BizExpress

The BizExpress Blog.

Guides, case studies and our monthly compliance round-up for Indian founders: what to file, what it costs to miss, and what the rules mean in practice, with the form names and the dates.

Every due date for your entity
  1. 5Nov

    Dunzo's last chapter: what happens when an Indian startup cannot pay

    In January 2022 Reliance Retail paid $200 million for 25.8 percent of Dunzo at a $775 million valuation. On 6 August 2025 the NCLT in Bengaluru admitted Dunzo into insolvency on a petition the IBBI's record attributes to a packaging supplier owed about ₹1.91 crore. By 5 September 2026 creditors had claimed ₹634.30 crore, and ₹198.06 crore had been admitted.

    Case studyInsolvencyStartupsDirectors
  2. 5Nov

    Anil Ambani's personal guarantee: where limited liability ends

    On 23 September 2016 Anil Ambani signed a personal guarantee to State Bank of India for loans of ₹565 crore to Reliance Communications and ₹635 crore to Reliance Infratel. On 11 June 2026 the Mumbai NCLT admitted SBI's petition for an insolvency resolution process against him as guarantor, on a claimed default of ₹853.25 crore. As of October 2026 he has appealed to the NCLAT.

    Case studyDirectorsInsolvencyMSMETax
  3. 2Nov

    The BharatPe breakup: what a founders' agreement would have changed

    On 2 July 2018 Ashneer Grover acquired 3,192 BharatPe shares at their ₹10 face value. In December 2022 the company went to arbitration to claw back a 1.4 percent holding it said had not vested, and the dispute ran through SIAC, the Delhi High Court, the NCLT and a police case before a settlement on 30 September 2024 took him out of the shareholding.

    Case studyStartupsIncorporationIncome tax
  4. 2Nov

    Two showrooms, eight staff and an IPO subscribed about 400 times: the SME IPO boom and SEBI's tighter rules

    In August 2024 Resourceful Automobile, a New Delhi Yamaha dealer with two showrooms and eight staff, asked the public for ₹11.99 crore and its issue was subscribed about 400 times. On 19 October 2026 its shares closed at ₹52 against an issue price of ₹117, five days after SEBI published proposals for another overhaul of the SME IPO rules.

    Case studyIPOFundraisingMSMECompliance
  5. 14Oct Due 15 December 2026

    The first year under the Income-tax Act 2025: what changes for your filings

    The Income-tax Act 2025 replaced the 1961 Act on 1 April 2026. Rates, deadlines and deductions are unchanged in substance, but sections are renumbered, previous year and assessment year become one tax year, and notices now cite the new numbering. Here is what it means for this year's filings.

    Income taxIncome-tax Act 2025Rule change
  6. 10Oct

    The Income-tax Act 2025 for small businesses: what changed from April 2026, and what only looks different

    On 1 April 2026 India's income tax law was replaced for the first time in 65 years. For a small business the rates did not move, but every section number did, the assessment year disappeared, the TDS forms were renumbered, and the first return under the new law falls due in 2027 on dates that differ by type of taxpayer. This is the working guide.

    Income taxIncome-tax Act 2025GuideRule change
  7. 10Oct

    Udyam registration: the MSME benefits most business owners never claim

    More than 8.9 crore enterprises hold a Udyam certificate. Most of them use it once, to open a bank account, and never again. The certificate carries a 45-day payment law with punitive interest, a tax rule that makes customers pay on time, collateral-free loans up to ₹10 crore, a reserved share of government purchases and a 50 percent discount on trademarks, and one timing rule that decides whether any of it applies.

    MSMEUdyamRegistrationsGuide
  8. 10Oct

    The true cost of a private limited company in India: year one and every year after

    A private limited company can be registered for a few thousand rupees. Keeping it alive costs more than that every year, forever, whether or not it earns a rupee. This is the full bill: incorporation, the first 180 days, the annual cycle, the penalties, and the honest comparison with an LLP and a proprietorship.

    IncorporationAnnual filingsPricingGuide
  9. 10Oct

    Where India's businesses are being born: what two lakh new companies in 2026 tell us

    A new company is registered in India about every two minutes. Between January and September 2026 that added up to 2,04,754 companies and 89,199 LLPs. We read every record: where they were born, what they do, why LLPs now make up three in ten new entities, why Section 8 companies nearly doubled, and what the calendar now holds for every one of them.

    DataBbr indexIncorporationStartupsThought leadership
  10. 10Oct

    Campa Cola: the ₹22 crore trademark that became a ₹4,700 crore brand in four years

    A soft drink that disappeared from shelves around 2000 was bought for about ₹22 crore in August 2022 and sold ₹4,700 crore worth of bottles in FY26. Campa Cola is the clearest case in Indian business of what a registered trademark is worth, and of the rules that kept it alive through two decades of disuse.

    Case studyTrademarkBrandThought leadership
  11. 10Oct

    The 2017 purge: when MCA struck off 2.24 lakh companies and 3.09 lakh directors lost their seats

    In September 2017 the government deleted more than two lakh companies from the register and barred three lakh people from being directors for five years. Many were running honest businesses that had simply stopped filing. The litigation is still in the Supreme Court, and every compliance rule a director now meets, from DIR-3 KYC to the ₹100-a-day late fee, was built in the two years that followed.

