Transformers: The Movie

Posted by Jason on December 21st, 2006 — in Zany / Off Topic

Man I hope this is good. Like so many people I loved the Transformers cartoons as a kid and still do. Something tells me unfortunately this movie is going to suck if you actually liked the original series.

I suppose if its a success we may see Alien vs. Predator Transformers vs. Thundercats

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Forming a Company in India

Posted by Jason on December 20th, 2006 — in Online Business

I saw a recent post on a popular business forum asking how someone would go about forming a company in India. They didn’t get any decent responses but it got me a bit interested so I thought I would repost some of the stuff I found so people can compare it with forming a company in their own country (If you aren’t sure how to do even that, there are guides for Ireland, the US, and the UK in our Starting a Business Tutorial). Whats funny is in my research this site keeps coming up in Google even though we never covered India (For phrases like “starting a business in india tutorial”)

 Anyway, here are some of the main points starting with some definitions:

Private Limited Company

A private company is a company which has the following characteristics:

shareholders’ right to transfer shares is restricted;
the number of shareholders is limited to fifty; and
an invitation to the public to subscribe to any shares or debentures is prohibited.

Public Limited Company

A public company is defined as a company which is not a private company. The following conditions apply only to a public company:

It must have at least seven shareholders.
A public company is not authorized to start business upon the grant of the certificate of incorporation. In order to be eligible to commence business as a corporation, it must obtain another document called “trading certificate”.
It must publish a prospectus or file a statement in lieu of a prospectus before it can start transacting business.
A public company is required to have at least three directors.
It must hold statutory meetings and obtain government approval for the appointment of the management.
There are several other provisions contained in the Companies Act 1956 which are applicable only to public companies and should be consulted.

Limited Liability Partnership

Law coming soon in India

A new law to allow “Limited Liability Partnership” (LLP) in India is expected to be introduced in the Parliament of India. (I have no idea how accurate that is or if it has passed already)

I keep getting pointed to the site below as a resource but it is unfortunately a typical government site that lacks basic tutorials or assistance. Although my man Gupta is gangsta pimpin’ (Despite the way it displays in IE)
http://www.mca.gov.in/

As far as other resources, here is a chart showing the expenses you can expect:

Starting a Business in India

This table summarizes the procedures and costs associated with setting up a business in India.

     

 
Nature of Procedure (2006) Proc # Duration (days) US$ Cost
Present name of company for approval to the Registrar of Companies (ROC); Get the Memorandum and Articles of Association vetted by the ROC and printed 1 7 11.32
Make an application to the Superintendent of Stamps or an authorized bank requesting for stamping of the Memorandum of Association and Articles of Association. 2 1 29.43
Present the required documents along with the registration fee to the Registrar of Companies to get the certificate of incorporation 3 9 252.22
Obtain a company seal 4 3 7.92
Visit the UTI Investors Services Limited to obtain a Permanent Account Number 5 7 1.61
Obtain a Tax Account Number for income taxes deducted at source from the Assessing Office in the Mumbai Income Tax Department 6 7* 1.25
Register with Mumbai Shops and Establishment Act, 1948 7 2* 113.19
Register for value added tax (VAT) before the Sales Tax Officer of the ward in which the company is located 8 12* 113.75
Register for Profession tax 9 2* 0.00
Register with Employees’ Provident Fund Organization 10 2* 0.00
Register with ESIC (medical insurance) 11 1* 0.00
Totals: 11 35 $530.69

Note: Procedures sometimes take place simultaneously. Instances of this are marked with an asterisk (*)

Source: http://www.doingbusiness.org/ExploreTopics/StartingBusiness/Details.aspx?economyid=89

And then from that same source what seems to be a step by step:

