Ramesh ji runs a kirana store in Indore. For fifteen years he paid a tout Rs 2,000 every year to file his return, not because the return was complex, but because every tax website spoke only English. His story is the story of crores of Indians.
Tax language is scary even in English
Words like 'presumptive taxation' and 'Chapter VI-A deductions' intimidate everyone. Now imagine facing them in your third language. Studies on financial inclusion keep finding the same thing: people make better money decisions in the language they think in.
What filing in your language looks like
On Saathi.Tax, the questions come to you in Hindi, Marathi, Gujarati, Bangla, Tamil, Telugu or Kannada: 'क्या आपने शेयर या म्यूचुअल फंड बेचे?' You answer the way you would answer a friend. And the special notes box goes further: type 'मैंने मार्च में 50,000 PPF में डाले' and our AI understands, adds it to the right section, and replies to you in Hindi.
This is not translation, it is respect
Anyone can run a website through a translation tool. Building a tax engine that understands Hinglish, that knows 'बीमा' means your LIC premium goes under 80C, that answers you back in your own words: that is what your language deserves. Filing taxes is a duty performed by citizens of every state and every mother tongue. The tools should honour that.
Try it yourself. Switch the language from the menu at the top of saathi.tax, and file your return the way you actually think. Aapka tax, aapki bhasha.
