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🚀 Exciting News from Prosperr.io! 🚀 Prosperr.io, the AI-enabled income tax solutions startup, has successfully raised $1.5 million in a pre-seed round led by Silicon Valley angel investor Gokul Rajaram. Known for backing successful ventures like Faire, Figma, and Airtable, Rajaram's investment marks a significant milestone for Prosperr.io. The funding round also saw participation from notable Indian angel investors including Livspace founder Ramakant Sharma, CEO Saurabh Jain, and CRED founder Kunal Shah. About Prosperr.io: Founded in March 2022 by Manas Gond and Dev Kumar, Prosperr.io offers cutting-edge, subscription-based services to manage income tax for salaried individuals, ensuring maximum tax savings and compliance. The company is headquartered in Bengaluru and currently employs 50 people. With an annual recurring revenue (ARR) target of $2 million by the end of this year, Prosperr.io is on a strong growth trajectory from its current ARR of $700,000. Funding Details: The $1.5 million raised will be utilized to enhance technology and product capabilities, launch a business-to-business (B2B) product, and boost sales and marketing efforts. Additionally, funds will support the development of Prosperr.io's AI-first tax advisor, a solution designed to handle the growing number of income tax returns in India efficiently and cost-effectively. Why Prosperr.io Stands Out: - AI-Driven Solutions: The company leverages AI to examine invoices and transactions, ensuring lawful tax benefits claims. - Two Core Products: The Super Saver Product (B2C) helps individuals plan and save on taxes, while Prosperr-FBP (B2B) allows employers to provide non-taxable allowances, increasing employees' in-hand salary by 8-10%. - Growing Customer Base: The B2C product has around 10,000 paid customers, and the B2B product, launched in April, is already adopted by five companies. Aspirants Space Encouragement: We encourage Prosperr.io to hire top talent and accelerate their growth journey. For anyone looking to join an innovative team and be part of the next big thing in tax solutions, now is the time! Source : https://lnkd.in/gTgziD4n Aspirants Space - https://lnkd.in/gYkc-Ni8 📢 Share this news within your network and stay tuned for more such updates

Before Puzzle 🧩🚀 came along, the modern financial tech stack was missing a key piece. Startup founders need to build and deliver great products in order to succeed. They also need expert business acumen to position their company for long-term success.  Founded in 2019 by Sasha Orloff and John Cwikla, Puzzle helps startups drive better business decisions for today and tomorrow with real-time financial metrics and insights. Just 5 years into launching, they’ve already established themselves as a fintech favorite among SaaS industry leaders including Gusto, Stripe, Ramp, and Brex. As the business continued to take off, sales tax requirements piled on. That’s when Paige Honeycomb, Chief of Staff at Puzzle, began looking for a sales tax solution.  Time is especially precious when working at a startup, and sales tax was not something she could dedicate countless hours to. She found Zamp, which offered state registrations, nexus monitoring and calculations, filing, and remittance all for one price. Once she learned about Zamp’s seamless integration with Stripe, their billing provider, it was a done deal. “The ability to integrate directly with Stripe was a major value prop for us. You guys can just kind of take all that on for us and I don't even have to think about anything. It's just amazing.”    Since then, Paige has enjoyed: - Worry-free sales tax - Unmatched support and reliable sales tax compliance - A top-tier onboarding process “Taxes are scary for any business. Nobody wants to get dinged for a stupid reason just because they're misinformed. Zamp’s team has the ability to be there and support companies as they go through those scaling and revenue-generating moments of their company.” Paige and her team are confident they’re sales tax compliant throughout each and every stage of their growth—so they can focus on providing world-class accounting services for startups. Here’s what Paige has to say to anyone considering Zamp: "I think it’s easy for people to go with somebody who's bigger or more well known, but Zamp’s value prop and ability to be so hands-on is amazing. You want to have that support and you want to be able to hop on the phone easily with a person who knows your account. That's a need that Zamp is able to actually fulfill." #SalesTax | #TaxCompliance | #OnlineBusiness | #SaaS | #Fintech

🚀 Exciting Update – Salto X on Sifted! Sifted.eu just featured us in their article on comparing tax outcomes for different countries in the EU, a tricky challenge to solve. As we went on our journey to figure this out and looked into different European countries, we’ve made a big step forward and come up with something cool – our Tax Calculator! 🔣 This tool helps you understand how much money you might have to pay in taxes when you have stock options. Even though it might seem small, we think it’s a big step toward helping both companies and employees make the most of stock options. 💪 Give it a try, and let us know what you think! 👉 https://lnkd.in/eDiV-he8

#ESOP + #Taxation 🤯 We know: it is simply not straightforward, especially in a remote set up. Thankfully the team at Salto X has put some good work to figure it out, so that you can have more clarity around the taxes you might have to pay (now or later) when having stock options. Check their tax calculator mentioned on Sifted! Well done Elise Sass, Tanya Chaikovska, Ragnar Sass, Elo Madiste and Kristīne Mora for the work there!

