Last updated: 9 October 2026
These Terms contain a binding arbitration agreement and a class action waiver in section 21. They affect how disputes between you and us are resolved. You may opt out of arbitration within 30 days.
1. Who we are, and what these Terms cover
Kyoto is a product of Thrive Fintech Inc., a Delaware corporation doing business as Thrive.Club ("Thrive", "we", "us" or "our"). These Terms of Service (these "Terms") describe the terms and conditions that apply to your use of the website located at heykyoto.com and any successor URL(s) (the "Site"), our mobile applications (the "Apps"), and all related software, tools and services we provide or facilitate access to through them (collectively, the "Service").
By using the Service you agree to these Terms and to our Privacy Policy. If you do not agree, do not use the Service.
2. Eligibility
You must be at least 18 years old and able to enter a binding contract under United States law.
3. What Kyoto does
Kyoto prepares, computes and electronically files United States federal and state individual income tax returns.
We are your tax return preparer. Thrive is a tax return preparer under federal tax law, and an Authorized IRS e-file Provider acting as your Electronic Return Originator. Your return is not a self-prepared return. A Thrive tax professional is responsible for it.
The Service does not include representing you before the IRS or any state authority, and it does not include legal advice, investment advice or financial planning. We are not an investment firm, and nothing in the Service is a recommendation to buy or sell any security.
Kyoto's residency tool for AI assistants
Kyoto also offers a free tool that answers questions about US tax residency from inside an AI assistant, such as Claude or ChatGPT. By using the tool, or by letting your assistant use it for you, you agree to these Terms and to our Privacy Policy, which explains what the tool receives and keeps. Section 2 (eligibility) applies to the tool.
It is general information, not tax advice. The tool gives general information about how the residency rules apply to the facts your assistant sends. It does not prepare, sign or file any return, it does not say whether you must file a return or how much tax you owe, and it does not recommend any choice or election. For advice on your situation, consult a qualified tax professional. Using the tool does not make Thrive your tax return preparer and does not create any client relationship. The statements above about our role as your preparer, e-filing in section 6, the accuracy guarantee in section 7, and fees and subscriptions in section 8 do not apply to the tool.
You are responsible for the facts. The answer depends on the facts your assistant sends. If they are wrong or incomplete, the answer will be wrong. Your assistant explains the answer to you in its own words, and we do not control what it says.
No guarantee. The tool is provided free, "as is" and "as available", and section 17 applies to it. Its answers may be wrong or out of date. Section 19 limits our liability for the tool.
Fair use. You may not use the tool in a way that harms it or other users, including sending automated requests in bulk, trying to get around its limits, or using it to build a competing service. We limit how often the tool can be called, and we may stop or change the tool at any time.
4. Your responsibilities
You agree to give us accurate, complete and timely information, to keep your credentials confidential, to use the Service lawfully, and to answer our questions honestly.
You must review your return before you sign it. Federal e-file rules require you to review the return and confirm that the information on your signature authorisation matches the return, before we transmit it. We will give you a complete copy.
We prepare your return from what you give us. We do not audit or independently verify it, and we cannot be expected to discover fraud or errors in your earlier returns. If your information is wrong or incomplete, your return will be wrong, and you are responsible for the result.
5. Artificial intelligence
Kyoto uses large language models to read your documents and assist in preparing your return. Our Privacy Policy explains where your data goes.
AI output may be inaccurate. It may be false, incomplete, misleading, or out of date, and it may look accurate because of its detail. Do not rely on any statement Kyoto produces without checking it. You must review the output, and you must review your return.
A Thrive tax professional remains responsible for your return. No decision affecting your return is made by automated processing alone.
6. E-filing
We transmit your return once you sign IRS Form 8879 or the equivalent state authorisation. A return is filed only when the taxing authority accepts it. We will tell you when it is accepted, or if it is rejected and why.
You remain responsible for filing on time. Deadlines, extensions and payments are yours to meet.
7. Our accuracy guarantee
If a calculation error in our software causes you to pay a penalty or interest to the IRS or a state authority that you would not otherwise have paid, we will reimburse you, up to a maximum of $10,000.
The guarantee does not cover a penalty or interest caused by information you gave us that was wrong, late or incomplete; by a position you chose to take; by your failure to pay tax owed; or by fraud. You must tell us within 45 days of the assessment, and give us the notice from the authority.
This guarantee is your sole and exclusive remedy for a calculation error. It sits outside the limit in section 19, so that limit does not reduce it.
8. Fees and your subscription
Kyoto is sold as a recurring subscription. We show the price, the billing period and the renewal terms before you buy, and we ask you to agree to them in a separate step. We send you an acknowledgement after you subscribe, and a reminder before each annual renewal.
Your subscription renews automatically at the then-current price until you cancel.
If your term is a year or longer, we remind you between 15 and 45 days before it renews. We send an annual reminder that names the service, the amount and frequency of the charges, and how to cancel. If we change your fee, we tell you between 7 and 30 days before the change takes effect, and we tell you how to cancel.
You can cancel online at any time, from your account settings, in a few steps and without contacting us. Cancellation stops the next renewal. It does not refund the current period.
Fees are non-refundable except where the law requires a refund, where our accuracy guarantee applies, or where we decide otherwise. We may withhold a completed return until payment is received.
9. Your account
Keep your password secret. You are responsible for what happens under your account. We require a second authentication factor before you can transmit a return, and we may require one to sign in. Tell us at once if you suspect unauthorised access.
10. Acceptable use
Do not use the Service to file a false or fraudulent return, to file for someone who has not authorised you, to break any law, to interfere with or probe our systems, to scrape or reverse engineer the Service, or to resell it.
