If you freelance in your own name, you already run a sole proprietorship. India has no proprietorship registration law and no certificate to apply for. What you set up is the paperwork that proves the business exists: Udyam (free), GST where the law or your clients need it, an LUT if you bill foreign clients under GST, and the two firm-name documents a bank asks for before it opens a current account in your trade name. CorporateWalla works out which of these you actually need, files them, and sets up export invoices that hold up when the GST officer or your bank asks.
From ₹1,299 · Udyam, GST and LUT at no government fee · Freelancer Starter Kit ₹2,499
A freelance developer on Upwork, a designer billing a London agency, a management consultant paid by a Dubai client, a YouTuber with brand deals and AdSense income, a remote contractor paid through Deel: in law, each of them is a sole proprietor already. The business is simply the individual trading. What changes when you "set up a proprietorship" is that you give that business an identity that banks, clients, platforms and the GST department recognise.
| What you want | What gets you there |
|---|---|
| A current account in a trade name | Two government-issued documents in the firm name, such as Udyam and GST or professional tax |
| Invoices in a brand name, not your personal name | Trade name recorded on GST and Udyam; trademark if the brand matters |
| Foreign payments without GST | Export of services under Section 2(6) IGST, and an LUT in Form GST RFD-11 if you are GST-registered |
| Proof that foreign money came in | FIRA, FIRC or bank advice for each receipt, with the right purpose code |
| Indian business clients who want a GSTIN | GST registration, even below the threshold if the client will not onboard you otherwise |
| Protection against late payment by Indian buyers | Udyam registration as a micro or small enterprise |
| Lower tax paperwork | Presumptive taxation under Section 58 of the Income-tax Act, 2025, where you qualify |
You do not need all of these. A freelancer earning ₹8 lakh a year only from foreign clients, paid into a savings account, may need nothing beyond PAN and a correct ITR. The same person at ₹25 lakh, with two Indian clients and a plan to hire, needs GST, an LUT, a current account and proper books. Our job is to tell you which column you are in.
No central law registers a sole proprietorship. Its existence is shown through registrations in the firm name. The RBI KYC Master Direction lists the documents a bank may accept for a sole proprietary firm and asks for any two of them. If the bank is satisfied that two cannot be produced, it may accept one, after a contact point verification and checking that the business activity is carried on at the address.
| Document | Does a freelancer usually need it? | Government fee | Accepted by banks as firm proof? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Udyam registration | Recommended for almost every freelancer | Nil | Yes (registration certificate, including Udyam) |
| GST registration | Compulsory above ₹20 lakh aggregate turnover (₹10 lakh in some special category states); optional below | Nil | Yes |
| Shop and Establishment registration | Where your state’s Act covers your office or home office, or you have employees | State fee | Yes (municipal licence or certificate) |
| Professional tax registration | In states that levy professional tax | State fee | Yes |
| Import Export Code (IEC) | Not usually needed for exporting services; required for goods | DGFT fee | Yes |
| Complete ITR of the proprietor showing the firm’s income | You file it anyway; useful from your second year | Nil | Yes, if acknowledged by the Income Tax Department |
| Utility bills in the firm name | Rare for home-based freelancers | Nil | Yes (electricity, water, landline) |
Source: RBI Master Direction on KYC, paragraphs 28 and 29 (as updated 14 August 2025). Banks apply their own policies within this list, so we confirm what your bank accepts before filing.
Taking GST only to get a second bank document is often the wrong trade: it brings returns every month or quarter, late fees on nil returns, and a cancellation process later. If a cheaper second document exists, we use it. Our sole proprietorship registration page covers the general case for traders and shops.
GST is where freelancers most often either over-comply or get caught out. Three rules decide your position.
Aggregate turnover counts all taxable, exempt and export supplies across India on your PAN. So ₹14 lakh from US clients and ₹8 lakh from Indian brands is ₹22 lakh, above the ₹20 lakh limit. Export of services is an inter-state supply under Section 7(5) of the IGST Act, but Notification 10/2017-Integrated Tax exempts inter-state suppliers of services from compulsory registration while their aggregate turnover is within the threshold. Below it, you can export without a GSTIN.
Section 2(6) of the IGST Act treats a supply as export of services only if all five hold:
For most remote work (software, design, writing, consulting, marketing for a foreign client) the place of supply is the recipient’s location under the default rule in Section 13(2) of the IGST Act, so condition three is met. Watch for services tied to India: work on goods physically in India, services relating to immovable property in India, or event services in India have their own place of supply rules.
Intermediaries and agents. Until 29 March 2026, Section 13(8)(b) placed the supply of intermediary services (arranging or facilitating supplies between two other parties, as an agent or broker does) at the supplier’s location, so an Indian agent of a foreign principal could not export. Section 157 of the Finance Act, 2026 omitted that clause from 30 March 2026, and the default recipient-location rule now applies. Invoices issued before that date still follow the old rule, and the definition of intermediary has not changed, so a talent manager or influencer agency setup should be reviewed on its contracts.
