Indirect Tax

Indirect tax permeates every area of business. It impacts costs, cash flow, profitability and shareholder value.

 

We provide comprehensive advisory services and assistance on various indirect taxes issues focus areas are:

• Advisory services
• Strategic consulting (cost optimization, efficiency opportunities, transaction structuring, supply chain mapping)
• Compliance support
• ‘Standardize, automate & implement’ processes, centralize at centre of excellence
• Reviews, health checks and due diligence
• Advocacy and Representations
• Litigation Advisory and Support
• Trade facilitation
• Audits and related assistance
• Trainings
• Designing future tax organizations

We provide services for indirect taxes such as Goods and Services Tax, Customs Duties, Central Excise, State Excise, Service Tax, Central Sales Tax, State Value Added Tax and Entertainment Tax.
We also offer advisory services with respect of foreign trade policy, free trade agreements, cross-border supply chains and anti-dumping duties.

We conduct training for indirect tax function and all other functions of the business. We assist businesses in designing and building future tax organisations.

 

Our services include:

 

ADVISORY

 

• Advising on applicability of taxes/duties on transactions and admissibility of benefits, deductions, and exemptions
• Advising on various aspects viz. classification, valuation, rate of tax/duty, input tax credits, time and place of supply, registrations, documentation and record-keeping requirements, refunds etc.
• Providing comments and opinions on tax/duty issues
• Providing planning ideas and risk mitigation steps

 

STRATEGIC CONSULTING

 

• Advising on greenfield/brownfield / EPC projects from an indirect tax perspective
• Formulating indirect tax-efficient business models, transactions, pricing policies, supply-chain
• Recommending transactions structures and contracts to optimise indirect tax costs/incidence
• Assisting in contract negotiations with suppliers and customers

 

COMPLIANCE SUPPORT

 

• Providing complete compliance support including outsourcing
• Providing support services for computation of tax/duty, filing of returns, furnishing of details periodically, follow-up on refund applications, obtaining registrations
• Reviewing compliances regularly, where compliances are undertaken by in-house tax teams
• Providing support for custom duty proceedings, from a valuation perspective, for import of goods from related parties

 

TAX PROCESSES

 

• Assisting in the implementation of existing / newer indirect taxes and related processes
• ‘Standardize, automate & implement’ tax processes including centralizing them at the centre of excellence
• Assisting in setting-up and implementation of standard operating procedures for indirect tax touch-points
• Reviewing existing processes from indirect tax efficiency and indirect tax risk mitigation perspective

 

REVIEWS / HEALTH CHECKS / DUE DILIGENCES

 

• Diagnostic review of operations and transactions to identify planning opportunities
• Health-check of tax positions taken, including in respect of input tax credits, and compliances undertaken and highlighting gaps in compliances that give rise to tax risks
• Undertaking indirect tax due to diligence reviews (buy and sell-side)

 

ADVOCACY & REPRESENTATIONS

 

• Identifying areas for representation for the benefit of business/industry
• Preparing representations on tax/duty / policy issues for representation before relevant government and tax authorities
• Represent before relevant government and tax authorities on tax/duty / trade policy issues
• Assist in anti-dumping proceedings

 

LITIGATION ADVISORY

 

• Reviewing existing litigation and uncertain tax positions; comment on the grounds taken for defence in existing litigations and probability of success and mitigation steps for future litigation
• Identifying potential risks regarding various tax positions and comment from a long-term view
• Proactively exploring alternative tax dispute resolution avenues for complex tax disputes
• Reviewing litigations for disclosure as a contingent liability in financial statements

 

LITIGATION SUPPORT

 

• Drafting replies to notices, making submissions to authorities, appealing to authorities and Tribunal, applying for advance ruling authorities
• Presenting personal appearances and arguments before adjudicating authorities, appellate authorities and Tribunal
• Presenting personal appearances and arguments before advance ruling authorities
• Preparing briefs for legal counsel, briefing legal counsel and assisting legal counsels for appeals, writ petition and special leave petition before Apex Court and High Court

 

We provide litigation support before adjudication authorities, appellate authorities and Tribunal.  We brief counsels / senior counsels for matters beyond the Tribunal.

 

TRADE FACILITATION

 

• Providing advisory and operational assistance for benefits under foreign trade policy
• Providing advisory for benefits under free trade agreements and regional trade agreements
• Assisting in setting-up and operationalising units in special economic zones, in software technology parks and as export-oriented units
• Obtaining required registrations, permissions and licences

 

AUDITS AND RELATED ASSISTANCE

 

• Undertaking assurance audits, as required under indirect tax laws
• Pre-audit reviews, where the audit is to be conducted by tax/customs duty authorities
• Assisting during audits conducted by indirect tax authorities or during special audits
• Assisting in audits/verifications of rebates/refunds by indirect tax authorities