International Taxation
Treaty analysis, accountant's certification on foreign remittances, transfer pricing, non-resident taxation, FEMA reporting.
Cross-border work turns on a few questions asked in the right order. Is the income taxable in India at all? Does a treaty reduce the liability? What must be withheld before the money leaves? What must be reported to the Reserve Bank of India afterwards?
The order matters because the cost of getting it wrong falls in India. Tax not withheld on a remittance is recovered from the remitter, not the recipient. A treaty benefit claimed without a tax residency certificate, the prescribed treaty declaration and a permanent-establishment declaration will not survive a query.
Exchange control runs alongside, on its own dates. An inbound investment, an overseas subsidiary, a borrowing and the annual return on foreign liabilities and assets each carry a filing under the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999.
Who we act for
Indian companies making foreign payments
Withholding on royalty, technical services, interest, software and management charges, and the certification a bank asks for.
Subsidiaries of foreign groups
Transfer pricing on intra-group transactions, the accountant's report the Act requires, and FEMA reporting on the shareholding.
Non-residents and returning Indians
Residential status, what India may tax, property and investments held here, and repatriation.
Foreign businesses entering India
The choice between a subsidiary, branch, project office and liaison office, each with a different consequence.
When to call us
- A bank has asked for Form 15CB before it will process a remittance.
- A foreign parent has begun charging management, royalty or IT cost to the Indian entity.
- A non-resident is selling Indian property and the buyer must decide what to withhold.
- An employee is being seconded into or out of India for a period that changes their residence.
Services in this practice
- Cross-border transaction advisory and DTAA analysis
- Withholding tax on foreign remittances
- Transfer pricing study and documentation
- Master File and Country-by-Country ReportingMaster File and Country-by-Country notification and reporting.
- Permanent establishment and business-connection analysis
- Non-resident and NRI taxation
- Expatriate taxation and secondment structuringIncluding tax equalisation.
- Inbound entry structuring
- Outbound investment and holding-company structuring
- FEMA advisory and RBI reporting
- Advance rulings and treaty dispute resolutionIncluding Mutual Agreement Procedure.
How we work
Taxability before rate
Whether India can tax the income is settled before the rate, because a payment outside the charge needs no rate at all.
Treaty documents first
The residency certificate, the prescribed treaty declaration and the permanent-establishment declaration are obtained before the benefit is applied.
Tax and FEMA together
A transaction is read against both the tax position and the exchange-control reporting, which answer to different authorities.
Documented to be defended
Benchmarking searches, accept-reject records and position notes are kept to answer a query several years later.
Governed by
Income-tax Act, 2025
Residence, the income India may tax, withholding on payments to non-residents, and transfer pricing.
Double taxation avoidance agreements
The treaty with the recipient's country, read with the commentaries Indian courts rely on, which can reduce or remove a liability.
Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999
Inbound and outbound investment, borrowing, and the reporting the Reserve Bank of India requires.