11. Your content, and the licence you give us
You keep ownership of everything you give us. You grant us a licence to store, process, display and transmit your content only to provide the Service to you, to meet our legal duties, and to keep the Service secure. The licence ends when we delete your content, except where the law requires us to retain it.
We do not use your content to market to you or anyone else, and we do not use it to improve Kyoto unless you give the separate signed consent described in section 12.
12. Confidentiality of your tax return information
Your tax return information is protected by section 7216 of the Internal Revenue Code and by the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act. We will not use or disclose it except as those laws permit or as you consent in writing.
Any consent we ask for is a separate signed document, presented on its own screen. It is not part of these Terms, and federal law forbids us from making your use of the Service conditional on giving it, except where the regulations expressly allow that. You may decline any such consent and still have your return prepared.
13. Our intellectual property
The Service, including our software, designs, text and logos, belongs to Thrive or our licensors. You may not copy, distribute or make derivative works from it without our written permission.
14. Third-party services
The Service relies on third parties, including our model provider, our cloud providers and the taxing authorities. We are responsible for our own service providers. We are not responsible for websites we merely link to.
15. Changes to the Service
We may change, suspend or discontinue parts of the Service. If we discontinue something you have paid for, we will refund the unused portion of your subscription.
16. Termination
You may stop using the Service at any time and cancel from your account settings. We may suspend or close your account if you breach these Terms, if we are required to, or if we reasonably suspect fraud. We will keep the records that tax rules require us to keep, and we will give you a copy of any return we prepared for you.
17. Disclaimer of warranties
Except for the accuracy guarantee in section 7, the Service is provided "as is" and "as available". To the fullest extent the law allows, we disclaim all warranties, express or implied, including merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose and non-infringement. We do not warrant that the Service will be uninterrupted, error-free or secure.
Nothing in the Service is legal, investment or financial advice. For a formal tax opinion or for advice on your particular circumstances, consult a qualified professional.
18. Indemnity
You will indemnify Thrive and our officers, employees and agents against claims, damages and reasonable legal costs arising from information you gave us that was false, from your breach of these Terms, or from your breach of the law.
19. Limitation of liability
To the fullest extent the law allows, we are not liable for indirect, incidental, special, consequential or exemplary damages, or for lost profits, lost data or lost goodwill.
Our total liability for all claims is limited to the greater of the fees you paid us in the 12 months before the claim arose, or $100.
This limit does not apply to the accuracy guarantee in section 7, which is capped separately at $10,000.
Nothing in these Terms excludes or limits any liability that the law does not allow us to exclude or limit. This includes liability for fraud or intentional misrepresentation, for willful injury, for gross negligence, and for any violation of law on our part.
20. Informal resolution first
Before starting arbitration, you agree to email us at legal@heykyoto.com with a description of your claim and what you want. We will do the same for you. Each side will try in good faith to resolve the matter for 60 days. This step is a precondition to arbitration, and it suspends any limitation period.
21. Arbitration and class action waiver
If we cannot resolve a dispute informally, you and we agree to resolve it by binding individual arbitration administered by the American Arbitration Association under its Consumer Arbitration Rules, seated in New York, New York. The arbitrator decides all issues, except that either side may bring an individual claim in small claims court.
You and we each waive the right to a jury trial, and the right to bring or take part in a class, collective or representative action. If this waiver is held unenforceable for a particular claim, that claim proceeds in court, and the rest of this section 21 still applies to every other claim.
Public injunctive relief is carved out of this section. Nothing here prevents you from seeking public injunctive relief in court, and no part of these Terms waives that right in any forum.
We pay the arbitration fees that the American Arbitration Association's consumer rules require us to pay, and we pay them on time. If a claim is for $10,000 or less, you may choose whether the arbitration is decided on documents, by telephone, or in person.
You may opt out of this section 21 by emailing legal@heykyoto.com within 30 days of first accepting these Terms, saying that you opt out of arbitration and giving your name and account email. Opting out does not affect anything else in these Terms, and we will not treat you differently for doing it.
This section survives termination.
22. Governing law
These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of Delaware, without regard to its conflict of law rules. Where a dispute is not subject to arbitration, it belongs to the state or federal courts sitting in New York, New York.
23. Changes to these Terms
We may update these Terms. We will post the new version with its date, and we will tell you by email at least 30 days before a material change takes effect. If you do not agree, cancel before the change takes effect.
24. General
If a provision is unenforceable, the rest stands. Our failure to enforce a provision is not a waiver. You may not assign these Terms; we may assign them to a successor. These Terms, the Privacy Policy, our Gramm-Leach-Bliley notice and any consent you sign are the entire agreement between us. Electronic signatures and communications have full legal effect.
25. Electronic records and signatures
Tax law requires us to give you some records in writing, including a copy of your return. We deliver them electronically, and we need your consent to do that.
You have the right to receive these records on paper. Ask us and we will send them, at no charge. You may withdraw your consent to electronic delivery at any time, by emailing support@heykyoto.com. Withdrawal does not affect records already delivered, and it may mean we cannot continue to serve you online.
Your consent covers every record we provide during our relationship, not only one transaction. To receive and keep these records you need a current web browser, an internet connection, an email address you can access, and the ability to read and save PDF files. If those requirements change in a way that risks your access, we will tell you and ask you to consent again.
To keep your contact details current, update them in your account settings.
We give this consent effect by asking you to confirm it electronically, through the same channel that will carry the records, so that the act of consenting shows you can read them.
26. Contact
Thrive Fintech Inc. 62 W 62nd St, New York, NY 10023 legal@heykyoto.com