CA in Bangalore: Chartered Accountant and CA Firm in Bangalore

RSUs, ESOPs and foreign shares: what a CA firm in Bangalore checks first

Equity income is taxed twice in India: once as salary when it vests or is exercised, and again as capital gains when you sell.

The first tax hit comes through your payslip. When RSUs vest, or when you exercise ESOPs, the difference between the fair market value and what you paid is a perquisite. Your employer adds it to salary and deducts TDS, so it already sits inside Form 16. The second hit comes when you sell, and that one is entirely your job to report.

A common case: an engineer at a GCC in Bellandur sells some vested shares through the broker his employer uses. The broker withholds shares to cover US tax. He files ITR-1, because his salary is the only thing he thinks about. Two years later he gets a notice because the AIS shows foreign income and the return has no Schedule FA. ITR-1 cannot carry foreign assets at all. The fix is a revised or updated return on ITR-2, with the cost of acquisition taken as the FMV already taxed as perquisite, so the same income is not taxed twice.

Two details people miss. Schedule FA follows the calendar year, January to December, not the Indian financial year. And Form 67 for foreign tax credit must reach the portal by the end of the relevant assessment year, for a return filed on time or belated. We file it along with the return so the credit is never at risk.

Employees of eligible startups get one relief: tax on the ESOP perquisite can be deferred until you sell, leave the company, or 48 months pass from the end of the relevant assessment year, whichever is earliest. Your employer must still report it correctly. We check both sides when we prepare your income tax return.

Karnataka professional tax: who pays, how much, and how it is paid

Salaried employees in Karnataka earning Rs 25,000 or more a month pay professional tax of Rs 200 a month, with Rs 300 deducted in February.

The rate changed from 1 April 2025 under the Karnataka Tax on Professions, Trades, Callings and Employments (Amendment) Act, 2025. The monthly threshold stayed at Rs 25,000. What moved was February: the deduction went up from Rs 200 to Rs 300, which takes the yearly total to Rs 2,500.

The employer registers, deducts from salary and pays the state through the Commercial Taxes Department's professional tax system at pt.kar.nic.in. Professional tax you pay as an employee is allowed as a deduction from salary income under the old regime, and it appears in Form 16.

New companies with a Karnataka office do not have to apply separately. Professional tax registration in Karnataka (along with Maharashtra) is a mandatory part of AGILE-PRO-S, the linked form filed with SPICe+ at incorporation. The certificate arrives with the incorporation papers. What does not arrive is the habit of paying every month. We regularly see a two year old startup whose PT registration exists but nothing has been paid since the first hire.

Small payroll checklist for Bengaluru employers

1. Check that February salary for 2026 onwards deducts Rs 300, not Rs 200. Older payroll templates still carry the old figure.
2. Match PT paid on the portal with the PT shown in Form 16 for each employee.
3. When an employee joins mid-year from another state, start PT from the first Karnataka salary.
4. Keep PT payments separate from TDS. They go to different governments on different portals.

If you also deduct TDS on salary, our TDS return filing service can run alongside your PT so the two always match.

The compliance calendar a Bengaluru business actually follows

Most small companies in Karnataka have something due every month: GST around the 11th and 20th, TDS by the 7th, and ROC filings once a year.

Dates below are the usual due dates. The government extends some of them in individual years, so we confirm each one on the portal before filing.

Two changes in 2026 affect Bengaluru companies. First, the Income-tax Act, 2025 came into force on 1 April 2026, and the related rules renumbered many forms. Form 16 is now Form 130 for tax year 2026-27 onwards. Returns for FY 2025-26 still use the old forms. Second, director KYC moved from a yearly DIR-3 KYC to a filing once every three years from 31 March 2026, which removes one September rush.

A common case: a D2C brand operating from a warehouse in Hoskote and an office in JP Nagar files GSTR-1 on time but pays GSTR-3B late every month because the founder approves payments only on weekends. Interest is small each time but adds up, and the GST officer sees a pattern. Moving payment approval to the 18th fixed it.

For bookkeeping that feeds all these dates from one ledger, see our accounting and bookkeeping services.

Freelancers and small firms in Bengaluru: does presumptive tax suit you?

For most independent developers, designers and consultants, the presumptive scheme for professionals is the simplest choice if receipts stay within the limit.

Under the presumptive scheme for professionals (section 44ADA of the old Act, carried forward into the Income-tax Act, 2025), 50% of your gross receipts is treated as income. You do not need to maintain detailed books or get an audit. The limit is Rs 75 lakh of receipts if cash receipts are no more than 5% of the total, otherwise Rs 50 lakh. You file ITR-4.

Traders and small businesses have a separate presumptive scheme: income is taken at 6% of turnover received through banking channels and 8% of cash turnover, for turnover up to Rs 3 crore where cash receipts stay within 5%.

When presumptive is a poor fit

• Your real expenses are more than half your receipts, for example if you pay subcontractors heavily.
• You want to carry forward a loss.
• You hold foreign RSUs from an earlier job. ITR-4 cannot carry Schedule FA, so you move to ITR-3 and may as well compute actual income.

A common case: a UX designer in Jayanagar works for two US startups through a payment platform. Receipts arrive in dollars and land in an Indian account after conversion. She assumes there is no tax because the money came from abroad. There is. Foreign receipts of a resident are taxable in India. Her receipts are within the limit, so we file ITR-4 under the presumptive scheme, pay advance tax once by 15 March, and keep her GST position under review because export of services counts towards the Rs 20 lakh registration threshold.

Advance tax trips up freelancers more than anything. If your total tax after TDS is Rs 10,000 or more, you owe advance tax. Presumptive taxpayers can pay the full amount by 15 March. Others pay in four instalments. Missing it adds interest that is easy to avoid.

Not sure which way to go? Send us last year's bank statement and a rough expense list. We will tell you in one call which route costs less tax and which one costs less effort.

What to keep ready before you call, and how the online work runs

A ten minute first call becomes useful when we can see the actual papers. Here is the short list for each type of Bengaluru client.

You do not need everything on day one. But if these are on your phone when we talk, the CA can tell you the scope and the fee on the same call.

Salaried with equity

• Form 16 from every employer in the year, and your last three payslips.
• Broker statements for RSU vests, sales and dividends, with dates in the calendar year.
• Your AIS and Form 26AS downloaded from the income tax portal.
• Last year's ITR acknowledgement, so we know which form you used.

Startup or small company

• Certificate of incorporation, PAN, TAN, GSTIN and PT registration.
• Bank statements for the period, sales and purchase invoices, and payroll register.
• Board minutes and share allotment papers if any funding came in.
• Login details for GST and MCA, shared only after we agree the scope.

Trader or manufacturer

• GSTR-1 and GSTR-3B filed so far, and GSTR-2B for the same months.
• Purchase register, e-way bills for interstate dispatches and stock summary.

How a typical engagement moves

Day one, you send documents on WhatsApp. Within a working day a CA reviews them and calls you. You get a written scope and fee. We prepare the draft return or reconciliation and share it. You approve. We file, and the acknowledgement comes to you on WhatsApp and email. Simple ITRs usually close in two to three working days after complete documents. GST clean-ups and notice replies take longer, and we tell you the timeline before starting.

Office hours are Monday to Saturday, 9 AM to 6 PM. Everything is online, so it does not matter if you are in Yelahanka or Banashankari, or travelling for work. Read more about the wider chartered accountant services if you want a yearly engagement.