Privacy Policy of Hearthstone Fiscal
Hearthstone Fiscal is committed to protecting the privacy and security of your personal information. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, disclose, and protect information when you use our services and visit our online platform.
By using our services or accessing our online platform, you agree to the collection and use of information in accordance with this policy.
Information We Collect
We collect various types of information to provide and improve our tax consulting services. This data may include:
- Personal Identifiable Information (PII): This includes your name, address, email address, phone number, date of birth, National Insurance number, tax identification numbers, financial details (such as bank accounts, income, investments), and any other information necessary for personal tax returns, corporate tax planning, VAT compliance, inheritance tax advice, international tax considerations, HMRC enquiry support, R&D tax credits, and capital gains tax services.
- Corporate Information: For corporate clients, this includes company name, registration details, financial statements, VAT registration numbers, company director details, and other relevant business information.
- Sensitive Data: We may exceptionally collect sensitive data where required by law for specific tax services (e.g., related to health conditions for certain tax reliefs), strictly with your explicit consent.
- Usage Data: Information on how our online platform is accessed and used. This may include your computer's Internet Protocol (IP) address, browser type, browser version, the pages of our site that you visit, the time and date of your visit, the time spent on those pages, unique device identifiers and other diagnostic data.
- Communication Data: Records of communications with us, including emails and telephone calls.
How We Use Your Information
Hearthstone Fiscal uses the collected data for various purposes, primarily to provide our tax consulting services:
- To provide and maintain our services, including processing personal tax returns, corporate tax planning, VAT compliance, and other related services.
- To notify you about changes to our services or terms.
- To allow you to participate in interactive features of our service when you choose to do so.
- To provide client support and respond to your inquiries.
- To improve our online platform and overall service offerings.
- To monitor the usage of our online platform.
- To detect, prevent and address technical issues.
- To comply with legal obligations, including those related to HMRC and other regulatory bodies.
Legal Basis for Processing Personal Data under GDPR
We process your personal data under the following legal bases:
- Contractual Necessity: Processing is necessary for the performance of a contract with you or to take steps at your request before entering into such a contract (e.g., providing tax advice, preparing returns).
- Legal Obligation: Processing is necessary for compliance with a legal obligation to which Hearthstone Fiscal is subject (e.g., tax laws, anti-money laundering regulations).
- Legitimate Interests: Processing is necessary for our legitimate interests or those of a third party, provided those interests are not overridden by your rights and interests (e.g., improving our services, preventing fraud, maintaining security).
- Consent: In specific cases where none of the above apply, we may rely on your explicit consent for processing certain types of data. You have the right to withdraw your consent at any time.
Disclosure of Your Information
We may share your personal information in the following situations:
- Government Bodies: With HMRC and other relevant tax authorities as required by law for tax compliance purposes.
- Service Providers: We may employ third-party companies and individuals to facilitate our service, provide the service on our behalf, perform service-related services or assist us in analysing how our service is used. These third parties have access to your personal data only to perform these tasks on our behalf and are obligated not to disclose or use it for any other purpose.
- Legal Requirements: We may disclose your personal data in the good faith belief that such action is necessary to comply with a legal obligation, protect and defend the rights or property of Hearthstone Fiscal, prevent or investigate possible wrongdoing in connection with the service, protect the personal safety of users of the service or the public, or protect against legal liability.
Data Security
The security of your data is paramount to us. We implement appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your personal data from unauthorised access, alteration, disclosure, or destruction. These measures include encryption, access controls, secure storage solutions, and regular security assessments. However, please remember that no method of transmission over the Internet or method of electronic storage is 100% secure.
Data Retention
Hearthstone Fiscal will retain your personal data only for as long as is necessary for the purposes set out in this Privacy Policy, typically for the duration of our engagement and for a period thereafter as required by UK tax and accounting laws (e.g., 6 years plus the current year for tax records) or for legitimate business purposes.
Your Data Protection Rights Under GDPR
If you are a resident of the European Economic Area (EEA), you have certain data protection rights. We aim to take reasonable steps to allow you to correct, amend, delete, or limit the use of your personal data. These rights include:
- The right to access: You have the right to request copies of your personal data.
- The right to rectification: You have the right to request that we correct any information you believe is inaccurate or complete information you believe is incomplete.
- The right to erasure ("right to be forgotten"): You have the right to request that we erase your personal data under certain conditions.
- The right to restrict processing: You have the right to request that we restrict the processing of your personal data under certain conditions.
- The right to object to processing: You have the right to object to our processing of your personal data under certain conditions.
- The right to data portability: You have the right to request that we transfer the data that we have collected to another organisation, or directly to you, under certain conditions.
- The right to complain to a supervisory authority: You have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) in the UK if you believe your data protection rights have been infringed.
To exercise any of these rights, please contact us using the contact details provided below.
Changes to This Privacy Policy
We may update our Privacy Policy from time to time. We will notify you of any changes by posting the new Privacy Policy on this page. We encourage you to review this Privacy Policy periodically for any changes. Changes to this Privacy Policy are effective when they are posted on this page.
Contact Us
If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, please contact us:
Hearthstone Fiscal
2847 High Street, Suite 315
Birmingham, West Midlands, B4 7SL
United Kingdom