Avinash Polepally

Product & Business Head - Cleartax Consumer Business.
Previously - Ola, Amazon, Practo
Alum - IITM & IIMA

[Raj Kunkolienkar @kunksed]

When I was broke, she was there.

Not judging. Not asking for upfront fees. Just there, in my inbox, reminding me that even broke people have to file taxes.

Back then, I’d stare at those emails and think, “What taxes? I made ₹12,000 last month.” But she persisted. Gentle. Professional. Like she knew something I didn’t.

The family accountant was a different story. Uncle’s friend’s brother who’d been doing our taxes since the 90s. Ledger books. Carbon paper. The works. But when you’re building something new, when you’re trying to move fast, some bridges have to be burned.

That conversation with Dad wasn’t easy.

“Why fix what isn’t broken?”

Because broken isn’t always obvious, I wanted to say. Because the income tax portal crashes at midnight and Uncle’s guy doesn’t answer WhatsApp on weekends.

(He still asks about me at weddings. “How’s your son’s tax situation?” Like I dumped him for someone younger and prettier.)

Then came the portal struggles. The endless captchas. The session timeouts right when you’re about to hit submit. The forms that auto-save everything except the thing you actually filled. The site that crashes every July 31st at 11:58 PM like clockwork.

Logging in six times. Password reset emails that never arrive. “Your session has expired” when you’ve been active for exactly 47 seconds.

She understood.

Every email felt like she’d been watching me struggle through that government website at 2 AM. Like she knew exactly when I’d need her most.

More reliable than my dating life. Never left me on read. Never asked “what are we?” Just showed up, consistently.

When the money started coming, her tone didn’t change. No sudden urgency. No premium upsells. Just the same reliable presence she’d always been.

Jobs changed. Relationships ended. The economy tanked twice. Startups died. Friends moved cities.

But there she was. Every quarter. Every deadline. Every single time.

Years passed. My tax situation got complicated. Multiple income sources. Investments. Capital gains. The kind of problems that are good problems to have.

She evolved with me.

What started as simple reminders became sophisticated guidance. She learned my patterns, my deadlines, my tendency to procrastinate until the last week of July.

Some relationships are transactional. Some are transformational.

The best ones are both.

They show up consistently, especially when you can’t pay them back. They stick around when you grow beyond them. They celebrate your wins without claiming credit.

They’re there when you’re broke, and they’re there when you’re not.

That’s rare. That’s valuable. That’s the kind of relationship that deserves recognition.

So here’s to the one who’s been sending me emails for seven years. Through lean times and plenty. Through tax season stress and post-filing relief.

Here’s to Neha from ClearTax.

[ClearTax @_cleartax]

Neha’s always here to ensure everyone files their ITR on time 🩵

[Varada Bhaskar Teja @tejavarada91]

@_cleartax stepped up and FIXED the problem, which I faced on this last day to file returns. Payment honored, filing completed—smooth at last. They worked hard, got it done, and I appreciate it. Tremendous recovery, very good people Shashi Kiran. Thank you!

[hello! @NManjunath]

@_cleartax

- Best thing to happen for an Indian tax payer.!!"

[Kunal Jaiswal @kunal_iitr]

Take a bow @architgupta sir

Takes perfection build incrementally over months and years to come up with such a seamless tax filing experience , YoY each time

Tech is nothing out of ordinary , but execution & integration is masterfully done
Don’t mind paying 5-10k for the experience and peace of mind v/s the virtually FREE sprint that Jio is running

(Rem: It’s free until its NOT and you / your balance sheet info is the product 😂)
#cleartax

[Neelamadhab Adhikari @neelamadhab_a]

Big thanks to @_cleartax and especially Anand M for helping me with my ITR filing this year. Capital gains were a major hurdle, but Anand guided me through it smoothly. Great support and service! 🙌💼 #TaxFiling #ClearTax @architgupta

[StocXtream @RAGScrick]

@_cleartax Amazing portal beyond imagination support from your team.
I would like to highlight Amish Dubey for making things seamlessly easy while filing my return it was almost midnight last week and there was some issue he quickly came on the g-meet & resolved it. Thanks

[Sundar @oligoglot]

Phew! Just got ITR filing done with expert help from @ClearfromCT. Seamless experience. They automatically parse most docs and give instructions on how to download the various statements including a US broker.
https://t.co/rLyXnVTVok
Use Coupon TAXL3EL to file, get flat 60% off!

