Is India Ready to File Tax Returns via Smartphones

Is India Ready to File Tax Returns via Smartphones?

ClearTax's new Android app lets you e-file tax returns.Around five percent of ClearTax users filed their returns via its mobile website.Minimising data entry is the key focus in ClearTax's Android app.

When you can buy groceries, send money, and even edit pdf files on your smartphone, it's probably not surprising when you hear that filing your tax returns can also now be done from your smartphone. ClearTax, a startup that lets you file your tax returns online in India, is launching a major update to its Android app, which will now let you file your tax returns from your phone. Earlier you could only view the status of your refunds on the app.

But does anyone really file their tax returns from their smartphone? A complex process with no margin for error, conventional wisdom dictates that this is best done on a much larger screen than that of a smartphone. ClearTax founder Archit Guptaobviously believes there is a need for it, and tells Gadgets 360 that around 5 percent of the users had been filing their taxes from the mobile web.

Given that ClearTax claims 1 million tax returns have been filed using it, that's a large number of people, even if it is very much a minority of users. What's more, a quick look around Google Play alone shows there are other apps in this space, such asmyITreturn, which is rated quite highly, and has plenty of positive comments.

But the fact is that the chance of an error when filling a tax form on a tiny mobile screen is higher, particularly when there's a lot of data to be entered. ClearTax's app focuses on minimising the amount of data you have to type - instead, you upload your Form 16 as a pdf, and it imports all the data that's required, according to Gupta. He adds that the app works offline, uploading data to the server once you're back online. Gupta claims that the ClearTax experience is better than that on the website, as there is no latency.