Section 16 of the IGST Act makes exports zero-rated. A registered freelancer can either export under a Letter of Undertaking in Form GST RFD-11, filed on the GST portal for each financial year, and invoice without IGST, or pay IGST and claim a refund. Under the LUT route, GST paid on your inputs (a laptop, software subscriptions, co-working rent) can be refunded under Rule 89(4) of the CGST Rules. Any registered person can file an LUT except one prosecuted for a GST offence involving tax of more than ₹250 lakh. Service export proceeds must be received within one year of the invoice, or the further time the Commissioner allows, under Rule 96A.
Each export invoice under LUT should carry the declaration: "Supply meant for export under Letter of Undertaking without payment of integrated tax." Details are in our LUT filing service and the guide on GST on export of services.
Foreign clients pay by wire transfer (SWIFT) into your Indian account, or through platforms and payment providers that collect abroad and pay out in India through a partner bank. Either way, the money arrives as an inward remittance credited by an authorised dealer bank, and that bank can issue a FIRA (Foreign Inward Remittance Advice) or FIRC (Certificate), or an e-FIRA, for the receipt.
| Purpose code | Description in the RBI purpose-code list | Typical freelancer |
|---|---|---|
| P0802 | Software consultancy / implementation (other than those covered in SOFTEX form) | Developers, software consultants |
| P1006 | Business and management consultancy and public relations services | Management and strategy consultants, PR |
| P1007 | Advertising, trade fair service | Marketing and ad services, some influencer work |
| P1101 | Audio-visual and related services (motion picture and video production, distribution) | Video production and editing |
Codes as listed in the RBI purpose-code list published by authorised dealer banks. Confirm the code with your bank for each type of work; a wrong code is easier to fix while the transaction is recent.
Platforms differ in how and when they issue remittance advices, so ask yours how to download the advice for each payout. Do not wait until year end: the bank may take time to issue advices for older transactions.
Many banks will credit foreign receipts for services to a savings account, and a freelancer starting out can begin there. Once receipts are regular, a current account in the trade name is cleaner: business and personal money stay apart, the GST and ITR reconciliations become simple, and clients see your brand name as the beneficiary. The current account is opened in the proprietor’s PAN, with the two firm-name documents, your own KYC and a proprietorship declaration on the bank’s format.
Creators usually have several income streams, and each is treated on its own facts.
| Income stream | GST position (if registered) | Income-tax note |
|---|---|---|
| Paid brand deal with an Indian brand | Taxable supply of promotional or advertising services, generally 18% | Brand may deduct TDS; shows in your AIS |
| Brand deal with a foreign brand, paid in foreign currency | Export of services if all Section 2(6) conditions are met; zero-rated under LUT | Business income; keep the FIRA |
| Platform revenue from a foreign entity (for example ad revenue share) | Export of services: zero-rated under LUT, no IGST, where the payer is the platform’s overseas entity, payment is in convertible foreign exchange and the Section 2(6) conditions are met | Business income; foreign tax withheld may be creditable |
| Payout through an Indian agency or talent manager | Supply to the Indian agency, so a domestic taxable supply | Agency may deduct TDS |
| Free products kept after a campaign | A supply for non-monetary consideration (barter) can be taxable, valued under Rule 27 of the CGST Rules | TDS on benefits under Section 393(1) of the Income-tax Act, 2025 (old 194R) where the value from one brand exceeds ₹20,000 in the year |
Products sent for review and returned to the brand after use were not treated as a benefit for the old Section 194R under CBDT guidance. Keep the return evidence. Barter deals are the stream creators most often leave out of both GST returns and the ITR.
For income tax, influencers and content creators are generally not among the notified professions for presumptive taxation of professionals (old 44ADA). Their income is usually business income, taxed either under the presumptive business scheme (old 44AD, now within Section 58) or on regular books. See 44AD vs 44ADA and our ITR filing for freelancers.
A proprietorship can trade under your own name or under a brand name of your choice. The GST registration shows your legal name, which is the name on your PAN, and the trade name next to it. Udyam and the current account can carry the trade name too. Choosing the name is free; protecting it is not automatic.
A proprietorship has no separate PAN or tax return. All business income goes into the proprietor’s own ITR, at slab rates. The Income-tax Act, 2025 applies from tax year 2026-27, with old section numbers mapped to new ones.
| Point | Position (October 2026) |
|---|---|
| Presumptive scheme for professionals | Section 58 (old 44ADA): 50% of gross receipts as income, receipts up to ₹50 lakh, or ₹75 lakh if cash receipts are within 5%. Only for notified professions such as technical consultancy, engineering, architecture, legal, medical and accountancy. |
| Presumptive scheme for business | Section 58 (old 44AD): 6% of digital receipts (8% of cash), turnover up to ₹2 crore, or ₹3 crore if cash receipts are within 5%. Covers most creators and non-notified services. |
| Advance tax | Due in instalments through the year; presumptive filers can pay it in a single instalment by 15 March |
| Tax statement | Form 26AS, replaced by Form 168 from tax year 2026-27, with the AIS |
| Tax withheld abroad | Foreign tax credit claimed by filing Form 44 under Rule 76 of the Income-tax Rules, 2026 (old Form 67) by the return due date |
Not every consultant qualifies for the professional scheme. A software developer providing technical consultancy usually does; a social media manager or content creator usually does not. If you keep books instead, expenses such as equipment, software and a share of rent and internet are deductible on actuals. Our freelancer bookkeeping team keeps those records monthly.
