StartupNews.in

It happens all the time to a lot of people. Your charted accountant is always busy and you land up running behind him to get your Tax returns filed. Sometimes it takes innumerable calls to get a simple job done from your CA. How many times one would have wished to have a charted accountant, a lawyer and a doctor in the family? You can’t help it much now but you can definitely get close! Meet Robin who is just a call away and the man behind ReachTax.com, helping you file your returns online. Unlike other portals his picture and direct chat on the homepage nearly assures you of personalized attention.

Apart from Robin, a clean looking interface greets you on ReachTax.com. You can choose an option worth Rs. 250/- for filing your returns online or have someone from ReachTax call you and do it over phone for just Rs. 500/-. With the ability to file your tax returns online or even get someone to your doorstep to do that makes ReachTax more user friendly. There are easily locatable links to a free tax guide and a tax planner. Last, but not the least links to refer a friend and solicit suggestions adds to create a positive feel about ReachTax.

Key Concept of ReachTax

The business is about helping individuals discharge their tax liabilities every year by helping them to prepare their tax returns.  Having started 3 years back with 300 clients and a modest turnover of Rs. 3 Lakhs per annum; the business has evolved to serve more than 10,000 clients and an earning potential of Rs. 1.18 crores. Today, ReachTax is better equipped with the ability to prepare and file returns digitally, five Retail Outlets, two Franchisee Partners and two Affiliate Partners. ReachTax has fairly good brand recognition in Chennai and has protected its trademarks and intellectual properties reasonably well. The ability to offer services in a customer-preferred mode will drive many more customers towards it.

Future plans of ReachTax

According to Robin “Our purpose of existence is to create a preferred replacement for the local tax consultant. We intend to do this by making taxes easy and delivering it in the preferred medium. For example, a salaried filer would prefer completing his taxes online, while a small business filer prefers leaving it to an expert. We try and do just that. Deliver it in their preferred medium.” Going by numbers, ReachTax has grown over 33 times in the last three years, in terms of number of clients; from 300 clients in 2007 to 10000 in 2009. “We intend to repeat the same feat in the next 3 years, but this time, in terms of revenue – from clients valued at 1.2 crores this year, we wish to reach 40 crores in revenue by 2012” adds Robin.

Immediate expansion strategy

ReachTax plans to scale up the brick and mortar business by a series of Franchisee Models, and the online business by partnering with potential web portals and other Affiliates. To maintain the quality of service delivery ReachTax plans to expand in phases over the next 5 years.

ReachTax plans to make its presence in other states too. According to Robin “Franchisee partners are pivotal to our growth. Since we handle the Tax Preparation centrally, we can handle the state laws without flaw. The franchisee partners would focus on sales and CRM. An ideal franchisee partner should be capable of investing time and little money. He should be good at “finding new clients and keeping the old”. We look forward to provide websites with an application to prepare and file Tax Returns, tax related content and tools to plan taxes. The users of these websites get access to quality tax content while the websites also make some quick money with minimal effort.”

Interested entrepreneurs & websites can contact franchisees@reachtax.com

The Challenge

The biggest challenge faced by the business is in maintaining revenues in the non-tax seasons. ReachTax has been evaluating options of selling other financial products to its existing customers using the available channels.

The founder of ReachTax

Reach Tax’s founder and CEO, Robin Moses, has a nationally recognized name in the tax and accounting world. He is also the founder of www.reachaccountant.com, A website which provides tools to create a virtual office for a Tax Professional. Robin Moses has served as CEO since October 2005. In his current tenure, he has started several stunning initiatives in the tax preparation industry. Reach Tax is his initiative to make taxes easy for the small business owners. You can contact him at robin@reachtax.com

Funding & revenue status

The company has not raised external funding so far. With its projected growth in revenues ReachTax may not require immediate external infusion of funds. However, after the next few phases it may look out for funds.

Competition to ReachTax

ReachTax has competitors on all fronts. In the physical filing model, there is competition from local charted accountants and other tax consultants. However, convenience, speed and transparency in pricing are drawing more and more customers to ReachTax.

The scene is much different in the digital filing market. There are a few but large players as competitors.  Some of them are taxsmile.com (A ICICI 3i Initiative), myitreturn.com, taxshax.com (Funded by the private equity arm of Times Now Group), taxspanner.com, taxyantra.com, filemyreturns.com. The Income Tax Department also provides a free tool to help individuals prepare their tax returns.

ReachTax may not be at the top in the lot, but it is definitely more personal and poised to give stiff competition to the biggies. If you have used any of the above services, please feel free to share it here.