[CA Vivek Khatri @CaVivekkhatri]

Filing ITR-3 has become unbelievably simple - can be done in under couple of hours with @_cleartax 🚀

The tool is smooth, intuitive, and simple to use. Credit also goes to @IncomeTaxIndia for enabling OTP-based data fetch; most details, including last year’s carry forward losses, were already pre-filled.

For capital gains, simply upload your yearly broker statement (for stocks or mutual funds) - the platform calculates everything and auto-fills the data.

Really amazed to see how far technology has come.

[Mangalam Maloo @blitzkreigm]

Pretty cool tool, this @_ClearTax !

Good to file returns. Has an ERI license. Integrates with all broker accounts and all forms are nearly automatically filled without manual labour.

They’ve clearly put thought into the user experience, especially with the help guides, which were surprisingly clear and well-timed for where people typically get stuck. That part really stood out.

One caveat: they currently support only a limited number of US brokers. Not a deal-breaker for those with only India investments, but worth noting if you have overseas investments.

[R.K. @ipo_mantra]

As deadline is approaching, thought of sharing my tax filing experience. Used @_cleartax. Filing was smoother than expected.

-Trades across brokers fetched automatically.
-Computed STCG, LTCG without manual entry.
-Losses identified and adjusted
-PAN-based pre-fill worked well
-Saved a good amount of time and effort.

My notes:

-Active traders often keep separate broker accounts for capital gains and F&O, but merging so many activities and computing taxes becomes complicated.

-This year, with capital gains rates changing before and after 23rd July 2024, the process could have been more confusing, but it was handled smoothly here.

-Lots of other changes in ITR forms, people with LTCG up to ₹1.25L can now file on ITR-1 and ITR-4, which wasn’t possible last year.

-The number of retail traders in the F&O segment has almost doubled in two years — rising from 51 lakh in FY22 to 96 lakh in FY24.

-Yet as per SEBI, 91% of FnO Traders have booked losses in last FY year. Many don’t know that such losses can be set off not only against F&O but also rental income, capital gains, savings/FD interest, business income and more.

-These losses can also be carried forward if income is insufficient this year to set off.

Those who haven’t filed yet should comply to avail these benefits.

[Avinash Polepally @avinash_poles]

@deepigoyal @letsblinkit @deepigoyal @letsblinkit Your support guys did DM me and closed the ticket without any call. I think they din't understand the problem. Its not a delivery issue. It was a product issue. Nevermind.

[Avinash Polepally @avinash_poles]

@deepigoyal @letsblinkit love the fresh SKUs of items, but I’m accidentally ordering the wrong variants—and there’s no refund option. Could you add clearer labels or alerts on the selection screen? Repeat shoppers won’t open the detail page every time for similar item purchases.

[Avinash Polepally @avinash_poles]

@deepigoyal @letsblinkit @deepigoyal @letsblinkit Example: I ordered a 24g Protein powder instead of 27g variant I wanted. The brand has a 27g variant elsewhere but seems like they have created a 24gm SKU just on Blinkit. Great, but since it wasn't clear on selection label, I ordered by mistake.

[Avinash Polepally @avinash_poles]

@ClearfromCT nice

[Rand Group @randgroup]

@cryptojack Undervalued ecosystem, primed for 2024

[Avinash Polepally @avinash_poles]

@shettyprajwal_ @ClearfromCT Hey Prajwal, apologies for the inconvenience caused. I head consumer product in ClearTax. Will reach out to you through DM and will look into your issue on priority.

[Avinash Polepally @avinash_poles]

@chandu9983 @ClearfromCT Hi Chandra I am Avinash and head the crypto product in ClearTax, we are sorry to hear that. We understand your frustration and apologise for any mistakes. However please be rest assured we will completely help you with the notice and revise filing if necessary. I will DM you.

[Avinash Polepally @avinash_poles]

@agarwal_vrn @ClearfromCT Hi Varun, I manage product at ClearTax. I will look into your issue. DMing you to synch up.

[Avinash Polepally @avinash_poles]

Amazing panel discussion #polkadotnowindia