Terms of Service

1. About these terms

These terms govern your use of the Cost Seg Smart website and the cost segregation study product delivered by Cost Seg Smart LLC ("we," "us," "our"). By using the site or ordering a study, you agree to these terms.

2. Educational content; not tax advice; not Circular 230

Information on this site, in our reports, and in our emails is for educational purposes only. It is not tax, legal, accounting, or financial advice. We are not your CPA, EA, tax attorney, or financial advisor. We are not subject to Treasury Department Circular 230 because we do not prepare your tax return, do not represent taxpayers before the IRS, and are not practitioners as defined in 31 C.F.R. §10.2. Consult your own licensed CPA, EA, or tax attorney before relying on any output of a cost segregation study to file a return, change an accounting method, or claim a deduction.

Tax law changes. Numbers shown on this site (savings ranges, illustrative examples, calculator estimates) are illustrative and depend on your specific property, income, holding period, bracket, passive-activity status, and jurisdiction. Actual results vary.

3. The study product — what we do and what we do not do

A Cost Seg Smart study is an engineering-based cost segregation analysis following the IRS Cost Segregation Audit Techniques Guide (Pub 5653), Revenue Procedure 87-56, IRC §168 and §168(k), and applicable Treasury Regulations. We deliver an IRS-defensible PDF report (typically 40–60 pages) intended to support your CPA's filing of accelerated depreciation on Form 4562 and, where applicable, the §481(a) catch-up adjustment on Form 3115.

3.1 What we do

• Analyze the property's depreciable basis from your closing statement and the county assessor record.
• Allocate components to 5-year, 7-year, 15-year, and 27.5-/39-year MACRS classes per Rev. Proc. 87-56 and Tax Court precedent (Hospital Corp. of America, AmeriSouth, Whiteco, etc.).
• Apply RSMeans construction cost data for component pricing.
• Document the methodology, classification rationale, and case-law citations in the report.
• Provide a year-by-year depreciation schedule (up to 40 years) and component-level fixed-asset detail your CPA can import into depreciation software.
• Respond, at no additional charge for the life of the study, to written technical questions from your CPA about our methodology and component classifications.

3.2 What we do NOT do

• We do not file your tax return.
• We do not prepare Form 4562, Form 3115, or any other tax form for filing.
• We do not represent you before the IRS, any state taxing authority, or any court. We are not signatories on Form 2848 (Power of Attorney) or Form 8821 (Tax Information Authorization).
• We do not provide tax controversy services. We do not attend IRS examinations, audits, or appeals. We do not draft responses to IRS notices, IDR (Information Document Request) responses, or audit reconsideration packages.
• We do not conduct physical site inspections of your property unless we have separately contracted with you to do so.
• We do not advise on passive-activity rules (§469), at-risk rules (§465), material-participation tests, basis adjustments, or any other return-specific tax position. Your CPA owns those decisions.
• We do not advise on state-level conformity, bonus-depreciation decoupling, or §168(k) eligibility for your specific filing posture.
• We do not file IRS or state extension requests or amended returns.

3.3 What "audit support" means and does not mean

The phrase "audit support included" on our pricing pages refers specifically to our continued availability to answer written technical questions from your CPA about our methodology and component classifications, for the life of the study, at no additional charge. It does not mean we represent you in an audit. It does not mean we attend audit conferences. It does not mean we will draft your audit response. If the IRS examines your return and challenges classifications in our report, we will explain our methodology to your CPA in writing; your CPA decides how to respond.

3.4 Geographic and entity scope

Our reports are designed for property located within the United States and its territories, owned by US taxpayers (individuals, US LLCs, US partnerships, US corporations, and US trusts). We do not offer cost segregation for property located outside the US. We do not offer tax-treaty analysis. If your facts involve non-US property or non-US taxpayer status, the report may not apply correctly and is provided without warranty for that use case.

