When Jacky Lee returned to Malaysia after working in the UK, he realized how stressful and manual personal tax filing still felt for many Malaysians.
It started as a simple idea sketched on a restaurant wall that eventually became TaxMe, a personal tax management app designed to help users track receipts, discover tax reliefs, and better understand their tax position. Today, TaxMe uses AI-powered receipt scanning, automated categorisation, and real-time tax tracking to simplify personal income tax for everyday users.
In this interview, Jacky shares the story behind building the app, the challenges of growing a fintech startup, and why he believes technology should make complicated systems feel effortless and accessible.
1. For readers discovering TaxMe for the first time, could you share a bit about yourselves and how TaxMe began?
After working in the UK for a period, returning to Malaysia brought a sharp realization: filing taxes here is a tedious annual ritual.
The underlying anxiety of a potential LHDN audit, coupled with the desire to maximize legitimate tax reliefs, sparked the initial concept for TaxMe.
I pitched this idea at PayHack, a hackathon organized by PayNet, and walking away as the first runner-up provided the validation needed to officially kickstart the development journey.
2. What does the TaxMe app do and what makes it different from other tax tools available to Malaysians?
TaxMe focuses heavily on simplifying Personal Income Tax.
The platform allows users to seamlessly upload their income and spending documents, automatically creating a robust, audit-ready paper trail.
This empowers users to track their tax position in real-time, knowing exactly what they can claim and what their estimated refund looks like.
We carve out our niche by specializing purely in the consumer tax space—an area with massive demand but historically very few intuitive solutions.
3. Taxes are something many people find confusing or stressful. What keeps you motivated to continue building a product focused on simplifying tax for Malaysians?
Truthfully, the motivation stems from a desire for ultimate convenience. Historically, some of our greatest innovations—from elevators to automobiles—were born because someone wanted to find a more efficient way to move.
I simply didn’t want to spend hours tracking receipts, memorizing expenses, and manually calculating numbers.
TaxMe was built so taxpayers don’t have to choose between paying blindly or drowning in paperwork. Seeing it genuinely help others drives me to scale it further.
4. From a startup perspective, what has been the biggest challenge you’ve faced so far while building TaxMe?
Our biggest hurdle so far has been assembling the perfect puzzle, where the pieces are the people.
TaxMe has evolved through several iterations of team structures, transitioning from a fast-paced hackathon group to our current lean startup setup.
Everyone brings a unique working style to the table; it’s not about finding a “good” or “bad” style, but rather finding the right chemistry where complementary skill sets click.
We are still unlocking that perfect formula, but we are making great progress.
5. What does a typical day or week look like for you while running TaxMe and building the product with your team?
We are still very much in the dynamic startup phase where no two days look alike. Every morning brings a fresh set of challenges.
On any given day, I might be cold-calling potential partners, mapping out the product roadmap with my co-founder, or pitching in a forum.
It is a highly unpredictable environment, and while some days are incredibly intense, the variety keeps things exciting.
6. TaxMe includes features like receipt scanning, automated tax relief categorisation, and a tax preview dashboard. How did you decide which features were most important to prioritise for the first version of the app?
When designing features, I look at everything through the lens of the user.
Being a taxpayer myself, I design the tools I would personally need to optimize my tax position.
Product development is an ongoing loop of testing what works and refining what doesn’t. Our current focus is perfecting the user experience across a full 12-month tax cycle, ensuring users have the right insights at the right time.
Parallel to this, our macro challenge is scaling the business sustainably from a financial standpoint.
7. The app uses AI to scan receipts and identify tax reliefs. What were some of the technical or design challenges in building something that is both powerful and easy for everyday users to understand?
The architecture of TaxMe balances the deterministic with the probabilistic.
As tech professionals know, AI is fundamentally a statistical tool—it operates on probabilities rather than rigid logic like RM1 + RM1 = RM2. Because financial spending habits are infinitely varied, we utilize probabilistic AI to predict and categorize expenses.
However, to mitigate the risk of false positives, we anchor the AI with deterministic, rules-based constraints to maximize accuracy.
Our next phase involves integrating a “human-in-the-loop” model to refine this even further.
8. You’ve experimented with waitlists, referral campaigns, and social media challenges like #FiledwithTaxMe. What strategies have helped you attract your first users and grow awareness for TaxMe?
Our growth strategy centers on two pillars: exceptional UI/UX and radical authenticity. We ensure the application is visually appealing and entirely intuitive, which naturally encourages word-of-mouth referrals.
Beyond the product, our approach is deeply human. We grow by genuinely helping people—providing rapid customer support, answering tax queries, and offering real value with minimum reliance on aggressive sales pitches or marketing fluff.
9. Many fintech products evolve quickly. Are there any upcoming features or improvements that you’re particularly excited to introduce in the near future?
While the future roadmap is part of our trade secret, we are actively looking to expand our network.
If you are a certified Tax Agent or know professionals in the field who are eager to disrupt traditional accounting methods, we want to connect with you.
This plays directly into our “human-in-the-loop” framework to blend technology with professional expertise.
10. Looking ahead, what do you hope TaxMe can achieve for Malaysians when it comes to tax awareness and financial literacy?
Our long-term vision aligns closely with the nation’s shifting digital landscape.
With the government’s rollout of E-Invoicing to pre-populate individual tax reliefs, TaxMe aims to integrate directly into this ecosystem. We want to provide everyday Malaysians with total transparency regarding their tax health.
Ultimately, it’s not just about automating the final submission; it’s about empowering users with the data to make smarter, tax-optimized financial decisions throughout the year.
11. What advice would you give to someone who wants to start a tech startup or fintech product today?
If you are young, take the leap. It is far better to take a calculated risk, pivot, or even fail in your late 20s or early 30s when you still have the time and agility to rebuild.
Waiting until you are 45, when family responsibilities and financial liabilities are much higher, makes taking that first step significantly harder.
12. For readers who are curious about TaxMe or want to try the app themselves, how can they support or connect with you?
Download TaxMe, test it out, and tell us how we can make it better! If you are a Tax Agent—or currently employ one—let’s discuss how TaxMe can provide real-time financial feedback to complement your services. We look forward to collaborating and bridging the gap between taxpayers and professionals.
Final Thoughts
A huge thank you to Jacky and the team behind TaxMe for sharing the story behind their startup journey. Building a fintech product that simplifies something as complex and intimidating as personal tax is no small feat, especially in a space where trust, accuracy, and user experience matter so much.
Here are three takeaways we loved from this interview:
- Build around a real frustration. TaxMe started from a personal pain point — the stress of tracking receipts, understanding tax reliefs, and staying prepared for tax season.
- Good technology should feel simple. Behind TaxMe’s clean user experience is a thoughtful mix of AI, rules-based systems, and continuous product refinement designed to make taxes less overwhelming for everyday Malaysians.
- Start before you feel fully ready. From a hackathon pitch to a launched app within months, TaxMe shows how quickly ideas can evolve when people are willing to experiment, iterate, and keep building.
You can learn more about TaxMe or try the app yourself by following @trytaxme or visiting their website to stay updated on their journey.
