Terms of Service – aligned.tax

Last updated: 8th March 2026

These Terms of Service ("Terms") govern access to and use of the aligned.tax platform ("Service") operated by Abridged Ltd ("Company", "we", "our", "us"), a company registered in England and Wales (Company Number: 17081706) with its registered address at 167-169 Great Portland Street, 5th Floor, London, W1W 5PF.

By creating an account or using the Service, you agree to be bound by these Terms.

If you do not agree, you must not use the Service.

1. About the Service

aligned.tax is a software platform that enables users to prepare financial summaries and transmit financial information to HMRC under the Making Tax Digital ("MTD") framework.

The Service provides tools including:

• Spreadsheet upload and transformation
• Financial data categorisation (including AI-assisted categorisation)
• Integration with HMRC APIs for self-employment and property income
• Preparation of quarterly updates, annual summaries, year-end adjustments, and final declarations
• Audit logs and submission history
• Team-based access with role-based permissions for accountants, bookkeepers, and agents

The Service is software infrastructure only and does not provide professional tax, accounting, or financial advice.

2. Eligibility and Authority

To use the Service you must:

• Be at least 18 years old
• Have legal capacity to enter into a binding contract
• Have authority to submit tax data on behalf of yourself or your clients

If you use the Service on behalf of another person or organisation, you confirm you have authority to do so and that you have obtained all necessary consents.

3. Nature of the Service

The Service provides tools that transform user-provided financial data into formats compatible with HMRC systems.

The Company:

• Does not prepare tax returns on behalf of users
• Does not determine tax liabilities
• Does not verify financial records
• Does not provide tax advice

Users remain responsible for their own tax compliance.

4. No Tax or Accounting Advice

Nothing within the Service constitutes tax advice, accounting advice, or financial advice.

Any calculations, summaries, or suggestions generated by the Service — including AI-generated categorisations and recommendations — are provided for informational purposes only.

Users should seek professional advice where appropriate.

5. HMRC Authorisation

When connecting your HMRC account to the Service, you authorise the platform to interact with HMRC systems using the permissions granted via HMRC's OAuth authorisation process.

This may include:

• Retrieving business information and individual details
• Retrieving tax obligations and obligation periods
• Transmitting quarterly updates, annual summaries, and final declarations
• Retrieving submission confirmations and tax calculations
• Retrieving and managing business source adjustable summaries
• Managing individual losses

You may revoke this authorisation at any time through HMRC or by disconnecting your integration within the Service.

The Company will only use HMRC authorisation credentials for the purposes described in these Terms and will not access HMRC systems beyond the scope of the permissions granted.

5.1 HMRC Fraud Prevention

In accordance with The Income Tax (Digital Requirements) Regulations, the Service is legally required to collect and transmit fraud prevention data to HMRC with every API request. This includes device identifiers, IP address, browser information, and connection details. By using the Service, you acknowledge and consent to this mandatory data collection. Further details are set out in our Privacy Policy.

5.2 HMRC Sandbox and Production Environments

The Service may use HMRC sandbox environments for testing purposes. Data submitted to the sandbox environment is not transmitted to HMRC's live systems and has no effect on your tax affairs.

6. User Responsibilities

You are solely responsible for:

• The accuracy of financial data uploaded to the Service
• Verifying all information prior to submission to HMRC
• Reviewing and confirming all AI-generated suggestions before submission
• Maintaining records required under tax law
• Ensuring compliance with applicable tax legislation
• Safeguarding your account credentials and HMRC authorisation

The Company does not audit or verify financial information.

7. Spreadsheet Upload Disclaimer

Financial data uploaded to the Service originates from users or their agents.

The Company does not audit, validate, or verify spreadsheet data beyond basic format and structure checks required for processing.

Errors in spreadsheet data may result in incorrect financial summaries or submissions. Users are responsible for ensuring data accuracy before confirming any submission.

8. AI Assistance Disclaimer

The Service may provide AI-generated categorisation, column mapping suggestions, or guidance through its AI coach feature.

AI outputs:

• May be incomplete or inaccurate
• Are informational only and do not constitute tax advice
• Must be reviewed by the user before submission
• Are generated by third-party AI providers (see our Privacy Policy for details)

The user remains responsible for verifying all information. No submission to HMRC occurs without the user's explicit confirmation.

9. Software Scope and Limitations

The Service is designed to support specific Making Tax Digital for Income Tax Self Assessment (MTD ITSA) workflows.

It may not support all tax scenarios including but not limited to:

• Partnerships
• Complex capital allowances
• Trusts
• Unusual tax treatments
• Bespoke accounting methods
• Foreign property income for tax years before 2026-27

Users must ensure the Service is suitable for their circumstances.

10. User Confirmation Before Submission

Before transmitting data to HMRC, the Service provides a summary of the information to be submitted.

