5 ms·

Show HN: Income Tax Calculator

64 points by rk0567 11y ago

option_greek 11y ago
I can't help but notice the .net.in domain. I haven't seen this before. Is this like .co.in but for .net versions ? I feel the website is a good starting point but would be nice if it had more sliders for providing various inputs and a real time update of the tax to be paid.
- rk0567 11y ago
  yeah, I couldn't find anything else. Points noted. It's the initial version of what I wanted to build. I'll add more features gradually as I get some input/suggestion from the users. Thank you.
anpat 11y ago
Looks nice. Just a question, are you storing the data. (I know not sensitive but still.)
- rk0567 11y ago
  No. Data never leaves the browser (temporarily stored on client's browser using sessionStorage).
  - bigdataspark 11y ago
    Do you store any other data other than typed in, like IP, browser, etc?
h43k3r 11y ago
Great for just calculating the amount of tax that one needs to pay without going into the process of login and setting up a user account. +1 for the great interface. Cleartax.in (YC funded) provides a much more comprehensive solution of filing taxes and returns. Although their UI needs a serious upgrade as per today's standards. Yesterday only, I have used Cleartax.in to file my Income Tax Return. Their service is simple to use and they do appropriate checks to make sure that your filing is consistent. PS - Not affiliated to Cleartax.
- arihant 11y ago
  I have tried it, but I didn't understand why I would ever use it. The Income Tax e-filing is already dead simple in India, and has only become better over the years. You just put data in and it basically does everything for you. If you use DSC then it's as instant as it gets. So I don't really see the benefit of using Cleartax for personal filing. It might be feeding on distrust towards Gov services among people. But IT filing tool is already dead simple and easy. Cleartax may have uses for businesses if they Uber-ify the hiring of CA for short term.
  - architgupta 11y ago
    Hi Arihant, I work at ClearTax http://cleartax.in http://cleartax.in - so I'll add some feedback here. Many people find the Government tool intimidating and difficult to use. It is hard to figure out which Form to file (there is ITR-1, 2, 3, 4S, 4) and now there's a new tax form (ITR-2A) which muddies the waters further. ClearTax identifies the correct tax form for you automatically. You upload your Form-16 (W-2 equivalent for India) and our software will automatically read everything and fill out the correct tax form within seconds. We'll take you through a simplified form which will ask basic questions and help you make progress. If you get stuck, our support team answers questions or you can buy CA assistance for complex plans. The Government form is sufficiently complicated for Income earned from Rent (if you own a house), because it won't give you the 30% deduction (Section 24) in the ITR-1. If you need to figure out long term or short term capital gains when you sell assets, the Government form is very very difficult to use even for experts (We have 10K+ Chartered Accountants using the professional version of ClearTax). I truly believe that the level of cognitive complexity in the Government's tool is much higher than ClearTax. Lakhs of users in India e-File on ClearTax because they find it simpler than the Government's tool. I do agree that for an expert user, the tools may feel equivalent :) Regards, Archit
seanmcdirmid 11y ago
Ugh, taxes are due in 6 days. I have to remember to do them soon.
twoodfin 11y ago
Fascinating. My income tax liability in India would roughly match my liability here in the United States (assuming I took similar deductions). Are there Indian equivalents to the U.S. payroll taxes or other broad-based, non-consumption taxes?
architgupta 11y ago
ClearTax has a tax calculator as well :D https://cleartax.in/paytax/TaxCalculator https://cleartax.in/paytax/TaxCalculator
damoncali 11y ago
How depressing is it for us in the US that the Indian tax code is simple enough that someone can "show HN" a tax calculator.
- dylanjermiah 11y ago
  Have to keep TurboTax and its derivatives in business somehow :)
  - verisimilitude 11y ago
    That's not just a funny comment, it is literally true! "For more than a decade, Mr. Bankman and a small group of tax experts have called on the government to create a tax preparation method that they say would vastly reduce the time and cost of tax-filing for most people. Intuit has been a primary obstacle to the effort."[0] [0]: http://nytimes.com/2015/04/16/technology/personaltech/turbotax-or-irs-as-tax-preparer-intuit-has-a-favorite.html http://nytimes.com/2015/04/16/technology/personaltech/turbot...
    - dylanjermiah 11y ago
      It would be humorous if it wasn't so disheartening.
  - damoncali 11y ago
    I've always wondered what would/will happen when the tax code gets so complicated that nobody can understand it, and we have to rely on a machine to interpret it. A sort of brave new world where the inputs are collected by computers, the tax is calculated by computers and taken by computers, all understood only by a small cadre of tax coders. Kind of scary.
    - briandear 11y ago
      Milton Friedman explains tax code complexity brilliantly here: http://youtu.be/TruCIPy79w8 http://youtu.be/TruCIPy79w8
MichaelCrawford 11y ago
I used Revenue Canada's instructions for computer programs to create a spreadsheet that I called "payswell". I GPLed it and published it at sourceforge however I only implemented one tax year. In the US every state has different income taxes; some don't have income tax at all such as Washington. I always intended to create a US spreadsheet but the task seems daunting.
chdir 11y ago
Nice. However I must ask, the official tax department's site has been revamped and added a very slick calculator [1] a few months or maybe a year ago. Is there a good reason to prefer yours ? However, if you are an expert in tax rules, here's something I'd pay money for - clear tax guidance in the form of a decision engine, where I can feed my inputs and get an accurate interpretation of the tax rules. I will pay for this as long as you can back the interpretation by a certified tax consultant. [1] http://www.incometaxindia.gov.in/Pages/tools/income-tax-calculator.aspx http://www.incometaxindia.gov.in/Pages/tools/income-tax-calc...
- rk0567 11y ago
  > Is there a good reason to prefer yours ? Maybe not, yet. But over a period of gradual improvement, it may offer something unique to certain niche. e.g beginner users, who would prefer a tax calculation tool with a clear and easy to understand step by step guide, followed by some tax related advise etc (something similar to what you've recommended). Thanks.
petercooper 11y ago
The British equivalent: http://www.listentotaxman.com/ http://www.listentotaxman.com/ Only for people with normal jobs or self employed though, doesn't take things like capital gains or dividends into account (but these have nicer rates than normal income anyway, so it's good as a worst case calculator anyway.)
- learnstats2 11y ago
  Even if you're self-employed, it doesn't take into account National Insurance quite correctly.
Splendor 11y ago
> "TDS Deducted from Salary" It would be helpful to explain initialisms like TDS for those who don't know.
- gt5050 11y ago
  Tax Deducted at Source, basically the employer deducts the tax before making the payment to the employee More here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tax_Deducted_at_Source http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tax_Deducted_at_Source
- rk0567 11y ago
  yeah, I should add that. I thought it was too common for target users. Thanks.
gboone42 11y ago
Really wish this was open source. :/
known 11y ago
Looks good.
umeshunni 11y ago
I think you may have a floating point bug or two:http://imgur.com/zmOCoY0 http://imgur.com/zmOCoY0
- rk0567 11y ago
  Thanks. I'll fix that.
nagaiah 11y ago
http://www.ynithya.com/taxcalc/ http://www.ynithya.com/taxcalc/ is also good