3.5 Your representations about property information

You represent and warrant that all property information you provide to us is accurate and complete as of the date you provide it. This includes, specifically:

• The property's address, parcel/APN, and that it physically exists at that address.
• Your ownership of, or beneficial interest in, the property at the placed-in-service date.
• Purchase price (or stepped-up basis on inheritance, or contributed basis on §1031 exchange, or any other basis treatment) as you have entered it.
• The placed-in-service date — meaning the date the property was first available for its intended use (rental, owner-occupied, or other), not the closing date.
• The property type classification you selected at order (single-family rental, short-term rental, multifamily 5+, mixed-use, etc.) and the accuracy of any sub-type indicators (e.g., commercial kitchen present, walk-in cooler present, raised access flooring present).
• Whether the property has been previously cost-segregated, and if so, by whom and when.
• Whether any prior depreciation on the property has been claimed in a manner inconsistent with the classifications in our report.
• The accuracy of any photographs, closing statements, tax assessments, floor plans, or other documents you upload.

We rely on these representations. We do not independently verify property ownership, the existence or condition of the property, or the accuracy of documents you upload. If any input you provide is materially inaccurate and the report is wrong as a result, that is your responsibility, not ours, and it is a covered indemnification trigger under Section 6A.

4. CPA-Ready Guarantee & refunds

If your licensed CPA, EA, or tax attorney cannot use the report we deliver because of a methodology, format, or documentation issue on our side, we will revise the report at no additional charge. If we cannot resolve the issue within 14 business days of your written notice, we will refund the study fee in full, subject to all of the following:

1. You request the refund in writing within 60 days of report delivery;
2. You provide written documentation from your licensed CPA, EA, or tax attorney that specifies why the report is not usable, naming the specific section, calculation, or documentation gap that fails;
3. You confirm in writing that the report has not been filed with any federal, state, or local taxing authority, and has not been used to claim any deduction, credit, or position on any return;
4. You destroy or return all electronic and physical copies of the report you have received from us, and confirm that destruction in writing;
5. You will not redistribute, summarize, or quote the report after the refund.

The guarantee covers the study fee only. It does not cover any other amount, including but not limited to: your CPA's fees for evaluating the report, fees you paid to other professionals, IRS penalties or interest, opportunity cost, or any other consequential amount. The guarantee is your sole and exclusive remedy for an unusable report.

The guarantee does not apply if:

• Your CPA refuses to use the report for reasons unrelated to its methodology, format, or documentation (for example, because the CPA prefers their own provider, has a policy against accelerated depreciation, or disagrees with the cost segregation strategy itself);
• The report is unusable because of information you provided that turned out to be inaccurate (covered by Section 3.5 representations);
• You have already filed a return using the report;
• The IRS later challenges classifications in the report (audit risk is addressed in Section 5 and Section 6).

5. No warranties beyond the guarantee

Except for the CPA-Ready Guarantee in Section 4, the site and reports are provided "AS IS" and "AS AVAILABLE." We make no other warranties, express or implied or statutory, including warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, accuracy, completeness, or non-infringement.

Specifically, we do not warrant or guarantee:

• Any specific dollar amount of tax savings, deduction, or refund;
• Any specific IRS audit outcome or audit position;
• That the report will not be challenged by the IRS or any state taxing authority;
• That the classifications in the report will be sustained on examination;
• That the reclassification percentages will match those in marketing materials, calculators, or examples;
• That bonus depreciation rates, statutory recovery periods, or any other tax-law inputs will not change after the report is delivered;
• That your CPA will agree with all classifications in the report;
• That the report applies to your specific filing posture if your facts differ from the property information you provided.

6. Limitation of liability

To the fullest extent permitted by law, our aggregate liability arising out of or relating to these terms, the website, or any study or report is limited to the amount you actually paid us for the study at issue. This is the cap on our total liability across all theories — contract, tort, indemnity, statute, or otherwise.

We are not liable, in particular and without limitation, for:

• IRS penalties, interest, or additional tax assessments resulting from the use of our report on your return;
• Penalties or interest from any state or local taxing authority;
• Fees you pay to your CPA, EA, tax attorney, or any other professional in connection with the report (for review, response, audit, or any other purpose);
• The cost of an audit defense, audit reconsideration, or any other IRS-facing proceeding;
• Lost tax benefits, lost depreciation, lost basis, or lost deductions;
• Lost profits, lost business opportunities, lost data, or lost goodwill;
• The cost of a replacement study by another provider;
• Reputational harm or emotional distress;
• Any indirect, incidental, consequential, exemplary, or punitive damages, even if we have been advised of the possibility of such damages.

