International tax is the most rapidly changing area of Indian taxation — and the area where the consequences of a wrong position are the most severe. The OECD's Base Erosion and Profit Shifting project has transformed how every Indian treaty is interpreted. The Multilateral Instrument has modified the provisions of dozens of India's bilateral treaties without the treaties themselves being renegotiated. GAAR applies to arrangements that were previously considered standard international tax planning. Pillar Two — the global minimum tax — is reshaping how multinationals structure their Indian operations. And India's treaty network itself is under renegotiation: the India-Mauritius treaty amendments of 2016, the India-Singapore and India-Cyprus amendments, and the India-Netherlands renegotiation have already transformed the structuring landscape for private equity and foreign portfolio investment.
Goldschmidt Pallonji's International Tax practice is built on a structural advantage that no other Indian law firm can replicate — founding directors who have not merely studied these jurisdictions but have practised in them. When GP advises on the India-Australia DTAA, the advice reflects an understanding of Australian tax law that comes from years of practice before the ATO and the Australian courts. When GP advises on the India-UAE DTAA, it reflects an understanding of the UAE's new corporate tax regime and its interaction with Indian withholding tax obligations. This is the difference between international tax research and international tax practice.
For Indian companies going outbound — investing in Australia, listing in Singapore, establishing GCC operations, raising capital in London — GP advises on the Indian tax consequences of the outbound structure simultaneously with its advice on the host country's tax treatment. The structure that is efficient from an Indian perspective must also be efficient from the host country's perspective. GP delivers both analyses from one team.
Inbound investment structuring, outbound expansion, BEPS compliance, and treaty planning — across all five GP international corridors and India's 96 treaty network.
Tax-efficient entry structures for foreign companies, private equity funds, sovereign wealth funds, and family offices investing in India. Holding company location analysis — Mauritius, Singapore, Netherlands, UAE, Cyprus — post-MLI substance requirements and treaty entitlement under the Principal Purpose Test (PPT). Section 195 withholding tax optimisation on dividends, interest, royalties, and capital gains. FEMA compliance integrated with tax structuring from day one.
Learn More →Tax structuring for Indian companies investing overseas — ODI (Overseas Direct Investment) under the LRS and FEMA ODI Regulations, controlled foreign corporation (CFC) provisions under Section 115BBD, foreign tax credit planning, repatriation strategy. Specific corridor structuring: Indian companies establishing Australian subsidiaries under AI-ECTA, Indian IT companies establishing Singapore regional hubs, Indian conglomerates with GCC operations, and Indian startups listing overseas on ASX, SGX, or LSE.
Learn More →PE risk assessment for foreign companies with India operations — fixed place PE, agency PE, service PE, and dependent agent PE under India's treaties and the OECD Model post-MLI. POEM analysis for Indian subsidiaries of foreign groups where Indian management may cause POEM to be attributed to India. Force of attraction, profit attribution methodology, and the OECD's Authorised OECD Approach (AOA) for attributing profits to a PE. Advance ruling applications for PE certainty before operations commence.
Learn More →Section 195 withholding tax compliance for Indian payers making cross-border payments — dividends, interest, royalties, fees for technical services, and capital gains. Lower or nil withholding certificate applications (Form 13) from the Assessing Officer. Determination of treaty-reduced rates versus domestic rate. Beneficial ownership analysis under anti-treaty-shopping provisions. TDS credit in the recipient's jurisdiction — foreign tax credit planning to ensure the withheld tax is actually creditable against the overseas tax liability.
Learn More →Impact assessment of the MLI on India's existing treaty network — which treaties have been modified, which provisions have been superseded, and how the Principal Purpose Test changes treaty entitlement for existing structures. Country-by-Country Reporting obligations for Indian companies above the threshold. Pillar Two — the global minimum tax at 15% — assessing India's Qualified Domestic Minimum Top-up Tax (QDMTT) and its impact on multinational groups with Indian entities. Restructuring advice for groups whose India effective tax rate falls below the 15% GloBE threshold.
Learn More →Review of existing holding structures — Mauritius, Singapore, Netherlands, Cyprus, Dubai — for continued viability post-MLI and GAAR. Substance requirement analysis: does the holding company have sufficient economic substance to withstand a PPT challenge? Exit route analysis: which exit — treaty-protected capital gains, onshore India exit, or cross-border merger — is most efficient given current treaty positions. Restructuring of holding structures that have lost their tax efficiency following treaty renegotiation or MLI modification.
Learn More →Australian superannuation funds — managing AUD 3.9 trillion — are increasingly deploying into Indian infrastructure assets, listed equity, and private credit. The India-Australia DTAA provides specific provisions for pension funds. The Australian super fund's tax-exempt status in Australia must be preserved in the Indian context — which requires specific structuring of the investment vehicle, the dividend withholding arrangements, and the capital gains treatment on exit. GP is the only Indian law firm with founding directors who have practised Australian tax law and understand what the ATO and APRA require on the Australian side of the same investment. For Australian super funds, this bilateral understanding is not a convenience — it is essential.
An Indian company listing on the ASX, SGX, or LSE typically does so through a foreign holding company — a Singapore Holdco, a Cayman structure, or a direct overseas listing of the Indian entity. Each structure has a different Indian tax treatment: the Section 115JB MAT position, the capital gains treatment for Indian promoters selling shares in the foreign Holdco, the dividend withholding on upstreaming profits to the listed entity, and the Section 56(2) implications of shares issued at a premium. GP advises Indian founders and their investors on the international tax architecture of an overseas listing — before the investment bank's structure is committed to.
