The tax season is upon us and organisations are inundated with just one thing – compliance and paperwork! Saving tax is a major task especially in the light of the fact that most of us tend to focus on this only at the last minute. From unclaimed bills to pending reimbursements, the worry is equal on both sides. Keeping a track of paper trails, leaving alone the mayhem of mammoth calculations, is no easy task. Well, the only way to get around this mess is by digitising the entire process.

Companies by and large are increasingly becoming aware of the outcomes of using the tedious traditional mechanism of bookkeeping and are adopting digital processes of claims processing and reimbursements. This certainly leads to an improvement on tax compliance both for the employer as well as the employee. The holistic approach undertaken by companies in solving this problem has been a win-win for both sides.

The world is increasingly becoming automated which is alleviating the problems of tackling the daily intricate tasks. Similarly, by embracing digitisation, companies have been able to solve complicated problems associated with routine tasks within the blink of an eye which is saving time and effort for employers and employees. Employers can now simply allocate grants from a dashboard and deploy tax benefits within a few taps. They can even access usage reports to have an overview of the employee expenses.

Concurrently, employees can now easily claim their tax benefits within a few seconds by just clicking a picture of the bill and receiving the reimbursements in real-time. Moreover, with the help of an automated dashboard, employers and employees are now able to view the approval and status of tax implications and reimbursements in real-time. On the contrary, prior to such a technological boom, employees used to get exhausted waiting for approval from the HR authorities.

Talking about the usefulness of digitisation for an organisation, it is imperative to mention another vital aspect that poses immense hassles on employers– the formalities related to GST. Employers find themselves in over their heads while calculating the GST expenses of employees. However, technology has become so advanced that all the information related to GST such as GST number, the breakup of GST amounts of employee expenses can now be easily captured and recorded by the GST modules that are incorporated in the Expense Management Platforms. This has been a big relief for both the organisation as well as for its employees as the GST-centric information can now be at the back of their hands without going through any additional hassles. Additionally, downloading tax files has become extremely smooth and effortless with the help of digitisation.

Although expense management systems can keep one abreast with the fast-paced digital world not many platforms have been able to offer diverse options to employees in selecting their cost heads for optimising tax savings in their reimbursements. At present, only a handful of firms have been able to provide this option to their employees. They have to reach out to the HR department to opt for the tax benefit plan. The need of the hour is to incorporate the feature of a tax benefit plan for the employees within their expense management platform which can help them to chalk out a well-devised strategy for their financial planning.

The trend has already set in and many firms have already started integrating this distinct feature in their platforms, which are enabling them to manage their employee expenses and the related tax implications in a much better manner. Especially in this pandemic situation companies are offering WFH allowances and policies seeking out new ways to connect, collaborate and get their jobs done. Some of the popular allowances like the Internet, cellular plans, computer technology, peripherals and accessories, are being incorporated in company policies. In a very short while, employees will be more comfortable planning and structuring their own tax-saving plans based on the features introduced by tech companies in their platforms.

The author is Founder of Zaggle

DISCLAIMER: Views expressed are the author's own. Outlook Money does not necessarily subscribe to them. Outlook Money shall not be responsible for any damage caused to any person/organisation directly or indirectly.