India services for international clients

Who this is for

• Foreign businesses and groups with Indian operations

  Setting up an Indian entity, ongoing company law and tax compliance for an Indian subsidiary, and transfer pricing for transactions with the group.

  • Incorporation and structuring
  • Company law and ROC compliance
  • International tax, NRI and transfer pricing

• Non-resident Indians and expatriates

  Residential status, Indian income and property taxation, treaty benefits, remittance certification and repatriation.

  • International tax, NRI and transfer pricing
  • Income tax

• Indian businesses with cross-border transactions

  Withholding tax on payments abroad, GST on imports and exports of services, and documentation for inter-company transactions.

  • International tax, NRI and transfer pricing
  • GST
  • Customs, DGFT and export-import

• Exporters and importers

  Importer Exporter Code, customs classification, export documentation and GST refunds on exports.

  • Customs, DGFT and export-import
  • GST
  • Banking and loan advisory

Annual return

The yearly filing of a company's shareholding, directors and other particulars with the Registrar of Companies.

BIS

Bureau of Indian Standards — India's national standards body, which certifies products against Indian Standards.

CMA data

Credit Monitoring Arrangement data — historical and projected financial statements in a standard format used by Indian banks to assess credit proposals.

Concurrent audit

An audit carried out alongside transactions as they occur, commonly at bank branches.

CSR

Corporate Social Responsibility — spending obligations of qualifying companies under section 135 of the Companies Act, 2013, often implemented through NGOs.

DGFT

Directorate General of Foreign Trade — the authority that administers India's Foreign Trade Policy.

DPIIT recognition

Recognition of an entity as a startup by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade under the Startup India initiative, subject to eligibility conditions.

DPR

Detailed Project Report — a document describing a project's technical, market and financial aspects, used to support finance or approval applications.

Drawing power

The amount a borrower may draw from a working capital limit, usually computed from current assets after the bank's margin.

DSCR

Debt Service Coverage Ratio — cash available for debt servicing divided by the principal and interest due; lenders use it to judge repayment capacity.

DTAA

Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement — a tax treaty between India and another country allocating taxing rights and providing relief from double taxation.

E-invoicing and e-way bill

Electronic reporting of specified invoices to the government's portal, and the electronic document required for movement of goods above prescribed thresholds.

ESOP

Employee Stock Option Plan — a scheme granting employees the option to acquire shares, subject to company law, tax and, where relevant, foreign exchange rules.

FCRA

Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act, 2010 — regulates the acceptance and use of foreign contributions; registration is granted by the Ministry of Home Affairs.

FEMA

Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999 — India's law governing foreign exchange transactions, including repatriation and foreign investment.

Financial due diligence

An examination of a business's financial information to identify risks and issues relevant to a transaction.

First-time adoption

The process, governed by Ind AS 101, of moving from the previous accounting framework to Ind AS, including restating comparative figures.

Forensic accounting

The application of accounting and investigative techniques to establish facts for management, regulators or courts.

Forms 145 and 146

The remitter's declaration and the Chartered Accountant's certificate for certain payments to non-residents under the Income-tax Rules, 2026 — formerly Forms 15CA and 15CB.

FSSAI

Food Safety and Standards Authority of India — issues food business registrations and licences.

GSTIN

GST Identification Number — the 15-character registration number of a GST-registered person.

GSTR-2B

An auto-generated statement on the GST portal showing input tax credit available to a recipient based on suppliers' filings.

HSN / tariff classification

The product code under the customs tariff (based on the Harmonised System), which drives the duty rate and GST rate.

IEC

Importer Exporter Code — a ten-digit code issued by DGFT, required for most import and export activity.

Ind AS

Indian Accounting Standards — accounting standards converged with IFRS and notified under the Companies Act, 2013.

ITAT

Income Tax Appellate Tribunal — the second-level appellate authority, which hears appeals against orders of the first appellate authorities (the Joint Commissioner (Appeals) and Commissioner (Appeals)) and certain other orders.

