Setting up lawfully

Why order matters

क्रम क्यों ज़रूरी है

The usual pattern is to start introducing people, take a commission or two, and think about registration and books when something forces the issue. The problems that creates are predictable: a commission you cannot invoice properly, a client who needs a registered agent and finds you are not one, a tax position assembled retrospectively from memory, and no records when a dispute arises.

None of this is difficult to get right at the start. All of it is expensive to fix later.

Agent registration under RERA

रेरा एजेंट पंजीकरण

Level 3, Lesson 5 covered the framework. The operative point for you: the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016 requires a real estate agent to be registered with the authority in the state where they operate, in order to facilitate the sale or purchase of a plot, apartment or building in a registered project. Acting without registration where it is required exposes you to penalty.

Two practical consequences:

• Establish whether your intended work engages the requirement. Facilitating transactions in registered projects does. A practice confined to agricultural land sales between individuals sits outside the project regime — but practices rarely stay confined, and the registration is the thing you will not have on the day you need it.
• Registered agents carry obligations — maintaining records, not making false statements about a project, and providing the information the Act requires. These are not onerous, and they are the same disciplines a good practice would keep anyway.

Requirements, documents, fees, validity and renewal for agent registration are set by state rules and change. Confirm the current position with the Rajasthan RERA authority on official gov.in / nic.in sources. We are not a government body and this is not legal advice.

Business structure

व्यापार का ढाँचा

The honest guidance: most people start as a proprietor because it is simple and cheap, and that is usually right. The reason to move up is not prestige — it is liability separation once you are handling other people's money, employing people, or dealing with institutional counterparties who will not contract with an individual.

Tax and records

कर और हिसाब

These are matters for a chartered accountant, and the specifics change. What you need to know is what to ask about:

• PAN for the business, and a separate bank account that is not your personal one. This single step prevents most of the record-keeping problems that follow.
• GST registration — brokerage is a service and attracts GST above a prescribed aggregate turnover threshold. The threshold differs for goods and services and has changed; confirm the current position and the applicable rate for brokerage services with a chartered accountant. We publish no rates or thresholds.
• Tax deducted at source on commission. Payers may be required to deduct tax when paying brokerage. Understand how this affects your cash and your return, and keep the certificates.
• Books of account — receipts, invoices, expenses, and a record of every engagement. Not optional if you intend to grow.
• Professional indemnity insurance is available and worth pricing. Discuss it once you are advising clients on substantial transactions.

The order of setup

सेटअप का क्रम

1. Decide the structure and register it.
2. PAN and a business bank account, separate from personal.
3. A second account for client money, or a clearly designated arrangement agreed with your accountant.
4. Establish the RERA position for the work you intend, and register where required.
5. GST and tax registrations as advised by a chartered accountant.
6. Standard documents — engagement terms, commission agreement, disclosure statement — drafted by an advocate. Lessons 5 and 7.
7. Records system — how you will store every file, from day one. Lesson 8.

Steps one to five are a few weeks of intermittent effort and modest cost. Step six is the one people skip, and it is the one that protects the commission you have not yet earned.

What not to do

क्या न करें

• Do not describe yourself as providing legal or tax services. Level 5, Lesson 10 set the boundary; it applies to how you present yourself as much as to what you do.
• Do not imply registration, approval or affiliation you do not have — with any authority, government body or scheme.
• Do not use a business name that suggests a government connection.
• Do not take an engagement you cannot document.

First ninety days

पहले नब्बे दिन

1. Days 1–15. Meet a chartered accountant and an advocate. Settle structure, registrations and what documents you need.
2. Days 16–30. Complete the registrations and open the accounts.
3. Days 31–50. Establish your RERA position and apply where required.
4. Days 51–70. Have your standard engagement and commission documents drafted.
5. Days 71–90. Set up the records system and use it on your first engagement, however small.