CASE STUDIES / ROHAN-MUMBAI
[CS-01]
I just wanted to do my work -
not decode section 44ada.
A conversation with
Rohan M.
UX Designer, Freelancer
Challenge
"I thought freelancing abroad meant I couldn’t pay taxes here."
Some clients withheld tax overseas, so Rohan assumed he didn’t need to declare that income in India. He was effectively paying twice and missing legitimate deductions.
Wrong income head → no professional deductions
No DTAA utilization → double taxation exposure
Unreconciled remittances and missing expense trail
Lack of DTAA + wrong income head silently inflated his tax outgo for multiple years.
The TaxTap Moment
"After joining Taxtap, I learned how to declare foreign income, claim DTAA benefits, and avoid double taxation."
In a single review call, Taxtap laid out a clear plan and executed within weeks:
Reclassified income to Business/Profession and rebuilt P&L
Applied DTAA and prepared FTC working papers
Amended returns to recover excess taxes
Mapped design stack (Figma, Adobe, Zoom) as deductible expenses
Numbers?
Refund received from corrected ITRs
Taxable income dropped ~20% post expense mapping
Clarity on foreign income + DTAA going forward
"For the first time, I understood what to file, where to claim, and why. No more double tax."
The Reality Before Taxtap
ITRs looked ‘clean’ but were inefficient — compliant on paper, costly in practice.
1. Wrong Head of Income
- Lost professional deductions
- Misstated freelance income
Filed under 'Other Income' rather than Business/Profession.
2. No DTAA/FTC
- Paid twice on the same income
- No treaty benefits applied
Foreign tax withheld wasn’t credited in India.
3. No Expense Deductions
- Software subscriptions
- Laptop depreciation
- Wi-Fi/home office
Work tools, connectivity, and gear never claimed.
How Taxtap Helped
Taxtap rebuilt compliance and created a repeatable playbook.
✅ Refiling & DTAA
- Corrected income head and rebuilt computation
- Prepared DTAA/FTC schedules and supporting docs
✅ Expense Mapping
- Categorized tools, equipment, and utilities
- Standardized monthly bookkeeping checklist
✅ Ongoing Clarity
- Invoice/contract checklist for foreign clients
- Quarterly advance-tax guidance based on actual inflows
"I stopped feeling punished for working globally. It’s finally structured and fair."
Lessons for Freelancers in Similar Situations
Foreign income is taxable in India — apply DTAA to avoid double tax
Use Business/Profession to unlock deductions
Keep clean trails for software, equipment, and remittances
You do the earning.
We do the filing.
Handled — by real CAs, not robots.
start now, and
forget about taxes
