Partnership registration has gained good preference in the modern and globalized business environment, with the government’s effort to make enterprises compete in the global market, the business setup, tax registrations, licenses, and tax compliances are made easier.
Liberalizing the process required to start a business paved the way for many aspiring entrepreneurs to start businesses at feasible costs and with minimum infrastructure.
Partnership registration for a new startup is a good option due to its easy and quick setup, without much documentation and approvals. The cost associated with partnership registration, regular compliance, annual filings, and renewals is much more affordable for new startups.
Advantages of partnership registration
Cost to setup
The cost to set up a Partnership firm does not exceed Rs.10,000 which includes the cost of stamp papers, professional fees for drafting the partnership deed, application for a PAN card, and partnership firm registration with the registrar of firms in the district. Cost for GST registration and other business registration for example import export code will be equal to other forms of business.
Documentation
Only basic documents such as a filled checklist, partner aadhaar card, mobile no, and e-mail ID are required for the partnership registration process. Therefore separate sets of documents are not required for partnership firm registration apart from partners’ basic KYC documents.
Minimum investment
A minimum investment amount is not required for partnership firm registration, the partnership firm will be established from the date of signing the partnership deed even without any investment in the firm.
Compliance cost
The regular compliance cost such as income tax return filing, renewal of partnership firm, and partnership firm ammendement deed registration is only a few thousand higher than the proprietorship firm.
Change in partners
Admission of new partners and retirement of existing partners can be easily made by partnership ammendement deed, the partnership business structure is considered to be flexible business structure in terms of adding and exiting partners with the consent of existing partners.
Equal rights
All partners have equal rights to participate in the business operation irrespective of the amount of investment etc, there is no concept of an investment partner, or managing partner as per the Partnership Act. These terms are just used for the practical purpose of business administration and marketing.
Minimum compliance
Minimum compliance is the strong and the most priority advantage to considering partnership registration, only annual returns and amendment applications are required to be filed after partnership registration, and there is no mandatory requirement to submit financial statements or other financial particulars to the registrar of firms.
Profit sharing ratio
The terms of the partnership firm regarding, profit sharing ratio, responsibilities of the partners, mode of admission, and retirement of partners are customizable.
Name approval for partnership registration
There is no such concept of name approval for partnership firms, therefore preferred names can be used to register partnership firms, and only restricted and illegal words are not allowed.
Benefits available to partnership firms in the Income Tax Act
Audit of accounts
Audit of accounts for partnership firms is not mandatory, tax audit under the Income Tax Act is applicable only if turnover crosses the limit for tax audit. The income tax provisions of income tax return filing and tax audits are the same as compared to proprietorship firms.
Lower income tax
The benefits of lower income tax in the presumptive taxation scheme apply to partnership firms, therefore small businesses whose turnover is within the permissible limit for presumptive taxation are eligible.
Income tax planning with partnership registration
Partnership firms can be used as the best income tax planning tool for small family businesses that are run by partners in the family, each partner can be paid a remuneration allowable as per the Income Tax Act and the partnership deed, and the remuneration paid is deductible as expenses in the case of as a partnership firm. Now the remuneration transfer to the partners enjoys a lower tax rate in the hands of individuals.
Simple income tax return
Simplified income tax return filing forms for partnership firms are available, therefore data required to file income tax returns is minimal.
Income tax compliances
There are only fewer additional income tax compliances for partnership firms compared to proprietorship firms.