6.1 Carve-outs (limits on the cap)

The limitations in this Section 6 do not apply to:

1. our gross negligence, fraud, or willful misconduct;
2. our indemnification obligations expressly set forth in these terms;
3. either party's breach of confidentiality obligations;
4. infringement by us of a third party's intellectual property rights; or
5. any liability that cannot be limited or excluded as a matter of applicable law (including, where applicable, statutory damages under CCPA / CPRA Cal. Civ. Code §1798 et seq.).

These carve-outs exist specifically because California Civil Code §1668 prohibits contractual exemption from responsibility for willful injury or violation of law, and we want the cap to survive scrutiny on everything it does cover.

6A. Customer indemnification — specific scenarios

You will indemnify, defend, and hold harmless Cost Seg Smart LLC, its officers, employees, contractors, and agents from any third-party claim, demand, suit, proceeding, or loss (including reasonable attorney fees and costs) arising out of or related to any of the following:

1. Inaccurate inputs. Any inaccuracy, omission, or misrepresentation in property data, documents, ownership status, basis figures, placed-in-service dates, or representations you provided to us under Section 3.5.
2. Unauthorized distribution. Your distribution, sharing, republication, or sale of a study or report to any party other than your CPA, EA, tax attorney, or tax-prep team. This includes (without limitation): forwarding the report to limited partners or co-investors, posting it to a syndication data room, including it in a §506(b) or §506(c) offering memorandum, or sharing it with a buyer in a property sale.
3. Multi-property reuse. Reuse of a report prepared for one property on a different property, even if you own both.
4. Modified report. Use of a version of the report that has been modified, edited, abridged, or summarized by you or by anyone other than us.
5. Third-party CPA or preparer claims. Any claim brought by your CPA, EA, tax attorney, tax preparer, or partner CPA against us arising from their use of the report. (Your tax professional is your agent; their decisions about how to use the report belong to them and to you, not to us.)
6. Partner program use. If you are a partner CPA delivering reports to your own clients under your own brand under our partner program, your indemnification covers claims by your clients against us, except to the extent the claim is for our gross negligence or willful misconduct.
7. Securities-context use. Any claim arising from use of the report in connection with a securities offering, syndication, fund formation, or capital raise, including claims by investors, limited partners, the SEC, state securities regulators, or FINRA.
8. §469 / material-participation claims. Any claim that depends on whether you do or do not materially participate in the property's rental activity, qualify as a real estate professional, or meet any other §469 test. We do not opine on §469 status; your CPA does.
9. General legal violation. Your violation of any applicable tax, securities, banking, real estate, or other law in connection with the study or report.
10. Breach of terms. Your breach of any provision of these terms.

We will give you prompt written notice of any indemnified claim. You will control the defense and any settlement, provided that you may not settle in a way that admits our liability, imposes any non-monetary obligation on us, or affects our rights without our prior written consent (not to be unreasonably withheld). We will cooperate reasonably at your expense.

Our right to indemnification under this Section 6A does not limit any other right we have to recovery.

7. Acceptable use and partner program

You may use the study or report for the property and the tax year(s) identified in the report, for purposes of supporting your CPA's filing position. You may share it with your CPA, EA, tax attorney, or tax-prep team.

You may NOT:

1. resell our reports (except under our partner program, by written agreement);
2. share, distribute, republish, post, or include the report in any document or filing made available to any party not listed above;
3. modify or edit the report (other than your CPA marking it up for workpaper purposes);
4. scrape, copy, or systematically extract content from our website;
5. reverse-engineer, decompile, or attempt to derive our methodology, cost databases, or component-allocation engine;
6. use our reports or methodology to train any machine-learning model;
7. use the site or report to violate any law or facilitate any unlawful activity.

Partner program. If you are a CPA or accounting firm participating in our partner program by separate written agreement, that agreement governs the brand, distribution rights, and pricing of reports you deliver to your clients. The partner agreement does not modify the indemnification or liability provisions of these terms.

8. Privacy

Personal data you provide is handled under our Privacy Policy.

9. Governing law

These terms are governed by the laws of the State of California, without regard to conflict-of-law principles. Subject to Section 9A (Binding Arbitration), any dispute that proceeds in court must be brought in the state or federal courts located in California, and you and we consent to the exclusive jurisdiction and venue of those courts.

9A. Binding individual arbitration & class-action waiver

Please read this section carefully. It affects your legal rights.

