ClearTax
Web and SaaS
tax filing
SHOW HN2011
75points
60comments
#161of 1,097 in 2011
Top 15%of 2011 by points
How HN took it
MixedNo clear lean
2 positive, 8 neutral or asking, 4 mixed, 10 critical, out of 24 comments about the project. Thread score -0.26.
Design: 1 for, 4 againstPricing: 0 for, 3 againstIdea: 1 for, 1 againstDocs: 0 for, 1 againstExecution: 0 for, 1 against
The thread, comment by comment
Each row is a top-level comment and its replies, in HN's order. Select a cell to open that comment on HN.
positive neutral or mixed critical about another commenter or something else the maker
What HN said
What people liked
Usable, lean interface that is easy to use compared with the government site.
From 2 comments
Hello Archit, Fellow Indian Geek here. I must say good job on the site, you have managed to make something that is usable. Here is some of my suggestions: 1) I think you need to…
gary4gar on HNI used this to file my wife's tax return the other day. The experience was quite good (going by Indian standards). Few things based on my experience. 1) There should be a…
braindead_in on HN
Demo video explains the product well.
From 2 comments
Check out this demo video: http://cleartax.in/meta/demo I wish taxes in the US were this simple. I've been thinking for a long time that some good UI/UX designers should be in…
masnick on HNJust curious: how much would I have to pay to get cleartax pro? Also, you might want to fix the Mr Bose example: "ClearTax (an Income Tax website) rode to his resuce". I'm not…
copper on HN
Objections
Pricing and privacy policy are hidden until after sign-up.
From 3 comments
The wording "Pricing starts from free." seems a little ominous with no actual pricing information up front. How much personal information will I have to fill in before you spring…
sunspeck on HNI like what you are doing here, but you need to be upfront with the pricing before making a user sign up. Having to give up some personal information before even knowing what the…
alphakappa on HNHello Archit, Fellow Indian Geek here. I must say good job on the site, you have managed to make something that is usable. Here is some of my suggestions: 1) I think you need to…
gary4gar on HN
Doubts that many people in India pay taxes, so the market is small.
From 3 comments
Honestly, no one pays taxes in India. Your product has no market. I can speak at length about this, but it's part of the reason real estate values in India increase by 30% year…
amaranand on HNThats not true. In all most all the s/w companies I have come across every single person has paid his taxes. I am from a business family and my dad pays a few lakhs of taxes…
free on HNExaggeration and over generalization. You should check with a decent CA on the number of people availing their services to file tax. And just so you know there are 30 million…
sankara on HN
Requests
Show pricing up front and add a pricing page.
From 3 comments
I like what you are doing here, but you need to be upfront with the pricing before making a user sign up. Having to give up some personal information before even knowing what the…
alphakappa on HNThe wording "Pricing starts from free." seems a little ominous with no actual pricing information up front. How much personal information will I have to fill in before you spring…
sunspeck on HNI'll put a pricing page up. I can see how its confusing.
architgupta on HN
Add a flowchart of the filing steps and a sample Form 16 picture.
From 2 comments
I used this to file my wife's tax return the other day. The experience was quite good (going by Indian standards). Few things based on my experience. 1) There should be a…
braindead_in on HNThank you for the detailed feedback! Very actionable. 1. We'll add the flowchart. This is a very good idea :-) 2. I'll do a sample picture example for form-16 3. Its constantly…
architgupta on HN
Add a help section and FAQ, and make terms and privacy policy easy to find.
From 3 comments
While it is good that you kept the UI very lean, you would probably benefit from having a UI/UX guy help you with making the app feel a bit more 'dressed up'. Currently this…
mikaelgramont on HNYou're welcome! About TOS & Privacy policy. I couldn't find these after searching. Maybe place it in Footer, FAQ.
gary4gar on HNWell, to share my own use case. I clicked the big, "Start your Tax return for free" assuming, it would provide me some information before I joined the site. When it didn't, I…
rrrazdan on HN
Support more Indian languages and mobile use.
From 1 comment
Two technical things if you are really serious. Localization. Make sure you can support the 22 official languages. And you need a mobile strategy. Mos of your potential users are…
mikerg87 on HN
Questions
What is the business model and is there a fee per filing?
From 2 comments
I used this to file my wife's tax return the other day. The experience was quite good (going by Indian standards). Few things based on my experience. 1) There should be a…
braindead_in on HNThank you for the detailed feedback! Very actionable. 1. We'll add the flowchart. This is a very good idea :-) 2. I'll do a sample picture example for form-16 3. Its constantly…
architgupta on HN
How much would cleartax pro cost?
From 1 comment
Just curious: how much would I have to pay to get cleartax pro? Also, you might want to fix the Mr Bose example: "ClearTax (an Income Tax website) rode to his resuce". I'm not…
copper on HN
Alternatives named
Spreadsheet tax calculators used by software professionals.
From 2 comments
Many software professionals in India use this brilliant http://www.ynithya.com/taxcalc/
known on HNThe above said spreadsheets does not work with open/libre office. If you are looking for openoffice version you can use http://freedom-matters.in/
sagarun on HN
Chartered accountants who file returns for a fee.
From 2 comments
Not really. All the salaried employees have to file the returns. Every year this time, it will be a cash festival for CAs and non-CAs who charge around 150-250 to get it done. Of…
meow on HNWish I have seen this last week :). Had to pay 250 bucks to a CA. I tried filing through the income tax website before that.. it looked okay, but you have to jump through a lot…
meow on HN
myitreturn.com, another online filing site.
From 1 comment
Not true. I filed IT return using this website https://myitreturn.com/default.aspx and it has handful of users
sagarun on HN