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Starting Up

The registrations a new business actually needs in month one — and the ones that can wait

Every consultant will sell you a bundle. Most of it is premature. Here is the short list that genuinely matters at the start, and what triggers the rest.

5 July 20267 min readBy the Tax Station team

New founders are usually sold a package: incorporation, GST, MSME, trademark, ISO, professional tax, import-export code, all at once. Some of it is genuinely needed on day one. A fair amount of it is being sold to you because it is easy to sell, and a few items you may never need at all.

Month one: the real list

  1. 01The entity itself. Incorporate the structure you actually need — and read the comparison properly before you pick, because converting later is a project.
  2. 02PAN and TAN. Both come with incorporation for a company or LLP. TAN matters the moment you pay a salary, rent or a professional fee above the threshold.
  3. 03A current account. Banks will ask for the incorporation documents and, for a proprietorship, usually the Shop and Establishment registration.
  4. 04Udyam registration. Free, takes minutes, and is the gateway to priority sector lending, collateral-free schemes, tender preference and statutory protection on delayed payments. There is no reason to skip it.
  5. 05Shop and Establishment registration. Required for commercial premises in most states within a set period of starting, and frequently demanded by banks.

Triggered by turnover

  • GST registration — once aggregate turnover crosses the threshold for your type of supply.
  • PF registration — once headcount crosses the prescribed number.
  • ESI registration — same, at its own threshold and wage ceiling.
  • Statutory audit — for a company, from the first year regardless; for others, above the prescribed turnover.

Triggered by what you do

  • GST, regardless of turnover, if you sell goods across a state border or through a marketplace.
  • Import Export Code, the moment you plan to import or export.
  • FSSAI, if you handle food in any form, including a cloud kitchen or a home bakery selling online.
  • Professional tax, in the states that levy it, once you have employees.
  • Trademark, when you commit to a brand name and start spending on it.

Triggered by a customer

ISO certification is the clearest example. It is almost never a legal requirement. It becomes necessary when a customer or a tender demands it, and until then it is a cost with no return. If someone is selling you ISO in month one without you having been asked for it, ask why.

The one thing founders consistently underestimate

Not registrations. Recurring compliance. A private limited company files annual returns, holds board meetings and an AGM, gets audited, files DIR-3 KYC for every director and reports in DPT-3 — every year, whether or not it traded. That obligation starts the day you incorporate and does not pause for a quiet year.

Budget for it before you incorporate. The annual compliance cost of an entity is usually larger than the cost of setting it up, and it is the part nobody quotes you at the start.

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Equity, vesting, roles and what happens when someone leaves. Every founder dispute we see was answerable in an afternoon at the start.

GST

Who actually needs GST registration — and who is better off registering anyway

The turnover threshold is only one of several triggers. Plenty of businesses below it are still legally required to register, and some above it choose to register early for reasons that have nothing to do with the law.

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