Any dispute, claim, or controversy arising out of or relating to these terms or the services will be resolved by final and binding individual arbitration. The arbitration will be administered by JAMS under its Streamlined Arbitration Rules in effect at the time the arbitration is initiated, except that this Section governs to the extent it conflicts with those rules.

9A.1 Procedure

A single arbitrator selected under JAMS rules. The arbitration is conducted in California or, at your election, by videoconference. The arbitrator may award only the relief that a court of competent jurisdiction could award and may not award class or representative relief. The arbitrator's decision is final and may be entered as a judgment in any court of competent jurisdiction. Each party bears its own costs except as required by applicable law or as awarded by the arbitrator.

9A.2 Class-action waiver

YOU AND COST SEG SMART AGREE THAT EACH MAY BRING CLAIMS AGAINST THE OTHER ONLY IN AN INDIVIDUAL CAPACITY AND NOT AS A PLAINTIFF OR CLASS MEMBER IN ANY PURPORTED CLASS, COLLECTIVE, REPRESENTATIVE, OR PRIVATE-ATTORNEY-GENERAL ACTION. The arbitrator may not consolidate or join claims and may not preside over any form of class proceeding.

9A.3 Small-claims carve-out

Either party may bring an individual claim in small-claims court for any matter within that court's jurisdiction. Filing such a claim waives that party's right to compel arbitration of that specific matter.

9A.4 30-day opt-out

You may opt out of this Section 9A by emailing support@costsegsmart.com within 30 days of first ordering a study, subject "Arbitration Opt-Out," including your name, email, and order reference.

9A.5 Federal Arbitration Act

This Section 9A is governed by the Federal Arbitration Act, 9 U.S.C. §1 et seq. To the extent California state arbitration law conflicts with the FAA, the FAA controls.

10. Changes

We may update these terms. The "Last updated" date at the top reflects the current revision. Continued use of the site after a change constitutes acceptance of the updated terms. Material changes will be announced via a banner on the order page for at least 30 days before they take effect.

We version-stamp each Stripe checkout with the TOS version in effect at that moment. If you order a study, the terms in effect at the time of your order are the terms that apply to that order, even if we update them later.

11. Survival

The following Sections survive termination or expiration: 2 (Not Tax Advice), 3.2 (What We Do Not Do), 3.5 (Your Representations), 5 (No Warranties), 6 (Limitation of Liability), 6A (Customer Indemnification), 7 (Acceptable Use), 9 (Governing Law), 9A (Arbitration).

12. Severability

If any provision of these terms is held invalid, illegal, or unenforceable, that provision is enforced to the maximum extent permitted and the remaining provisions continue in force. If the class-action waiver in Section 9A is held invalid as to a particular claim, that claim (and only that claim) proceeds in court under Section 9, and the rest of Section 9A continues to apply.

13. Force majeure

Neither party is liable for failure or delay (other than payment) caused by events beyond reasonable control — acts of God, war, civil unrest, internet/CDN outages, Stripe / payment-processor outages, IRS-system unavailability, or governmental action. The affected party gives prompt notice and uses commercially reasonable efforts to resume.

14. Notices

Notices to Cost Seg Smart: support@costsegsmart.com. Notices to you: the email you provided on order. Notices are effective when sent.

15. Automation, AI, and how the report is produced

We produce the component allocations and numerical outputs in our reports through deterministic engineering logic: a published cost segregation methodology applied to public construction-cost reference data (RSMeans), parcel-level county assessor records, and the property inputs you provide. The numbers are not generated by a language model.

We may use language models to assist in drafting narrative sections of the report (such as property summaries, methodology explanations, and disclaimer language). We review and approve any AI-assisted narrative content before delivery. We do not warrant the accuracy of any AI-generated narrative beyond the standards in Section 5.

If a future version of the product uses AI-generated numerical content (for example, AI-based component identification from property photos), we will update this Section before that change takes effect.

16. Entire agreement

These terms, together with our Privacy Policy and any order confirmation, constitute the entire agreement between you and us regarding the services. They supersede any prior or contemporaneous agreements, representations, or understandings about the same subject. For institutional engagements over $10,000, a separate Master Services Agreement may govern; if there is a conflict, the MSA controls.

17. Contact

General: support@costsegsmart.com. Privacy: privacy@costsegsmart.com.

Cost Seg Smart LLC, EIN 42-2738626.