By confirming submission, the user verifies that the information is complete and accurate to the best of their knowledge.

The Company is entitled to rely on this confirmation without further enquiry.

11. Third-Party Services

The Service relies on third-party systems including:

• HMRC APIs (for tax data submission and retrieval)
• Cloud infrastructure providers (for hosting and file storage)
• Payment processors (for subscription billing)
• Email and SMS delivery providers (for notifications and two-factor authentication)
• AI providers (for categorisation and mapping suggestions)
• Analytics services (for usage monitoring)
• Error monitoring services (for application reliability)

The Company is not responsible for outages, failures, or errors caused by these third-party services. A full list of third-party sub-processors is maintained in our Privacy Policy and Data Processing Agreement.

12. Service Availability

The Service is provided on an "as available" basis.

We do not guarantee uninterrupted availability or error-free operation.

We may from time to time perform maintenance, updates, or improvements to the Service, which may result in temporary unavailability. Where practicable, we will provide advance notice of planned maintenance.

13. Audit Logs

For compliance and security purposes the Service records:

• Submission confirmations and HMRC responses
• Timestamps of all submissions and key actions
• User activity and login history (with IP addresses hashed for privacy)
• System events and error records

These records may be retained for up to 7 years for compliance and troubleshooting purposes.

14. Data Protection

We process personal data in accordance with our Privacy Policy.

Where accountants or organisations upload client data, aligned.tax acts as a data processor and the user acts as the data controller. Our Data Processing Agreement applies to such processing.

For further details of our sub-processors, international data transfers, and your rights under UK GDPR, please refer to our Privacy Policy.

15. Data Retention and Deletion

Submission records and audit logs may be retained for up to 7 years from the date of submission to comply with tax record-keeping requirements.

Upon account termination:

• Users may export available data before account closure
• Personal data will be deleted or anonymised in accordance with the retention periods set out in our Privacy Policy, unless retention is required by law
• Uploaded files stored in cloud storage will be deleted

16. Subscriptions and Payments

Some features of the Service may require payment.

Where applicable:

• Subscriptions renew automatically at the end of each billing period
• Fees are charged in advance
• Failed payments may result in suspension of access to paid features
• All prices are stated inclusive of VAT where applicable

Refunds are issued at our discretion unless required by law. Pricing may change with reasonable notice.

17. Consumer Cancellation Rights

If you are a consumer, you may have the right to cancel your subscription within 14 days of purchase under the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013.

If you begin using the Service during this period and provide your express consent, you acknowledge that you may lose your right to cancel once the Service has been fully performed.

To exercise your cancellation right, contact us at hello@aligned.tax.

18. Account Termination

Users may terminate their account at any time through the Service or by contacting us at hello@aligned.tax.

The Company may suspend or terminate accounts for:

• Breach of these Terms
• Suspected misuse or fraud
• Non-payment of fees
• Submission of fraudulent data to HMRC via the Service

Upon termination, clauses relating to limitation of liability, indemnity, intellectual property, data retention, confidentiality, dispute resolution, and governing law shall continue in effect.

19. Acceptable Use

Users must not:

• Submit fraudulent tax data
• Misuse HMRC integrations or exceed authorised access
• Attempt to reverse engineer, decompile, or disassemble the Service
• Interfere with system security or attempt to gain unauthorised access
• Use the Service to process data in violation of Data Protection Laws
• Share account credentials with unauthorised persons
• Use automated tools to scrape or extract data from the Service
• Circumvent rate limits, access controls, or other protective measures

20. Warranty Disclaimer

The Service is provided "as is" and "as available."

The Company makes no warranties, whether express or implied, regarding:

• Accuracy of calculations or AI-generated suggestions
• Suitability for specific tax situations
• Uninterrupted availability
• Fitness for a particular purpose
• Merchantability

21. Limitation of Liability

To the fullest extent permitted by law, the Company shall not be liable for:

• Tax penalties or interest arising from incorrect submissions
• Inaccurate financial data provided by users
• Incorrect tax calculations arising from inaccurate input data
• Business losses
• Loss of profits

Total liability shall not exceed the total fees paid by the user during the preceding 12 months.

If the Service is used free of charge, the Company's liability shall be limited to £0.

Nothing in these Terms excludes or limits liability for death or personal injury caused by negligence, for fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation, or for any other liability that cannot be excluded or limited under applicable law.

22. Exclusion of Consequential Loss

The Company shall not be liable for indirect or consequential losses including:

• Loss of profits
• Loss of business
• Loss of data
• Reputational damage

23. Indemnity

Users agree to indemnify the Company against claims, damages, and reasonable legal costs arising from:

• Misuse of the Service
• Fraudulent submissions
• Breach of these Terms
• Infringement of any third party's rights arising from data uploaded by the user

24. Professional Adviser and Accountant Responsibility

Where the Service is used by accountants, bookkeepers, tax agents, or other professional advisers ("Advisers") on behalf of their clients, the following provisions apply.