64 points by rk0567 11y ago

I can't help but notice the .net.in domain. I haven't seen this before. Is this like .co.in but for .net versions ? I feel the website is a good starting point but would be nice if it had more sliders for providing various inputs and a real time update of the tax to be paid.

rk0567 11y ago
yeah, I couldn't find anything else. Points noted. It's the initial version of what I wanted to build. I'll add more features gradually as I get some input/suggestion from the users. Thank you.

anpat 11y ago

Looks nice. Just a question, are you storing the data. (I know not sensitive but still.)

rk0567 11y ago
No. Data never leaves the browser (temporarily stored on client's browser using sessionStorage).
- bigdataspark 11y ago
  Do you store any other data other than typed in, like IP, browser, etc?

h43k3r 11y ago

Great for just calculating the amount of tax that one needs to pay without going into the process of login and setting up a user account. +1 for the great interface. Cleartax.in (YC funded) provides a much more comprehensive solution of filing taxes and returns. Although their UI needs a serious upgrade as per today's standards. Yesterday only, I have used Cleartax.in to file my Income Tax Return. Their service is simple to use and they do appropriate checks to make sure that your filing is consistent. PS - Not affiliated to Cleartax.

arihant 11y ago
I have tried it, but I didn't understand why I would ever use it. The Income Tax e-filing is already dead simple in India, and has only become better over the years. You just put data in and it basically does everything for you. If you use DSC then it's as instant as it gets. So I don't really see the benefit of using Cleartax for personal filing. It might be feeding on distrust towards Gov services among people. But IT filing tool is already dead simple and easy. Cleartax may have uses for businesses if they Uber-ify the hiring of CA for short term.
- architgupta 11y ago
  Hi Arihant, I work at ClearTax http://cleartax.in http://cleartax.in - so I'll add some feedback here. Many people find the Government tool intimidating and difficult to use. It is hard to figure out which Form to file (there is ITR-1, 2, 3, 4S, 4) and now there's a new tax form (ITR-2A) which muddies the waters further. ClearTax identifies the correct tax form for you automatically. You upload your Form-16 (W-2 equivalent for India) and our software will automatically read everything and fill out the correct tax form within seconds. We'll take you through a simplified form which will ask basic questions and help you make progress. If you get stuck, our support team answers questions or you can buy CA assistance for complex plans. The Government form is sufficiently complicated for Income earned from Rent (if you own a house), because it won't give you the 30% deduction (Section 24) in the ITR-1. If you need to figure out long term or short term capital gains when you sell assets, the Government form is very very difficult to use even for experts (We have 10K+ Chartered Accountants using the professional version of ClearTax). I truly believe that the level of cognitive complexity in the Government's tool is much higher than ClearTax. Lakhs of users in India e-File on ClearTax because they find it simpler than the Government's tool. I do agree that for an expert user, the tools may feel equivalent :) Regards, Archit

seanmcdirmid 11y ago

Ugh, taxes are due in 6 days. I have to remember to do them soon.

