PAN Card or Permanent Account Number issued to the citizens of India is an identity provided to the taxpayers. The account is a unique ten-character alphanumeric number and is available under the Income Tax Act, 1961.

The Indian Income Tax Department oversees the management of the account under the supervision of the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT). Apart from a mere taxpayer identity, it also serves as proof of identification. The account is also available to foreigners upon submitting a valid visa and employment status.

Mentioning the PAN number is mandatory to carry out transactions such as opening a demat account, receiving taxable salary, investing in mutual funds and purchasing assets above specified limits.

The introduction of the account provides a simple process and a monitoring system for the government to prevent tax evasion. It assists the government to retain a track of all the monetary transactions of people drawing high-net salaries and self-employed individuals, organizations, and corporations.

Quoting the PAN number is mandatory while filing income tax returns. Additionally, financial transactions exceeding Rs. 50,000/- require quoting the PAN number. The same is applicable while buying immovable assets and vehicles. Now the government has made PAN mandatory for all cash transactions above Rs 1 lakh.

Obtaining the PAN is optional like other documents such as passport, driving license, Aadhaar, etc. However, companies, industries, salaried individuals and self-employed individuals require PAN to quote it while filing the income tax for a fiscal year. It is always better to possess a PAN card.

A digital signature is a type of electronic signature that offers more security than a traditional electronic signature. When you sign a document with a digital signature, the signature links a “fingerprint” of the document to your identity. Then that information is permanently embedded into the document, and the document will show if someone comes in and tries to tamper with it after you’ve signed it.

"Digital signatures offer tamper evidence, independent verification and a strict adherence to standards, meaning our customers are not left having to rely on us being around simply to prove that signatures took place," said John Harris, Chief Technology Officer at SIGNiX. "We back that up with a highly detailed audit trail that goes far above and beyond what a majority of the market feels is sufficient."

Because that information is embedded in the document, you don’t need to check back with the vendor if you want to verify that the signature is still secure. That’s a big benefit if you don’t want to be tied down to one vendor over the life of your documents.

On top of that, more countries around the world accept digital signatures because they comply with international standards for security.

Shop and Establishment is a Government approved license which grants permission to traders for doing business or running a shop. It got regulated by the Indian Labor Law to protect the interest of the employees under the unorganized sector. As per the Shop and Establishment Act, the owner of a shop must make these declarations:

• Total working hours of the shop

• Opening & closing hours of the shop

• Employee breaks

• National holidays

• Health and safety measures (like Sanitation and cleanliness, Firefighting and Accidental remedies)

• Wages paid for overtime

• Leave policy

The Profit or Non-profit organizations like Societies, Educational Institutions, Charitable Trusts or any other commercial establishments catering the services of banking has to procure the license of Shop & Establishment license.

The Shop and Establishment Act clearly defines both the terms of shop and establishments. Let’s have a look at them one by one.

Shop– According to the Act, Shop is a place that sells goods or services to the customer. It can also include offices, storerooms, warehouses or go downs.

Establishment– An Establishment engulfs all residential hotels, restaurants, theatres, commercial establishments, and other amusement for public entertainment.

The Food Safety & Standards Act was legislated by the Parliament of India in 2006. Food Safety & Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) was created to enforce the rules and regulations of the Food Safety & Standards Act 2006 (FSS Act 2006). The registration and licensing of food business in India is performed under the rules prescribed by the Food Safety and Standards (Licensing and Registration of Food Businesses) Regulations, 2011. All the business activities related to food business in India such as manufacturing, storage, transportation or distribution of food products, are required to apply and secure an FSSAI registration or an FSSAI License. Sometimes people are confused about this as they do not know the difference between FSSAI Registration and FSSAI License. This is explained below.

Every individual or Food Business Operator (FBO) who is in any way related to manufacturing, transportation, storage or distribution of food products must obtain FSSAI Registration or License. In India allotting registration certificate or license to food, business is governed by the Food Safety and Standards Regulations 2011. The size and nature of your business defines whether you have to obtain an FSSAI registration or FSSAI License.

FSSAI Registration

1. FSSAI registration is compulsory for all food businesses that are involved in a petty food business. The Petty food business operator can be any person or entity who fulfills below criteria.

2. Manufactures or sells any item of food himself or with the help of any other petty retailer shop;

3. Any hawker, itinerant vendor, temporary stallholder; food distributor in any religious or social gathering events except a caterer;

4. food businesses including a small scale or cottage or such other industries relating to food business or tiny food businesses having an annual turnover of not more than Rs.12 Lakhs

Udyam registration and MSME registration are the same. It is a government registration to offer recognition to small, medium businesses or enterprises. Udyam recognition certification contains a twelve-digit Unique Identification Number. It is also known as Aadhaar for business.

The registration certificate is provided by the Ministry of Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises as an effort to give benefits to small and medium businesses. The benefits offered to MSMEs after obtaining Udyam Registration are: -

• MSME registration helps small businesses in getting government tenders.

• Small and medium enterprises can avail themselves of lower interest rates on bank loans. They can get up to 1.5% lower interest under Udyam Registration than on regular loans.

• It enables businesses to easily get licenses, approvals, and registrations irrespective of the kind of business.

• MSMEs registered under the Udyam Registration program are given higher preference to access government benefits.

• It provides easy access to credits with lower interest rates.

• Small and medium businesses can also benefit from tariff subsidies, tax, and capital subsidies.

• It significantly reduces the costs involved in getting a patent or the costs involved in setting up a business through rebates and concessions.

Businesses that are in manufacturing, producing, processing, or preservation of goods and in providing of services can apply for Udyam Registration. For instance, traders who buy, sell, import, or export eligible goods.

Let’s discuss regarding the standard format for project report for bank loan of new business.

Introductory page

• In this page the introduction of your new business is to be given

• The aim of the business and on what purpose you have chosen this business all these points should be mentioned in this introductory part

Summary of the project

• Summary of the project should consist of overall status of business

• Time to be consumed in working or manufacturing something should be there

• Budget of the whole business should also be mentioned

Scope of the project

• Scope of your business should be clearly described

• It should contain the percentage of work that you planned and the percentage of planned work that has already been completed

• Quick overview of results and planning of next steps should be included

Details of Promoters

• The promoters are the mediator for the business which helps for the promotion of the business

• The details of the promoters and their educational qualifications and work experiences etc. should also be given in the report

Details of Employees

• The details about the employees working this business should be written

• Their educational qualifications should also be mentioned

• The work experiences and details about the top management should also be written

Infrastructure Facilities

• Information about infrastructure facilities should also be mentioned like whether the tools have been deployed or not

• Also write about the operational premises conditions and what all are used

• Types of machinery used in the business should also be mentioned