Tax Platform April Wants to Give Users Faster Refunds

Following a $10 million seed round, tax platform April began operations Tuesday (Jan. 18) with the backing of financial institutions (FIs) that include Propel.

The company says its platform uses “the latest in natural language processing and human-assisted AI” and a personalized engine to give users an easier time paying their taxes.

“Tax filing is stressful and complicated, especially for families with limited income,” Jimmy Chen, founder and CEO of Propel, said in a news release. “We’re excited to partner with April to offer these families a simple solution to access benefits such as the Child Tax Credit and the Earned Income Tax Credit, which are a lifeline for financially vulnerable households.”

Read more: Propel Launches App To Manage Both Debit And Government Benefits

April says it differentiates itself from legacy tax providers by working directly with banks and FIs to eliminate the barriers between tax and financial planning. The company said its launch is timed to give customers of its FinTech partners time to file their taxes.

“The reality for most Americans is that they will need to spend significant time and money just to understand their tax obligation,” said Ben Borodach, April’s co-founder. “The time has come for a real-time, continuous, and integrated tax experience that helps taxpayers make more informed financial decisions while saving them time and money.”

April says it is “democratizing the tax engine” using modern APIs that let developers create new solutions, giving taxpayers more control.

“The need to avoid overpayments is evident in the fact that roughly 60% of Americans can’t afford a $1,000 emergency expense,” said Borodach. “Giving Americans early access to their refund is one way April plans to help taxpayers have greater control of their finances and deal with surprises throughout the year.”

Read more: 33% of Consumers Will Pay a Fee for Instant Access to Payouts

April’s launch comes just one day after new data emerged showing a third of U.S. consumers would pay to get faster access to disbursements such as tax refunds.

Forty-seven percent of consumers got some sort of government disbursement last year, according to The State Of Consumer Disbursements, a PYMNTS and Ingo Money collaboration that surveyed 2,951 U.S. consumers.