twoodfin 11y ago

Fascinating. My income tax liability in India would roughly match my liability here in the United States (assuming I took similar deductions). Are there Indian equivalents to the U.S. payroll taxes or other broad-based, non-consumption taxes?

architgupta 11y ago

ClearTax has a tax calculator as well :D https://cleartax.in/paytax/TaxCalculator https://cleartax.in/paytax/TaxCalculator

damoncali 11y ago

How depressing is it for us in the US that the Indian tax code is simple enough that someone can "show HN" a tax calculator.

dylanjermiah 11y ago
Have to keep TurboTax and its derivatives in business somehow :)
- verisimilitude 11y ago
  That's not just a funny comment, it is literally true! "For more than a decade, Mr. Bankman and a small group of tax experts have called on the government to create a tax preparation method that they say would vastly reduce the time and cost of tax-filing for most people. Intuit has been a primary obstacle to the effort."[0] [0]: http://nytimes.com/2015/04/16/technology/personaltech/turbotax-or-irs-as-tax-preparer-intuit-has-a-favorite.html http://nytimes.com/2015/04/16/technology/personaltech/turbot...
  - dylanjermiah 11y ago
    It would be humorous if it wasn't so disheartening.
- damoncali 11y ago
  I've always wondered what would/will happen when the tax code gets so complicated that nobody can understand it, and we have to rely on a machine to interpret it. A sort of brave new world where the inputs are collected by computers, the tax is calculated by computers and taken by computers, all understood only by a small cadre of tax coders. Kind of scary.
  - briandear 11y ago
    Milton Friedman explains tax code complexity brilliantly here: http://youtu.be/TruCIPy79w8 http://youtu.be/TruCIPy79w8

MichaelCrawford 11y ago

I used Revenue Canada's instructions for computer programs to create a spreadsheet that I called "payswell". I GPLed it and published it at sourceforge however I only implemented one tax year. In the US every state has different income taxes; some don't have income tax at all such as Washington. I always intended to create a US spreadsheet but the task seems daunting.

chdir 11y ago

Nice. However I must ask, the official tax department's site has been revamped and added a very slick calculator [1] a few months or maybe a year ago. Is there a good reason to prefer yours ? However, if you are an expert in tax rules, here's something I'd pay money for - clear tax guidance in the form of a decision engine, where I can feed my inputs and get an accurate interpretation of the tax rules. I will pay for this as long as you can back the interpretation by a certified tax consultant. [1] http://www.incometaxindia.gov.in/Pages/tools/income-tax-calculator.aspx http://www.incometaxindia.gov.in/Pages/tools/income-tax-calc...

rk0567 11y ago
> Is there a good reason to prefer yours ? Maybe not, yet. But over a period of gradual improvement, it may offer something unique to certain niche. e.g beginner users, who would prefer a tax calculation tool with a clear and easy to understand step by step guide, followed by some tax related advise etc (something similar to what you've recommended). Thanks.

petercooper 11y ago

The British equivalent: http://www.listentotaxman.com/ http://www.listentotaxman.com/ Only for people with normal jobs or self employed though, doesn't take things like capital gains or dividends into account (but these have nicer rates than normal income anyway, so it's good as a worst case calculator anyway.)

learnstats2 11y ago
Even if you're self-employed, it doesn't take into account National Insurance quite correctly.

Splendor 11y ago

> "TDS Deducted from Salary" It would be helpful to explain initialisms like TDS for those who don't know.

gt5050 11y ago
Tax Deducted at Source, basically the employer deducts the tax before making the payment to the employee More here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tax_Deducted_at_Source http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tax_Deducted_at_Source
rk0567 11y ago
yeah, I should add that. I thought it was too common for target users. Thanks.

gboone42 11y ago

Really wish this was open source. :/

known 11y ago

Looks good.

umeshunni 11y ago

I think you may have a floating point bug or two:http://imgur.com/zmOCoY0 http://imgur.com/zmOCoY0

rk0567 11y ago
Thanks. I'll fix that.

nagaiah 11y ago

http://www.ynithya.com/taxcalc/ http://www.ynithya.com/taxcalc/ is also good