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Expatriate Taxation
Global Mobility Logistics

Deploying foreign talent to India triggers severe compliance obligations. We administer shadow payrolls, structure tax equalization, and secure Certificates of Coverage to bypass mandatory Indian social security traps.

Ideal for: Multinational Companies deploying CXOs to India, EPC Contractors, and Indian Corporations hiring foreign specialists.

500+
Expatriate Returns Processed
₹5-15L
Typical Saving Per Assignee
100%
Equalization Accuracy

The High Cost of Mobility Errors

Mishandling expatriate taxes destroys HR budgets and creates paralyzing legal liabilities for the Indian employer. The Indian Revenue rigorously audits foreign nationals for undeclared global income.

Split Payroll Failures

Expatriates often receive a portion of their salary in India and the remainder in their home country. Many Indian entities mistakenly only withhold TDS on the Indian portion.

Consequence: The Indian employer becomes an "assessee-in-default" for failing to deduct tax on the global salary attributable to services rendered in India. Mandatory 30% penalty applies.

The Service PE Trap

If foreign engineers are present in India for more than 90 days providing technical services, they can inadvertently trigger a Permanent Establishment (PE) for the foreign parent company.

Consequence: A portion of the foreign parent's global corporate profits is suddenly taxed in India at 40%.

ESOP & RSU Taxation

Foreign parent stock options exercised while the assignee is resident in India are fully taxable in India, even if the shares were granted years prior in the home country.

Consequence: Assignees face massive unexpected tax bills, destroying the incentive value of their equity.

Double Social Security

Without intervention, expatriates must contribute 12% of their global salary into the Indian Provident Fund, while continuing to pay their home country's social security.

Consequence: Severe reduction in the assignee's net take-home pay and a 12% increase in employer cost.

End-to-End Expat Management

Pre-Arrival Structuring

We structure the assignment letter and compensation package to maximize standard deductions, perquisite valuation rules, and living allowances before the employee lands.

Shadow Payroll

Implementing complex shadow payroll systems mapping home-country compensation into Indian tax equivalents. We calculate the exact tax-on-tax gross ups for employer remittances.

Social Security Defense

Procuring Certificates of Coverage (CoC) under relevant bilateral Social Security Agreements to grant complete exemption from onerous Indian Provident Fund regulations.

Exit Clearances

Filing complex final individual tax returns and securing mandatory No Objection Certificates (Form 30C) from tax authorities to allow the assignee to legally depart India.

Case Study

Mobility Scaling: French Tech Deployment

Client Profile

  • • French Infrastructure Software Company
  • • Awarded massive Indian Metro rail contract
  • • Deploying 45 specialized engineers to India for 18-36 months
  • • Extremely tight HR budget margins mapped into the bid

Looming Cost Overruns

  • • Social Security Trap: Mandatory 24% (employer + employee) Indian PF deductions would have destroyed the contract's profitability.
  • • PE Risk: Given the duration, the engineers would trigger a massive Permanent Establishment tax liability for the French HQ.

Our Execution

  • • Secured 45 distinct Certificates of Coverage under the Indo-French SSA, achieving complete exemption from Indian PF.
  • • Drafted highly specific secondment and control agreements that eliminated the risk of a Service PE for the French parent.
  • • Managed shadow payroll and successfully procured 45 final Form 30C exit clearances with zero departmental friction.
₹1.2 Cr
Annual PF Savings Captured
Zero
Service PE Exposure
100%
Compliance Accuracy
45
Immigration Clearances Passed

"Deploying heavy technical talent into India was a payroll nightmare until Sami Tax intervened. They completely shielded our assignees from double taxation, bypassed the crippling PF requirements perfectly, and ensured every engineer could exit the country without a single immigration or tax hold-up."

— VP Operations Asia, French Tech Group

Questions & Answers

Global Mobility Regulations

Understanding residency tests, tax equalization mechanics, and social security exemptions.

Indian residency is strictly determined by physical presence (day counting), not visa status.

The Basic Test (Section 6(1)):

An individual is a resident if they are in India for 182 days or more during the financial year (April-March).

OR: If they are in India for 60 days or more in the current year AND 365 days or more in the preceding four years.

Crucially, once a foreign employee crosses from "Non-Resident" (NR) to "Resident and Ordinarily Resident" (ROR), their entire global income becomes taxable in India.

Tax Equalization ensures the assignee pays no more and no less tax than they would have in their home country.

  • The Mechanism: The employee pays a "hypothetical tax" based on their home country rates. The employer bears the actual (often higher) Indian tax burden.
  • The Complexity: Since the employer pays the Indian tax on behalf of the employee, this tax payment is itself considered a "perquisite" (taxable benefit) and must be grossed up, creating a complex tax-on-tax calculation.

Sami Tax models these complex "gross-up" calculations precisely, ensuring payroll compliance without overpaying the Exchequer.

Foreign nationals working in India (International Workers) are mandatorily covered by the Indian PF regime, requiring a 12% + 12% contribution on their entire global salary.

However, exemptions exist:

Social Security Agreements (SSAs):

If India has an SSA with the expat's home country (e.g., Germany, France, Japan, Australia), we can procure a Certificate of Coverage (CoC) from the home country. This exempts the employer and employee from making forced contributions to the Indian PF.

Secure Your Expatriate Deployment

Stop paying unnecessary double social security. Structure your assignee packages correctly before they board the plane to India.