A proprietorship has no MCA filing, no annual return, no board meeting and no statutory audit. That is the reason people choose it, and it is also why proprietors are the most likely to assume there is nothing to do. There is. It is just all on the tax and GST side, and the deadlines are the same ones companies face.
Starting at
₹4,999 per year onwards
Proprietorship compliance
Sole proprietors, freelancers, small traders
Timeline
Annual, with monthly and quarterly filings
A proprietorship is not a registered entity - the proprietor and the business are the same person in law, so there is no ROC filing. What applies instead is the income tax return (ITR-3 or ITR-4), advance tax where the liability exceeds ₹10,000 in the year, a tax audit report where the Section 44AB thresholds are crossed, GST returns (GSTR-1, GSTR-3B and GSTR-9) where registered, TDS returns in Form 24Q and 26Q where liable to deduct, plus professional tax, Shop and Establishment renewal and Udyam update depending on the state and registrations held.
TL;DR
Two Acts are in play right now. The return being filed for FY 2025-26 is assessed entirely under the Income-tax Act, 1961, with Sections 44AD, 44ADA, 44AE and 44AB applying exactly as before. Income earned from 1 April 2026 falls under the Income-tax Act, 2025, where those presumptive provisions merge into a single Section 58 and Section 44AB becomes Section 63. Thresholds and rates carry forward unchanged - the renumbering is structural, not a policy shift.
ITR-4 Sugam
For proprietors on presumptive taxation who are otherwise eligible. Filing it when you are over the threshold gets flagged as a defective return under Section 139(9), with fifteen days to correct.
ITR-3
Where you maintain regular books, your turnover exceeds the presumptive limits, or you have income that takes you out of Sugam.
Section 58 (2025 Act)
From 1 April 2026, Sections 44AD, 44ADA and 44AE merge into a single Section 58 with a serial-number table distinguishing general business, transport and professionals.
Section 63 (2025 Act)
What Section 44AB becomes from 1 April 2026. Forms 3CA, 3CB and 3CD become Form 26, and 'Previous Year' and 'Assessment Year' give way to 'Tax Year'.
All on the tax and GST side. There is no ROC filing because there is no registered entity.
The dual-regime year almost no competitor page handles correctly.
These depend on where you operate and what you have registered for.
01
Registrations held, turnover, whether you deduct TDS, and which state obligations attach. A proprietorship's compliance list is entirely dependent on these.
02
We establish whether you are within the presumptive limits and therefore eligible for ITR-4, or whether regular books and ITR-3 apply.
03
GST returns monthly or quarterly, TDS returns quarterly where liable, and advance tax instalments where the liability exceeds ₹10,000.
04
ITR-3 or ITR-4 filed, with a tax audit report where the Section 44AB thresholds are crossed for FY 2025-26.
Upload via our secure portal. We pre-check every scan before filing - cuts portal rejections by ~90%.
Still unsure if Proprietorship compliance is right for your case? Book a free 20-minute consult - a senior CA / CS will walk you through your specifics.
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