SteppinAI

Terms & Conditions of Service

Steppin Stone Tax & Accounting Services

Version 1.0  ·  Effective Date: May 18, 2026

1. Scope of Services

Steppin Stone provides federal, state, and local tax preparation, electronic filing, bookkeeping, payroll, advisory, audit defense, and related accounting services. The exact scope of any engagement is defined in your engagement letter or as expressly described within the Services. We do not provide legal, investment, or insurance advice unless separately engaged in writing.

2. Use of Artificial Intelligence

SteppinAI is an AI-native platform. Artificial intelligence is used to extract data from your documents, classify forms, calculate returns, generate filings, and surface review items. A licensed human professional reviews every return before transmission to the IRS or any state tax authority; the AI does not file your return autonomously.

• You acknowledge that AI systems may make errors; final accuracy is verified by our staff under our Zero-Tolerance-for-Errors policy.
• Documents you upload may be processed by automated extraction systems and large language model providers under written confidentiality and data-handling agreements.
• Conversational assistants ("AFB" and similar) are informational only and do not constitute personalized tax advice unless confirmed by a licensed preparer.

3. Client Responsibilities

• Provide complete, accurate, and timely information and documents.
• Review every return, schedule, and form for accuracy before signing.
• Promptly notify us of any change in filing status, dependents, income, residency, or banking information.
• Maintain your own copies of all source documents for at least seven (7) years.
• Not use the Services for any unlawful purpose, including filing fraudulent returns or misrepresenting identity.

4. Fees, Billing & Refunds

Fees are disclosed before any return is transmitted and may be paid by credit card, ACH, bank product, or other approved methods. Once a return has been transmitted to the IRS, preparation fees are generally non-refundable. Disputed charges must be raised within thirty (30) days of the invoice date.

5. Electronic Signatures & Communications

You consent to the use of electronic signatures (including IRS Form 8879 and equivalent state e-file authorizations) and electronic delivery of returns, notices, invoices, and other communications under the federal E-SIGN Act (15 U.S.C. §7001 et seq.) and the Uniform Electronic Transactions Act. You may withdraw this consent at any time by contacting us, in which case continued service may not be possible.

6. Data Use, Privacy & Confidentiality

We handle your information in accordance with IRS §7216 disclosure rules, the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA), the IRS Publication 4557 Safeguards Rule, and our Privacy Policy. Tax return information is never sold, never used for unrelated marketing, and never disclosed to third parties without your written consent, except as required by law or as necessary to prepare and transmit your return.

You also have the right to:

• Request a copy of the personal information we hold about you.
• Request correction of inaccurate information.
• Request deletion subject to legal record-retention obligations (see Section 10).
• Opt out of marketing at any time (see Section 8).

7. Cookies & Tracking Technologies

Our Services use cookies and similar technologies. We classify them as follows:

• Strictly necessary — session, authentication, CSRF, MFA, and security cookies. These cannot be disabled and do not require your consent under applicable law.
• Functional — preferences such as theme, language, and saved form state.
• Analytics — aggregated, de-identified usage measurement to improve the platform.

We do not use third-party advertising cookies. By checking the cookies consent box at signup, or by clicking "Accept" on our cookie banner, you consent to the categories above. You may withdraw consent for non-essential cookies at any time in your account settings or by clearing cookies in your browser.

8. Marketing Communications

If you check the marketing-consent box, you agree that Steppin Stone may contact you by email and, where you have provided a mobile number, by SMS or push notification with tax-season reminders, product updates, educational content, promotional offers, and newsletters. Message and data rates may apply for SMS. You can opt out at any time by:

• Clicking the "unsubscribe" link in any marketing email,
• Replying STOP to any SMS,
• Or updating your communication preferences in your account.

Opting out of marketing does not stop transactional or service messages such as appointment reminders, return status updates, IRS notices, signature requests, security alerts, or invoices, which are sent under our legitimate business interest in performing the engagement.

9. Account Security & MFA

You are responsible for safeguarding your password and for all activity that occurs under your account. We strongly recommend enabling multi-factor authentication (MFA). You must promptly notify us of any unauthorized use of your account or any other breach of security.

10. Record Retention

Consistent with IRS requirements and our professional obligations, we retain electronic copies of your tax returns, supporting documents, signed authorizations, and engagement records for a minimum of seven (7) years from the date the return is filed. After this period, records may be securely deleted unless a longer retention period is required by law.

11. Intellectual Property

All software, content, design, trademarks, and materials forming part of the Services are owned by Steppin Stone or its licensors and are protected by U.S. and international intellectual-property laws. You are granted a limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable, revocable license to use the Services solely for your personal or internal business tax purposes. You may not reverse engineer, scrape, resell, or build a competing product from the Services.

12. Disclaimer of Warranties

The Services are provided on an "AS IS" and "AS AVAILABLE" basis. To the maximum extent permitted by law, Steppin Stone disclaims all warranties, express or implied, including merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, non-infringement, and accuracy. We do not warrant that the Services will be uninterrupted, error-free, or that any specific tax outcome will be achieved.

13. Limitation of Liability

To the maximum extent permitted by law, Steppin Stone's aggregate liability for any claim arising out of or relating to the Services shall not exceed the fees actually paid by you to Steppin Stone for the specific engagement giving rise to the claim during the twelve (12) months preceding the event. In no event shall Steppin Stone be liable for indirect, incidental, consequential, special, exemplary, or punitive damages, including lost profits, lost data, or interest and penalties imposed by any taxing authority arising from inaccurate or untimely information you supplied.

14. Indemnification

You agree to indemnify, defend, and hold harmless Steppin Stone, its officers, employees, and contractors from any claim, loss, damage, or expense (including reasonable attorney's fees) arising out of or relating to (a) your breach of these Terms, (b) inaccurate or incomplete information you provided, (c) your misuse of the Services, or (d) your violation of any applicable law.

15. Termination

Either party may terminate the engagement at any time on written notice. We may suspend or terminate your account immediately if we reasonably believe you have violated these Terms or applicable law, or if continuing service would expose us to legal, regulatory, or security risk. Sections that by their nature should survive termination (including fees owed, confidentiality, IP, disclaimers, liability, indemnity, and dispute resolution) shall survive.

16. Governing Law & Dispute Resolution

These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of Illinois, without regard to its conflict-of-laws rules. Any dispute arising under or relating to these Terms shall first be addressed by good-faith negotiation. If unresolved within thirty (30) days, the dispute shall be submitted to binding arbitration administered by the American Arbitration Association under its Consumer Arbitration Rules, except that either party may seek injunctive relief in a court of competent jurisdiction to protect intellectual property or confidential information. You and Steppin Stone waive any right to participate in a class action or class arbitration.

17. Changes to These Terms

We may update these Terms from time to time. Material changes will be posted on this page with a new version number and effective date, and where appropriate we will notify you by email or in-app message. Continued use of the Services after the effective date constitutes acceptance of the revised Terms.