In the old Companies Act 1956 there were no provisions of forming a One Person Company. Minimum of two directors and shareholders were required to form a private limited company.
With the introduction of new Companies act 2013, a One Person Company can be formed with only 1 person who can be a director as well as a shareholder.
One Person Company or OPC is required to maintain compliance with income tax act, companies act and with other regulations as applicable. In this article, we will be discussing important compliances and annual filing applicable to the One Person Company in India.
Compliance with Companies Act 2013
Section 173(5) requires the One Person Company to conduct at least one board meeting in each half of the calendar year. This means one meeting is to be conducted between January to June and another meeting between July to December. The gap between two meetings should not be less than 90 days. However, if the company has only one director then such meeting requirement does not arise.
OPC is required to hold its annual general meeting as required under section 139 (1) to appoint Statutory Auditor. Such auditor should hold office from conclusion of first AGM to the conclusion of 6th AGM.
Financial Statements of One Person Company under Companies Act 2013
Section 137(1) of Companies Act 2013 requires the company to adopt its financial statements in a board meeting and get it signed by the directors. Such financial statements should be signed by one of the directors.
After getting it signed by the board of directors, audited financial statements are to be filed electronically in Form AOC-4 within 180 days from 31st March of the financial year with the registrar of companies.
One person company is not required to prepare cash flow statements. This means financial statements should cover only balance sheet, profit and loss account, auditor’s report and notes to accounts.
Irrespective of the paid up capital and turnover of the OPC, a chartered accountant in practice must be appointed as the auditor within 30 days from the date of incorporation as the first auditor of the company. Such person is required to audit the books and accounts of the OPC.
Annual return to be filed by OPC with Registrar Of Companies
The annual return of a One Person Company shall be filed with ROC as an attachment to Form MGT-7. Such annual return has to be signed by the company secretary or where there is no company secretary, by the director of the company.
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Table Showing e-forms to be filed with ROC annually |
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| Type of Form | Due dates | Mandatory Attachment |
| AOC-4 | 29th September of the following financial year. i.e for the financial year 2016-2017 the due date of filing is 29th September 2017 | Signed scanned copy of financial statements |
| MGT-7 | 29th September of the following financial year. i.e for the financial year 2016-2017 the due date of filing is 29th September 2017 | Signed scanned copy of the annual return. |
Compliance under Income Tax Act 1961
One person company is required to file their income tax return in Form ITR 6 for the financial year on or before 30th September of the following financial year with the tax department. This means for the financial year 2018-19, income tax return in Form ITR 6 has to be filed on or before 30th September 2019. If the due date has been extended by CBDT, such extended date will be considered as the last date of filing income tax return instead of 30th September.
In addition to the annual tax return filing, every OPC is required to get their accounts audited under income tax act 1961 if turnover exceeds the limit as specified in section 44AB.
In addition to above compliance, a one person company may also require complying with TDS regulations, GST regulations, PF and ESI regulations and others based on the requirements. We suggest you to consult your chartered accountant to help you on this matter.
