Business is that activity where a person earns his living by making a profit out of production or trading. The term trading is used when a person buys and sells any goods or services and earns a profit out of the activity. A business may be simply defined as an activity done for profit. However, the profit, which is excess of income over expenditure, needs to come in by dealing in goods or services, which are legally permissible.

A business may be conducted by an individual in the capacity of a proprietor, a partnership firm, or a joint-stock company. The nature of the business or its scale of operations normally decides the category of business house conducting that business.

A business unit exists in our social ecosystem. Therefore, any business house has a social responsibility. Any business with a long-term commitment cannot bypass this school of thought.

A business has to have a profit motive, but the same needs to be aimed at fulfilling social expectations. It is their onerous obligation. Of all the obligations, like engaging in wrong trade practices, evasion of taxes is also not acceptable for a business unit. Desirable business activity should include honoring tax liability. A business becomes more durable and successful by adopting socially responsible behavior.

The government levies taxes on businesses; the funds thus accumulated get plowed back into the economy. The money that gets back into the economy gets deployed constructively in the form of loans or any other form of funding. This, in turn, helps in the further growth of a business. Payment of taxes has an indirect positive effect on the purchasing power of the population in a country. An incremental purchasing power has a direct implication on the expansion of the market for different goods and services. Therefore, honoring tax liabilities as applicable is an onerous duty of a business house for the benefit of society.

A business house also has a responsibility of returning the investments along with profit to its stakeholders – be it partners or directors. In order to manage the entire gamut of operations, the most significant pillar for the business is to have efficient accounting services in its scope of operations.

What are Accounting Services?

Accounting services mean the comprehensive process of keeping and maintaining the financial data of the business. The process entails recording, summarizing, marshaling, and analyzing the transactions that take place pertaining to a business. The reports generated through various forms of accounting are critical for making business decisions, which may have far-reaching ramifications. They form the backbone of a company. For conducting business activities in a healthy manner, accounting services and practices have to be in place and in the manner as it should be. Though this area may seem drab to many an entrepreneur having a marketing zeal, thoughts must be spared in this area to guarantee the growth and sustenance of a business entity.

Some of the most common accounting services are as under:

1. Book Keeping – It is the most basic form of an accounting service. It involves the maintenance of the daily cash book of a business with the help of accounting software.
2. Chartered Accounting – They are a professional form of accounting. They are involved in the accounting management of a business house.
3. Tax Accounting – Every business has its own tax compulsions. Tax accountants mainly provide Income Tax Services to a business. Tax accounting may be defined as the policies that are adopted for documentation used for submitting tax returns and being compliant with tax formalities. It also provides a framework for generating taxable profit.
4. GST Services - Goods and Services Tax (GST) has become an umbrella tax replacing VAT, Service, Excise Duty, etc. GST services provide guidance to a business to become GST compliant and file returns as per stipulation.
5. Financial Controller Services - This service is the work of the head of the accounting department. Many times, controllers perform the role of internal as well as an external auditor. The objective of the same is to make sure the quality and efficiency of accounting and the privacy policy of the business is protected.
6. Forensic Accounting - It is ideal for a forensic accountant to have a workable knowledge of the law. This form of accounting service deals with the terms and conditions of business. Forensic accountants track missing funds and any possibility of misappropriation of funds.

As is evident from the discussions till now, accounting principles and practices adopted by a business charter the course of its existential growth over a period of time. Close on the heels of accounting comes taxation. Any business in existence and earning profit comes under the gambit of taxes.

Accounting plays a vital role in running a business because it helps you track income and expenditures, ensure statutory compliance, and provide investors, management, and government with quantitative financial information to make business decisions.

Tax and accounting are distinctly different yet intrinsically linked objects. Taxation compulsorily includes all accounting processes. The accounting process encompasses calculation, recording, and maintenance of financial statements and figures of a business. These statements form the basis of calculating a business’s tax liabilities and define the different heads of taxes under which the income is booked and assessed.

Suppose you are an entrepreneur in India and have a business house irrespective of its scale of operations and the industry or sector it belongs to. In that case, you need to be fully aware of GST and Income Tax rules. In the following section, we shall be taking up each of these and elaborate on its definitions, connotations, and nuances.

Goods and Services Tax (GST):

GST was introduced on July 1, 2017, by the Government of India. It applies to all categories of service providers operating in India, including those involved in manufacturing or trading. The entire gamut of Service Tax, Excise Duty, Octroi, VAT, etc., have been rolled into GST. This tax is applicable at all stages in a supply chain.

We all know products go through a path along the supply chain. From the place where it is manufactured to the location where it is consumed is a long one starting with the purchase of raw materials. From then on, it is the manufacturing process, passed onto the wholesaler. The final lap is that of the retailer who sells it to the end-user, i.e., the consumer. The GST is applicable through all the stages.

