Data Retention Policy
Last updated: 2026-05-20
Our principle
We retain the minimum amount of data needed to (a) prove that your IRS filing was transmitted, (b) reproduce next year's filing without you re-entering everything, and (c) meet our own records-retention obligations. We deliberately do not store copies of bank statements or signed PDFs after they have served their purpose.
Discarded during normal processing
| Data type | Lifetime | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| Uploaded bank statement files (CSV/PDF) | Processed in memory; not persisted | Parsed to extract totals, then dropped without being written to disk |
| Individual transaction rows (uploaded or imported via Plaid) | Lifetime of your review session | Used to display the categorization review; discarded when you confirm the totals |
| Plaid access tokens | Revoked immediately after transaction import is complete, or on user request | No persistent bank connection is retained beyond the import session unless you opt to keep it |
| Signed PDFs you upload | Up to 72 hours | Held only to fax to the IRS and return the receipt; deleted after fax confirmation |
| Generated unsigned PDFs | Regenerated on demand | Built from your retained entity / owner / totals data; not stored after download |
Retained for proof and reuse
| Data type | Retention period | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Fax transmission receipts | 7 years from filing date | Proof of filing — matches IRS records retention (26 CFR § 1.6001-1) |
| Aggregated contribution and distribution totals per year | 7 years | Required to reproduce or amend the filing if challenged |
| Entity and owner identification data | 7 years from last filing | Makes next year's filing one-click |
| Account email and login records | Active + 12 months | To let you retrieve your receipts after a period of inactivity |
| Payment records (Stripe metadata) | 7 years | U.S. tax and accounting requirements |
| Server access logs | 30 days | Security and incident response |
Deletion process
Records past their retention period are deleted on a rolling monthly basis. Deletion is irreversible — once a filing's retention period expires we cannot retrieve it.
Early deletion at your request
You can request earlier deletion of your account and all associated data at any time by emailing support@form5472prep.com from the email address associated with your account. We process requests within 30 days. We may retain a minimal record of the deletion itself (the timestamp, the requesting email) for audit purposes.
What we do not retain
- Bank statement files — discarded immediately after parsing.
- Individual line-item transactions — discarded after totals are confirmed.
- Signed PDFs — deleted within 72 hours of fax confirmation.
- Payment card data — handled and stored exclusively by Stripe.
- Passwords — we use passwordless authentication (one-time email magic-link or Google OAuth); no passwords are ever stored.
- Bank login credentials — never seen or stored. Plaid handles authentication directly with your financial institution.
- Raw transaction data from Plaid — only the contribution/distribution totals are retained for filing reproduction; individual line items are discarded after review.