Setting up business in India, doing business in India

With a well-developed banking system complemented by a very vibrant capital market, India is the focus of global investors today. The Indian tax laws provide tax holidays and incentives for investments in certain sectors like power, electronics, software and food processing. It has a wellregulated and well-developed financial services and insurance sector supported by a well-established legal system, and accountancy and actuarial professions.

We are a tax advisory based in the UK but well conversant with the business environment in India. We can help you through the regulatory, tax and procedural hassles as you plan to establish and dobusiness in India.

Setting up business in India

Foreign direct investment in to India is fairly liberalized these days. Setting up a business, therefore,should be straightforward, but approvals may be required in certain situations. We could:

• Advise on various entry options considering UK tax laws and the Indian tax laws
• Advise on an appropriate business structure for your business in India for e.g. liaison office, branch office, project office, subsidiaries, joint-venture companies
• Advise on an appropriate entry vehicle including advising on a suitable holding company location where relevant
• Obtain prior government approvals in India, where required
• Incorporate a business for you in India or advise on the procedural formalities involved in setting up your businesses in India
• Prepare a comprehensive India-specific business plan
• Obtain a Permanent Account Number (PAN) for your business in India
• Help you open your bank account
• Work out tax-efficient profit extraction methods for the Indian business
• Structure tax-efficient compensation packages for employees in India
• Advise on an ideal capital structure for your business in India
• Help you through the exchange control proceduresin India
• Structure acquisitions and performing due diligence for acquisition of existing Indian business
• Re-structure your business – e.g. convert your branch into a subsidiary or vice-versa
• Due diligence before investments in India, on acquisitions and mergers and post investment

Doing business in India

Once you are established in India we could advise on a range of tax, economic and corporate laws in India besides helping you set upprocedures to comply with therequirements associated with these laws. These include:

• Being your authorised representative in India and even run your virtual office in India where a physical office infrastructure is not required, particularly in the early days!
• Representing you before the Indian tax and other regulatory authorities on your behalf
• Advising you on transfer pricing rules considering the Indian and UK tax laws
• Providing monthly management accounting and reports
• Payroll processing, and complying with employment and tax laws
• Being your statutory auditors and performing annual statutory audit
• Company secretarial services including event-driven and periodic compliance
• Advising you on repatriation of funds from India, and helping you with the law and procedures with regard torepatriation of income / assets from India including advice on withholding tax implications
• Devising and implementing appropriate accounting and internal control manuals for your business in India
• Advising you on the corporate governance laws and procedures in India
• Advising on internally re-organising the businessthrough share buy-backs and capital reductions considering the India tax and regulatory environment, to maximize benefits to the investors.

Transaction specific: we could also provide transaction specific advice in India regardless of the country you’re based in:

• Help you obtain approval from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for purchase/sale of residential and commercial property.
• Issue opinions on a specific area of the tax law in India
• Carry out tax due diligence on an Indian business
• Provide transaction support services like due diligence, deal structuring and coordinating with other professionals
• Specific advice on foreign exchange regulations affecting a particular transaction, and
• Carrying out investigations

Please contact us for a free initial consultation