As already stated, every business existing in India needs GST registration. Any business in the service sector with a turnover of INR 20 lacs and anybody in the business of the supply of goods with a turnover of INR 40 lacs needs to register for GST on an annual basis.

All business houses involved in outward supplies in between various states have to have GST registration. Any sellers of e-commerce products and services need to be registered under GST if their turnover is more than INR 20 lacs.

The entire GST process is digitized and may be done online. In order to register on GST, a business house has to execute certain documentation. The documentary requirements as per the category of business as under:

The list of documents required for registration of GST for various business are as follows:

Proprietorship Concern

• PAN Card and address proof of proprietor

Partnership Firm

• PAN Card of the Firm
• Partnership Deed
• Partners’ names and address proof

Private Limited Company

• Certificate of Incorporation
• PAN Card of Company
• Articles of Association
• Memorandum of Association
• Resolution signed by board members on company letterhead
• Identity and address proof of directors
• Digital Signature

The following can be shown as proof of address of a director:-

• Passport
• Voter Identity Card
• Aadhar Card
• Ration Card
• Telephone or Electricity Bill
• Driving License
• Bank Statement

Under normal circumstances, it takes between five to seven working days to get a GST registration number. In case the business is spanning over multiple states, GST registration needs to be taken in all the states where the business is operative.

Income Tax Services:

The tax imposed on entities, whether an individual or a business house, on the income generated or profits earned, is income tax. The taxable income varies on the segment of business the entity belongs to.

The accumulated fund gathered through Income Tax is the revenue for the Government. The revenue is utilized for development of infrastructure, healthcare services, education, and other welfare schemes the government has. It is a form of direct tax, as the income tax levied on an entity is directly proportional to the income slab it belongs to.

Every business entity, be it a proprietorship concern, Hindu Undivided Family, Partnership Firm, or a joint-stock company, must file income tax returns every year. The firms or companies fall under a fixed slab of income tax.

The Income Tax Act has mandated different forms for each of the categories of income taxpayers. The filing of tax needs to be as per the prescribed form meant for each of the categories. The different forms for various categories of income tax assesses are given under:

ITR 1 – for individuals showing income from the salary total income of up to INR 50 lacs per annum
ITR 2 – for individuals or HUF not having any proprietorship business
ITR 3 – for individuals or HUF having proprietorship business
ITR 4- for individuals or HUF having presumptive business or professional income
ITR 5- for partnership firms
ITR 6- Joint stock companies
ITR 7- Trusts

Now, the filing of income tax is carried out electronically. There is a prescribed e-filing platform available on the official website of the Income Tax Department. The assessor needs to register on the site. After which, one may log on to the site and file his own income tax return. After the income tax is filed, one has to e-verifiy the income tax return to ascertain whether the task is complete.

For a business enterprise, there are ways by which you may decrease the load of income tax. Some of the ways that will help you in this regard as under:

1. Hire Family Members: Hiring your own family member may be a way to reduce the income tax burden. If the member of the family is paid a salary for up to INR Rs. 2.50 lacs per annum that person does not come under the tax bracket. At the same time, the cost incurred towards the person’s salary goes out as a business expense. Therefore, it gets reduced from your taxable income.
2. Travel On Business Expense: As a person running an enterprise, you need to be on the move. These travels are essential for the expansion of operations. You should get your travel tickets, hotel bookings, and food bills done in your company’s name. These expenses may be written off from your taxable income as business expenses.
3. Implement Digital Marketing Strategies: Implementing digital marketing for your products and services is a cheaper option for reaching out to many potential clients. Also, digital marketing expenses are eligible for tax deductions. Thereby, it shall reduce your tax liability to that extent.
4. Utility Expenses: Utility expenses are the ones incurred by an entrepreneur for carrying out the business operations. You may be using a motor vehicle or a phone for your business. The expenses tagged with these utilities, like vehicle parking charges, driver’s salary, vehicle insurance, and internet expenses for phones, may be written off as convenience expenses. This brings down your taxable income.
5. Claim Depreciation on Capital Expenditure: Depreciation of all capital expenses is also eligible for tax deductions under the ‘income of firm.’ This is provided under Section 35AD of the Income Tax Act.

The Income Tax Act has specified clauses under which the entrepreneur is allowed to deduct tax at source and pay the supplier of goods or services. If this practice is followed, the taxable income goes to the extent of expenses incurred.

As an entrepreneur, you should try to save as much as possible. As the saying goes, “money saved is money earned.” By adopting some of the ways, you may actually reduce the tax burden on yourself.

About Us:

While we are talking about the various accounting practices, taxes and the ways and means to handle them is no mean task. As a person running a business house, working towards the goal of profitable growth, you may not have the desired bandwidth to share your mind in these aspects.

