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How the government is killing Indian Startups
- divtxt 15y agoHere are some pain points you'll really feel if you're trying to do a micro-ISV. I) Incorporation: - No way for one individual to have limited liability. Sole Proprietorship only. - A 'Private Limited' will cost you INR 20K-40K (USD 400-800), requires at least 2 people and quarterly board meeting filings. - Private Limited minimum capital is INR 100K (USD 2K). Registration cost goes up if you invest more capital. - Bank account pain: minimum balance INR 40K (USD 800), set up can take months to be fully functional. II) Taxes: - VAT registration & monthly filing. - Service tax registration & quarterly filing. - Import Export registration if you're exporting software. - It's not clear if software is a product or service. So you'll do what everyone does - charge users both VAT & service tax! - Since amazon, rackspace etc dont charge you Indian service tax, you'll have to pay it. Add 20% to your SaaS hosting costs. - If you hire contractors, you have to withhold & submit their service tax. BTW, from what I've read here and in other forums, stuff like this is a pain in many countries.