Understanding stock options taxes can be a bit like exploring a maze with lots of twists and turns and many things to remember. 🤔 Our own Tanya Chaikovska and Elo Madiste recently had a conversation with Sifted.eu about our Tax Calculator, an innovative tool designed to simplify this complex subject for both companies and employees. They also discussed the differences in taxation across countries and pinpointed which currently provides the most favorable conditions for the participants. Read the full article below and also check out our Tax Calculator: https://lnkd.in/eQzzRdEz #stockoptions #taxation #saltox

Section 174 aims to kill startups — we must take action I have a small request for all founders today - it will only take 10 seconds ⤵️ tldr; Michele Hansen (co-founder of Geocodio & http://ssballiance.org) has been leading the charge to make our voices heard in Washington and is sending this letter next week. Sign the letter here. If you have a startup, and think software developer / R&D expenses should be expensable, please sign. Deadline is tonight at midnight PT so please sign, ↥ share to spread the word! We need all 50 states: ✍ https://lnkd.in/gUBrMHxx More details ⤵️ The Senate needs a loud and clear reminder that technology companies urgently need to be able to fully deduct all of our software development and R&D salaries and expenses, and that this must be fixed (reverse Section 174!) before 2023 tax deadline: April 15th. What is Section 174? New tax code effective tax year 2022 that changes the way profits are calculated for technology companies. It makes it so startups with revenue and no actual profits, owe a significant amount in taxes. (Learn more here: https://lnkd.in/gEdb4TH8) Deep dive on how Section 174 is killing startups by Theo Browne: https://lnkd.in/gKuMJm92 A bipartisan tax deal that included reversing Section 174 passed Congress on January 31 But now, the Senate are dragging their feet. Michele Hansen (co-founder of Geocodio & http://ssballiance.org) has been leading the charge to make our voices heard in Washington and is sending this letter next week. Sign the letter here. If you have a startup, and think software developer / R&D expenses should be expensable, sign. Deadline is tonight at midnight PT so please sign, ↥ share to spread the word! We need all 50 states: https://lnkd.in/gUBrMHxx

Here’s a thought: Can high taxation kill profitability, especially for a gaming startup? The answer is YES and NO!   Recently, there has been a major development that I believe will critically affect this sector. The GST Council has decided to fix the Goods and Services Tax (GST) at 28% for the domestic online gaming industry.   While taxation is essential for the country, it's crucial to consider its impact and implications on industries, especially the budding ones like online gaming. This decision could indeed pose multiple challenges for a thriving sector that has been showing remarkable growth in recent years. From a startup perspective, when an industry faces a steep tax rate like this, it can pose several challenges. In the online gaming space, it means dealing with bulking operational costs, potentially leading to shrinking profit margins.   This leads us to a broader discussion. We have seen several startups struggle to build profitable business models. While taxes are part of the challenge, the issue stems fundamentally from their operational structures. Though many startups today are more focused on market capture and customer acquisition, they often pursue them at the expense of profitability.    But isn't the ultimate goal of any business to be more profitable in the longer run? While growth is essential, it should ideally go hand in hand with a solid business model that generates sustainable revenues and profits.   This latest decision by the GST council serves as a reminder to our fellow gaming startups that profitability should always be a priority. They should be more focused on striking the right balance between growth and sustainability, between innovation and sound business practices.   I believe if online gaming startups can approach these challenges strategically, they can not only weather the storm of high taxation but also emerge stronger and more profitable.   What are your thoughts on this? I'd love to hear your opinions.   #Gaming #entrepreneurship #taxation #gst #startup #gaming startups #profitability 

Sales Tax Compliance is a BIG MESS, and over the past 5 years, I’ve put all my working hours into making this simple for SaaS startups. For Example, - In New York, companies making $500,000 or more must pay a 4% tax. - In California, if you make $500,000 or more, you owe 7.25% tax every year. If you want to solve this mess, check if you’re compliant with this Excel sheet. Like (1) AND comment if you want it (2) 🔥 ⚠️ Need to be connected so I can send you a message. Our sheet is an essential tool for any business operating internationally, offering detailed information. Insights from Our Detailed Compliance Sheet: Turnover Thresholds: These are the minimum sales volumes that trigger tax obligations in each jurisdiction. Includable Sales: This denotes taxable sale types within each country's tax framework. State Tax Rates: Provides exact regional tax rates for accurate tax calculation. Different cities have varying turnover thresholds and tax rates, making it difficult to understand and comply with the regulations. But with the right help, it can be easier to handle. That’s why we built Stykite (Techstars '24): - It auto-calculates sales tax based on turnover threshold and city tax rates, reducing error risk. - We guarantee you’ll save at least 20% more money than your current processor. - We manage your subscriptions and compliance. Like (1) AND comment if you want it (2) 🔥 I hope everyone finds this useful! #SaaS #Compliance #Startups PS: You can also like & repost to share it with your network 🙏

