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I used a web app called SnapTax one year in Canada to do my taxes. It was easy and fast, ahead of its time for web UIs, and showed what much better technology c

by gruseom 13y ago

I used a web app called SnapTax one year in Canada to do my taxes. It was easy and fast, ahead of its time for web UIs, and showed what much better technology can do in the space. Intuit bought them and killed the product. Their own product (needless to say?) is awful. If all you want is to get acquired and you don't care about your product being killed, making usable tax prep software is probably a good way to go. Unless there are regulatory barriers, it doesn't seem particularly hard. You'd have to immerse yourself in tax details, though, plus not love what you were doing.

suter 13y ago
SnapTax was awesome—until it got acquired and killed. Ever since then, I was really frustrated with the state of tax software in Canada. The fact that over 6 million people still do their taxes on paper, and that most people turn to expensive tax preparers for even the simplest of returns, drove us to build http://simpletax.ca http://simpletax.ca. We're lucky in that we have a non-practicing tax lawyer on board. There is so much good technology can do in this space.
- randlet 13y ago
  Woohoo! Hadn't heard of you guys until today but excited to give SimpleTax a try. I've already filed 2012 taxes but I've added a link in my 2013 taxes folder and will give you a shot next year. Pay what you want is an interesting (crazy?) choice...care to elaborate on why you went this route? Everyone is already used to paying for tax software so on the surface it would seem like a no brainer to charge a fee.
  - suter 13y ago
    Awesome! Let us know what you think. Are we crazy? Yes, but hopefully crazy enough to change the industry. We initially set out with the plan to charge a fee, but there is a long list of industry-specific reasons as to why we got a little more creative. Like any startup, we're experimenting with our business model. Could we make more by charging a fee? Maybe. At the end of the day, we're happy building the best product we can and making it available to as many people as possible.
- boringkyle 13y ago
  Any way to file returns for the previous years?
  - suter 13y ago
    No, sorry. We started in 2012 and the CRA doesn't do retroactive certifications.

by gruseom 13y ago

suter 13y ago

SnapTax was awesome—until it got acquired and killed. Ever since then, I was really frustrated with the state of tax software in Canada. The fact that over 6 million people still do their taxes on paper, and that most people turn to expensive tax preparers for even the simplest of returns, drove us to build http://simpletax.ca http://simpletax.ca. We're lucky in that we have a non-practicing tax lawyer on board. There is so much good technology can do in this space.

randlet 13y ago
Woohoo! Hadn't heard of you guys until today but excited to give SimpleTax a try. I've already filed 2012 taxes but I've added a link in my 2013 taxes folder and will give you a shot next year. Pay what you want is an interesting (crazy?) choice...care to elaborate on why you went this route? Everyone is already used to paying for tax software so on the surface it would seem like a no brainer to charge a fee.
- suter 13y ago
  Awesome! Let us know what you think. Are we crazy? Yes, but hopefully crazy enough to change the industry. We initially set out with the plan to charge a fee, but there is a long list of industry-specific reasons as to why we got a little more creative. Like any startup, we're experimenting with our business model. Could we make more by charging a fee? Maybe. At the end of the day, we're happy building the best product we can and making it available to as many people as possible.
boringkyle 13y ago
Any way to file returns for the previous years?
- suter 13y ago
  No, sorry. We started in 2012 and the CRA doesn't do retroactive certifications.