Terms & Conditions

Version v3. Effective 19 June 2026. Operator: FileBuddy, Zimbabwe. Contact: info@filebuddy.co.zw.

These Terms & Conditions govern your access to and use of FileBuddy, including our website, WhatsApp account, automation tools, support channels, payment flows, and related services. By sending a message to FileBuddy, registering, accepting these terms in WhatsApp, paying for a service, or continuing to use the service, you agree to these terms.

If you use FileBuddy for a company, trust, partnership, client, employer, taxpayer, or other person, you confirm that you have authority to act for that taxpayer and to bind that taxpayer to these terms. If you do not agree, do not use the service.

1. Definitions

• FileBuddy, we, us, and our mean the FileBuddy service operated from Zimbabwe.
• You and your mean the person or entity using FileBuddy, including any authorised representative, accountant, agent, employee, director, trustee, or taxpayer.
• Service means the FileBuddy WhatsApp-native tax filing assistant, website, automation tools, reminders, support, payment workflows, and any related software or documentation.
• ZIMRA means the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority and its Self-Service Portal, also called SSP.
• Meta/WhatsApp means Meta Platforms, WhatsApp, WhatsApp Business Platform, WhatsApp Cloud API, and related Meta services used to deliver messages.
• Tax Data means any TIN, return information, payroll data, VAT/PAYE/QPD/WHT figures, documents, credentials, confirmations, certificates, ZIMRA messages, and related records.

2. The Service

FileBuddy helps users prepare, save, submit, request, retrieve, and manage selected ZIMRA SSP tax-related tasks through a WhatsApp conversation. The service may include registration, taxpayer setup, TIN linking, tax return preparation, draft creation, submission support, tax clearance support, status checks, reminders, document retrieval, PDF delivery, and support.

FileBuddy is a software and automation service. Unless we expressly agree otherwise in writing, FileBuddy is not ZIMRA, is not a government service, is not a law firm, is not an audit firm, and does not replace a registered tax practitioner, accountant, legal adviser, or financial adviser. We do not provide legal, accounting, audit, investment, or tax-planning advice.

3. Eligibility And Account Use

You must be at least 18 years old and legally capable of entering into these terms. You must provide accurate registration details, including your name, WhatsApp number, TIN, account type, and any other information needed to operate the service.

You are responsible for all activity conducted through your WhatsApp number or linked account. If your phone is lost, compromised, transferred, or no longer controlled by you, you must notify us immediately at info@filebuddy.co.zw.

4. Authority To Act For Taxpayers

You confirm that you are the taxpayer or that you have valid authority to act for the taxpayer whose TIN, SSP account, credentials, or Tax Data you provide. If you are an accountant, agent, employee, director, trustee, or other representative, you are responsible for obtaining and keeping all client, board, owner, or taxpayer approvals needed for your use of FileBuddy.

We may request proof of authority before processing a taxpayer's data or filing action. We may refuse, suspend, or reverse access if we reasonably believe authority is missing, disputed, expired, fraudulent, or unclear.

5. SSP Credentials And Explicit Authorisation

When you provide SSP login details, OTPs, passwords, documents, or account information, you expressly authorise FileBuddy to use them only for the actions you request or confirm. This may include logging into SSP, reading account status, preparing forms, saving drafts, submitting returns, retrieving certificates, downloading confirmations, and sending service updates back to you.

SSP passwords are stored encrypted where credential storage is enabled. You remain responsible for password strength, OTP confidentiality, account access, and ensuring that only authorised persons can respond to FileBuddy from your WhatsApp number.

FileBuddy will not intentionally submit a tax return without your confirmation in the chat or another recorded instruction. Automated steps may prepare drafts, extract figures, validate inputs, or navigate SSP, but responsibility for final accuracy and authorisation remains with you.

6. Your Responsibility For Tax Information

You are responsible for the accuracy, completeness, legality, and timeliness of all Tax Data and instructions you provide. This includes figures, periods, payroll data, tax types, attachments, exchange rates where applicable, taxpayer names, TINs, and any supporting information.

You must review drafts, summaries, calculations, extracted information, and confirmations before approving any submission. If you approve incorrect information, you remain responsible for the consequences, including penalties, interest, audits, amendments, reassessments, rejected returns, duplicate returns, or missed deadlines.

7. No Guarantee Of ZIMRA Outcome

FileBuddy depends on third-party systems, including ZIMRA SSP, Meta/WhatsApp, hosting providers, payment providers, browsers, networks, and other infrastructure. We do not control ZIMRA's systems, review decisions, processing times, penalties, validations, deadlines, rules, availability, or legal interpretations.

We do not guarantee that a return will be accepted, that a certificate will be issued, that a penalty will be avoided, that SSP will be available, that WhatsApp will deliver every message instantly, or that third-party systems will operate without delay or error.

