International Taxation Ready Reckoner

India's first 'ready reckoner' on international taxation and cross-border transactions, this book provides a comprehensive guide to topics including taxation schemes, residence, Double Taxation Avoidance Agreements (DTAA), and conflict resolution between DTAA and the Income-tax Act. It serves as an essential handbook for those dealing with cross-border transactions, payments to non-residents, and digital transactions.

Description

This book is India's first 'ready reckoner' with a specific focus on international taxation & taxation of cross-border transactions. It covers the entire spectrum of topics, which are as follows:

• Basic provisions of the scheme of taxation in India
• Residence in India
• Role of Double Taxation Avoidance Agreements (DTAA)
• Interaction of DTAA with the Income-tax Act
• How to read a DTAA?
• How to determine eligibility for DTAA?
• How to resolve the conflict between a DTAA & Income-tax Act?

It is an essential handbook for anyone who is dealing with cross-border transactions, including:

• Payments made to non-residents
• Transactions with non-residents
• Digital transactions
• Withholding tax obligation obligations of residents

The Present Publication is the 1st Edition and has been amended by the Finance Act 2023. This book has been authored by CA Daksha Baxi & Adv. Surajkumar Shetty with the following noteworthy features:

• [Exhaustive Coverage] of the tax implications on cross-border transactions
• [Evaluating the Taxability] using the following:
• Income-tax Act
• Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement
• Reference to Rules, Forms, Circulars, etc.
• Reference to Case Laws
• [Authors' Notes] are given for the following:
• How should an advisor approach the transaction?
• What investigations should be made to apply the law and principles of the Income-tax Act & Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement?
• [Conceptual Analysis in Simplified Language with Examples & Case Laws] for the following 'noted' topics, among others:
• Place of Effective Management
• Permanent Establishment
• Business Connection
• Foreign Portfolio Investors
• Investment Funds & their Investors
• Alternative Investment Funds (AIFs)
• Infrastructure Investment Funds (InvITs)
• Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs)
• Securitisation Trust
• [Covering Provisions relating to Litigation Proceedings] under the following:
• Income-tax Act
• Mutual Agreement Procedure (MAP) under the Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement
• Authority for Advance Ruling (AAR) Process
• Equalisation Levy
• Transfer Pricing Provisions
• General Anti Avoidance Rules (GAAR)
• Special Provisions for International Financial Services Centres (IFSC)
• [Illustrations/Examples, Practical & Comprehensive Case Studies] are given to provide insights into the finer nuances of cross-border transactions

The detailed contents of the book are as follows:

• Tax System for Non-Residents in India – An Overview
• Tax Treaties
• Setting Up a Business in India
• Classification of Income
• Determining Eligibility to Claim Benefits of DTAA
• Taxation of Rental Income
• Taxation of Business Income
• Taxation of Dividend Income
• Taxation of Interest Income
• Taxation of Royalty Income
• Taxation of Income from Fees for Technical Services
• Taxation of Capital Gains
• Taxation of Employment Income
• Taxation of Non-Resident Indian
• Taxation of Foreign Portfolio Investors
• Taxation of AIFs, REITs, InvITs, Securitisation Trust
• Transactions Attracting Transfer Pricing Regulations
• Business Reorganisations
• Discontinuance of Business and Dissolution of Indian Company
• Foreign Tax Credit
• Making Payments to NRs & Obtaining Lower Withholding Certificate
• Assessments, Appeals and Dispute Resolution
• General Anti-Avoidance Rules
• Miscellaneous
• Case Study to Determine Taxability of NR, under the IT Act & DTAA

About the author

Daksha Baxi

Ms Baxi is one of the top-rated tax advisers in India, recognised over many years by various worldwide surveys and ranking agencies.

She is a fellow member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England & Wales, a fellow member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India and honours graduate in Economics.

Having spent a decade and a half in the UK, Switzerland and various parts of Europe and the USA advising on cross-border investments and navigating bilateral tax treaties, her return to India coincided with the opening up of the Indian economy to welcome foreign investments and liberalise the policies for international transactions.

Enthused by the opportunity to advise a globalising Indian economy, she found it personally gratifying to help Indian businesses grow. This paved the way for Daksha's professional mantra: help clients achieve their commercial goals efficiently and in a legally sound manner.

Her extensive stints with various premier and pioneering law firms, such as Nishith Desai Associates, Khaitan & Co, and Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas, exposed her to each aspect and nitty-gritty of the world of international taxation. Her experience spans working with and on the opposite side of some of the top law firms and advisers across major jurisdictions for the structuring of a multitude of domestic and international mergers and acquisitions, negotiating private equity investment deals, structuring and setting up educational institutions, putting in place complex employee incentive programmes, advising on cross border estate and succession planning, structuring of sector-specific as well as sector agnostic venture capital funds, transactions related to Insolvency & Bankruptcy Code, setting up InvITs and REITs, structuring of EPC Contracts, making representations before the revenue authorities and appearing before the AAR to obtain some landmark rulings.

Daksha participated and contributed to various committees for advising and formulating regulations such as the SEBI (Share Based Employee Benefits) Regulations, Alternative Investment Funds Regulations, and E-Commerce Taxation, providing taxation inputs to the committee advising SEBI on creating a framework for Indian companies to list outside India and for Indian companies to merge with foreign company. She has written a plethora of articles and research papers on a whole gamut of domestic and international tax issues, contributed several chapters to various publications of the IBFD, Kluwer Law, and others and made numerous presentations and participated in panel discussions at international fora such as the International Fiscal Association, Foundation for International Tax, International Bar Association, STEP and others.

After a very engaging and satisfying experience working with law firms, she finally called it a day. She decided to pursue her passion for servicing smaller businesses, helping families to resolve their issues with succession and estate planning strategies and teaching practical international taxation at various institutes. This book is part of this new passion she pursues.

For her exemplary work over the years, Daksha has been consistently recognised as one of the top, most highly acclaimed and distinguished tax experts in India by:

• Tax Expert and Tax Leader in World Tax Experts' Guide by Euromoney
• Chambers & Partners
• Legal 500
• ITR – Women in Tax Leaders Guide
• Who's Who Legal
• India Business Law Journal A-List of Top 100 Practitioners in India

Surajkumar Shetty

Mr Shetty is enrolled with the Bar Council of Maharashtra & Goa and has over 12 years of experience advising clients on direct taxation.

After completing law, he has been working with some of the top-tier law firms in India in their direct tax teams. During his stint with these firms, Suraj has been exposed to intricate domestic and international taxation issues.

He is well-experienced in advising clients on various income-tax aspects relating to M&A transactions, devising appropriate risk mitigation and litigation strategies, restructuring businesses and business transfers, drafting and negotiating agreements from an income-tax standpoint, funds taxation, etc.

He has represented domestic and foreign clients before the Indian tax authorities and assisted them in matters before the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal, High Courts and the Supreme Court of India.

He has advised clients from industries as diverse as infrastructure, funds, financial services, manufacturing and real estate.

In addition to his practice, Suraj has authored articles published by International Tax Review, IBFD, etc. He has also co-authored chapters in books of academic importance published by the Chamber of Tax Consultants, International Taxation Committee and IFA Tax Conference (2013 Compendium). He has also conducted sessions on taxation for tax professionals and law students.