TaxScouts combines automation and accountants, bringing personalised online tax preparation to market at a fraction of the normal cost
TaxScouts, the company working to make tax preparation effortless, announced it closed £300,000 in funding to build out its product in the UK. The company was founded by early employees and alumni of leading European startups TransferWise, Skype and MarketInvoice.
This round of pre-seed investment is backed by world-class angel investors, including Picus Capital, an early-stage technology investment firm with a long-term investment philosophy; Charlie Delingpole, Co-founder of ComplyAdvantage and MarketInvoice; Charlie Songhurst, former GM corporate strategy at Microsoft; among others. TaxScouts was founded by Mart Abramov, (previously Skype and one of the early employees of TransferWise), Dan Karger (previously MarketInvoice), and Kaupo Kõrv (award-winning designer with major works for TransferWise and Toggl).
Every year 10 million people in the UK stress over doing their tax returns themselves or spend hundreds of pounds on accountants. TaxScouts is automating the personal income tax preparation, offering a service that is cheaper than hiring an accountant from the high street, yet offering the same benefits.
For £99 taxpayers can go online for a simple tax assessment that will help them understand their personal income tax situation, suggesting ways to reduce their tax bill and telling what information is needed to move forward. Where possible it pulls this information from online sources, such as the HMRC. TaxScouts will then match the customer with an Association of Accounting Technicians certified advisor that will prepare their tax return and offer advice, with a 24-hour turnaround.
Mart Abramov, Co-Founder and CEO of TaxScouts, commented: “Doing your taxes is not something that people enjoy. It is either tedious or expensive, and sometimes it’s both. We want to change that. TaxScouts is set out to automate as many of the menial tasks to accountants around tax preparation as possible. This frees time for them to do what they do best –help with advice and expertise.”
TaxScouts will use the funding to build out the automation and expand the team in their London office. The company partners with accountants throughout the UK, enabling small accountancy firms to expand their business into London.
Abramov added: “Tax preparation often brings in an element of unease for many. That is why we combine automation with help from tax professionals. Since our trial launch, we are learning what the main pain points of our customers that we can help with automation so we can have a slick product ready when the next tax season comes.”
Charlie Delingpole, Co-founder of ComplyAdvantage and MarketInvoice, said: “Tram, Dan and Kaupo are a fantastic team who have built a magical platform to help accountants and taxpayers revolutionise and automate basic manual processes leading to significant savings and benefits for all concerned. Having worked with the team previously I know the superb quality of their technology and values, and am excited for the ambitious company they are building at Taxscouts.”
Robin Godenrath, Managing Director at Picus Capital, said: “TaxScout is the perfect customer solution to combine the simplicity and time-efficiency of a digital tax preparation technology with the individuality and sophistication of a tax advisor. Through the efficiency gains, TaxScouts is able to offer tax return preparation at a great price. At the same time, the solution can easily be applied to different job groups and countries. Tram and the TaxScouts team have exactly the impressive track record when it comes to building seemingless, great UX products needed to build a large, successful company within the industry.”
