When Business Without Borders Creates Tax Exposure In today’s interconnected business environment, companies can access international markets without establishing a physical office in every country where they operate. A foreign enterprise may serve Indian customers remotely, deploy employees to India, engage local representatives, or provide consulting and technical services across borders. However, an important question arises: Can a company become liable to pay tax in…
Purchasing property from a non-resident seller has traditionally involved additional tax at source (TDS) compliance for resident individual buyers and Hindu Undivided Family (HUFs), including the requirement to obtain a Tax Deduction and Collection Account Number (TAN). A resident individual or HUF purchasing immovable property from a non-resident seller was previously required to obtain a Tax Deduction and Collection Account Number (TAN), deduct the applicable…
Finance & Accounting Insights | October 2026 | India Edition The annual budget was built for a world that no longer exists. For much of the past two years, Indian finance teams operated on a relatively comfortable assumption: inflation was moderating, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) was easing monetary policy, and the rupee’s depreciation remained manageable. That assumption has now been challenged. On 7…
Tax disputes are changing. The next question from the tax authorities may be generated by data before it is raised by a human. Tax administration is no longer limited to what a taxpayer reports in its income-tax return. Today, information flows across multiple systems, including GST returns, TDS statements, the Annual Information Statement (AIS), financial transactions, foreign remittances, banking records and information reported by third…
An invoice may look like nothing more than a quiet, single-page PDF resting in an inbox. In reality, it represents an active journey through business strategy, Indian tax compliance, technology workflows, accounting, and internal controls. Before an invoice becomes an entry in the general ledger, a business owner has made a decision, a manager has approved a purchase, a vendor has delivered goods or services,…
For most businesses, the annual audit is expected to begin once the financial year is closed and the books are finalised. In practice, however, an audit rarely starts with just a Trial Balance. An efficient audit requires supporting schedules, reconciliations, confirmations, explanations for significant balances and access to relevant documents. When these are not available at the beginning of the audit, the process can turn…
India’s foreign exchange framework for exports and imports is set for a significant overhaul from 1 October 2026. The Reserve Bank of India’s Foreign Exchange Management (Export and Import of Goods and Services) Regulations, 2026, together with the accompanying Directions, aim to simplify compliance, provide greater flexibility to businesses and give Authorised Dealer (AD) banks a more significant role in administering the framework. The new…
The 57th GST Council Meeting is scheduled for 7 October 2026 in New Delhi, with the preparatory Officers’ Meetings scheduled for 5 and 6 October. The meeting, which was originally scheduled for 12 September, has now been rescheduled. For businesses, tax professionals and the wider GST community, the upcoming meeting assumes considerable importance. After almost nine years of GST, the focus is no longer merely…
In a service-oriented business, the most important resources are people and technology. Unlike manufacturing, where machinery and physical assets play a major role, service organisations depend largely on the knowledge, skills, judgement and relationships of their people, supported by appropriate technology. Effective resource management, therefore, is not about having the maximum number of people or the latest technology. It is about using the right resource…
As announced in the Union Budget 2026, CBDT has notified the Foreign Assets of Small Taxpayers – Disclosure Scheme (FAST – DS), effective from 16th August 2026 to 31st December 2026. FAQs have also been issued to provide further clarity on the scheme. FAST-DS presents a valuable opportunity for small taxpayers to voluntarily disclose foreign assets or income that may have been inadvertently omitted from…