ITC

Input Tax Credit — credit for GST paid on business purchases, available against output tax subject to conditions.

KPI

Key Performance Indicator — a measure tracked to assess progress against objectives.

Legal metrology

Rules on weights, measures and the mandatory declarations on pre-packaged goods.

LLP

Limited Liability Partnership — a body corporate with partners whose liability is limited, governed by the LLP Act, 2008.

MCA / ROC

Ministry of Corporate Affairs and the Registrar of Companies — the authorities with which companies and LLPs are registered and file returns.

Means of finance

How a project's cost will be funded, typically a mix of promoters' contribution, term loans, subsidies and other sources.

MIS

Management Information System — the regular reports management uses to monitor performance.

Nidhi company

A company formed to accept deposits from and lend to its members, subject to the Nidhi Rules, 2014.

NRI

Non-Resident Indian. For income tax, what matters is residential status under the Income-tax Act, which depends mainly on days of physical presence in India.

OPC

One Person Company — a company with a single member, available to eligible individuals.

PAN

Permanent Account Number — the ten-character taxpayer identifier issued by the Income Tax Department.

Place of supply

The rules that decide whether a supply is intra-state or inter-state, and therefore which tax applies.

Reassessment

Proceedings to assess income that the department believes has escaped assessment for an earlier year, subject to statutory conditions and time limits.

Registered Valuer

A valuer registered with the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India. Certain valuations under the Companies Act, 2013 must be performed by a Registered Valuer.

Related-party transaction

A transaction between a company and parties connected to it, which may require board or shareholder approval and disclosure.

ROC

Registrar of Companies — the office with which a company is registered and files its statutory returns.

Section 8 company

A company formed for charitable or not-for-profit objects that applies its income to those objects.

SOP

Standard Operating Procedure — a documented, repeatable way of carrying out a process.

Statutory audit

An audit required by law, such as the annual audit of a company's financial statements under the Companies Act, 2013.

Stock audit

A review, usually required by a lender, of the inventory and receivables against which credit has been extended.

TAN

Tax Deduction and Collection Account Number — required by persons who deduct or collect tax at source.

Tax audit

An audit of accounts required under the income-tax law for businesses and professions above prescribed thresholds.

Tax year

Under section 3 of the Income-tax Act, 2025, the twelve-month financial year beginning on 1 April (or a shorter period for a newly set-up business). It replaces the separate 'previous year' and 'assessment year' of the 1961 Act.

TDS

Tax Deducted at Source — tax withheld by the payer at the time of certain payments and credited against the recipient's liability.

Term loan

A loan repayable over a fixed schedule, typically used to finance fixed assets or projects.

Trade finance

Bank facilities that support import and export transactions, such as letters of credit, bank guarantees and export credit.

Transfer pricing

Rules requiring transactions between associated enterprises to be priced as independent parties would price them (the arm's length principle).

TRC

Tax Residency Certificate — a certificate from a country's tax authority confirming residence, generally required to claim treaty benefits.

UDIN

Unique Document Identification Number — generated through ICAI for certificates and reports signed by Chartered Accountants, allowing them to be verified.

Udyam registration

The online registration for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in India.

USFDA

United States Food and Drug Administration — the US regulator for food, drugs, medical devices and cosmetics.

Utilisation certificate

A certificate confirming that grant funds were used for the stated purpose.

Working capital limits

Short-term bank facilities such as cash credit or overdraft, sized to finance inventory and receivables.

Zero-rated supply

Exports and supplies to Special Economic Zones, which may be made with tax refunded or without payment of tax under a Letter of Undertaking (LUT), subject to conditions.

The Income-tax Act, 2025 and the Income-tax Rules, 2026 apply from 1 April 2026, and statutory forms have new numbers — for example, Forms 15CA and 15CB are now Forms 145 and 146, and Form 3CEB is now Form 48. Matters for tax years before 1 April 2026 generally continue under the Income-tax Act, 1961, so the form that applies to a particular period is confirmed during the engagement.