Registration Requirements:
Procedure 1. Present name of company for approval to the Registrar of Companies (ROC); Get the Memorandum and Articles of Association vetted by the ROC and printed
Time to complete: 7 days
Cost to complete: INR 500
Comment: Name availability application (Form 1A): Select in the order of preference a few names proposed for the new company, which should indicate the main objects of the company to be incorporated. The names chosen should not violate the provisions of Emblems and Names (Prevention of improper Use) Act, 1950 and should not phonetically or visually resemble the name of any existing company. Once the name of the company has been finalized an Application in Form 1A prescribed in the Companies (General Rules and Forms) 1956 along with the filing fees of Rs. 500/- will have to be made in the office of the ROC. It is very important to fill up Form 1A carefully as no change will be made once the Form is filed. With the computerization in the ROC’s office, the name availability applications are disposed off within 3 working days after their receipt.,
It is a common practice to have the draft Memorandum and Articles of Association vetted by the Registrar of Companies before one formally registers the company. The procedure is that the MOA & AOA are submitted to the office of the ROC, the relevant official may, after taking a detailed look into the MOA & AOA, bring out certain objections, which need to be suitably addressed. Once the objections are addressed, the documents are finally accepted for registration. The process may take 7-8 days.
Procedure 2. Make an application to the Superintendent of Stamps or an authorized bank requesting for stamping of the Memorandum of Association and Articles of Association.
Time to complete: 1 day
Cost to complete: INR 200 (for MOA) + INR 1000 (for AOA) for each slab of INR 500,000/- or part thereof + INR 100 (stamp paper for declaration Form 1)
Comment: The application should be accompanied necessarily by the following:
(i) Two Blank Copies One unsigned copy of the Memorandum of Association and Articles of Association.
(ii) Payment receipt.
Ensure that the copyies submitted to the Superintendent of Stamps or to the bank for stamping areis unsigned and no promoter or subscriber has written anything on it by hand. The Superintendent returns the copy ies one of which is duly stamped, signed and embossed evidencing the payment of the requisite stamp duty. .
The rate of stamp duty varies from State to State.
Stamp duty payable on memorandum of association and articles of association for a company to be incorporated in Mumbai, Maharashtra is:
AOA: Rs. 1000/- for every Rs. 500,000/- capital or part thereof.
Once the Memorandum and the Articles of Association of the cCompany have been stamped, the same is required to be signed by the Promoters of the Company including commencing with the father’s name, address, occupation and the number of shares subscribed for in their own handwriting which is duly witnessed.
After signing the documents are to be dated.MOA: If along with AOA: Rs 200.
Declaration form 1: On Rs 100 stamp paper
Procedure 3. Present the required documents along with the registration fee to the Registrar of Companies to get the certificate of incorporation
Time to complete: 9 days
Cost to complete: see comments
Comment: Present the following documents along with ROC with filing fee and registration fee:
- The stamped and signed copies of Memorandum and Articles of Association (3 copies).
- Stamped Form-1 (Declaration of compliance), 18 (Notice of situation of registered office of the company) & 32 (Particulars of Director, Manager or Secretary) in duplicate.
- Any agreement if referred to in The MOA&AOA forming part of the Memorandum of Association.
- Any agreement proposed to be entered into with Any individual for appointment as Managing or whole time Director.
- Name availability letter issued by ROC.
- Power of Attorney from the subscribers in favor of any person for making corrections on their behalf in the documents and papers filed for registration. This must be on non-judicial stamp paper of Rs.100/-.
- Passport copies of all first directors (certified by advocates, chartered accountants, etc)
Fill up Form No.1 printed on Rs. 20 non-judicial stamp paper which relates to “declaration of compliance with the requirements of the Companies Act 1956 on application for the registration of a company and all the matters precedent and incidental thereto.” The Form has to be signed by an advocate, Company Secretary or Chartered accountant and it is preferable to have it witnessed by the promoters.
The fees paid to the Registrar for registration are scaled according to the amount of the authorized share capital of a company as stated in its memorandum. The schedule is as following:
For registration of a company whose nominal share capital does not exceed Rs.100,000: Rs. 4,000.
For registration of a company whose nominal share capital exceeds Rs.100,000, the above fee of Rs.4,000 with the following additional fees regulated according to the amount of nominal capital:-
(a) Rs. 300 for every Rs.10,000 of nominal share capital or part of Rs.10,000 after the first Rs.1,00,000 up to Rs.5,00,000;
(b) Rs. 200 for every Rs.10,000 of nominal share capital or part of Rs.10,000 after the first Rs.5,00,000 up to Rs.50,00,000;
(c) Rs. 100 for every Rs.10,000 of nominal share capital or part of Rs.10,000 after the first Rs.50,00,000 up to Rs.1 crore;
(d) Rs. 50 for every Rs.10,000 of nominal share capital or part of Rs.10,000 after the first Rs.1 crore.
The above stated fees is required to be paid in the office of the ROC by way of a Demand Draft/ Treasury Challan.
The DD has to be drawn in favor of either the office of the concerned ROC or in favor of the Pay and Accounts Officer, Department of Company Affairs, Mumbai.
In the present case the total amount of fees (including the filing fees of the forms filed) to be paid in the office of the ROC for getting the company registered with an authorized share capital of Rs.1,00,000 approximately would be Rs.4,800/- Schedule of RoC filing fees for the Articles and for the other forms l, 18 and 32:
