Business Tax Filing

Private limited companies (other than those claiming exemption under Section 11) must file ITR-6. This includes both resident and non-resident companies incorporated in India, one-person companies (OPCs), public limited companies, and any other company not filing ITR-7. ITR-6 has extensive schedules including Schedule BP (business/profession income), Schedule MAT (minimum alternate tax), Schedule D (dividends), Schedule AL (assets and liabilities), and Schedule Part-B-TI (total income computation). Companies cannot file ITR-1 through ITR-4 regardless of their income level or turnover.

Minimum Alternate Tax (Section 115JB) is applicable to all companies (except certain infrastructure and power companies). If a company's regular income tax liability is less than 15% of its "book profit" (profits as per the Companies Act P&L after certain adjustments), it must pay MAT at 15% of book profit. Book profit adds back items like income tax provision, deferred tax, brought-forward loss below net worth threshold, and payments not allowable under Section 40. MAT Credit (Section 115JAA) allows the excess MAT paid over regular tax to be carried forward for 15 years and set off when regular tax exceeds MAT in a future year.

Tax audit under Section 44AB is mandatory for companies if: (1) Total sales or turnover exceeds ₹1 crore in the financial year; (2) For businesses where at least 95% of receipts and payments are through banking channels, the threshold is ₹10 crore; (3) A company opts out of the presumptive taxation scheme under Section 44AD in a year after having opted into it for 5 years. The tax audit must be conducted by a practising CA and the report (Form 3CA + Form 3CD) must be filed by September 30 before the ITR filing deadline. Note: the 44 clauses in Form 3CD include disclosures about related-party transactions, cash payments, TDS compliance, and capital gains details that require careful completion.

No — this is a critical rule. Under Section 80, losses from business and profession (other than unabsorbed depreciation and losses from specified businesses under Section 35AD) can only be carried forward if the return is filed by the due date. If your company misses the October 31 deadline and files a belated return, business losses incurred in that year cannot be carried forward to future years. Unabsorbed depreciation (Section 32(2)) is an exception — it can be carried forward even in belated returns. Capital losses also cannot be carried forward in belated returns. This makes timely filing extremely important, especially for companies with losses in early growth stages.

Companies must pay advance tax in four instalments: (1) 15% of estimated tax by June 15; (2) 45% by September 15; (3) 75% by December 15; (4) 100% by March 15. Interest under Section 234B is charged at 1% per month (or part thereof) if advance tax paid is less than 90% of assessed tax — calculated from April 1 to date of payment. Interest under Section 234C is charged for deferment of instalment payments at 1% per month for each quarter. For the first year of incorporation, only the final instalment (March 15) is required — no penalty for paying 100% by March 15. Companies with TDS being deducted (e.g., from bank FD interest) can reduce advance tax instalments by the expected TDS credits.