Setup Your Online Business

End-to-end e-commerce setup.

Setting up an online business needs the same registrations as any other, in a particular order, plus one that catches almost everyone: GST registration is mandatory from the first sale for anyone selling through a marketplace, whatever the turnover, and the ₹40 lakh threshold does not apply. Beyond that it is the ordinary sequence — a structure, a PAN, GST, a current account and a payment gateway — with the additional question of where your stock physically sits, because that decides how many states you register in.

Who this is for

Complete setup
Marketplace onboarding
Legal structure
Accounting ready

The process

What we actually do

1
We choose the structure against what you are actually building
A proprietorship is fastest and cheapest and carries unlimited liability. An LLP or a private limited company costs more each year and limits it. For a business that will hold inventory on supplier credit or raise investment, that annual cost buys something real.
2
We register for GST first, because the platform will not wait
Marketplace onboarding requires a GSTIN, and registration is mandatory from the first sale regardless of turnover under section 24(ix). Doing this before the platform application avoids a listing that cannot go live.
3
We work out where your stock will physically be
Stock in a platform fulfilment centre in another state requires GST registration in that state. This is the single most-missed obligation for new online sellers, and it is decided by which fulfilment programme you enrol in.
4
We set the tax and invoicing configuration up correctly
HSN codes, the right rate, and place-of-supply rules that determine IGST against CGST plus SGST on every order. Configured wrongly at launch, this produces months of invoices that all have to be amended.
5
We add the registrations the channel needs
Udyam for MSME benefits and the 45-day payment protection, a current account, a payment gateway, an FSSAI licence for anything food-related, and an IEC where you will ship abroad.

Who this is for

Anyone starting to sell on Amazon, Flipkart, Meesho or a similar marketplace
Founders launching a direct-to-consumer store on Shopify or WooCommerce
Service businesses selling online to customers in other states
Existing offline businesses adding an online channel
Anyone selling internationally, who also needs an IEC

How long it takes

Two to three weeks from a standing start to a live listing, of which GST registration at three to seven working days and payment gateway onboarding are the longest steps. Registering in a second state for fulfilment stock adds its own cycle.

If you do nothing

The platform reports your supplies in GSTR-8 whether or not you are registered, so an unregistered marketplace seller is visible from the first month. When it surfaces, tax is computed on the full turnover of the unregistered period with no input credit allowed against it, plus interest and penalty — routinely more than the margin earned in the same period.

The law, in figures

Dates, thresholds and sections

Every figure below carries the provision it comes from, so it can be checked.
What	Figure	Source
GST registration for marketplace sellers	Mandatory at any turnover	Section 24(ix), CGST Act 2017
Threshold for a business's own website with no marketplace	₹40,00,000 goods, ₹20,00,000 services, until interstate supply begins	Section 22, CGST Act 2017 read with Notification 10/2019
Interstate supply	Registration mandatory at any turnover	Section 24(i), CGST Act 2017
Stock in another state	Requires registration in that state	Section 25(1), CGST Act 2017
Marketplace TCS	1% collected by the operator	Section 52, CGST Act 2017
International shipping	Importer Exporter Code required	Section 7, Foreign Trade (Development and Regulation) Act 1992

What usually goes wrong

Waiting for the ₹40 lakh threshold while selling on a marketplace, where it does not apply
Enrolling in a fulfilment programme without registering in the state the warehouse is in
Configuring place-of-supply wrongly at launch, so months of invoices need amending
Selling food without an FSSAI licence, which platforms require before a listing goes live
Choosing a proprietorship and then carrying substantial inventory on supplier credit personally

What non-compliance costs

Penalty of 100% of tax due, minimum ₹10,000, for supplying while unregistered
Tax payable on all supplies made while unregistered, with no input credit against them
Listings suspended by the platform where a required registration is missing
Interest at 18% on tax that should have been paid from the first sale

These are statutory amounts, not our fees. What we charge depends on your situation and is quoted before any work starts.

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