Advisers remain solely responsible for:

• All professional advice, tax compliance guidance, and recommendations provided to their clients
• Verifying the accuracy and completeness of financial data before submission
• Maintaining client records in accordance with professional and regulatory obligations
• Ensuring that the use of the Service is consistent with their professional duties and applicable codes of conduct
• Obtaining appropriate authority from clients before submitting data to HMRC

The Company is not responsible for any advice, opinion, recommendation, or action taken by an Adviser in connection with the Service.

The relationship between an Adviser and their client is independent of the Company. The Company is not a party to that relationship and accepts no liability arising from it.

Advisers are responsible for ensuring that their clients understand the nature of the Service and that the Service does not constitute tax or accounting advice.

Where submissions are made by an Adviser on behalf of a client, the Adviser warrants that they have obtained all necessary authority from the client to submit data to HMRC using the Service.

The Company shall have no liability to any end client of an Adviser in connection with the Service. Any claim by such end client must be directed to the Adviser.

Advisers agree to indemnify the Company against any claim brought by their clients or any third party arising from the Adviser's use of the Service, including but not limited to claims relating to incorrect submissions, incorrect advice, or failure to comply with professional obligations.

25. No Direct Relationship with End Clients

Where the Service is used by an Adviser on behalf of a client, the Company has no contractual relationship with the Adviser's client.

The Company owes no duty of care to, and accepts no liability towards, any person who has not directly accepted these Terms.

Any person who is not a party to these Terms shall have no right under the Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999 to enforce any provision of these Terms.

26. Electronic Communications

By using the Service, you consent to receiving electronic communications from us relating to your account, including:

• Service notifications and updates
• Submission confirmations
• Security alerts and two-factor authentication messages
• Changes to these Terms or related policies

We will not send marketing communications without your separate consent. You may update your communication preferences at any time through your account settings.

27. Intellectual Property

All intellectual property rights in the Service, including software, branding, documentation, and content, remain the exclusive property of the Company.

Nothing in these Terms grants the user any licence or right to use the Company's intellectual property beyond what is necessary to use the Service in accordance with these Terms.

User-uploaded data remains the property of the user. The Company claims no ownership over financial data or documents uploaded by users.

28. Consumer Rights

Nothing in these Terms is intended to exclude or limit any rights that you have as a consumer under applicable law, including the Consumer Rights Act 2015.

Where any provision of these Terms conflicts with mandatory consumer protection law, the relevant statutory right shall prevail.

29. Changes to These Terms

We may update these Terms from time to time.

Where changes are material, we will provide reasonable notice by email or through the Service before the changes take effect.

Continued use of the Service after the effective date of changes constitutes acceptance of the updated Terms. If you do not agree with the changes, you may terminate your account.

30. Force Majeure

The Company is not liable for failures caused by events beyond its reasonable control, including but not limited to outages of third-party systems or government services, natural disasters, cyber-attacks, pandemic, or changes in law or regulation.

31. No Waiver

A failure or delay by the Company in exercising any right or remedy under these Terms shall not constitute a waiver of that right or remedy.

No single or partial exercise of any right shall preclude any further exercise of that right.

32. Assignment

The Company may assign or transfer these Terms, or any rights or obligations under them, to a third party including in connection with a merger, acquisition, or sale of assets, provided that the assignee assumes the Company's obligations under these Terms.

Users may not assign or transfer their rights or obligations under these Terms without the Company's prior written consent.

33. Severability

If any provision of these Terms is found to be unenforceable, the remaining provisions will continue in effect.

34. Entire Agreement

These Terms, together with the Privacy Policy and any applicable Data Processing Agreement, constitute the entire agreement between the parties.

They supersede all prior discussions, representations, and agreements relating to the subject matter of these Terms.

35. Survival

Clauses which by their nature are intended to survive termination shall continue in effect, including but not limited to clauses relating to limitation of liability (21–22), indemnity (23), intellectual property (27), data retention (15), no direct relationship with end clients (25), professional adviser responsibility (24), dispute resolution (36), and governing law (37).

36. Dispute Resolution

Parties will attempt to resolve disputes through good-faith negotiation.

If unresolved, disputes may be referred to mediation or arbitration through a recognised UK dispute resolution body such as CEDR before litigation.

37. Governing Law

These Terms are governed by the laws of England and Wales.

The courts of England and Wales shall have exclusive jurisdiction over any dispute arising under or in connection with these Terms, except where applicable consumer protection law grants you the right to bring proceedings in your local courts.

Contact Us

If you have questions about these Terms, contact us at:

Email: hello@aligned.tax Post: Abridged Ltd, 167-169 Great Portland Street, 5th Floor, London, W1W 5PF