| Point | Proprietorship | One Person Company | LLP |
|---|---|---|---|
| Set-up | Udyam and GST or state registrations; days | Incorporation with the Registrar of Companies | Incorporation with the Registrar of Companies |
| Owners | You alone | You alone, with a nominee | At least two partners |
| Liability | Unlimited: personal assets at risk | Limited to your shares | Limited to your agreed contribution |
| Tax | Your slab rates; presumptive schemes available | Company tax rates; salary or dividend to you | Firm tax rate; partner profit share exempt in hands |
| Annual compliance | ITR, GST returns if registered | Audit, ROC filings, ITR | ROC filings, ITR; audit above limits |
| Client perception | Fine for most platforms and foreign clients | Accepted by corporate vendor processes | Accepted by corporate vendor processes |
| Our starting fee | From ₹1,299 | From ₹1,999 + DSC | From ₹1,999 + DSC |
Stay a proprietor while the work is yours alone, contracts carry little liability and the presumptive scheme keeps tax simple. Move when one of these happens: a large client will only onboard a company or LLP; your contracts carry indemnities or penalties you do not want against your personal assets; you are bringing in a partner; or you want to raise money or sell part of the business. A solo freelancer usually moves to an OPC; two or more professionals working together usually form an LLP.
A software developer in Pune earns ₹16 lakh a year from two US clients by wire transfer, and expects ₹7 lakh from an Indian SaaS company that wants a GST invoice. Aggregate turnover will be ₹23 lakh, above ₹20 lakh, so GST registration is compulsory once she crosses the limit; with the Indian client asking for a GSTIN, she registers now.
Illustrative. Classification, place of supply and the presumptive scheme depend on your contracts and facts.
Want the whole set-up done once, correctly? The Freelancer Starter Kit covers GST registration, the LUT for the year and Udyam registration for ₹2,499, and its GST and Udyam certificates are two of the documents banks accept as proof of your proprietorship. Proprietorship set-up on its own starts at ₹1,299. Talk to us or call +91 72783 76654. We have set up and run compliance for 2,500+ companies.
Pick the speed and depth that matches your need. Same quality, same CA team — only the timeline changes.
Timeline: 2 to 3 working days
Timeline: About a week
Timeline: Set-up in a week, then the full year
Government fee — paid by you at actuals
Nil for Udyam registration, GST registration and the LUT in Form GST RFD-11. A Shop and Establishment registration and professional tax enrolment, where your state requires them, carry state fees paid at actuals. Your bank may charge for the current account under its own tariff, and a trademark application for your trade name carries a government fee per class.
Every price above is a professional fee, excluding GST and government charges. 50% upfront, 50% on delivery.
Professional fee, excluding GST and government fees. Udyam, GST registration and the LUT carry no government fee; Shop and Establishment registration and professional tax enrolment carry state fees where they apply. The Freelancer Starter Kit at ₹2,499 covers GST registration, the LUT and Udyam registration, which cost ₹5,097 bought separately (₹999 GST registration + ₹3,599 LUT filing + ₹499 Udyam registration). Payment: 50% upfront, 50% on delivery. Questions: +91 72783 76654.
We list your income streams: foreign clients, platforms such as Upwork or YouTube, Indian brands, agencies. The mix decides whether GST is compulsory, whether your foreign work is export of services, and which presumptive scheme can apply.
You can trade in your own name or a brand name. We search the trademark register before you put the name on invoices, a website or a bank account, and tell you if it is worth filing a trademark.
Udyam registration on the government portal is free and based on your PAN and Aadhaar. It gives the business its first government-issued document in the trade name.
We register you for GST when turnover, domestic clients or refunds call for it, and file the LUT in Form GST RFD-11 so that foreign invoices go out without IGST for the whole financial year.
We assemble the bank document set with the proprietorship declaration, explain what your export invoices must show, and what to ask the bank for on each foreign receipt (FIRA or bank advice, with the right purpose code).
A CA explains which presumptive scheme fits your work, how advance tax works, and how to treat tax withheld abroad and free products from brands.
Tell us your requirement, a CA will call you in 30 minutes.
India has no proprietorship certificate. We set up the documents that actually prove your business, and we say upfront that Udyam, GST and the LUT carry no government fee.
Export invoices with the LUT declaration, receipts tied to FIRA or bank advice, and the purpose code checked, so that zero rating and any refund are not denied over paperwork.
Below ₹20 lakh, a services freelancer is usually not required to register, even with foreign or inter-state clients. We tell you when voluntary GST helps and when it only adds returns.
Brand deals, platform revenue, agency payouts and free products are treated differently under GST and income tax. We go through each stream instead of applying one rule to all.
If your clients want a company vendor, or the liability in your contracts is real, we tell you when an OPC or LLP makes more sense than a proprietorship.
The same CA/CS team can file your GST returns, keep your books and file your ITR, so the set-up and the compliance match.
From ₹1,299 • About a week
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