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Under Income Tax Act, a partnership firm is defined as “Persons who have entered into a partnership with one another are called individually “partners” and collectively “a firm”, and the name under which their business is carried on is called the “firm name”.
Flat rate of 30% on the total income after deduction of interest and remuneration to partners/Designated Partners at the specified rates + Surcharge of 12% if Total Income exceeds 1 Crore and will be further increased by Health and Education Cess 4% on Income-tax (Wef A.Y. 2019-20 education Cess secondary and higher education Cess @ 3% replaced by Health and Education Cess 4% )
Example:
If the firm’s income after deductions is 100,00,000 tax calculated as below.
| Flat 30% tax | 30,00,000 |
| Surcharge 12% | 12,00,000 |
| Health and educational Cess 4%( From A.Y 2019-20) | 1,20,000 |
| Total Tax Payable | 43,20,000 |
Capital gains arising from the sale of any asset by the partnership firm are taxable under section 112, if it is short-term capital gain tax rate as per normal tax slab, if it is long-term capital gain tax rate is 20%, in case of sale of shares and mutual funds the tax rate for short-term gain is 15%, for long-term income would be exempted from the levy of tax under section 10(38).
On first Rs. 3 Lakhs of book profit or in case of loss - Rs. 1,50,000 or 90% of book profit, whichever is more; rest of the balance of the book profit - 60% of book profit.
Unabsorbed loss including depreciation of the firm will not be apportioned amongst the partners and will be carried forward by the firm only.
Easy formation: Partnership firm is like a contractual agreement between partners to run the business and share profits from the business. Registration of partnership firm is optional, not mandatory and there will be minimum legal requirements.
Tax Advantage: Income from a partnership firm is taxable in the hands of the firm not in the hands of shareholders. Remuneration to partners is a claimable expense.
More Capital: As more than one person involved in a partnership firm there will be more capital in the hands of the firm. Partners can be sleeping partners as well as working partners. Hence it can add people who can invest without any problem.
Reduction of risk: As there is more than one person carrying on a business, in case of losses every partner is liable to share the business loss hence the share of loss will be less compared to a loss in a sole proprietorship.
More than one person: There should be at least two people to start a partnership firm.
Profit sharing: As more than one person involved profit has to share between people. The share of profit will be low compared to a sole proprietorship.
Unlimited Liability: Each partner has unlimited liability in case of losses of the firm. Every partner is individually liable for obligations of the firm.
Restrictions on Transfer of shares: No partner shall transfer the share unless otherwise accepted by all the partners.
Registration of firm is optional it is not mandatory. It can be registered at any time after its formation. A registered Partnership firm can avail certain benefits like below
The partners of the registered Partnership Firm can bring third parties to the court for resolution of disputes arise during the course of Business or any other matter relating to the Partnership Firm.
As none knows when the dispute between the Partners arises, whether for the sharing of profits or any other matter regarding operations of the Partnership Firm. The resolution of any dispute is best resolved by the Court of Law.
Compared to an unregistered Partnership Firm, a Partnership Firm which has completed Registration of Partnership Firm enjoys higher credibility. Although both registered and unregistered Partnership Firms are legal and valid under the given Act, the Registered Firm is highly preferred by authorities over unregistered one.
The conversion of the Partnership Firm into any other entity such as Private Company or LLP i.e. in corporate structure can be easily completed.
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