(i) Rs. 200 In respect of a company having a nominal share capital of Rs. 100,000 or more but less than Rs. 500,000;
(ii) Rs. 300 In respect of a company having a nominal share capital of Rs. 500,000 or more but less than Rs. 2,500,000;
(iii) Rs. 500 In respect of a company having a nominal share capital of Rs. 2,500,000 or more.The ROC will then scrutinize the documents filed by the Company and if necessary the authorized person will on intimation make the necessary corrections under his initials. The authorized person will be provided the Obtain the Certificate of Incorporation of the company from the office of the ROC. The company can commence its business on getting incorporation certificate from RoC. The other procedures given below can be done after the business is started.
Procedure 4. Obtain a company seal
Time to complete: 3 days
Cost to complete: INR 350
Comment:  
Procedure 5. Visit the UTI Investors Services Limited to obtain a Permanent Account Number
Time to complete: 7 days
Cost to complete: INR 71 (INR 66/- for Fee and INR 5/- for Application Form)
Comment: Under the Income-tax Act, 1961, each person is required to quote his Permanent Account Number (PAN) for tax payment and Tax deduction Account Number (TAN) for depositing tax deducted at source. The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has instructed banks not to accept any form for tax payments (challan) without the PAN or TAN, as the case may be.
The Permanent Account Number (PAN) is a 10-digit alphanumeric number, issued in the form of a laminated card, by an Assessing Officer of the Income Tax Department.
The Income Tax Department has outsourced PAN allotment to UTI Investors Services Limited. The application for PAN has to be made in Form 49A along with a certified copy of the certificate of registration, issued by the ROC. Form 18 (stating location of registered office) has to be filed with the ROOC at the time of incorporation. Form 49A has to be filled in black ink. The outsourcing was done as a means to speed up the allotment PAN.
Procedure 6*. Obtain a Tax Account Number for income taxes deducted at source from the Assessing Office in the Mumbai Income Tax Department
Time to complete: 7 days (simultaneous with procedure 5)
Cost to complete: INR 55
Comment: TAN is required to be obtained by all deductors under Section 203 A of the I-T Act. It is a 10-digit alpha-numeric number and is compulsory to quote TAN in TDS returns (including e-TDS). All those persons who are required to deduct tax at source are required to apply and obtain TAN through form 49B. .
Income tax is levied by the national government. There is also MODVAT which applies only to manufacturers and is therefore not included in this analysis.
Procedure 7*. Register with Mumbai Shops and Establishment Act, 1948
Time to complete: 2 days (simultaneous with procedure 6)
Cost to complete: INR 5000
Comment: Registration has to be completed within thirty days from the date on which the establishment commences its work. For the State of Mahashtra (where Mumbai is located), Schedule 1 of the Maharashtra Shops and Establishments Rules prescribe the fees for registration and renewal of registration, which vary depending on the number of employees in the establishment. Cost: Rs. 100 to a maximum of Rs. 6,000 per year, depending on the number of employees. In addition, a sum three (3) times the registration and renewal fee per year is charged as Trade Refuse Charges (TRC) under the provisions of Mumbai Municipal Corporation Act, 1888.
Procedure 8*. Register for value added tax (VAT) before the Sales Tax Officer of the ward in which the company is located
Time to complete: 12 days (simultaneous with previous procedure)
Cost to complete: INR 5025
Comment: VAT tax registration will be effective from the date of application.
In the State of Maharashtra, from April 1, 2005, Sales Tax has been replaced by VAT and for VAT registration Form 101 is filed. Further, the authorized representative signing the said application is required to be available at the Sales Tax office on the day of verification of the application. Accompanying documentation included, certified true copy of the MoA and AoA of the company, registered office address proof of the company, antecedents of Directors copy of the office premises agreement as proof of the place of business (in Mumbai), copy of registration certificate under Mumbai Shops and Establishments Act, 1948, copy of Income Tax order, if any and PAN card, bank current A/c. number, original challan of payment of registration fees, two passport size photograph of the authorized signatory, and board resolution authorizing the signatory to sign the application form, appear before the Sales Tax Officer and to complete the formalities related to registration
Procedure 9*. Register for Profession tax
Time to complete: 2 days (simultaneous with procedure 8 )
Cost to complete: no charge
Comment: Application has to be submitted to the inspector. Registration has to be obtained for each of the directors of the company. The company has to obtain a two-fold registration; one in its capacity as an employer and second in its capacity as a company. Profession Tax is levied by the state authority and the registration has to be obtained post-incorporation of the company.
Procedure 10*. Register with Employees’ Provident Fund Organization
Time to complete: 2 days (simultaneous with procedure 7)
Cost to complete: no charge
Comment: Provident Commission (part of local labor authority). Procedure: Fill in application.
Provident Fund Registration is optional if employee strength is not more than 20.
Procedure 11*. Register with ESIC (medical insurance)
Time to complete: 1 day (simultaneous with procedure 7)
Cost to complete: no charge
Comment: Register with the ESIC department (which is a part of local labor authority).
ESIC Registration is optional if employee strength is less than 10.