8. WhatsApp, Meta, And Messaging Terms

FileBuddy uses WhatsApp Business Platform and Meta services to send and receive messages. Your use of FileBuddy through WhatsApp is also subject to WhatsApp, Meta, and applicable telecommunications rules, including WhatsApp's business and platform policies.

Meta/WhatsApp may process message metadata, phone numbers, profile information, delivery events, business account information, and other platform data according to their own terms and privacy policies. FileBuddy does not control Meta's infrastructure, policy decisions, delivery status, account review, number quality rating, messaging limits, or business verification decisions.

You must not use FileBuddy or WhatsApp to send unlawful, misleading, abusive, spam-like, fraudulent, unauthorised, or policy-violating messages. We may block, suspend, or report activity that risks our WhatsApp account, violates Meta/WhatsApp policies, or harms other users.

9. Data We Collect

To provide the service, FileBuddy may collect and process the following categories of data:

• Identity and contact details, such as name, WhatsApp number, email address, account type, and representative details.
• Taxpayer details, such as TINs, taxpayer names, filing periods, tax types, ZIMRA account status, and linked client information.
• SSP access data, such as usernames, encrypted passwords where saved, OTP prompts, session state, and login outcomes.
• Tax and filing data, such as VAT, PAYE, QPD, WHT, payroll, nil-return declarations, draft returns, submissions, confirmations, tax-clearance records, and related documents.
• Conversation data, such as WhatsApp messages, button/list selections, uploaded documents, support requests, and consent records.
• Operational data, such as audit logs, timestamps, device/browser events, webhook events, delivery statuses, error messages, system health, and security logs.
• Billing data, such as selected plan, invoices, receipts, payment status, transaction references, and payment-provider records.

10. How We Use Data

We use data to register users, verify instructions, provide WhatsApp conversations, prepare and submit tax-related actions, store filing history, deliver documents, send reminders, troubleshoot errors, improve reliability, secure the service, prevent misuse, comply with law, process payments, support users, and maintain audit records.

We may use automation, extraction, classification, and assistant-like logic to interpret your messages or documents. You must still review important outputs and confirm filing actions. Automated outputs may be incomplete or wrong if source data is unclear, missing, inconsistent, or affected by third-party system changes.

11. Data Sharing And Processors

We do not sell your personal data. We share or transmit data only where reasonably necessary to provide and protect the service, comply with law, or act on your instructions. This may include sharing with:

• ZIMRA/SSP, when preparing, saving, submitting, retrieving, or checking taxpayer records on your instruction.
• Meta/WhatsApp, as the messaging platform used to send and receive service messages.
• Hosting, database, storage, logging, email, security, analytics, and infrastructure providers used to operate FileBuddy.
• Payment processors and banks used to collect fees, issue receipts, and manage billing records.
• Professional advisers, regulators, courts, law enforcement, or tax authorities where required or permitted by law.

Where a provider processes data for us, we use reasonable measures to limit their access to what is necessary for the relevant service. Some providers may be located outside Zimbabwe, and your data may be transmitted or stored internationally where service infrastructure requires it.

12. Security

We use reasonable technical and organisational safeguards, including access controls, encryption for stored SSP passwords, deployment separation, audit logs, and limited administrative access. No internet-connected system is perfectly secure. You accept the residual risk of using WhatsApp, the internet, third-party hosting, payment providers, and ZIMRA SSP.

You must keep your phone, WhatsApp account, email, passwords, OTPs, and devices secure. Do not send FileBuddy credentials or documents that you are not authorised to provide. If you suspect unauthorised access, notify us immediately.

13. Retention, Deletion, And Audit Records

We retain data while your account is active and for as long as reasonably needed for tax records, service continuity, support, billing, legal compliance, dispute handling, audit evidence, security, and fraud prevention.

You may request access, correction, export, restriction, or deletion by emailing info@filebuddy.co.zw. Deletion may be limited where records must be kept for tax, legal, audit, security, payment, dispute, or compliance reasons. If we delete data needed to provide the service, your access may stop.

14. Consent And Service Messages

By using FileBuddy on WhatsApp, you consent to receive service messages relating to registration, terms acceptance, filing actions, OTP handling, drafts, confirmations, reminders, support, billing, account status, and security. You can opt out of non-essential reminders by replying STOP or contacting us.

Some messages are necessary to provide the service. If you opt out of necessary service messages, we may not be able to continue providing FileBuddy to you.

15. Payments, Fees, Trials, And Refunds

Some FileBuddy features may require payment, subscription, filing fees, client-account fees, usage fees, or third-party charges. Prices, billing cycles, limits, and included services will be communicated before or during purchase.

You are responsible for all agreed charges, taxes, bank fees, payment-provider fees, currency conversion costs, and failed-payment consequences. We may suspend access for non-payment, chargebacks, suspected fraud, or billing disputes.

