The Embedded Tax Revolution: Ben Borodach, CEO of april, on Building Tax Infrastructure from Scratch

Jan 16, 2026

Ben Borodach, Founder and CEO of april, delves into how his company is revolutionizing tax infrastructure. He explains the shift from annual tax filing to an integrated, real-time approach that can transform financial decision-making. Topics include the benefits of embedding tax services in banks and fintech platforms, the technical challenges of building a national tax engine, and how this modernized system can enhance user experience. Borodach’s insights reveal a future where tax considerations are seamlessly woven into everyday transactions.

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ANECDOTE

Stock Sale Forecasting Example

Ben recounted a stock-sale example where embedded tax lets employees forecast after-tax proceeds instantly.
He contrasted that with costly, slow CPA back-and-forths lacking full context.

ADVICE

Build Automation Before Complexity

Build automation and a tax engine first, then expand complexity and coverage iteratively.
Start with simple federal W-2 cases, add states, then broader tax incidences and national coverage.

INSIGHT

Banks Need To Solve Real Problems

Banks must become places where customers spend time by solving real problems, not just store money.
Offering embedded tax builds trust, surfaces life events, and creates cross-sell opportunities.

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I don’t know anyone who enjoys filing their taxes. It is something we begrudgingly do every April, or earlier for the well-organized, and it is usually a somewhat painful exercise. What if filing your taxes was easy, taking less than 30 minutes? What if tax planning wasn't a once-a-year chore but an embedded feature in your banking app, payroll platform, or investment account?

In this episode, I sit down with Ben Borodach, founder and CEO of april, the first company to build a nationally licensed tax engine in over 15 years. Ben shares how april is transforming tax from an annual burden into real-time financial intelligence, partnering with banks, fintechs, and payroll platforms to embed tax services directly into the financial tools Americans already use. We discuss the massive technical challenge of building tax infrastructure from scratch, why embedded tax makes sense for financial institutions, and how bringing tax decisions to the point of transaction, whether selling stock, adjusting payroll withholding, or buying a home, can fundamentally change how people manage their financial lives.

In this podcast you will learn:

How he came to the idea of building a fintech company focused on tax.
How april was incubated inside Team8.
Why they decided to create an embedded tax solution rather than go direct to consumer.
What their product offering does.
How they are helping consumers to think about taxes beyond once a year.
The three categories of companies they are focused on.
Why banks should be offering tax services to their customers.
Why being integrated into the banking cores is not a high priority right now.
How april is different to the big tax providers, TurboTax and H&R Block.
How their customers present the tax offerings.
What it means to be a nationally licensed e-file provider.
How they integrate with the IRS and the state tax agencies.
How they are leveraging the growth of embedded finance.
What is involved from a technology perspective to integrate with april.
How he thinks about tax policy, as a tax infrastructure company.
Ben’s vision for april.

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