At a certain point, you need an advisor who will offer you comprehensive advice, put on your thinking cap and guide you towards your goal. We at Tax Pooja Services Private Limited provide the perfect solution in this regard.

We offer expert advice in the following areas:

• Taxation and compliance
• Bookkeeping and auditing
• GST registration and filing
• Licensing
• Certification
• Trademark registration
• Statutory and voluntary audits
• Company formation and registration
• Filing of annual accounts

It is an online one-stop shop where empanelled experts provide you the guidance that is so critical to your business. You have the option of comparing the different experts that are listed on our site and choosing the person most suited to you. This platform is transparent to any geographical barriers and provides service to you anywhere.

On our official website directory of subject matter experts are accessible. All you have to do is choose the category of service that you require, establish contact with the expert, and get the desired inputs.

In order to be transparent, we have provided the profiles of the experts that we have empanelled for various matters. The online directory provides you with details of chartered accountants, GST consultants for your reference.

Once you decide on a subject matter expert that you wish to establish contact with, all you need to do is to fix up an appointment on the digital platform. The payment gateways that have been provided are secure. Hence, you do not need to be apprehensive about the sanctity of the dealings.

Some of the salient features that we offer to our clients are given below:

• Convenient – Promoters of our company have been in this field since 2012. Therefore, understanding of your needs is fully assured and guarantees you satisfaction.
• Experience – As a continuation of the above point. We have the desired experience and past exposure to guide you. Also, this is our only area of function. Hence, your needs are our only priority.
• Support – We have various ways for you to touch base with us to express your needs. You may contact us through chat, email, social media, or phone calls.
• Safety – We fully understand that you are contacting us to discuss matters that are confidential in nature. We assure you of the safety of the information or data that you share with us. We also provide you with the option of getting into a Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) with you.

We have a service called Ask the Expert. Under which, advisory for individuals, freelancers, or entrepreneurs are provided. There is a forty-five-minute call during which your issues will be heard, and solutions shall be offered to you.

Similar advice on tax saving is provided. Other areas where advisory is provided over a phone call are for sale of property and legal services like drafting of correspondence. In case a legal draft is provided to the experts, opinions, and ratifications may be sought from them.

Incorporation of a business is not an easy task. We provide you with a solution in this regard. There are tailor-made solution packages available for each category of business covering the various areas where opinions are required from a set of specialists. Let us have a look at them:

1.    Registration of Private Limited Companies
2.    One Person Company registration
3.    Limited Liability Partnership registration
4.    GST Compliant Company Registration
5.    Incorporation of a subsidiary company
6.    Incorporation subsidiary of a foreign company
7.    Registration of a partnership firm
8.    Registration of proprietorship concern
9.    Formation of an NGO
10.  TDS Return on payment of salaries
11.  TDS Return on other payments
12.  TDS Return of expenses other than salary as per Form 26Q
13.  Tax filing for traders in securities
14.  Tax notice management under the provisions of Sections 139(9) and 143(1) of the Indian Income Tax Act
15.  Business tax returns
16.  Tax returns for payments made outside India
17.  TDS on Rent
18.  Calculation of Advance Tax
19.  GST Notice
20.  E-Way Bill for GST
21.  GST Registration
22.  GST Filing
23.  GST Returns
24.  Cancellation of GST Registration
25.  Surrender of GST Registration
26.  Import Export Code License
27.  Shop and Establishment Act Registration
28.  Creation of Permanent Account Number (PAN) for NRI’s
29.  Registration for TAN
30.  Professional Tax registration
31.  FSSAI Registration for food license
32.  Provident Fund registration
33.  Employee State Insurance (ESI) registration
34.  Legal drafting
35.  Review of legal documents
36.  Change of registration office address
37.  Appointment of a director
38.  Resignation of a director
39.  Increase of authorized share capital
40.  Changes or alterations in Memorandum of Association
41.  Filing of declaration of commencement of business
42.  Change of company name
43.  Listing of your company on various Government websites
44.  Advice on getting foreign direct investment (FDI) in India
45.  Advisory on registration of Start-Ups
46.  Managing payroll services
47.  Running Registrar of Companies filing on an annual basis
48.  Trademark registration
49.  Compliance of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises(MSME) for registration of the enterprise and also trademark registration of the same
50.  Design of trademarks
51.  Renewal of trademarks
52.  Trademark registration in USA and China

As is evident from the exhaustive list of services given above, there is hardly any area of business left where we do not exist. In all the areas of operations, we have spent a considerable amount of our lives in these matters. Therefore, advice coming to you from us will positively impact how you conduct your business. A healthy trade practice coupled with prudent advice will lead your growth curve to move north.