Ask Clarifying Questions

• What are the current methods people use to file their income tax returns in India?
• Are there any existing mobile apps that help with this process? What are their strengths and weaknesses?
• What are the typical mistakes that individual taxpayers often make while filing income tax returns?
• Are there certain regulatory compliances that individuals often miss out on or find challenging to comply with?

Identify User Persona‍

Multiple personas could use such an app:

• Salaried Employee: An individual who earns a fixed salary and whose taxes are primarily deducted at source.
• Small Business Owner: An individual who owns a small business and has multiple sources of income.
• Freelancer: An individual who works on multiple projects for different companies.
• Elderly: Individuals who are retired and may be not as familiar with digital tools.

For this discussion, let's prioritize the Freelancer persona. This group likely has the most complex tax situation due to multiple income streams, varying levels of tax withholding, and possible expenses to deduct.

Pain Points for the Prioritized User Persona (Freelancer)

• Difficulty in keeping track of income from multiple sources.
• Difficulty in keeping track of and categorizing expenses that are tax-deductible.
• Lack of clarity on the rules and regulations concerning taxation.
• The process of filing taxes can be time-consuming and complex.
• Risk of making mistakes that could lead to penalties or audits.

Suggest Solutions for the Pain Points Listed

• A feature to connect the app with multiple bank accounts to track income automatically.
• A feature to capture and categorize expenses. This could use OCR technology to scan receipts and extract relevant information.
• Provide a repository of resources explaining tax rules and regulations in simple, understandable language.
• Incorporate an intelligent user interface that guides users through the filing process in a step-by-step manner, minimizing complexity.
• An AI-powered error-checking feature that highlights potential mistakes before the user submits their tax return.

Prioritization of the Solutions

• First, develop the features that track income and expenses. These are the core functionalities and directly address the primary pain points.
• Next, develop the intelligent user interface. This enhances the user experience and simplifies the process of filing.
• Then, add the repository of resources. While important, it's not as critical as the above features because external resources can be used as a stop-gap.
• Lastly, add the AI-powered error-checking feature. This is a more advanced feature that can be introduced as a value-add.

Metrics

• User Engagement: How often and how long users interact with the app.
• Error Rate: The percentage of filings that contain errors.
• Completion Rate: The percentage of started filings that are completed and submitted.
• User Satisfaction: Feedback from users about their experience using the app.
• Reduction in Time Spent: Comparing the time spent filing taxes with the app vs. traditional methods.

Summary‍

The proposed mobile app aims to simplify and streamline the tax filing process for individual taxpayers in India, particularly freelancers who face unique challenges due to their multiple sources of income and expenses. The app will provide features to automatically track income and expenses, offer a resource repository for tax rules, guide users through the filing process in a step-by-step manner, and check for potential errors before submission. We will measure the success of the app based on user engagement, error rate, completion rate, user satisfaction, and reduction in time spent.