Unless a specific written refund promise applies, fees for completed work, used subscriptions, filings, setup, automation time, support time, third-party fees, and successfully delivered documents are non-refundable. If we provide a refund, it does not waive our rights or create a general refund obligation.

16. Acceptable Use

You must not use FileBuddy to:

• File, access, or request information for a taxpayer without authority.
• Submit false, misleading, fraudulent, incomplete, or unlawful information.
• Evade tax, conceal income, falsify documents, or misrepresent taxpayer status.
• Share another person's credentials, OTPs, documents, or Tax Data without permission.
• Interfere with FileBuddy, ZIMRA SSP, Meta/WhatsApp, payment systems, or other users.
• Reverse engineer, scrape, attack, overload, bypass security, or test vulnerabilities without written permission.
• Use FileBuddy in a way that violates ZIMRA, Meta/WhatsApp, payment-provider, telecoms, data-protection, tax, or other applicable rules.

17. Suspension And Termination

We may suspend, limit, or terminate access immediately if we reasonably believe there is misuse, non-payment, security risk, unauthorised taxpayer access, legal risk, regulatory risk, platform-policy risk, data-protection risk, abuse, fraud, or conduct that could harm FileBuddy, users, ZIMRA, Meta/WhatsApp, payment providers, or third parties.

You may stop using FileBuddy at any time. Stopping use does not remove obligations already incurred, including payment obligations, approved filings, audit records, or legal retention requirements.

18. Third-Party Services And Links

FileBuddy may link to or depend on third-party websites, APIs, browsers, payment gateways, hosting platforms, databases, messaging platforms, ZIMRA SSP, and document services. Third-party services are governed by their own terms and privacy policies. We are not responsible for third-party outages, rejections, price changes, policy changes, security incidents, or errors.

19. Intellectual Property

FileBuddy, our software, workflows, brand, website content, automation logic, templates, prompts, designs, and documentation are owned by us or our licensors. You receive a limited, revocable, non-exclusive, non-transferable right to use the service for authorised tax-related tasks. You may not copy, resell, sublicense, or commercially exploit the service without our written permission.

20. Confidentiality

We treat taxpayer and account information as confidential, subject to these terms, our Privacy Policy, your instructions, operational needs, legal requirements, and service-provider access needed to operate FileBuddy. You must also keep FileBuddy credentials, OTPs, reports, client data, and system outputs confidential where they relate to other taxpayers or sensitive information.

21. Disclaimers

The service is provided "as is" and "as available". To the maximum extent permitted by law, we disclaim warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, uninterrupted service, error-free operation, non-infringement, accuracy of third-party data, and suitability for your specific tax position.

Any summaries, reminders, explanations, classifications, extracted figures, or guidance provided by FileBuddy are operational assistance, not legal, accounting, audit, or tax advice. You should consult a qualified professional where advice is required.

22. Limitation Of Liability

To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, FileBuddy is not liable for indirect, incidental, special, consequential, exemplary, or punitive damages; loss of profit, revenue, goodwill, data, opportunity, or business; penalties, interest, reassessments, audits, rejected returns, late filings, duplicate filings, account restrictions, WhatsApp delivery issues, SSP downtime, or third-party failures.

Where liability cannot be excluded, our total aggregate liability for any claim relating to the service is limited to the amount you paid FileBuddy for the specific service giving rise to the claim during the three months before the event, or USD 50, whichever is lower, unless applicable law requires a higher amount.

23. Indemnity

You agree to indemnify and hold FileBuddy harmless from claims, losses, penalties, costs, damages, and expenses arising from your Tax Data, your instructions, unauthorised use, breach of these terms, breach of law, misuse of SSP credentials, disputes with clients or taxpayers, payment disputes, or violation of ZIMRA, Meta/WhatsApp, payment-provider, or other third-party rules.

24. Changes To The Service Or Terms

We may update the service and these terms from time to time. Updated terms will be posted at https://filebuddy.co.zw/terms. Continued use after the effective date means you accept the updated terms. Material changes may require renewed WhatsApp consent or in-service acceptance.

25. Notices And Contact

We may send notices through WhatsApp, email, our website, or in-service messages. You may contact us at info@filebuddy.co.zw. You are responsible for keeping your contact details current.

26. Governing Law And Disputes

These terms are governed by the laws of Zimbabwe. The courts of Zimbabwe have jurisdiction unless a different dispute process is agreed in writing. Before starting formal proceedings, you agree to contact us and give both sides a reasonable opportunity to resolve the issue informally.

27. Entire Agreement

These terms, together with the Privacy Policy and any written pricing or service-specific terms accepted by you, form the agreement between you and FileBuddy. If any part is invalid or unenforceable, the remaining parts continue to apply.

For privacy details, see our Privacy Policy. For questions, corrections, data requests, or support, email info@filebuddy.co.zw.