Wooing the Indian online tax payer A look at how web financial service providers are attempting to grab the better half of the market pie with their strategies

E-filing : What is it? A method of filing tax returns online Introduced by the government in 2006-07 Astronomical increase since the last two years 2006-07 : 3.7 lakh online tax payers 2007-08 : 21.93 lakh online tax payers Increase of over 500% Over 50 lakh online filings are estimated in FY 2008-09

A method of filing tax returns online

Introduced by the government in 2006-07

Astronomical increase since the last two years

2006-07 : 3.7 lakh online tax payers

2007-08 : 21.93 lakh online tax payers

Increase of over 500%

Over 50 lakh online filings are estimated in FY 2008-09

Key players in the Indian market

Traffic stats Note how the traffic shoots up in the month of July, in lieu of the tax filing deadline of July 31st

Note how the traffic shoots up in the month of July, in lieu of the tax filing deadline of July 31st

Modes of Advertisement

Comparative Pricings

Observations Users are increasingly becoming aware of the online medium to file tax returns. The traffic graph of these websites clearly shows a significant amount of awareness among the masses with respect to online tax return filing. Taxsmile.com . a veteran in this domain, continued to lead the pack with the maximum number of visitors. PaisaWaisa.com , the only site allowing free tax return filing, is a relatively new venture, but has eaten a considerable share of the market pie

Users are increasingly becoming aware of the online medium to file tax returns.

The traffic graph of these websites clearly shows a significant amount of awareness among the masses with respect to online tax return filing.

Taxsmile.com . a veteran in this domain, continued to lead the pack with the maximum number of visitors.

PaisaWaisa.com , the only site allowing free tax return filing, is a relatively new venture, but has eaten a considerable share of the market pie

Observations (contd.) TaxSpanner , another relatively experienced player in the online tax filing industry, could not impress the Indian audience this time. TaxShax , despite having the backing of BCCL (Times Group), could not swing the opportunity in its favour, and ended up on a mediocre note, much like its contemporary, TaxSpanner.

TaxSpanner , another relatively experienced player in the online tax filing industry, could not impress the Indian audience this time.

TaxShax , despite having the backing of BCCL (Times Group), could not swing the opportunity in its favour, and ended up on a mediocre note, much like its contemporary, TaxSpanner.

Conclusion The Indian audience is embracing online e-tax filing with open arms, but quality of the service and proper marketing is still most essential for online tax providers to benefit from this phenomenon. Currently, there seem to be just two major players according to the latest stats, TaxSmile and PaisaWaisa . Let's see which one of them gets the better of the other in a battle to woo the Indian tax payer, and provide him with the best service.

The Indian audience is embracing online e-tax filing with open arms, but quality of the service and proper marketing is still most essential for online tax providers to benefit from this phenomenon.

Currently, there seem to be just two major players according to the latest stats, TaxSmile and PaisaWaisa . Let's see which one of them gets the better of the other in a battle to woo the Indian tax payer, and provide him with the best service.