A specialism that we take pride in is our understanding of cross-border tax issues. The role of a tax advisor has generally been undertaken by accounting firms, but each tax position taken needs to be validated under law. In our prior dealings, we have seen lack of tax-enabled advisory as a huge handicap in managing and executing high-stakes transactions. This is crucial as India’s tax authorities typically adopt aggressive positions in assessing international taxpayers. Legitimately structured transactions and arrangements are often scrutinized and recharacterized without sufficient legal basis or guiding principle, resulting in heavy tax demands, harsh penalties, and even prosecution. Our expertise over the entire lifecycle of tax issues has helped us provide effective legal recourse – both preventive and curative – against such actions.

A sound understanding of India’s constantly evolving tax landscape is therefore crucial in enabling and tax-proofing dealmaking. We routinely advise clients on their commercial arrangements and transactions from an Indian and international tax standpoint, review existing structures and provide guidance on mitigation of tax risks, provide strategic counsel on looming tax proceedings and actions, represent them in proceedings at all higher judicial levels including preparing and filing written submissions, and engage and co-ordinate with senior counsels (QCs) where required and undertake litigation management in high-stakes appellate litigation.