Double taxation — the same income taxed in both India and a treaty partner — is one of the most commercially damaging outcomes in international tax. It arises most often in three situations: a withholding tax in India that is not fully creditable in the recipient's jurisdiction, a transfer pricing adjustment in India on income already taxed overseas, and a PE attribution in India that overlaps with taxation in the foreign jurisdiction. GP's bilateral corridor capability — understanding both the Indian position and the treaty partner's position simultaneously — is the only way to structure an effective remedy. The Foreign Tax Credit under Section 90/91, the MAP under the DTAA, and the structural redesign of the transaction are all tools that require bilateral expertise to deploy correctly.
Every Indian law firm offers international tax advice. No other Indian law firm has founding directors who have practised commercial and tax law in Australia, Singapore, the GCC, Hong Kong, and London. When GP advises on a treaty, it reads both articles — the Indian article and the counterparty article — from the perspective of someone who has appeared before both countries' tax authorities. The advice that results is not a reading of the Indian treaty position. It is an assessment of what both countries will accept.
International tax in India is inseparable from FEMA. Every inbound investment structure, every outbound ODI, every cross-border royalty payment, every repatriation of dividends has both a tax dimension and a FEMA dimension. Most international tax advisers focus on one. GP's team handles both simultaneously — from the initial structuring through every subsequent transaction. The tax analysis and the FEMA analysis are built together — ensuring the structure is not only tax-efficient but also fully compliant with India's capital account regulations.
The BEPS era has made international tax structures fragile. A holding company structure designed in 2015 for tax efficiency may now be vulnerable to the PPT, the MLI's PE modifications, the GAAR, or Pillar Two's top-up tax. GP builds international tax structures with a ten-year horizon — assessing not just today's treaty position but the trajectory of each provision under the OECD's ongoing reform agenda. The structure that saves tax for two years but fails a PPT challenge in year three is not efficient — it is expensive. GP builds structures to last.
Complete confidentiality maintained. These matters illustrate the depth of our international tax practice across GP's five corridors.
Advised a Singapore-based PE fund on the defence of a capital gains tax assessment in India where the Tax Department challenged the fund's entitlement to the India-Singapore DTAA capital gains exemption under the Principal Purpose Test. GP's submission demonstrated that the Singapore holding company had genuine commercial substance — investment management staff, board independence, regulatory oversight by MAS, and actual investment decision-making in Singapore — satisfying the PPT's requirement that treaty benefit not be a principal purpose of the structure. The Assessing Officer dropped the PPT challenge. Capital gains exemption preserved on a ₹180 crore exit.
Advised a prominent GCC family office on restructuring its India investment portfolio following the introduction of UAE corporate tax at 9%. The existing structure — a Dubai holding company receiving Indian dividends — was assessed for the interaction between UAE corporate tax, the India-UAE DTAA withholding rate, and the UAE's participation exemption for qualifying dividends. GP redesigned the holding structure to utilise the participation exemption on qualifying Indian company dividends while managing the withholding tax position on the Indian side. Simultaneously addressed the Indian FEMA compliance requirements for the restructuring. Net effective tax rate on India-sourced returns maintained below 3%.
Advised an Indian technology company on the international tax structure for its proposed ASX listing via an Australian holding company. GP assessed the Indian capital gains position for promoters exchanging Indian shares for Australian holding company shares, the Section 56(2) implications of the exchange ratio, the Australian income tax treatment of the interposed holding company under Australian thin capitalisation rules, the withholding tax on dividends flowing from India to Australia and from Australia to ASX investors, and the Pillar Two position of the combined group post-listing. Delivered a single integrated structure endorsed by both the Indian and Australian advisers simultaneously.
The practice is led at the senior level by a tax lawyer with deep experience in cross-border structuring, BEPS compliance, and treaty litigation — supported by CAs with international tax specialisation and FEMA expertise. For corridor-specific matters, the team draws directly on GP's Australia, Singapore, GCC, Hong Kong, and London corridor capability — ensuring that the bilateral analysis is conducted by practitioners who understand the counterparty jurisdiction's domestic law, not just India's treaty position.
The practice works in constant coordination with our Transfer Pricing team — because most cross-border tax structures have both an international tax dimension and a TP dimension — and with our Corporate M&A team on all inbound and outbound transactions where the holding structure, the acquisition vehicle, and the exit route must all be tax-efficient simultaneously.
The Multilateral Instrument has modified over 25 of India's bilateral tax treaties. This bulletin identifies the specific treaty provisions that have changed, the structures most affected, and the steps every multinational with an India holding structure should take to assess their continued treaty entitlement.
Read Bulletin →The UAE's 9% corporate tax has changed the India-UAE equation for every investor and business with operations in both jurisdictions. This guide explains the new landscape — withholding tax on India-UAE flows, the participation exemption, GAAR risk on existing structures, and the restructuring options available before the additional liability crystallises.
Read Guide →Whether you are structuring an inbound investment, reviewing an existing treaty position for MLI impact, managing a PE or POEM risk, or navigating the new UAE corporate tax landscape — our team responds within 24 hours with bilateral advice from inside both jurisdictions.
By submitting you agree to our Privacy Policy. All communications are strictly confidential. Attorney-client privilege applies from first contact.