Terribly Taxing
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For most people, tax season is a time of quiet dread - a looming deadline, a barrage of jargon, and a vague fear of doing it all wrong. But for Arj Kumar, it was the beginning of an idea: what if the headache could be removed entirely? As co-founder of Taxd, a London based digital tax platform designed to demystify and democratise self-assessment and a winner in the recent Entrepreneur UK London 100 list, Kumar is part of a new wave of fintech entrepreneurs shaking up a sector long defined by paper trails and pricey accountants.
"We knew trust would be our biggest hurdle," says Kumar, reflecting on the platform's earliest days. "Tax is deeply personal, and most people associate it with face-to-face interactions. We had to show people that a tech-led solution could not only be just as effective - but even better."
That meant obsessing over user experience, ensuring each interaction felt human, helpful, and secure. The platform combines automation with expert support, while its slick interface offers a far cry from HMRC's clunky portals. Trust, Kumar explains, was earned one client at a time - through clear communication, transparent pricing, and the reliability of a system built not just by engineers, but by tax professionals who understood the pain points firsthand.
Kumar's journey began at PwC, where he and fellow co-founder Eamon Shahir saw the inefficiencies of traditional tax filing up close. Alongside James Green, who brought the technical muscle, they built a product that promised a smoother, faster, and far more affordable alternative. In the early days, they did what Kumar calls "things that don't scale" - late-night calls with customers, personalised guidance, endless tweaks to the platform based on direct feedback. It wasn't glamorous, but it worked.
Still, the road wasn't always smooth. "We were fresh from PwC and had no real idea how to raise capital," Kumar admits. "Learning to speak the VC language - that took time. If I could do it again, I'd spend more time upfront understanding how the start-up ecosystem actually works."
Today, Taxd is gaining ground with freelancers, contractors, and small business owners looking for an easier way to stay on the right side of HMRC. And Kumar has a few words of advice for founders following in his footsteps: focus on a real problem, know your domain inside out, and surround yourself with people who share the load. "If you can identify the cracks in a system you understand, you're halfway there. Then it's just about building something better - and proving it works."
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