This is Part 8 of Founder FOMO. A weekly briefing answering questions we often get from our startup founder friends, colleagues, and clients. This week we'll continue our sub-series of Founder FOMO covering different forms of equity compensation.  For this week, we’ll be answering – what is an incentive stock option (ISO)? In short, an ISO is like a non-qualified stock option (NSO) (see last week’s Founder FOMO) but with more perks when it comes to tax treatment for the holder.  Those perks, however, come with more stringent requirements. When dealing with taxing options, there are 3 phases of an option when taxes may arise – at the time of grant, exercise, and sale of the underlying stock. 1. At grant, an ISO (like an NSO) is not taxed. 2. At exercise, an ISO is also not taxed on the spread (ie. the difference between the fair market value of the shares received and the exercise price of those shares) as ordinary income, although the spread is counted into the holder's alternative minimum tax (AMT); AMT is a big subject, so just make sure you speak with your tax advisor before deciding to exercise ISOs!  In contrast, an NSO must recognize ordinary income tax on the spread at exercise. 3. At sale, an ISO is taxed at the more favorable capital gains rates shares underlying the ISO are held for (i) at least 1 year from the date of exercise and (ii) at least 2 years after the date of grant.  An NSO, in contrast, is taxed at ordinary income rates. As a result, ISOs are considered more tax-friendly than NSOs for holders because (i) there’s no ordinary income at the time of exercise and (ii) the holder may benefit from capital gains tax rates! The IRS, however, doesn’t make ISO qualification easy and there are many requirements.  Below bulleted are some of them. - the issuer and the option agreement must state that the option is an ISO - the holder must be an employee - the holder cannot receive more than $100K worth of ISOs per calendar year - if the holder owns more than 10% of the company's equity, then the exercise price of the options must be increased to at least 110% of the fair market value of the underlying shares - after the holder stops serving as an employee, the holder must exercise the ISO within 3 months - if a holder doesn’t leave, then the ISO will automatically expire after 10 years

This is Part 8 of Founder FOMO. A weekly briefing answering questions we often get from our startup founder friends, colleagues, and clients. This week we'll continue our sub-series of Founder FOMO covering different forms of equity compensation. For this week, we’ll be answering – what is an incentive stock option (ISO)? In short, an ISO is like a non-qualified stock option (NSO) (see last week’s Founder FOMO) but with more perks when it comes to tax treatment for the holder. Those perks, however, come with more stringent requirements. When dealing with taxing options, there are 3 phases of an option when taxes may arise – at the time of grant, exercise, and sale of the underlying stock. 1. At grant, an ISO (like an NSO) is not taxed. 2. At exercise, an ISO is also not taxed on the spread (ie. the difference between the fair market value of the shares received and the exercise price of those shares) as ordinary income, although the spread is counted into the holder's alternative minimum tax (AMT); AMT is a big subject, so just make sure you speak with your tax advisor before deciding to exercise ISOs! In contrast, an NSO must recognize ordinary income tax on the spread at exercise. 3. At sale, an ISO is taxed at the more favorable capital gains rates shares underlying the ISO are held for (i) at least 1 year from the date of exercise and (ii) at least 2 years after the date of grant. An NSO, in contrast, is taxed at ordinary income rates. As a result, ISOs are considered more tax-friendly than NSOs for holders because (i) there’s no ordinary income at the time of exercise and (ii) the holder may benefit from capital gains tax rates! The IRS, however, doesn’t make ISO qualification easy and there are many requirements. Below bulleted are some of them. - the issuer and the option agreement must state that the option is an ISO - the holder must be an employee - the holder cannot receive more than $100K worth of ISOs per calendar year - if the holder owns more than 10% of the company's equity, then the exercise price of the options must be increased to at least 110% of the fair market value of the underlying shares - after the holder stops serving as an employee, the holder must exercise the ISO within 3 months - if a holder doesn’t leave, then the ISO will automatically expire after 10 years With all these extra requirements, it's critical you make sure you are in compliance with ISO rules to avoid accidentally costing your option recipients!