The Compliance Calendar Every Foreign Owned Indian Subsidiary Needs
Company law, tax, FEMA, labour and data protection obligations arrive on different schedules from different authorities. One calendar, one owner and one monthly report keep headquarters informed without chasing.
International parents are often surprised by how many filings an Indian subsidiary generates. None of them is difficult. Together, arriving from half a dozen authorities on different schedules, they are easy to miss, and missed filings create penalties and a record that surfaces in due diligence years later.
The solution is structural: a single compliance calendar owned by a single team with a monthly report to headquarters.
What belongs on the calendar
Company law. Board meetings at required intervals, the annual general meeting, annual returns and financial statements filed with the Registrar of Companies, statutory registers kept current, and event based filings whenever directors, share capital or the registered office change.
Direct tax. Monthly deposit of tax withheld, quarterly withholding returns, advance tax instalments, the annual corporate return, transfer pricing documentation and the tax audit where applicable.
Goods and Services Tax. Monthly or quarterly returns depending on turnover, annual return and reconciliation, and refund claims for zero rated exports.
Foreign exchange. Reporting of share allotments to foreign investors, annual return on foreign liabilities and assets, and reporting of any external borrowing.
Labour and payroll. Provident fund and state insurance deposits and returns, professional tax where applicable, Shops and Establishment registration and returns, and the annual filings under the Prevention of Sexual Harassment framework.
Data protection. Under the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, notices, consents, records of processing and breach procedures where the entity handles personal data.
Why the calendar fails without ownership
Most subsidiaries have a calendar somewhere. It fails because ownership is split: the accountant handles tax, the company secretary handles company law, HR handles labour, and nobody handles the whole. When a filing sits between two owners it belongs to neither.
The fix is one accountable team that runs the entire calendar, coordinates the qualified professionals who sign, and reports monthly in plain language: what was filed, what is coming, what changed in regulation.
What headquarters should receive
A one page monthly summary. Green for filed on time with acknowledgement numbers. Amber for upcoming within thirty days. Red for anything at risk with the reason and the plan. Plus a shared tracker with every filing and its proof.
The business impact
A clean compliance record is worth money at three moments: during audit, during fundraising or sale, and whenever the authorities ask a question. At each of those moments the difference between a complete tracker and a folder of emails is measured in weeks of delay and, sometimes, in valuation. The calendar is cheap. The alternative is not.
Apply this to your business
Talk it through with the people who wrote it.
Tell us the decision behind your question and we will tell you honestly whether we are the right fit.
