The announcement of the finance minister regarding the reduction of rate of Income-tax in respect of Domestic Companies to 22% has created lot of interest amongst all entrepreneurs to go into corporate form of business considering the tax benefits. The below table is a comparison of tax liability for various types of Organisations for different types of Income :-
[table id=34 /]
Note :-
The turnover is assumed to be less than 400 Crores
The income as specified here for Individuals is after considering the 80C,80D and other eligible deductions.
The above table shows the tax payable by various types of organisations for different income levels. But wait, please consider the following also before taking a decision on moving to Corporate form of organisation (Domestic companies) :-
Profit withdrawl from Business
In case of Proprietorship/Partnership/LLP firm, withdrawl of Profits from the business is easy. Just write a Cheque/Transfer the funds. But in case of domestic company, its not easy like that and also involves additional cost. If you want to withdraw as a Director Remuneration, TDS as applicable has to be deducted and declared as Income in your personal hands. On the other hand, if you want to take the profits as Dividends, Dividend Distribution tax (around 18%) has to be paid and also dividend is taxable in personal hands if it exceeds Rs. 10 Lakhs.
Withdrawl of money as a Temporary/Long term Loan
In respect of Proprietorship/Partnership firms, there is no restriction in Proprietor/Partner taking a loan from the firm. Its very simple. But when it is a Corporate entity, Directors / their relatives /interested people cannot take loan from the Company.
Borrowing of Money required for the Company from outsiders
If the business is in need of funds, the Proprietors/partnership firms can borrow amount either temporarily or for a long term from the outsiders/friends. But in case of Corporate entities, borrowing from outsiders if not allowed. The directors/relatives of directors/Shareholders can lend to the company but with some restrictions on the same.
Privacy of Financial Information
In case of Proprietorship/Partnership firm (Not LLPs) , your financial statements (Balance sheet/ Profit & Loss account, Share holder/director information) are a private one. Unless approved/provided by the Proprietors/Partners, it will not be available to public/outsiders. But in case of corporate entities, your financial statements and other information will be available in the Public portal , which will be accessible by all without any control from your side.
Borrowing/Lending within Group companies
If you have more than one business entity, borrowing/lending between the entities is very easy and no major restriction is imposed on the same, if it is either Proprietorship or Partnership firm. But in case of a corporate entity, lending to other group companies Inter corporate loans is subject to restrictions , conditions and Compliance.
Meetings and Documentation
In case of Corporate entities, you need to conduct Annual General Meetings and Board meetings at periodic intervals. The proceedings in the meeting are to be maintained in a Minutes book mandatorily. In case of Proprietorship/Partnership firms, there is no such requirement.
Ease of Changes in organisation
There might be situations where you may change your main place of business (registered office) or change your partners or change in the profit sharing ratio or increase your Capital in your company, etc…,. In case of Proprietorship/Partnership firms, these are very easy and does not require any approval. But in case of corporate entities, all the changes require approval from Registrar of Companies and involves compliance cost for the same.
Basic Exemption & Differential tax slabs
In respect of Proprietorship firms, the Income is chargeable @ 5%,20% or 30% as applicable with basic exemption. The final effective rate in case of Proprietorship firms (say Income upto Rs.23 Lakhs) may be beneficial compared to Fixed Corporate tax rates.
Audit of accounts
In case of Proprietorship/Partnership firms, only if your turnover exceeds certain limit, you are required to get your books of accounts audited. But in case of corporate entities, irrespective of your turnover, you need to get your books of accounts audited every year.
Additional Compliances
In case of Corporate companies, some of the additional compliances to be done on a regular basis are :-
- Annual return filing with ROC
- Financial statements filing with ROC
- DIR KYC Compliance – KYC for directors
- TDS applicability irrespective of your Turnover/Income
- Digital signature for directors
- Certification/Report from professionals like CA/CS
These compliances will involve time & additional cost.
Cost of Compliance
In case of Proprietorship/Partnership firms, the cost of Compliance is very less compared to Corporate entities, where cost of Compliance is relatively high. Cost of compliance includes, filing fees, Interest/Penalties, Professional fees for compliance , etc.,
The corporate form of entity comes with a lower taxation compared to others but with the above
restrictions/requirements. If you can skilfully navigate through these hardships, the destination (Lower tax rate) is enjoyable.
