Startup India registration: DPIIT recognition in about two weeks.

Our professional fee starts at from ₹4,999, excluding GST, for the eligibility check, the innovation write-up and the DPIIT application. There is no government fee for recognition. The Growth plan adds the Section 80-IAC application to the inter-ministerial board, with the financials and documentation it requires.

DPIIT recognition usually takes one to two weeks from filing, sometimes faster, and longer if DPIIT asks for clarification, which we answer within a day. The write-up is ready within three working days of our call. The 80-IAC decision is separate: the board meets periodically and approvals typically take several months.

A Private Limited Company, an LLP or a registered partnership firm that is less than 10 years old, has never had turnover above ₹100 crore in a financial year, and is working on innovation, development or improvement of a product, process or service, or a scalable model with high potential for employment or wealth. It must not be formed by splitting up an existing business.

A 100% deduction of profits for any 3 consecutive years chosen out of the first 10 years after incorporation, available to a company or LLP recognised by DPIIT and approved by the inter-ministerial board. It applies to startups incorporated up to 31 March 2030 with turnover under ₹100 crore in the year of the claim. Partnership firms are not eligible.

No. Recognition is decided by DPIIT and is the easier step. The tax exemption needs a separate application in Form 1 to the inter-ministerial board, which examines innovation, scalability and financials and approves a minority of applicants. We file it in the Growth plan and answer the board's questions, but we do not promise an outcome.

Eligibility to apply for the 80-IAC tax holiday, an 80% rebate on patent filing fees and the lower trademark fee slab with expedited examination, self-certification under labour and environment laws, relaxed prior-turnover and earnest-money norms in government procurement, fast-track winding up, and access to the Startup India Seed Fund and Fund of Funds through their channels.

No. Section 56(2)(viib), the angel tax on share premium above fair value, was abolished from FY 2024-25 for all investors, resident and foreign. The older Form 2 declaration that recognised startups filed to escape it is no longer needed. Investors still expect a valuation report for FEMA and company law purposes.

An LLP can be recognised and can also claim 80-IAC. A partnership firm can be recognised only if it is registered with the Registrar of Firms, and it cannot claim 80-IAC, which is limited to companies and LLPs. A proprietorship is not eligible at all; register an entity first.

Yes. The Startup India portal is public and there is no fee. Applications fail on the write-up: founders describe what they sell rather than what is new and how it scales, and get a query or a rejection. Our fee covers the eligibility call, a write-up drafted for the criteria, the filing and any resubmission.

It lapses. An entity stops being a startup on the tenth anniversary of incorporation or in the financial year its turnover exceeds ₹100 crore, whichever is earlier. Benefits already used are not reversed, but new ones stop. The 80-IAC block must fall within the first 10 years.

For eligible startups, employees can defer the tax on exercising ESOPs by up to 48 months, or until they leave or sell the shares, whichever is earlier. The deferral is tied to the 80-IAC eligibility route, so recognition alone is not enough; the exemption approval matters. We cover the details in our ESOP planning service.