Note: Procedures sometimes take place simultaneously. Instances of this are marked with an asterisk (*).

 

Finally, from the Everyday Entrepeneurs site, here are some more pointers:

1. Proprietorship. If you are starting a one-person, self-employment kind of thing, then you’re better of starting a proprietorship firm. This is usually for enterprises like digital artists, consultants, trainers, etc. Even if you’re a work-from-home Mom, it’s always a good idea to run your enterprise under a proprietorship account. My Mom does. That way, you can put in a lot of your daily expenses and reduce your tax burden. I started out this way, and eventually converted the proprietorship into a private limited company. If you run your proprietorship firm from a location other than your home, you’ll also need clearances from the Municipality and local authorities. Also, you can’t run a full-fledged commercial establishment from out of your residence. So if you start to grow well, move into a reasonably good commercial area.

2. Private Limited company. This is a more complicated option, but has a number of advantages. The complications arise from the need to comply with various regulations and laws. For instance, I got trumped once, when we realised we had to not only file our income tax returns with the IT department, but also with the Registrar of Companies (RoC). The fines for not doing this are pretty steep. So for the moment, we’ve decided to simply go ahead and continue not filing returns with the RoC, and hope they come up with some sort of an amnesty scheme. For a Private Limited company, you need:
a. Startup capital - I think the minimum is Rs. 2 lakhs, and that’s what I started off with
b. Registered office - I had given my home address, although our office was elsewhere
c. Name of the company - you need to fill up the form with suggested names and go to the RoC. Avoid generic names, or you’ll have to end up adding words like (India) or (Mumbai) to your name. Makes it kludgy. You also need justifications for why you chose that name.
d. Directors - I think you need at least 3 directors. I have my Dad and sibling registered as directors, and they have an equity holding in the company as well. When your company becomes successful, you can pay them a salary, thus increasing your expenses, reducing tax, and getting the money back into your own account. Needless to say, paying them a salary means increasing their tax liability, so you need to balance it all out.

