30+ years of combined expertise in complex Indian taxation and compliance.
Discuss your unique tax situation with our senior partners. No obligation.
30+ years of combined expertise in complex Indian taxation and compliance.
Maximize Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA) network efficiency. We manage Form 10F compliances, mitigate Permanent Establishment risks, and legally minimize withholding taxes on royalty and technical fee remittances.
Ideal for: Technology Importers, MNC Subsidiaries, Exporters of SaaS, and Cross-Border Service Providers.
Indian tax authorities aggressively reject treaty rate applications when documentation is incomplete. Filing a defective Form 10F or missing a No-PE declaration instantly exposes the Indian payer to massive "assessee-in-default" tax demands.
Non-resident compliance shift: CBDT now mandates foreign vendors to electronically file Form 10F on the Indian portal, requiring PAN or non-PAN digital registration.
Exposure Fact:
If your foreign SaaS provider refuses to file Form 10F, you must withhold tax at 20% + surcharge. If you apply the 10% treaty rate without the digital form, the Indian entity pays the difference plus interest and penalty.
Inadvertent taxation: Sending foreign engineers to India for installation or creating dependent agency relationships can inadvertently trigger a PE.
The Consequence:
Attribution of global profits to the Indian PE, taxable at the 40% foreign corporate rate, destroying anticipated margins on the Indian contract.
Net-of-tax commercial agreements: Foreign licensors often demand payment "net of all Indian taxes", forcing the Indian entity to gross-up the withholding tax.
Working Capital Drain:
Failing to secure proper DTAA documentation means grossing up the payment at 20% rather than 10%, effectively increasing the acquisition cost of the intellectual property by over 12%.
We directly interface with your foreign vendors, managing their Indian income tax portal registrations and generating digital Form 10Fs without disrupting your commercial relationships.
Expert issuance of Form 15CB CA certificates for foreign remittances, structurally analyzing the nature of payment (FTS, Royalty, or Business Income) against the specific DTAA articles.
Advisory on structuring cross-border sales and service agreements. We audit employee secondment agreements to ensure they do not create an inadvertent Service or Agency PE in India.
Structuring defensive files proving the recipient entity has the right to use and enjoy the income, defeating departmental assertions of "conduit companies" under MLI provisions.
"The domestic 20% withholding rate was severely impacting our India revenue margins. Sami's team immediately stepped in, resolved the foreign portal registration hurdles entirely on their end, and secured the 10% treaty rate across our entire Indian client base without disrupting our operations."
— Director of Global Tax, Enterprise Software Company
Clarifications on Form 10F execution, Permanent Establishments, and Treaty Shopping.
India mandates strict documentation for treaty relief. Without these, domestic withholding rates (up to 20%+) apply automatically.
Sami Tax handles end-to-end Form 10F compliance for your foreign vendors, ensuring you can safely apply the lower 10% or 15% treaty withholding rates without exposing your Indian entity to 'assessee-in-default' penalties.
The MLI overrides existing bilateral tax treaties. India is a signatory, meaning older, favorable treaties (like Singapore, Netherlands, Mauritius) are now subject to the Principal Purpose Test (PPT).
The Principal Purpose Test (PPT):
If Indian tax authorities determine that obtaining a tax benefit was one of the principal purposes of an arrangement (e.g., routing funds through a holding company with zero employees), treaty benefits will be denied.
We conduct MLI Impact Assessments to ensure your cross-border payment structures have demonstrable commercial substance independent of tax benefits.
A PE triggers Indian corporate tax (at 40% for foreign companies) on attributable profits.
Common PE triggers that frequently blindside foreign companies:
Service PE
Foreign employees spending more than 90 days in India providing technical services.
Dependent Agent PE
Indian agents with the authority to conclude contracts on behalf of the foreign parent.
Furthermore, secondment agreements (loaning employees to an Indian subsidiary) are heavily scrutinized to ensure the foreign parent isn't indirectly managing Indian operations.
Secure lower treaty rates and maintain impeccable withholding documentation. Consult our international tax experts before executing your next foreign payment.