5 Compliance Deadlines Every Private Limited Company Must Track

Incorporating a Private Limited Company is the easy part. What catches most founders off guard is that the compliance clock starts ticking immediately after — regardless of whether the company has done a single rupee of business yet.

Here are the five deadlines that account for most of the late-filing penalties we see.

1. Auditor Appointment — within 30 days of incorporation

The first board resolution most companies forget. Within 30 days of incorporation, the board must appoint the company's first statutory auditor. Miss this and the Registrar can treat the company as non-compliant from day one, before it has even opened a bank account.

2. DIR-3 KYC — every year, by 30th September

Every director holding a DIN must complete this annual KYC. It's a simple OTP-based process, but missing the deadline deactivates the director's DIN — which then blocks every other filing that needs their digital signature, creating a cascade of delays.

3. AOC-4 — within 30 days of the AGM

This filing submits the company's financial statements to the Registrar. It's due within 30 days of the Annual General Meeting, not 30 days from the financial year-end — a distinction that trips up first-time founders every year.

4. MGT-7 — within 60 days of the AGM

The annual return, filed separately from AOC-4, on its own 60-day clock from the AGM date. Both AOC-4 and MGT-7 are mandatory even for a dormant company with zero revenue.

5. Income Tax Return — by 31st October (if audit applies)

Companies are usually required to get their accounts audited, which pushes the ITR due date to 31st October rather than the individual due date of 31st July. Filing late here also forfeits the ability to carry forward business losses to future years.

The pattern worth noticing: none of these deadlines depend on the company actually trading. A dormant shell company and an active one carry identical filing obligations. Our ROC & Annual Compliance service tracks every one of these dates against your specific incorporation and AGM dates, so none of them shows up as a surprise.