Left to right - Eamon Shahir, James Green, Arjun KumarTwo BU graduates have launched an online platform providing entrepreneurs and freelancers with a simpler means of filing their tax returns.
James Green and Eamon Shahir joined forces with fellow co-founder Arjun Kumar to launch Taxd in early 2022. From its origins as a simple web form, the platform now provides individuals and small business with a mixture of AI-driven and human support to complete their tax returns and submit them directly to HMRC.
Having studied a computing framework degree while at Bournemouth, James is now Taxd’s Chief Technology Officer. He said: “Since graduating in 2017 I had been working as a consultant for local technology firms. Eamon and Arjun had been working for one of the big accountancy firms and approached me with a view to combining our product knowledge and technical skills. Through Taxd we want to create a world where tax accounting can be completely taken care of by technology, giving people more time to focus on what’s important to them, reducing stress and costs. We started out by offering a simple form to help individuals who need to file a tax return. Over the past couple of years, we have expanded our services to help those with more complex tax requirements, as well supporting start-up businesses.”
James and the team are growing the business by ramping up their marketing campaigns around key points in the year, including in the run-up to the January tax self-assessment deadline. This year the campaign has included physical advertising on London’s Underground which is helping to increase visibility. James said: “We are seeing consistent growth and getting 5-star reviews from users. We have exciting developments in the pipeline and are starting to get attention from some big-name tech and business awards.”
Among these awards Taxd has been shortlisted for the Global UX Design Awards, with the next stage being decided by public vote. They have also been nominated for Best B2C Tech and Fintech Startup of the Year at the UK Business Awards.
Looking back on his decision to study at BU back in 2014, James said: “I chose the computing degree because I had always been into IT and coding at school and wanted to explore it as a career. I visited BU on an open day and felt that the university and town had a great vibe. The course gave me a real breadth of experience, from working on databases to web development, software engineering and business studies. It also enabled me to work on practical projects with other students, including my now business partner. These experiences served me well as I started out on my career and it’s great to maintain connections with my tutors and to come back to share my experience with current students.”
