Refund Policy

Refund Policy

Beacon Tax Relief LLC

Effective Date: [EFFECTIVE_DATE]
Last Updated: [LAST_UPDATED_DATE]
Version: 1.0

Note to founder: This policy must be: (a) linked at checkout before payment is captured; (b) included in the order confirmation email; (c) accessible from the website footer at [WEBSITE_URL]/refund-policy. A refund policy that is not conspicuously disclosed before purchase is not enforceable against chargebacks and violates FTC subscription guidance.

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Summary (Plain Language)

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1. Subscription Refunds

1.1 The 14-Day Money-Back Guarantee

Beacon Tax Relief LLC offers a 14-day money-back guarantee on your first monthly subscription payment only.

If you are a first-time subscriber and are not satisfied with the Service, you may request a full refund of your first month's subscription fee, provided:

(a) Eligibility: You are making a first-time subscription purchase. This guarantee does not apply to:

• Subscription renewals (second month and beyond)
• Upgrades from a lower tier to a higher tier (the original subscription purchase date governs)
• Accounts that have previously received a refund under this policy
• Accounts terminated for violation of the Terms of Service

(b) Request window: Your refund request must be received by support@beacontaxrelief.com within 14 calendar days of your initial subscription purchase date. The clock starts on the date of the original charge, not on the date you first log in or use the Service.

(c) How to request: Email support@beacontaxrelief.com with:

• Subject line: "Refund Request — [Your Account Email]"
• Your account email address
• Date of your subscription purchase
• Brief reason for your request (optional but helpful for our records)

(d) Processing: We will confirm receipt within 2 business days and process approved refunds within 10 business days to your original payment method. Bank processing times may add 3–5 business days before funds appear in your account.

(e) Effect of refund: Upon refund, your subscription will be cancelled and your account will be downgraded. You retain read-only access to your data for 90 days, after which data is deleted per our Privacy Policy.

1.2 After 14 Days — No Refunds on Monthly Plans

After the 14-day money-back window closes:

• Monthly subscription fees are non-refundable.
• If you cancel your subscription at any time, your subscription remains active through the end of the billing period you have already paid for.
• No prorated refunds are issued for unused days remaining in a monthly billing period.
• Cancellation takes effect at the end of the current period. You will not be charged for subsequent periods.

Example: You subscribe on March 1 and cancel on March 25. Your subscription remains active through March 31. No refund is issued for March 25–31. No charge occurs for April.

1.3 Annual Subscriptions

If Beacon Tax Relief LLC offers annual subscription plans:

(a) Initial 14-day window: The 14-day money-back guarantee applies to your first annual payment, subject to the same conditions as Section 1.1.

(b) Prorated refund window (30 days from annual renewal): If you cancel an annual subscription within 30 days of the annual renewal date, Beacon Tax Relief LLC will issue a prorated refund calculated as follows:

Prorated Refund = (Annual Fee ÷ 12) × Number of Complete Unused Months Remaining at Time of Cancellation

(c) After 30 days from annual renewal: No refund is available after 30 days from the annual renewal charge.

(d) Mid-year cancellations (not within 14-day initial window or 30-day renewal window): No refund for annual subscriptions cancelled outside these windows. Access continues through the end of the annual period.

Example of prorated calculation: Annual plan charges $[ANNUAL_PRICE] on January 1. You cancel on January 20 (within 30-day window). At time of cancellation, 11 complete months remain (February through December). Refund = ($[ANNUAL_PRICE] ÷ 12) × 11.

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2. Document Pack Refunds

2.1 Refund Before Generation

Document Packs are one-time purchases priced at $99–$249.

A full refund is available if and only if the Document Pack has not yet been generated. To request a pre-generation refund:

• Email support@beacontaxrelief.com with subject line "Document Pack Refund — [Your Account Email]" before initiating document generation
• Refunds are processed within 10 business days

2.2 No Refund After Generation

Once document generation is initiated — that is, once you click "Generate Pack," "Create My Documents," or an equivalent action — the Document Pack purchase is final and no refund will be issued.

This policy applies regardless of:

• Whether you downloaded the documents
• Whether you reviewed the documents
• Whether you submitted the documents to the IRS
• Whether the IRS accepted or rejected any document
• Whether you decided not to use the documents after generation

Rationale: Document generation consumes computing resources and your data is processed to produce the pack. Once generated, that service has been rendered and the purchase is final.

