Until you actually run a business in Bharat, it’s very hard to understand how much of an entrepreneur’s time here goes in just making sure they are compliant with all laws and are paying each tax correctly and on time.
Bharat goes out of its way to make this a struggle.
My favourite example of this was from Mihir Sharma’s book Restart–
If you run a restaurant in India – the Excise department had a rule which says you can have only one entrance/exit whereas the fire department said you have to have minimum 2. So you have to bribe at least one.
Another one was different GST rates on almonds and cashews. So no one knew how much GST to charge on a packet of mix-dry fruits. They had to bring out a clarification for this in one of the GST meetings.
One more – Every VC running an AIF in Bharat doesn’t know if they will have to pay only Capital Gains tax on their Carry or they have to pay GST also. This was being contested in court (not sure if resolved)
Imagine literally birthing an entire startup ecosystem, pumping Billions into a country only to find yourself litigating over what tax was owed on your biggest exit 5 years after it happened.
Just to run a apartment association who has no income / profit, it becomes huge struggle to maintain bills and to submit documents to get the ITR returns.
— Vishnu Prasath (@prasathvishnu) July 30, 2022
It is actually penalising to do good things.
💯%
— Gowda G (@GotamaGowda) July 30, 2022
We acquired a company this year and the experience has convinced me that the system is rigged to help officials make money (◻️&◼️).
Totally agree.
— Arpan Shah (@arpanshahh) July 30, 2022
Even to open a Bank account for company takes more than 40+ signatures and long 15 days if everything is correct !!
The rule of physical premises to open a startup even if you are fully remote.
— Srijan R Shetty (@srijanshetty) July 30, 2022
Or the rule of scanning every page of a signed Board Meeting even if you signed only one sheet.
Add to that Chocolate based product has 18% GST.
— R.D. (@rd_revival) July 30, 2022
Peanut Butter has 12%.
Now everyone is really confused where does the Chocolate Peanut Butter falls?
We once received a notice of Rs. 720 for a slight delay in an employee’s ESIC payment. And our HR had to travel and physically submit the document in the middle of disastrous COVID 2nd wave.
— Aman Goel (@amangoeliitb) July 30, 2022
RBI made us refund excess FDI of $12 out of $100k he invested as it can't be accounted for..last 4 months Bankers/CA/CS/our person trying to do this but banks are banks… We will have to pay penalty 5k + new valuation report 30k to refund this grand sum of $12… #Hopeless
— Freedom… Azaadi…! (@Runnerr_Avi) July 30, 2022
100x Singapore. I've had to do less compliance in 2 years compared to 3 months in IN (literally, not figuratively).
— Saps (@saptarshinath) July 30, 2022
100x Singapore. I've had to do less compliance in 2 years compared to 3 months in IN (literally, not figuratively).
— Saps (@saptarshinath) July 30, 2022
one nation one tax (GST) is biggest hoax, despite state /PAN data in registeration, different registerations are needed for each state. Nothing simple at all
— Dhrupad Shastry (@DhrupadShastry) July 30, 2022
Retail shop mein signboard ko lekar bhi 4 department mein alag alag donation dena padta 🙂 https://t.co/pQrpFAirIP
— Jaindu (@woolgatherer108) July 30, 2022
I actually ran a business in India for 45 years. I now realize that I should have just run the business instead of trying to understand the rules. It is cheaper to pay the fine then follow them.
— Ravichandran (@acitizenwrites) July 30, 2022
Filing a simple TDS return requires a digital sign & a ref number of the previous return
— Abhishek Avhad (@Avhad_Abhishek) July 30, 2022
Basically, none of it is stored online on their site & you have to either take a printout or store it digitally yourself when you file a return so that the next time doesn't become a hassle
Opened two bank accounts for my company
— Arpan Shah (@arpanshahh) July 30, 2022
One with HDFC bank took one month
IDBI bank open our account in 20 days
Trying to get our DPIIT registered for past 2 months. First CIN error, then file uploading error now currently “404 page doesn’t exist”. Govt website should have warnings “Our websites can cause BP & rage, move ahead at your own risk”
— Shivank (@iamshivankt) July 30, 2022
Surat is a huge textile trading hub. India is a major textile exporter, but you cant export textiles from Surat port. Not because it's against the law, but it's more of a convention, the customs officers don't want you to do it from that port. Most exporters find out the hard way
— [email protected]$s Void (@Modi_bs) July 30, 2022
Experiencing this. I have to file all compliances even though there is no income, in a hobby business i started 5 years ago lol.
— Rahul Flint | 4288.eth ⚡ (@RahulFlint) July 30, 2022
+n. We finally managed to get a compliant $40 transaction through. The inward remittance was raised on 27th May. It took 60 days for the bank to remit it to our accounts for our business to kick start. And now AIFs apparently have a 7.5 month queue to invest.
