Indian Warriors-Do you have a registered Online Business?

by kumar
9 replies
Hi Guys,

As you know, not many people in the country know of Internet Marketing. I recently had issues with my bank (ICICI) since I was (wire) transferring some decent dollar amounts over the past 6 months, earned from freelancing. They want me to upgrade from my existing Savings a/c to a Current one, which I'll probably do in a few days time.

I've not even earned from purely Internet Marketing activities but this got me thinking if now is the right time to register a business as I've finally become serious about shifting from my existing writing services to getting into affiliate and offline marketing.

If you have a registered business, please share the procedure to formally set it up. Can any Chartered Accountant do it or does he need to have some knowledge about IM?

Thanks!
#business #indian #online #registered #warriors #warriorsdo
  • Profile picture of the author drmani
    Originally Posted by kumar View Post

    If you have a registered business, please share the procedure to formally set it up. Can any Chartered Accountant do it or does he need to have some knowledge about IM?

    Thanks!
    The registration process for an online business in India is
    typically the same as for an offline one, afaik.

    You could check with your auditor/CA for details on how to do
    it. You've a choice between a sole proprietorship, private
    limited company and a public company, I believe.

    Once you've picked a name for the company, you'll send docs
    to the RoC (Registrar of Companies), and then get issued a
    set of registration numbers (TIN, DIN, PAN etc.)

    With the documents, including a registration certificate,
    you'll open a bank account in the company's name - typically
    a current account - and then you're good to go.

    I'm NOT a specialist in this area or a professional in
    finance or accounting or law, so please take this for what
    it is - just a personal anecdotal experience. It is not
    as complex as I first feared, so get in touch with a good
    auditor/Chartered Accountant who'll guide you in getting
    set up.

    Hope this helps.

    All success
    Dr.Mani
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    • Profile picture of the author abdulquddus
      Hi Kumar,

      If you want to register, these are the options

      1. Pvt Ltd. - Minimum 1,00,000 investment - minimum 2 partners
      2. LLP - Will cost nearly 10,000 (but not many are interested in it) - minimum 2 partners. Investment depends on you
      3. Firm - costs nearly 3500 and investment depends on you (can be a sole proprietorship or partnership)


      If you need more info. please let me know I can help you registering a firm or Pvt Ltd company
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    • Profile picture of the author kumar
      Originally Posted by drmani View Post

      The registration process for an online business in India is
      typically the same as for an offline one, afaik.

      You could check with your auditor/CA for details on how to do
      it. You've a choice between a sole proprietorship, private
      limited company and a public company, I believe.

      Once you've picked a name for the company, you'll send docs
      to the RoC (Registrar of Companies), and then get issued a
      set of registration numbers (TIN, DIN, PAN etc.)

      With the documents, including a registration certificate,
      you'll open a bank account in the company's name - typically
      a current account - and then you're good to go.

      All success
      Dr.Mani
      Thanks Dr. Mani. I'll get in touch with a CA here in Hyd. (do you know of any?).

      I'll most probably involve only myself in the business, so I am wondering
      if I even need to register as a business. Is it mandatory or only recommended
      for tax purposes? I am already paying Advance Tax as a freelancer.
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      Life is not a sprint, its a marathon. A bad start does not really matter too much

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  • Profile picture of the author abdulquddus
    Originally Posted by Murali View Post

    Same as Dr. Mani.

    I'm actually in the process of registering my business as a PVT LTD. now. Until now, I was running on sole proprietorship. :-D
    Sole proprietorship is costly compared to partnership. You need to pay more taxes
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  • Profile picture of the author abdulquddus
    Originally Posted by Chris Kent View Post

    Do most Indian IMers declare tax? I get the impression from my Indian friends in the IM world that most don't bother and that the law is a bit lax in this regard?

    I don't encourage evasion of course but this was my take on the current situation. I could be well wrong.
    Yep, I do

    But yes some don't bother
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  • Hey Kumar,

    I sent you a PM. Please check.

    Unless you are looking to hire full-time staff, set-up an office and actually run it like an offline business ( One of my early clients does this from Delhi), you may have to put up a name for your business and actually register it like Dr.Mani rightly suggested.

    If you wish to be self-employed, you can file your taxes that way. Revenue - expenses ( all business expenses for you like web hosting, Internet connections, etc) = profit or net earnings per year on which you are liable to pay tax.

    This tax slab is the same as that for employees. The advantage you have over employed professionals is that your money comes to you first and you pay tax to the extent that you are liable. ( For employees, some portion of tax is deducted from source + they pay taxes each financial year).

    I have been doing business( self-employed) for 4 years now and I still operate out of a personal savings account ( current account for my western warriors?).
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    • Profile picture of the author kumar
      Originally Posted by ashwinsatyanarayana View Post

      Hey Kumar,

      I sent you a PM. Please check.

      Unless you are looking to hire full-time staff, set-up an office and actually run it like an offline business ( One of my early clients does this from Delhi), you may have to put up a name for your business and actually register it like Dr.Mani rightly suggested.

      If you wish to be self-employed, you can file your taxes that way. Revenue - expenses ( all business expenses for you like web hosting, Internet connections, etc) = profit or net earnings per year on which you are liable to pay tax.

      This tax slab is the same as that for employees. The advantage you have over employed professionals is that your money comes to you first and you pay tax to the extent that you are liable. ( For employees, some portion of tax is deducted from source + they pay taxes each financial year).

      I have been doing business( self-employed) for 4 years now and I still operate out of a personal savings account ( current account for my western warriors?).
      Hi Ashwin,

      Checked your PM.

      I am already paying Advance Tax as a freelancer (this is what you meant by self-employed, right?). I wonder which bank you use because mine (ICICI) is insisting me to upgrade to a Current a/c.

      I do think if you want to scale up your operations (even if running it solely, from your home, with a part-time virtual staff), a registered business would be handy. For one, you could open a Paypal business account (it would need your business regd no.) for taking credit card payments (though you could operate a Premier a/c as well). Plus AFAIK, there may be some tax benefits for a sole proprietor compared to a freelancer.

      Need to catch hold of a CA now.
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