1. Acceptance of the Terms
By accessing or using federaltaxnotes.buzz (the "Site"), operated under the brand Federaltaxnotes, you agree to be bound by these Terms of Service (the "Terms"). If you do not agree with any part of these Terms, you should not use the Site. These Terms apply to all visitors, readers and users of the Site, regardless of how they arrived at it, including through search engines, direct links, or referrals from other websites.
These Terms, together with our Privacy Policy and Cookie Policy, constitute the entire agreement between you and Federaltaxnotes regarding your use of the Site. Continued use of the Site after any changes to these Terms constitutes your acceptance of those changes.
2. Who May Use the Site
The Site is intended for general audiences seeking information about United States federal and state tax refund statuses, processing stages, payment methods, and the official channels used to check refund progress. There is no age restriction on reading the Site's content, though the Site is not designed or marketed to children, and we do not knowingly collect information from children. If you are using the Site on behalf of an organization, you represent that you have the authority to bind that organization to these Terms.
3. Permitted and Prohibited Use
You may use the Site to read, browse and reference the informational content we publish, including our comparison-style explanations of how different refund statuses, tracking tools, and payment methods differ from one another. You may share links to our pages and quote brief excerpts with proper attribution.
You may not:
- Copy, reproduce, republish, or redistribute substantial portions of the Site's content without prior written permission;
- Use automated tools, scrapers, or bots to extract content from the Site at scale;
- Attempt to interfere with, disrupt, or compromise the security or availability of the Site;
- Use the Site to impersonate any government agency, tax authority, or official refund-tracking service;
- Misrepresent the Site as an official channel for checking or expediting a tax refund;
- Use the Site for any unlawful purpose or in violation of any applicable federal, state, or local law.
4. Intellectual Property
All content on the Site, including text, articles, comparisons, graphics, layout, and the Federaltaxnotes name and any associated visual identity, is owned by or licensed to Federaltaxnotes and is protected by copyright, trademark, and other intellectual property laws. Nothing in these Terms grants you any ownership rights in the Site or its content. Any use beyond what is permitted in Section 3 requires our prior written consent.
5. User-Submitted Content
The Site does not currently operate comment sections, forums, or other means for visitors to submit content publicly. If you contact us by email, any information or feedback you send becomes something we may use to improve our content, respond to your inquiry, or address recurring questions, subject to our Privacy Policy. You should not send us sensitive personal information, such as your Social Security number or full financial account details, through unsecured email.
6. Informational Purpose Only and No Professional Advice
Federaltaxnotes is an independent, informational publication. The Site explains, in comparison form, how federal and state refund statuses differ, how refund tracking tools work, what "received," "approved," and "sent" typically mean, how direct deposit compares with paper check disbursement, and why refunds are sometimes delayed or offset. None of this content constitutes tax, legal, financial, or accounting advice, and it is not a substitute for guidance from a qualified tax professional, enrolled agent, certified public accountant, or attorney.
We are not affiliated with, endorsed by, or acting on behalf of the Internal Revenue Service, any state department of revenue or taxation, or any other government agency. For the actual status of a specific refund, you must use the official tools provided by the relevant tax authority. Nothing on the Site should be relied upon as a determination of your individual tax situation.
7. No Warranties
The Site and its content are provided on an "as is" and "as available" basis, without warranties of any kind, whether express, implied, or statutory. We do not warrant that the content is accurate, complete, current, or free of errors, that the Site will be uninterrupted or error-free, or that any information published will match the outcome of your particular refund process. Tax rules, agency procedures, and processing timeframes change frequently, and we cannot guarantee that every page reflects the most recent updates at the moment you read it.
8. Limitation of Liability
To the fullest extent permitted by law, Federaltaxnotes, its owners, contributors, and affiliates shall not be liable for any direct, indirect, incidental, consequential, special, or punitive damages arising out of or related to your use of, or inability to use, the Site, including but not limited to reliance on any information published here regarding refund statuses, processing stages, delays, offsets, or payment methods. Your sole remedy for dissatisfaction with the Site is to stop using it.
9. Indemnity
You agree to indemnify, defend, and hold harmless Federaltaxnotes and its owners, employees, and contributors from any claims, damages, losses, liabilities, and expenses, including reasonable legal fees, arising out of your violation of these Terms, your misuse of the Site, or your violation of any rights of a third party.
10. Links to Third-Party Sites
The Site may contain links to official government resources, such as tax authority refund-tracking tools, as well as links to third-party informational or commercial sites. We do not control and are not responsible for the content, accuracy, or practices of any third-party site. Where the Site includes affiliate or referral links, this is disclosed on our Affiliate Disclosure page; following such a link and taking an action there may result in a commission being paid to Federaltaxnotes, at no additional cost to you. Inclusion of a link does not imply endorsement of the linked site's content or of any product or service it may offer.
11. Suspension and Termination
We reserve the right to restrict, suspend, or terminate your access to the Site, without notice, if we believe you have violated these Terms or engaged in conduct that is unlawful, harmful to the Site, or harmful to other users. These Terms will survive any termination to the extent necessary to give effect to their intent.
12. Governing Law
These Terms are governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the United States and the state in which Federaltaxnotes' registered operator is organized, without regard to conflict-of-law principles. Any dispute arising under these Terms shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts located in that state, unless applicable law requires otherwise.
13. Changes to the Terms
We may revise these Terms from time to time to reflect changes in our practices, the content we publish, or applicable law. The "Last updated" date at the top of this page indicates when the Terms were last revised. Your continued use of the Site after any revision becomes effective constitutes acceptance of the revised Terms. We encourage you to review this page periodically.
14. Contact
If you have questions about these Terms, you can reach us at [email protected] or by phone at +1 (512) 555-0102, Monday to Friday 10:00–19:00, Saturday and Sunday closed. Our published address is 164 Market Street, Suite 6, Austin, TX 78546, United States. You can also visit our Contact page or learn more About Us. For an overview of the subjects we cover, see What We Cover.