India Spotlight

Please explore upcoming programs or access archived programs below. 

Upcoming Webcasts

India's Special Economic Zones: Start Your Engine of Growth?

7 May, 2:00 – 3:00 PM HKT (GMT +8)
Host: Robert Tsang
Presenters: Saloni Roy, Krishnamani Subramanian, and Krupa Venkatesh

Since India instituted its Special Economic Zones (SEZs) Policy in 2000, SEZs have become an effective option for structuring supply chains in a tax efficient manner and an engine of growth for the country. What opportunity could SEZs represent for your business? We'll discuss:

• Benefits and incentives available to SEZ units under India's tax laws, including discussions on tax holiday benefits on profits.
• Various business models that can be considered for operations within an SEZ, such as setting up of a Free Trade and Warehousing Zones (FTWZ) or SEZ unit for just in time supply or trading, and setting up of an SEZ unit as a manufacturing unit or service provider unit.
• Issues in setting up of a unit in an SEZ, including migration of a unit from Software Technology Park (STP) scheme to SEZ scheme – reconstruction of existing operations, and sharing of infrastructure and bandwidth.

Gain insights on how the SEZ rules work, and learn about various ways of using SEZs to make tax-efficient moves in India.

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Transfer Pricing Audits in India: Significant Issues in 2012

13 June, 2:00 – 3:00 PM HKT (GMT +8)
Host: Rahul Tomar
Presenters: Anis Chakravarty, Richa Gupta, and S.P. Singh

With the conclusion of transfer pricing audits covering fiscal years 2008 and 2009 on 31 January 2013, the Indian government raised new issues regarding international transactions with associated enterprises. How are these issues likely to impact multinationals in many industries? We'll discuss:

• The key issues that have emerged in the recently concluded TP audits and the way forward that can be expected for these issues.
• Best practices for both audit and litigation defense strategies.
• An update on India's nascent advance pricing agreement regime and implications for addressing the new issues.

Learn about the latest changes in India's transfer pricing regime and how you may need to address them going forward.

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Archived Webcasts

India's Budget 2013: A Delicate Balance?

1 March 2013
Host: Rohinton Sidhwa
Presenters: M.S. Mani, Vishweshwar Mugidona, and Anil Talreja

India's government faces competing challenges of stimulating growth, reining in inflation, and ensuring that the country is on par with global best practices and developments in the tax world. What new changes will the government bring to the table to balance the different priorities? We'll discuss:

• Highlights and overall impact of the key budget proposals from a direct and indirect tax perspective, including proposed changes to GAAR taxes, retrospective amendments, and indirect transfers.
• Potential planning opportunities for domestic and foreign businesses in light of the announcements.
• Possible impacts on businesses and foreign investments.

Hear about the latest changes being considered in India's Budget 2013, potential implications for businesses and foreign investments, and ways you can prepare.

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India's Emerging Audit Regime for VAT and Customs: Are You Game?

21 February 2013
Host: Prashant Deshpande
Presenters: Anjlika Chopra and M.S. Mani

Indirect tax laws in India are increasingly reliant upon self-assessment. With the previous assessment process eliminated and the number and frequency of audits increasing, are you prepared to play by the new rules? We'll discuss:

• Value added tax (VAT) audit issues, including various states that are prescribing audit requirements for manufacturers, traders, and service providers.
• Service tax assessments facing scrutiny from various audit authorities, including several requiring extensive information gathering and other preparatory steps during pre-audit stages.
• The audit process itself, including its potential impact on your previous positions, audit procedures, and the appellate process.
• Customs audit issues, including the requirement for On-site Post Clearance Audit.

Learn about the various types of audits, procedures involved, and precautions to be exercised.

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India's Proposed Tax Accounting Standards: What Do They Mean for Corporate Taxpayers?

11 December 2012
Host: Neeru Ahuja
Presenters: Ashish Sabharwal, Sunil Shah, and Krishnamani Subramanian

India's Central Board of Direct Taxes formed a committee to harmonize accounting standards issued by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) with the provisions of the Income-Tax Act (ITA). The committee recently submitted a report containing drafts of 14 tax accounting standards. What impact could these proposed standards have? We'll discuss:

• Background and issues pertinent to notification of tax accounting standards and recommendations of the committee.
• Significant changes in the draft tax accounting standards vis-à-vis the corresponding tax accounting standards issued by the ICAI.
• Issues taxpayers are likely to face complying with the new tax accounting standards.

Learn about the committee's recommendations regarding tax accounting standards to be notified.

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India's New Transfer Pricing Rules for Specific Domestic Transactions: Casting a Wider Net

8 November 2012
Host: Samir Gandhi
Presenters: Rakesh Alshi and Pramod Joshi

India's transfer pricing rules traditionally applied only to companies having cross-border transactions with their associated enterprises. However, with the passage of Finance Bill 2012 in April, the scope of the rules expanded to include specified domestic transactions. Do the new rules apply to your company? We'll discuss:

• An overview of the new specified domestic transactions regulations.
• How businesses are likely to be impacted, including what the regulations could mean for domestic related-party transactions and tax holiday units.
• Important differences between transfer pricing regulations for cross-border transactions and domestic transactions.

Get insights on what to do to prepare, what issues are likely to arise, and what you should be considering now.

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Shome Committee Recommends Significant Changes to India's Indirect Share Transfer Provision

1 November 2012
Host: Steve Towers
Presenters: Sunil Shah, Rohan Solapurkar, and Anil Talreja

On 9 October 2012, the Shome Expert Committee released its draft report on India's indirect share transfer provision (section 9(1)(i)). That provision, which was at the center of the Vodafone case, was subject to substantial retrospective amendments in the Finance Act 2012. The Committee's draft report recommends that the Government initiate significant changes to the provision, with the objective of allaying foreign investors' apprehensions about certainty, predictability and stability of tax laws in India. We'll discuss the draft report's recommendations in regard to:

• Retrospectivity of the original amendments.
• Exemptions from the provision, including addressing concerns of small shareholders, listed foreign entities, intra-group restructuring, dividends, Foreign Institutional Investors and Private Equity Investors.
• Definitions of various terms, including "asset or capital asset situated in India", "share or interest in a company or entity", "property", "substantially" (in regard to the key threshold issue of whether the share substantially derives its value from Indian assets), "value", "directly or indirectly", "through", and "transfer".
• Proportionality of taxation.
• Interaction with double tax treaties.

Find out about the draft report's recommendations for significant changes to section 9(1)(i).

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Asia Pacific Tax Series

China Spotlight
Countdown to the India DTC
Country Focus
Customs & Global Trade
Government Grants & Incentives
India Spotlight
Indirect Tax
Industries
International Assignments
International Tax
M&A Tax
Private Business
Regulatory
R&D Tax Incentives
Tax Management
Transfer Pricing