There are product pitches and then there are product pitches that grab your attention. We got a pitch mail from a Tax eFiling startup Cleartax that makes you want to read and gives you an instant ‘trust’ on the people behind it. More on the remark worthy pitch later. 
Cleartax is a tax eFiling startup. Although the space is crowded with a lot of players like TaxSmile, TaxShax, ReachTax etc., the basic differentiator with Cleartax is that it is free. ClearTax works on a freemium model where individuals can pay to consult tax experts to get that extra help on saving and filing.
The filing steps are rather very simple and it wouldn’t take more than 5 minutes if you have all the required info handy. Though the team needs to work a little on the site copy. Some of the terms used are more from the finance world than the layman world. Like “Long Term Capital Gain / Short Term Capital Gain.” or “Contributions like LIC, Mutual Funds, School Fees, but other than NSC”. How long is long term? And what is counted as Capital gain? Is LIC/Mutual Fund a contribution or an investment? They certainly need to add more information on each of the fields asked for in preparing the tax statement. (Read:Of Google+, English and an iCloud Ad [Product Messaging] ).
That said, I am still impressed with their no nonsense application. The free model will definitely awake the other players in the market. The cheapest that I have come across is Taxyogi but their free plan still needs you to go to the govt. site. From what the team explains, the Rs.150 plan from TaxYogi is free at ClearTax.
Now on their marketing pitch. Read this intro love story of Mr. Bose. Simple yet effective way to get the message across. Their pitch mail to us was equally interactive and non-boring.
What do you think of the online tax filing space? How do you file your returns?
[Naman is a startup enthusiast and has worked with couple of Indian startups as Product Manager. He is the founder of FindYogi]
