taxclaw

# taxclaw

Local-first AI tax document extraction skill for OpenClaw.

## 🔐 Security & Permissions Manifest

TaxClaw declares the following permissions transparently. Review before installing.

| Permission | What & Why | Default |
|---|---|---|
| **Read filesystem** | Reads uploaded PDF/image files you provide | Required |
| **Write filesystem** | Stores extracted data at `~/.local/share/taxclaw/` and config at `~/.config/taxclaw/` | Required |
| **Network (local only)** | Binds to `localhost:8421` only — no external network access in default mode | Required |
| **Network (cloud AI)** | Only if you explicitly enable cloud mode in config + acknowledge privacy warning | Opt-in only |
| **Credentials** | None read or stored — no API keys required in local-only mode | N/A |
| **Sensitive data** | Tax documents stay on your machine. Nothing is sent externally in default (Ollama) mode | Local-only |

**TaxClaw does NOT:**
- Exfiltrate documents, fields, or extracted data
- Read files outside of paths you explicitly provide to ingest
- Phone home, send telemetry, or contact external servers (default mode)
- Store or transmit SSN, EIN, or account numbers to any third party

**If you enable cloud mode (Claude):** A mandatory privacy warning is displayed. You must explicitly set `cloud_acknowledged: true` in config before processing begins.

**Audit this skill:** Source code is fully open at [github.com/DougButdorf/TaxClaw](https://github.com/DougButdorf/TaxClaw) (MIT License). Read it before you install it.

## Setup

```bash
bash ~/.openclaw/workspace/skills/taxclaw/setup.sh
```

## Config

Config lives at:
- `~/.config/taxclaw/config.yaml`

Default is local-first (Ollama on your machine). If you enable cloud mode, TaxClaw will refuse to run until you explicitly acknowledge the privacy warning in config.

## Start web UI

```bash
bash ~/.openclaw/workspace/skills/taxclaw/start.sh
# Open: http://localhost:8421
```

## CLI usage

```bash
# Ingest a document
~/.openclaw/work...

# 🧾🦀 TaxClaw
**Your taxes. Your machine. Your data.**

> **DISCLAIMER:** TaxClaw is a data extraction tool, not a tax preparation or tax advice service.
> It extracts text fields printed on tax documents and stores them in a local database for your
> review. TaxClaw does not prepare tax returns, file returns, compute cost basis, or provide
> tax, legal, or financial advice of any kind. AI extraction may produce errors — **always
> verify extracted data against your original documents before use.** Outbranch Network LLC
> is not a law firm, CPA firm, or tax preparation service. Use of this software does not create
> a professional relationship of any kind. See [Terms of Use](TERMS.md) and [Privacy Policy](PRIVACY.md).

TaxClaw turns messy tax PDFs into clean, reviewable structured data — **locally by default** — so you can stop retyping boxes like it’s 1999.

- 🔒 **Local-first privacy**: PDFs + extracted data stored locally (SQLite)
- 🤖 **AI extraction**: local models via Ollama by default, optional cloud models if you choose
- 🧾 **Tax-form aware**: W-2, 1099s (incl. **1099-DA**), K-1, consolidated brokerage statements
- 📤 **Export-ready**: wide/long CSV and JSON

## 💛 Sponsor TaxClaw

TaxClaw is free and open source. If it saves you time at tax season, consider sponsoring:

[![Sponsor on GitHub](https://img.shields.io/badge/Sponsor-%E2%9D%A4-pink?logo=github)](https://github.com/sponsors/DougButdorf)

Your support helps keep TaxClaw free, local-first, and actively maintained.

## 🚀 Quick Start

### Install (OpenClaw)
```bash
openclaw skill install taxclaw
```

### Run
```bash
cd ~/.openclaw/workspace/skills/taxclaw
./setup.sh
./start.sh
# then open: http://localhost:8421
```

## 📋 What It Does

1) 📥 **Upload** a PDF (or image)
2) 🏷️ **Classify** the form type (W-2, 1099-DA, etc.)
3) 🤖 **Extract** fields into structured data
4) ✅ **Review** anything flagged as low-confidence
5) 📤 **Export** (CSV/JSON)

## 🔒 Privacy & Model Settings

Tax documents are ex...