    Case studyROCDirectorsAnnual filingsThought leadership
  12. 10Oct

    Ten farmers and a producer company: the Sahyadri Farms story, and how a farmer producer company works

    In 2010 a Nashik farmer who had twice sold his own land to pay other farmers registered a producer company with a group of ten growers. Sahyadri Farms crossed ₹2,500 crore in revenue in FY26, is owned by more than 21,000 farmers and has raised ₹700 crore from impact investors through a subsidiary, because the law does not let anyone but a farmer own its shares.

    Case studyProducer companyAgricultureIncorporationThought leadership
  13. 10Oct

    The ₹80 loan: what Lijjat Papad teaches about the business structures India forgot

    Seven women borrowed ₹80 in March 1959 and made four packets of papad on a Girgaum terrace. Lijjat now has 45,000 women co-owners, 83 branches and reported sales of ₹1,600 crore, and it has never issued a share or taken a loan. It is a society and a public trust, not a company, and its structure explains both how it grew and why it grew the way it did.

    Case studyNgoCooperativeBusiness structureThought leadership
  14. 10Oct

    Three Haldiram's: how one family name became three companies, a 24-year trademark fight and a $10 billion merger

    Most people assume Haldiram's is one company. It has been three, run by three branches of one family, divided by a 1974 deed that gave one branch the trademark everywhere in India except West Bengal. The dispute that followed ran from 1991 to 2015, and the merger that Temasek valued at $10 billion became possible only after it ended.

    Case studyTrademarkFamily businessThought leadership
  15. 10Oct

    The reverse flip: why India's biggest startups are paying thousands of crores to come home

    PhonePe's investors paid close to ₹8,000 crore in tax to move one company from Singapore to India. Groww, Meesho, Razorpay, Zepto and Flipkart followed, at a combined disclosed cost of about ₹13,000 crore. Why the parent company's address became so expensive, and what it means for a founder incorporating today.

    StartupsIncorporationTaxThought leadership
  16. 8Oct Due 30 October 2026

    LLP Form 8 by 30 October and MSME-1 by 31 October

    Every LLP, active or not, must file Form 8 for the year ended 31 March 2026 by 30 October 2026, with a fee that rises with the delay. Companies that owed micro and small suppliers beyond 45 days at any point between April and September file MSME-1 by 31 October.

    LLPROCMSMEDeadline
  17. 1Oct Due 31 October 2026

    This month in compliance: October 2026

    October carries the quarter-end GST filings for QRMP taxpayers, AOC-4 for companies that held their AGM on 30 September, LLP Form 8 on 30 October, and three deadlines on 31 October: the income tax return for audit cases, the Q2 TDS return and the MSME-1 half-yearly return.

    Monthly round-upGSTROCTDSIncome tax
  18. 25Sept Due 30 September 2026

    Tax audit report by 30 September, ITR by 31 October for audit cases

    Businesses with turnover above ₹1 crore (₹10 crore where cash receipts and payments are each under 5%) and professionals above ₹50 lakh must file a tax audit report by 30 September 2026. Their income tax return, and that of every company, is due by 31 October 2026.

    Income taxTax auditDeadline
  19. 21Sept Due 30 September 2026

    AGM by 30 September, then the AOC-4 and MGT-7A windows

    Every company with a 31 March 2026 year end must hold its Annual General Meeting by 30 September 2026. The AGM date starts two clocks: AOC-4 with the audited accounts within 30 days, and MGT-7A or MGT-7 within 60 days. Both carry a late fee of ₹100 per day.

    ROCAGMAnnual filings
  20. 14Sept Due 30 September 2026

    DIR-3 KYC by 30 September: what happens on 1 October

    Every person holding a DIN on 31 March 2026 must complete DIR-3 KYC by 30 September 2026. It is free until then and costs ₹5,000 from 1 October, when the DIN is also deactivated, which stops the director from signing any MCA form, including the company's annual filings.

    ROCDirectorsDeadline
  21. 8Sept Due 15 September 2026

    Advance tax: the 15 September instalment and how to estimate it

    Anyone whose tax for the year after TDS exceeds ₹10,000 must pay advance tax, and 45% of the year's estimate is due by 15 September 2026. Companies, LLPs, freelancers and salaried people with other income are all covered. Presumptive taxpayers under 44AD and 44ADA pay once, by 15 March.

    Income taxAdvance taxDeadline
  22. 1Sept Due 30 September 2026

    This month in compliance: September 2026

    September is the heaviest compliance month of the year. The second advance tax instalment falls on 15 September, and 30 September is the deadline for DIR-3 KYC, the AGM of every company with a March year end, and the tax audit report. Here is the full list with penalties.

    Monthly round-upROCIncome taxGST

Coming up

  1. 7NovTDS deposit for OctoberEmployers and businesses deducting TDSInterest 1.5% per month on late deposit
  2. 11NovGSTR-1 for October (monthly filers)GST-registered businesses filing monthly₹50 per day (₹20 for nil returns), capped
  3. 20NovGSTR-3B for October (monthly filers)GST-registered businesses filing monthly₹50 per day (₹20 for nil), plus 18% interest on tax
  4. 25NovGST payment for October under QRMP (PMT-06)GST-registered businesses under QRMP18% interest on tax paid late
  5. 28NovMGT-7A or MGT-7 (annual return) if the AGM was held on 30 SeptemberPrivate Limited Companies₹100 per day, no cap
  6. 7DecTDS deposit for NovemberEmployers and businesses deducting TDSInterest 1.5% per month on late deposit
Full calendar for your entity
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