Sole Proprietorship is a simple and most commonly used form of business entity in India. It’s a business owned and managed by a single individual which can be carried over easily by the legal heir without much of legal formalities. The sole proprietorship business is not taxed separately. For liability purposes, individual and the sole proprietorship business are also one and the same. If one have a clear vision of what business would be then one can initially start a sole proprietorship business instead of a private limited company or firm.

It is important to understand the regulatory framework surrounding the activity you wish to undertake in the proprietorship and obtain the relevant licenses from the respective local or state and Central governmental / statutory authorities.

TAX REGISTRATIONS

Some of the tax registration that would be required for a proprietorship include

VAT/CST/TIN Registration - selling goods and products.

Service Tax Registration - all service providers.

Professional Tax Registration – business employing professionals.

ESI/PF – businesses having employees.

TRADEMARK REGISTRATION

There is no Registrar or Registry for proprietorships in India. If you think that someone may misuse the name or use as the name for their own business then you can register some name as a trade mark for the business.

BANK ACCOUNT

You can visit any banker for opening up an account. You have to open a bank account with the name of sole proprietorship business. Banks generally asks for address proof of the owner like electricity bill or any such document having the owner’s name and address. The banker may ask to provide a government registration certificate. In that case you can either provide your VAT registration or service tax registration certificate or municipality permission to start your business.

Some other documents like Sales / VAT certificate

IEC(Import Export Code)

Registration/licensing document issued in the name of the proprietary concern by the Central or State Government Authority etc..

If you as an individual do not have a PAN then apply for it. Sole proprietorship business does not require having a separate PAN card for its business. Owners PAN card will be sufficient as income return will be filed with owner’s name not in the name of business.