How can we automate tax returns for freelancers?

The Dutch Tax Administration's innovation team asked Proposition Hero to develop new ways of filing tax returns for freelancers using smart automation and new technologies. The Tax Administration had received interesting feedback from freelancers through various channels. They wanted to use this input to develop concrete solutions and improve their offering.

Initially, we started with a question: How can we simplify and automate tax returns for freelancers? We initiated market research to better understand the problem and the target group: What types of freelancers are there, and which groups experience problems when filing their tax returns? And what do they consider the biggest problem?

From problem to prototype

Using the insights from market research, we facilitated co-creation sessions with Tax Administration employees and freelancers to discover easier ways to file taxes. For four of the ideas, we created super-clear propositions. These were translated into initial visual prototypes, ready for rapid market validation with freelancers. The most promising and validated prototypes were adopted by the innovation team for internal development and market launch.

We guide your team towards a crystal-clear solution, one that your customer understands and helps them move forward.

It begins with the Proposition Hero COMPASS.

“Proposition Hero facilitated an innovation process for the Tax and Customs Administration to explore how we can improve tax matters for freelancers with smart automation. His creativity, sharp insights, and visual translation of those insights into prototypes were invaluable. In a relatively short time, we went from challenges for our target group to concrete solutions that we are now developing further.”

Claire Arens,

Head of real-time Taxation Experiments, Tax Office