Section 2 (62) of Companies Act says a company with only one person as its member falls under the criteria of One Person Company or OPC. OPC is owned and managed by one person only. Moreover, all the members of the OPC are followers to its memorandum of association or its shareholders.
One Person Company is a brand new concept which gives full authority over the company to the single promoter while limiting its liability or duties to contribute to the business.
However, there is no road to raise equity funding or offering the employee stock option in One Person Company in the early stage of the period. Into the bargain, if One Person Company anytime hits an average three- year turnover of over Rs 2 crore or has paid-up capital of over Rs 50 lakhs then it must be turned into the private limited company or public limited company within the six months.
One Person Company consists of a single person; it can be formed by subscribing to the memorandum of association and fulfilling other details provided in the Companies Act 2013. Information related to the nominee and who will hold the authority in case of demise of the original owner should be provided in the memorandum of association.
Once the memorandum of association is completely available on paper; submit it along with the nominee’s consent to his nomination to the Registrar of Companies. Though nominee can extract his/her name at any point in time by submitting the application to the Registrar.
The following is the eligibility criteria for OPC Registration in India. Only a natural person who is a citizen of India and resident in India-
One Person Company Registration cannot be done without submitting above mentioned documents.
The director of the OPC should submit the scanned transcripts/ copies of the following documents mandatory for OPC registration-
Please Note: The first 3 documents should be self-attested by the OPC director. All the documents for a foreign national or an NRI must be notarized (if residing in India or a non-Commonwealth country at present) or apostilled (if living in a Commonwealth country at present).
Documents Necessary For The Registered Office
Note: Your office space which is registered needs to be a commercial area; however, it can be your house of residence as well
A sole proprietor business may seem similar to a One Person Company in many ways but there are actually some differences between the two.
The major difference is in the nature of the liabilities they carry. One Person Company has its own assets and liabilities. It is a separate legal entity distinguished from its promoter. The promoter of OPC is not personally liable to repay the debts of the company.
In case of sole proprietorship the proprietor and the promoter are the same persons. So, the law allows the attachment and sale of promoter’s own assets in case of non-fulfillment of the business’ liabilities.
Filling for Income Tax Returns is a mandatory thing for One Person Company. TDS should be filed quarterly mentioning the TAN. If company has employees then deducting tax at source become necessary. If OPC has more than ten employees then getting an ESI registration by law becomes necessary As per the Income-tax law, an OPC is liable to pay 30% of its income to the taxation authority in the fiscal year.
Particulars | OPC Company | Private Company | LLP |
---|---|---|---|
Eligibility | Indian citizen and resident in India are eligible to integrate an OPC | NRI or Indian citizen can form a Private limited company. | Any person or group of the corporate can actively involve in the formation of LLP |
Minimum Requirement | Member – 1, Director – 1, Nominee of Sole Member – 1 | Members – 2, Directors – 2 | Designated Partners – 2 |
Credibility | Medium | High | Medium |
Time Taken in Registration | 15 – 20 Days | 10 – 15 Days | 15 – 20 Days |
Conversion System | Cannot be converted before two years | Can be converted into LLP | Not directly converted into a Private Limited Company |
Fund Raising Options | Low | High | Low |
Recommended For | Sole promoters | Start-ups and growing | Professional services firms |