Forgot to file taxes? These startups can help you out

Moneycontrol Bureau

It's that time of the year when you have to file your investment declarations and submit annual returns if you've missed filing them in the earlier months. The fiscal year ending March 31, 2017 is the deadline to file taxes for the year. For people who've missed filing in the fiscal 2014-15, this will be last chance to file returns as well. With numerous startups mushrooming in the fin-tech space, e-filing of taxes has become a breeze.

Most of the startups charge anywhere from Rs 100 to Rs 250 for a basic return. For NRIs the services start from Rs 1,000 onwards. If you've received a tax demand notice, a chartered accountant assisted service can cost upwards of Rs 2500. PAN numbers can also be validated in bulk by such online companies.

Here are some top startups in this space and the investors behind them:

1) ClearTax

Founded by Archit Gupta and his father Raja Ram Gupta in 2011, this Bangalore based fintech startup provides an alternative to the Indian government’s tax filing website. In April 2016, it raised USD 1.3 million in seed funding from PayPal co-founder Max Levchin, Scott Banister an early investor in Facebook and Uber and other silicon valley investors. It raised USD 2 million in pre-series A round from Founders Fund Angel and Sequoia Capital.

It's best suited for small and medium sized businesses, along with consultants, tuition teachers and sellers on e-commerce sites.

2) Tax2win

Jaipur-based Tax2win helps to simplify tax filing for its users and try to make it hassles. This helps users to calculate their income tax, save taxes and track their refund status by using their PAN card.  It helps to file return and automatically prepares ITR by importing data from Form-16. It also provides CA assistance on demand if needed.

The startup is headed by two chartered accountants in their 20s - Abhishek Soni and Vertika Kedia. A year after their launch it raised USD 1 million seed funding from an undisclosed business house in July 2016.

3) TaxSpanner

Founded in 2007, TaxSpanner offers online preparation and filing of individual Income Tax Returns. It’s website have easy to follow tutorials that help the users to file ITR of their own and it also allows user to hire a dedicated CA from the site. In November 2010, it raised an undisclosed amount of angel funding from Splice Capital and Indian Angel Network. Cofounders of the company include Ankur Sharma (CEO), Manoj Yadav, Sudhir Kaushik and Sumit Grover.

4) MyITReturn

Started in year 2006 as Skorydov Systems Pvt. Ltd, this startup has a special paid tier for those who have income from outside India and is helpful to the people who work as freelancers or have otherwise earned money from outside India. The website covers salary income, bank and other interest income, capital gains, house property income, business and professional income.

5)  H&R Block

US-based H&R Block forayed into India in January, 2012 and has tied up with over 500 corporates till date. This website offers various videos and info graphics that help users in various ways. This website offers e-filing in 10 minutes as it automatically pre-populates most fields required in Form 16. It helps to file all kind of Business Tax Services with maximum deductions.

6)  Hello Tax

Hello Tax is an online tax filing platform for Indian users. Founded by Vikash Srivastava, Abhinav and Himanshu Kumar in 2015, the application helps users to file ITR by calculating tax using a calculator. It helps to understand tax filing status. As of June 2016, the company has done over 2,000 income tax return filings through its app. In June 2016, the company raised USD 294k from Amrapali Aadya's managing director Sanjeev Sinha.

7) MakeMyReturns

Founded by experienced Chartered Accountants, the company Launched Android and iPhone apps for tax filing in July 2014. It raised seed capital from HNI investors in London in 2012 and is looking to raise $300k funding via London-based crowdfunding platform CrowdBank. Co-founders include Varun Advani, Vikram Ramchand & Aashish Ramchand.

World’s biggest e-tax filing companies: Jackson Hewitt, Intuit, TaxACT, SecureTax, H&R Block.

(Data source for tax e-filing startups: Tracxn)