Tax compliance for India Company

At the very outset, it is best to understand the tax compliance issues and the burden it imposes on the founders. If the founder is a US citizen and starts a company in India, here are some tax compliance issues. (This is not an exhaustive list. I will update this as I discover more issues). (Disclaimer: This is not a legal advice. Please make sure you consult a tax attorney for your specific case).

India - Corporate filing: (see here)

1. The tax year is April 1 - March 31 following year. 
2. Quarterly advance tax payments: 15th June (pay 15%), 15th Sept (pay 45%), 15th Dec (pay 75%), and 15th march (pay 100%)
   
3. File tax return by Oct 31.
4. Bookkeeping: cash book, ledger, journal, copies of all bills issued, originals of all expenses.

India - Individual tax filing

1. You must file an individual tax return by July 31st.
2. Note that there is no joint filing as in US. You and spouse must file separately and all income, if via joint accounts, must be apportioned correctly.
3. If you are a resident in india, irrespective of your citizenship status, then your global income is taxed in India. With double taxation avoidance treaty between US and India, the net tax is the higher of the tax rates of US and India.
4. The tax year is April 1- March 31. 

US - Individual tax filing:

1. The tax year is Jan 1-Dec 31.
2. File a separate or joint tax return by April 15th. Note that foreign filers get an automatic extension but the tax owed must still be paid by April 15th.
3. Make sure you include your global income including income from your india company and from your India bank accounts and investments.
4. File IRS form 5471 if the founders are directors of the foreign company. This requires balance sheets and other information from the foreign corporation.
5. Unless you want to invite the wrath of the IRS, make sure you report all your foreign bank accounts by June 30th every year.

Since the tax year is different, you have the additional enjoyable task of selecting the correct subset of transactions.