2.3 Generation Trigger

Generation is triggered at the moment you click the Generate button. The system logs this action with a timestamp. If you believe generation was triggered by error (e.g., accidental click before you entered your data), contact support@beacontaxrelief.com within 24 hours — we will review on a case-by-case basis and may reverse the generation on the first such occurrence.

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3. What Is Not Refundable

The following are categorically non-refundable:

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4. Cancellation Procedure

Cancellation and refund requests are separate.

To cancel your subscription:

• Option 1: Self-service — go to [WEBSITE_URL]/account/cancel and follow the prompts
• Option 2: Email support@beacontaxrelief.com with subject "Cancel Subscription — [Your Account Email]"

Cancellation takes effect at the end of the current billing period. You will retain access through the period for which you have paid.

Cancellation confirmation: You will receive a cancellation confirmation email within 24 hours. If you do not receive this confirmation, contact support@beacontaxrelief.com — do not assume your cancellation was processed.

Important: Cancelling your subscription does not automatically trigger a refund. A separate refund request must be submitted within the applicable refund window (Section 1) if you wish to receive a refund.

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5. Chargebacks

5.1 Contact Us First

If you believe a charge on your account is unauthorized or in error, please contact us before initiating a chargeback with your bank or credit card issuer. We can typically resolve billing disputes faster than the chargeback process:

Email: support@beacontaxrelief.com

Subject: "Billing Dispute — [Your Account Email]"
Response time: 2 business days

5.2 When Chargebacks Are Appropriate

Chargebacks are appropriate for genuinely unauthorized charges (e.g., if your payment information was stolen and used without your knowledge). In those cases, please notify us AND your card issuer.

5.3 Bad-Faith Chargebacks

Beacon Tax Relief LLC contests chargebacks filed for services that were received and used. If a chargeback is filed for:

• A subscription charge during a period when the account was active and the Service was accessible
• A Document Pack purchase after the pack was generated
• A charge after the 14-day refund window for a first-time subscriber who used the Service

...we will respond to the chargeback with evidence of service delivery, including access logs, consent records, and document generation timestamps.

Bad-faith chargebacks may result in:

• Account termination
• Suspension from future use of the Service
• Referral to collections if the amount is material

5.4 Friendly Fraud Policy

We understand disputes arise in good faith. Our first response to any disputed charge is to investigate fairly and resolve in the customer's favor where possible within policy limits. We do not contest chargebacks filed within the 14-day money-back window — those are refundable and we process them promptly.

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6. Price Change Disputes

If Beacon Tax Relief LLC increases subscription prices, we will provide 30 days' advance notice by email to your registered address. If you did not receive notice and were charged a higher price than your prior plan, contact support@beacontaxrelief.com within 30 days of the charge and we will refund the difference.

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7. How to Reach Us

Refund requests and billing disputes:
Email: support@beacontaxrelief.com

Subject format: "Refund Request — [Your Account Email]" or "Billing Dispute — [Your Account Email]"

Mailing address (for formal written requests):
Beacon Tax Relief LLC

[BUSINESS_ADDRESS]
[CITY, STATE, ZIP]

We aim to respond to all refund-related inquiries within 2 business days and process approved refunds within 10 business days.

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8. Modifications

Beacon Tax Relief LLC reserves the right to modify this Refund Policy at any time upon 30 days' advance notice to your registered email address. Changes do not apply retroactively to purchases made before the effective date of the change. If you have a pending refund request when a policy change takes effect, your request will be evaluated under the policy in effect at the time of purchase.

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This Refund Policy was prepared in conjunction with the compliance framework in compliance_framework.md §8.5 (Chargeback Mitigation) and §9 (Tier 2 — Cancellation Mechanism, FTC Click-to-Cancel rule). FTC 2023 Click-to-Cancel rule (effective 2024) requires that subscription cancellation be at least as simple as the signup process. FTC — Negative Option Marketing

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This is a standalone customer-facing policy. The Terms of Service at [WEBSITE_URL]/terms-of-service governs in the event of any conflict between this Refund Policy and the Terms.