Special Focus
India Quarterly February-April 2011

Special Focus Archive

India launches tax probe into Kraft’s purchase of Cadbury
Rethink about safe harbour rules
Tribunal favours arm’s-length payment of royalty for technical services
Lack of thin capitalisation rule gives taxpayer victory in India
Cheil Communications case sets precedent
Senate approves tax cut legislation
China relaxes rules for technology enterprises
Australia addresses FIN 48 issue
Court rejects Alaska’s tax claim against BP
IMF pledges $30 million to build tax systems from the bottom up
Japan finally confrms corporate tax cut
How to avoid tax disputes

A tax dispute in India is often a lengthy process that costs heavily in resources, time and cash. And with disputes taking years to be resolved, it is easy to see why an effective dispute strategy is key to operating there. Jack Grocott finds out from leading tax professionals about how to avoid disputes and how best to manage them effectively.
Transfer pricing precedents hold centre stage

India is well known around the world for the amount of tax litigation that goes through its courts and tribunals, and the aggression of its revenue authority. Transfer pricing disputes have been in the limelight recently and there have been a high number of interesting precedents set. Sophie Ashley analyses the implications of some of the more interesting cases and considers an alternative to the dispute resolution panel.
Software disputes generate uncertainty

Indian courts have struggled with how to characterise income generated from computer software. For multinational corporations doing business in India, the uncertainty causes trepidation and concern. Erin Kelechava asks tax professionals whether the unsettled state of the law is keeping US companies out of the Indian market.
Latin America chases treaty network with India

As Latin American countries are working hard to have themselves removed from unfavourable black and grey lists of low tax jurisdictions, Elizabeth Bearese finds out why more have not entered into tax treaties with India.
Tax professionals choose transfer pricing leaders

With many Indian taxpayers citing transfer pricing as their biggest concern, there has never been a more crucial time to have access to the best thinkers in this area of tax. As a result, India Quarterly asked the Indian tax community to vote for the country’s top 10 transfer pricing advisers.
Hot debate at India forum

Taxpayers, officials and advisers came together on November 12 & 13 to discuss all aspects of India’s tax system at International Tax Review’s inaugural India Tax Forum in Delhi.
Supreme Court raises profile of domestic TP

The Supreme Court’s decision in the Glaxo case has put domestic transfer pricing on the agenda. Salman Shaheen looks at the likelihood of a reform to the Income Tax Act and the impact it may have.
India tax celebrated at awards

India’s leading tax professionals were rewarded for a busy last 12 months at International Tax Review’s annual Asia Tax Awards in Singapore in November.
Making sense of India’s proposed GAAR

Tax reforms are engulfing the way business is done in India. Sunil Jain of J Sagar & Associates discusses the impact the country’s proposed general anti-avoidance rules will have on companies planning transactions between now and the introduction of the rules in April 2012.
Mauritius offers route into India

Gary Gowrea and Aveenash Ramtohul of Cim Tax Services – Taxand, describe how taxpayers looking to invest in India should consider Mauritius as a stepping stone into the rapidly growing economy.
Beyond Vodafone to the Direct Taxes Code

Nikhil Mehta of Amarchand & Mangaldas and Gray’s Inn Tax Chambers investigates what the impact of the Vodafone decision will be and whether similar cases will be a thing of the past once the DTC is implemented.
The Singapore springboard for investing in India

Recent Indian tax developments in India may push some investors to shelve traditional strategies and consider other alternative locations such as Singapore for holding Indian investments. Ong Sim Ho and Chow Hoe Keong of Drew & Napier discuss that tax treaty abuses and legislative changes have caused reactive changes to the status quo, and these developments will eventually reshape existing investment strategies into India.
Indirect tax traps for the software sector

Vinesh Kriplani, of Ernst & Young examines the controversy surrounding the hotly-debated applicability of indirect taxes on the sale of software in India.
Trends in the taxation of multinationals

Himanshu Parekh and Nidhi Maheshwari of KPMG survey some of the recent major developments in the Indian tax system and attempt to understand some of the emerging trends and issues of interest to foreign investors in India.
India’s APA roadmap

Karishma Phatarphekar and Fatema Hunaid of Grant Thornton discuss the salient features of the proposed APA regime in India and also outline an overview of the nuances of making the most of an APA regime based on experiences gathered from regimes across the world.