disclose the information in your return. Where a disclosure needs your written consent, we will ask you for it separately and explain what it covers. Using your information to prepare and file the return you engaged us for does not require a separate consent.
How long we keep it
We keep client records for as long as we are engaged and for the period afterwards that professional and legal requirements call for. Ask us if you want to know what we hold for you.
How your information is protected
- Documents are sent through our secure upload portal rather than as email attachments.
- Access to client records is limited to the people at the firm who need it.
- Our systems run on infrastructure that encrypts data in transit and at rest.
Asking about your information
To ask what we hold, to correct something, or to ask a question about this page, email kenny@pacificsunrisetax.com or call (714) 369-9442.