Nobody knows your numbers better than you

I've been an entrepreneur for many years. I'm still a partner in a company in France, I run a taxi company here in the UK, and more recently I started TaxEase UK. I've dealt with tax returns in several countries, with different rules and in different languages.

And every tax year it was the same story: paperwork, deadlines, questions I didn't understand and answers I couldn't check.

I've worked with many accountants. Some experiences were good, others cost me time, money and sleepless nights. I learned one simple thing: any mistake on your return, whoever made it, lands on you. Even when the accountant is responsible for their work, you sign, you pay, and you get the letter from HMRC.

So at some point I started doing my own returns. I told myself: if I get it wrong, it's on me. If someone else gets it wrong, I pay anyway. I learned the rules, I learned the forms, and I found that when you keep your own records, you always know where you stand.

When I went on the HMRC website, I found words I didn't understand. I tried translating them, and the translations were what they were. I already had experience with websites and programming, so I asked myself a simple question: why not build my own app?

The first version was a simple page, made for me. Working on it, I realised that if I was putting in all this work anyway, why not make it easy for everyone? For the Romanian, the Pole or the Bulgarian who wants to do their own return, in their own language, without jargon.

I built the platform exactly the way I, as an ordinary person, would have wanted to find it.

Months of work followed. We registered with HMRC as a software provider, got test access and went through every check required, until everything was accepted. Today, a return made in TaxEase UK goes straight to HMRC, and HMRC confirms receipt within seconds.

I know there are big names in this market. I know what we're up against. But we offer something they don't: your return in your own language, from the first step to filing. And a fair price: £39 for the whole tax year, with the Invoice Maker and other tools included. You don't pay separately for each return.

Self Assessment is just the beginning. For Making Tax Digital we've done our part: every test HMRC asked for is complete, and we're now waiting for their answer. After that, we want to do the same for companies: record your income and expenses each month, see where you stand at any time, and send HMRC everything it needs, straight from TaxEase UK.

Accountants who want to work with their clients on our platform are welcome. And in the future we don't rule out having our own team of accountants to help you directly in the app.

TaxEase UK was born in the evenings, after work, and it keeps growing the same way. It isn't an app built by someone who has never had a return to file. It's the app I wish I'd had.