Treaty, transfer pricing, GST, withholding and digital nexus are not five files. They are one architecture that decides margin, audit risk and exit value. We assemble that architecture before the first invoice goes out.
Section 92 · ALP
Method selection, benchmarking, Form 3CEB, Local File / Master File / CbCR, APA and Safe Harbour design.
DTAA · TRC · PPT
Residence, beneficial ownership, LoB / PPT defence, TRC and Form 10F file, lower withholding defence.
POEM · Section 6
Board calendar, decision locus, minute discipline and CBDT Circular 6/2017 read into the operating rhythm.
GST · OIDAR · Intermediary
Place of supply under IGST Section 13, intermediary characterisation, OIDAR, import-of-services and reverse charge.
SEP · Section 9
Significant Economic Presence diagnosis, business connection mapping and treaty over-ride read where invoked.
Pillar Two · BEPS
OECD Pillar Two GloBE rules, jurisdictional ETR and top-up tax monitoring for in-scope MNE groups operating in India.
Every cross-border revenue line tagged to a tax characterisation. Output: a one-page tax position before invoicing begins.
Select method, benchmark, draft inter-company agreements and file Form 3CEB. Threshold-trigger Local File / Master File / CbCR.
TRC, Form 10F, beneficial ownership memo and a documented Article-by-Article position assembled at year start.
Royalty / FTS / dividend / interest withholding mapped at contract stage. Reconciled to AS-26 / Form 26AS quarterly.
Place of supply, intermediary, OIDAR and reverse charge mapped onto invoice flow and GSTIN architecture.
Board calendar, decision locus, minute discipline. GloBE ETR monitoring if in scope. A defensible global position.
Section 92 of the Income-tax Act, 1961 applies the arm’s length principle to every international transaction between associated enterprises. The architecture has three layers: (i) the most appropriate method (CUP / RPM / CPM / TNMM / PSM) is selected with documented economic analysis; (ii) Form 3CEB is filed and contemporaneous Local File / Master File / CbCR are maintained where thresholds are triggered (Section 286 / Rule 10DA / 10DB); (iii) an Advance Pricing Agreement under Section 92CC or a Safe Harbour can be opted into for prospective certainty. We design the policy, defend the file and lead audit / DRP / ITAT engagement.
Treaty access is a function of residence (Article 4), Limitation of Benefits or Principal Purpose Test (where applicable), beneficial ownership and substance. A defensible Tax Residency Certificate, Form 10F and a contemporaneous beneficial ownership memo are the file. Where the treaty rate is lower than domestic withholding, the deductor must satisfy itself of these conditions before applying the lower rate. We assemble the file before the first invoice and refresh it every fiscal.
Significant Economic Presence (Section 9(1)(i), Explanation 2A) creates a business connection for a non-resident on digital revenue or user thresholds. Equalisation Levy 2.0 at 2% on non-resident e-commerce operators was withdrawn with effect from 1 August 2024; the 6% Equalisation Levy on online advertising services has been withdrawn from 1 April 2025. The architecture today is therefore SEP and treaty / Section 9 read together, not Equalisation Levy. We map your revenue model to this updated position before invoicing begins.
Place of Effective Management under Section 6(3) tests where the key management and commercial decisions necessary for the conduct of business as a whole are in substance made. CBDT Circular No. 06/2017 sets out the active and passive business test, board location, key personnel residence and where decisions are recorded. Mis-managed POEM converts a foreign holdco into an Indian tax resident on worldwide income. The governance protocol, board calendar and minute discipline are the architecture.
Cross-border services are read through place-of-supply rules under Sections 13 and 13(8) of the IGST Act, intermediary rules, the OIDAR regime for online services to non-business recipients, and the import-of-services treatment under reverse charge. A wrong characterisation creates either double tax or denial of input credit. We design the contract, the invoicing logic and the GSTIN architecture together so that the tax position is one decision, not three.
Investment route, sectoral caps, PN 3, FCGPR, FCTRS and downstream investment.
RBI, SEBI, MeitY, CDSCO, IRDAI, BIS \u2014 licence architecture mapped and sequenced.
Day-2 contracts, employment, IP, DPDPA privacy and dispute architecture.
The treaty, the transfer pricing, the GST line and the withholding are one decision. Make it cleanly.