What do I legally have to do to shut down my private limited company in India?
The short answer
You cannot just stop showing up. An Indian Pvt Ltd keeps accruing ROC filing obligations, penalties, and director disqualification risk until it is formally closed, either by striking off under the Fast Track Exit route (Form STK-2) or a full winding up. Before that, clear statutory dues, close the GST registration, settle employee dues and final TDS, and file pending returns. Start the paperwork the moment you decide, because a dormant-but-alive company is a slow bleed of compliance penalties.
Go deeper, your way
3 hand-picked resources, 3 link-checked.
📄 Article
✓ Link checkedIndiaFreeBeginner
Why we picked it
This is the cleanest walkthrough of the seven concrete steps to strike off a Pvt Ltd via Form STK-2 (board resolution, special resolution or shareholder consent, compliance clearance, indemnity bond plus affidavit, STK-2 filing, the 30-day public notice, strike-off order). It names the exact forms you must clear first (AOC-4, MGT-7A, final ITR, TDS) and states plainly that voluntary strike-off carries no consequences while abandoning the company invites disqualification, which is precisely the trap founders walk into.
Striking off is a defined seven-step filing under Section 248, not just going quiet: board resolution, shareholder consent, indemnity bond, STK-2, then a 30-day gazette objection window
You must clear all overdue AOC-4, MGT-7A, final ITR and TDS before STK-2 is even eligible, so the backlog gets filed on the way out, not skipped
A clean voluntary strike-off does not disqualify directors, but letting the ROC strike you off for non-filing does, so close it yourself before the ROC acts
Why we picked it
Where the first guide walks the STK-2 steps, this one is the pre-closure checklist that keeps the strike-off from bouncing: cancel GST on the portal and file GSTR-10 within three months of cancellation, clear every pending AOC-4 and MGT-7A, and understand that non-filing for three consecutive years triggers Section 164(2)(a) disqualification for five years. Its comparison table draws the exact line between a clean voluntary exit and an ROC-initiated compulsory strike-off that torches your directorships.
Why we picked it
Winding down means paying people out correctly, and this is the guide that spells out the dual reconciliation founders get wrong: unpaid salary plus leave encashment plus gratuity plus bonus plus reimbursements, minus notice shortfall, loan recovery, TDS and asset deductions. It flags TDS as the single most-skipped step in small companies, runs the final tax projection before Form 16, and states the new Code on Wages 48-hour payout rule so you do not leave a departing employee with a labour-department complaint on your way out.