For all this, you’ll need to hire the services of a good Company Secretary, who will fill up the necessary forms for you, prepare the Articles of Association and Memoranda of Association, and do the rounds of the necessary departments to register your firm. Remember, keep this as generic as possible. More information on this is available at the ICSI site.

3. Partnership firm: I think this option is open to lawyers, CA’s and such-like. I never explored this option, and can’t provide much inputs. But you’ll probably know someone else who’s in a partnership firm, and can advise you on the legalities and advantages of it.

In any of these situations, a good Chartered Accountant is a must. When you’re starting out, the fees you pay to the CA might seem very high, but a good CA will save you tons of money in the long run by reducing your taxes, and showing you the best way to increase your expenses.

Don’t forget to register for service tax. A very wide range of services now come under the ST net.

If anyone is interested in writing an easy to read guide to starting a business in their own country (Including India), get a hold of us and it will be worth a few links!

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Review: Article Writing Service

Posted by Jason on December 19th, 2006 — in Online Business

I have started using a new article writing service which is ran by Weirfire Web Designers. I must say, they deliver their orders very quickly and I have been pleased so far with the quality. I’ve probably used nearly 20 individual writers and ended up getting overwhelmed (not to mention finding someone decent then having the articles take a nosedive), so I decided to go with a company and make them deal with that part of it.
 
Stephen Weir, who runs the service tells me that a during a period of time in November they were processing nearly 1,000 articles in a week. This will give you some indication of the turnaround time for an order.
 
I’ve ordered articles from various sources and I’ve found a lot of these writers who claim to have been writing for years to be really poor quality. Some even copied huge chunks of text word for word.
 
Anyway, if you’re wondering how to place an order send an email to info@weirfire.co.uk
 
Here is a sample article I had written about Los Cristianos by one of my previous hires. Is it a funny article? Ding Ding Ding….Sure it is!!

Situated in the south coast of the Canary Islands of Tenerife, Los Cristianos is a small but beautiful town.  The town surrounds the bay of Los Cristianos and further development has caused rapid expansion inland.  The town is known as a very popular tourist spot, and has a very significant ferry port. If you visit Los Cristianos, you may want to check out the beaches.  The beaches are man-made.  These beaches, however, are beautiful.  You may also want to check out local golf courses.  Playing golf in a cool breeze can never go wrong.  Also be sure to visit the Tenerife Zoo which is an amazing adventure for any family.  Finally you have the Aqua Park which features a very interesting experience for children and adults of any age.  If you’re looking to grasp in an air full of beauty, you can travel up to Masca.  Masca is covered by the Teno Mountains and features very beautiful scenery.

Restaurants, ah yes, what would people do without good food?  A good place to head towards is the Bar El Cine.  This restaurant is located near the port.  You may walk in and say to yourself, what have I just done?  Don’t worry, the food which you will eat tonight will blow you away.  If you’re craving Chinese food, no worries you’ll find just the place.  The food is splendid, no second thoughts.  After eating at the restaurant you may even want to head over the bar next door.  The Heritage Bar features very good ribs, spring rolls, and much more, overall, an excellent place to head over towards to relax. 

It’s late at night, what shall I do, go to my hotel room and sleep, or check out the Nightlife?  Ding,ding,ding, Nightlife it is.  Head over to the Devon Arms, a very fun bar to hang out at.  Devon Arms features a very relaxed dress code, entertainers, and much more.  Also be sure to check out The Patch.  Ere you can see the award winning Two Risky band, and enjoy a nice and relaxing evening out. 

Shopping, shopping, and more shopping.  What women, and even some men just have to do.  In Los Cristianos, you’ll find very many marketplaces which feature your typical tourist items.  You can buy t-shirts, jewelry, purses, hats, etc.  In addition to shopping, you can visit Loro Parque which contains large pens with animals.  You can see shows and have tons of fun with your family. 

If you’re looking for a great time with your family, Los Cristianos is one of the best places to visit.  Besides its calm and vibrant atmosphere, it’s one of the most beautiful getaways in the world.  Shopping, food, views, clubs, hotels, they are all up to par with some of the most beautiful places in the world.  If I was you, I’d stop reading and book a ticket, you won’t be disappointed.

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