ClearTax introduces an AI-led Tax and Finance Planner

ClearTax launched a new AI-based tax & financial planning algorithm on the ClearTax Invest platform. The algorithm will provide investors with the most accurate and personalized assessment of their investment profile based on their financial data, income, etc. and tell them exactly how much and where they should invest to save tax.

ClearTax observed that the average amount of possible tax savings a taxpayer is currently missing out on is over INR 20,000 a year. According to data from its platform, on a country-wide level, less than 50% of those with a salary above INR 7 lakh save taxes by fully exhausting Section 80C. Surprisingly, 90% of women taxpayers do not optimize their tax-saving benefits through investments. Among the most common reasons for this is that finance and taxes are complex topics for many people. Besides this, the lack of liquidity at the last moment and lack of personalized recommendations on which funds they should invest in, how much, and for how long, are other factors which make it challenging for taxpayers to save taxes. With companies across the country expected to start collecting annual investment proofs from their employees in January 2019, this tool on the ClearTax Invest platform will come especially handy to millions of taxpayers while they are planning to save on income tax for the current financial year.

On ClearTax Invest, users can choose from the best and top performing mutual funds to invest in, across two main categories, namely tax-saving and wealth generation. The simple and easy-to-use platform, trusted by over 4 million Indians, allows users to invest in just 5 minutes without any paperwork. With the launch of the AI-driven tax planning feature, users will benefit from an additional layer of personalization of how much they can exactly save and how can they save it. With a tax-saving investment instrument such as ELSS (Equity Linked Saving Scheme), investors can save up to INR 46,800 in taxes every financial year by investing up to INR 1.5 lakh under Section 80 C.

Commenting on the announcement, Archit Gupta, Founder, and CEO, ClearTax said, “With a combination of automation and human expertise to guide the platform’s algorithms, we are confident that our users will find this feature extremely helpful in simplifying their tax planning efforts. As many as 20 million Indian taxpayers stand to benefit from The ClearTax Invest platform who can invest in tax-saving mutual funds which qualify for Section 80C. More importantly, it will save them those last-minute troubles of having to find the right investment options before they file their IT returns and then waiting for months to be refunded the surplus tax they may have paid.”

ClearTax focuses extensively on ensuring that its platform is user-centric, through easy to use features and seamless customer experience. Following the company’s recent round of funding, wherein it received a capital infusion of $50 million, ClearTax has been working towards amplifying its growth by making substantial investments towards its tech infrastructure. Further, the company has been expanding both its B2B and B2C offerings, with the mutual fund and tax-saving platform – ClearTax Invest, set to be a key area of focus for the fin-tech company over the next three years. There are around 20 million Indians who have invested in mutual funds so far; ClearTax plans to add half a million new investors in 2019 through its platform by leveraging its AI-driven capabilities to create value for its users and achieve this goal.

To this end, the company has been looking to expand its teams with finance and tech experts, engineers, etc. to create a robust investment platform, and deliver a superior experience to customers when transacting on it.