— Raghuram (@Ghurram) July 30, 2022
Certain compliances are just annoyances. turns out in bar you have to maintain multiple stock register, one is how much you pulled out from storage to the main area then a register of how much liquor you served right down to the nearest ml
— Illegaldesi Gaming (@illegaldesi) July 30, 2022
Shifting a company from one jurisdiction to other (Ka to TN). 1) have to publish address change in English and local lang paper min 1/8th pg 2) Have to go and stand in front of Judge & getting the official court order inside court premises costs 5-10k in bribe. Took 2 years.
— jagan (@jagan) July 30, 2022
It isn't just an entrepreneur's headache! As an officer in a PSU bank also, it was a nightmare as the credit officer had to ensure the business complied with all laws before loan was snctioned but no one knew which laws exactly! Total nightmare!
— Anuಪಮಾ Kaushik (@anupamamkaushik) July 30, 2022
Indian taxation is very complicated..in the year when GST was implemented Govt had to come out with 1100 notifications..🤣
— CA Anuj Sachdev (@Casachdev) July 30, 2022
Finally reaching the District PF office in person, we are asked to submit a letter along with the bank statements of all months after the date of the said remittance until current date to prove the remitted amount didn't return to the bank account. @_DigitalIndia
— Ramesh Chhajer (@anekaanthvaad) July 30, 2022
Last year I had to pay over 3.5 lakh in fine to RoC because I had not uploaded my IT return on RoC! Imagine I pay my share of tax and just forgot to also update it on RoC! And it costs me 3.5lakh. how's that for 'ease of business'
— Jigar Mehta (@Jigar_Mehta) July 30, 2022
In Mumbai, one cannot shift offices without paying the "mathadi" aka local goon. These people are there in every office building,charge obsecne amounts for shifting AND you cannot just shift things yourself. This is a state law, no less
— Piyush (@piyush_ranjan) July 31, 2022
I am a professional investor. Made the mistake of angel investing in a fintech in India. RBI changed rules every quarter for 3 years. And after we complied with all the changes, they went back to the original rules. Cost us an additional 7Crs and
— spa_jack (@spa_us) July 31, 2022
India introduced a withholding tax on Facebook ads called Equilization levy. Advertisers were expected to withhold 6% from Facebook on an amount being auto deducted from a credit card. Niether mafia, govt or Facebook, relented for 2yrs
— Sashank SV (@svsashank) July 31, 2022
We wanted to register an LLP since March. The MCA website wouldn’t work so we missed the deadline. It’s been 4 months+ and it still doesn’t work, we continue our work knowing fully well that a penalty+interest will be charged despite the freaking website not working https://t.co/8xocZNYjxG
— Kyu Jaan-na Hai (@DoneHaiBro) July 30, 2022
I tried to register under GeM. First paid ₹ 10000. Then it said I gave to pay 14000 more, to very OEM Status. Then it said I must register a Trademark & Brand. 'What if it's a generic product?' Doesn't matter! Get 'Branded' & 'Trademarked'! Then comes the verification. (1/n)
— Debiprasad (@Bhodro_Debi) July 31, 2022
I received a Gst Notice for a Firm which was closed in 2017. Paid pending Dues of Gst with Interest in 2021 (For Nil returns as the firm was shut). Now I received a notice saying the Auto calculated penalty of the previous notice was wrong and I have to pay more. #Agnipath
— Vicky Palrecha (@Vickypalrecha) July 31, 2022
I run schools, sometimes running from pillar to post for approvals. Even so called completely ONLINE processes have Offline handlers that squeeze us of money leaving many in our industry wriggling with debts. It is a misconception to think educational inst. mint money.
— Raj Iyengar 🇮🇳 (@jhagmagtara) July 31, 2022
Another lovely one. Cotton clothes sold below Rs 1000 are taxed at 5% where the same clothes priced above Rs. 1000 are taxed at 12% https://t.co/h8vBvF1onF
— PriyankaBhattacharya (@PriyankaDutt) July 30, 2022
I just finished my IT returns yesterday for my small business The returns ran into 94 pages! I filled in 30 schedules online. This must be the most complex tax compliance in the entire world.
— Rishi (@RishiPoddar69) August 1, 2022
From Pune.
— Vaibhav Pawar (@vaibhavpawar707) July 31, 2022
Last week received a notice from Customs Office for the goods I purchased in 2019, saying that Anti dumping duty was unpaid. Then how did the officers cleared the consignment? Now the Fine amount is 30% of the purchase amount with penalty added.
(This article has been compiled from the tweet thread originally tweeted by Kushal Bhagia (@kushalbhagia) on July 30, 2022.)
