TaxClaw

Extract, store, and export tax documents (W-2, 1099-DA, all 1099 variants, K-1) using AI. Local-first — your documents never leave your machine. Web UI at localhost:8421.

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 (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/workspace/skills/taxclaw/bin/taxclaw \
  ingest path/to/document.pdf --filer doug --year 2025

# List documents
~/.openclaw/workspace/skills/taxclaw/bin/taxclaw list

# Export (wide CSV by default)
~/.openclaw/workspace/skills/taxclaw/bin/taxclaw export --id <doc-id>

# Export long CSV
~/.openclaw/workspace/skills/taxclaw/bin/taxclaw export --id <doc-id> --format long

# Export JSON
~/.openclaw/workspace/skills/taxclaw/bin/taxclaw export --id <doc-id> --format json

# Start server
~/.openclaw/workspace/skills/taxclaw/bin/taxclaw serve

Trigger phrases (OpenClaw agent)

• "extract my tax document"
• "parse this 1099" / "read this W-2"
• "open TaxClaw" / "start taxclaw"
• "process my tax forms"
• "show my tax documents"