📄 Article
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India
Free
Beginner
Why we picked it
This is the government's own checklist, so it settles the entity question straight: Pvt Ltd if you plan to raise (investors cannot hold shares in an LLP), LLP or OPC if you are bootstrapping services. It walks the same first-weeks moves the answer names (MCA incorporation, DPIIT recognition to unlock tax and IP benefits, GST once you cross the threshold, sector licenses) from the source that defines them, not a reseller's blog.
From
Startup India
by Startup India (DPIIT, Ministry of Commerce and Industry)
12 min read
- Pick Pvt Ltd only if you intend to raise, because equity funds cannot take shares in an LLP and converting later costs time, fees, and stamp duty.
- DPIIT recognition is the gate to the 80-IAC tax holiday, faster IP filing, and angel-tax relief, so file for it early.
- GST is not day-one paperwork: register when you cross the turnover threshold or start interstate B2B supply, not before you must.
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startupindia.gov.in →
📄 Article
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India
Free
Beginner
Why we picked it
The single clearest explanation of the two documents Indian founders confuse: the founders' agreement (equity, vesting, roles, IP, departure, signed at or before incorporation) versus the shareholders' agreement (investor voting rights, drag/tag, reserved matters, signed at your raise). It nails the timing rule that trips people up: sign before shares are issued, because you cannot bolt vesting onto already-issued shares without every founder consenting. It is blunt that IP a founder built before incorporation belongs to that founder personally until a formal IP Assignment moves it to the company, which is exactly what breaks a diligence during your first term sheet.
From
EquityList
by EquityList
15 min read
- Founders' agreement governs the co-founder relationship; the shareholders' agreement layers in investor protections later, they are not the same document
- Sign at or before incorporation and always before shares are issued, or vesting cannot be applied retroactively
- Pre-incorporation IP stays with the individual founder until a formal IP Assignment Agreement transfers it to the company
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equitylist.co →
📄 Article
✓ Link checked
India
Free
Intermediate
Why we picked it
Once you have negotiated the pool size, this is the guide that stops the pool from becoming a tax trap for the very employees it rewards. It walks the full Indian lifecycle (no tax at grant or vesting, perquisite tax at exercise on the FMV-minus-exercise-price spread, capital gains at sale) and explains the DPIIT deferral that lets recognised startups push the exercise-stage perquisite tax out (48 months pre-April 2026, 60 months under the new regime), plus the Category I merchant banker FMV valuation you actually need.
From
Treelife
by Treelife
25 min read
- ESOPs are taxed twice in India: as a salary perquisite at exercise (on the FMV minus exercise price spread) and again as capital gains at sale, with FMV at exercise becoming the cost base.
- A low exercise price widens the taxable spread at exercise, so the exercise price is a deliberate design lever, not an afterthought.
- DPIIT-recognised startups can defer the exercise-stage perquisite tax (up to 48 or 60 months depending on the regime), which is the single biggest lever for making the pool actually valuable to employees.
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treelife.in →