Three engagements, end to end.
These are real engagements, anonymised, shared with client details removed. Industries are described only generically, numbers are rounded, and nothing here identifies a client. The point is the shape of the work: what the problem looked like, what we actually did, and what it changed.
₹28.6 lakh freed up-front on a ₹3 crore Mumbai flat.
The situation
A US-resident NRI was selling a long-held Mumbai flat for ₹3 crore, with an indexed cost of roughly ₹2.2 crore — a capital gain of about ₹80 lakh. The sale proceeds were needed in the United States, so the plan had three legs: sell, pay the right Indian tax, repatriate.
The complication
Under Section 195, a buyer paying a non-resident must withhold TDS at 12.5% plus cess (about 13%) on the entire sale consideration, not on the gain. On a ₹3 crore price that is roughly ₹39 lakh withheld — against an actual long-term capital-gains liability of only about ₹10.4 lakh on the ₹80 lakh gain. The excess of roughly ₹28.6 lakh would sit with the department until a refund landed, typically 8–14 months after filing. The buyer, worried about TDS-default exposure, would not agree to withhold anything less without paper to stand on.
What we did
- Computed the long-term capital gain from the purchase deed and indexed-cost working: ₹80 lakh gain, actual tax of about ₹10.4 lakh at 12.5% plus cess.
- Prepared and filed a Form 13 lower-deduction certificate application on TRACES, supported by the sale agreement, cost working, and the seller's residency documentation — filed well ahead of the intended completion date.
- Followed up with the Assessing Officer through the clarification rounds until the certificate issued, specifying withholding at the actual capital-gains tax rather than ~13% of the headline price.
- Gave the buyer the certificate and a withholding computation to rely on, so the transaction completed with roughly ₹10.4 lakh withheld instead of roughly ₹39 lakh.
- Coordinated Form 15CB certification through a Chartered Accountant on our panel, filed Form 15CA, and moved the net proceeds from the seller's NRO account into USD under the USD 1 million per financial year repatriation route.
The outcome
- About ₹28.6 lakh received up-front at completion, instead of waiting 8–14 months for a refund of excess TDS.
- Withholding cut from roughly ₹39 lakh (~13% of the full ₹3 crore price) to roughly ₹10.4 lakh — tax on the actual ₹80 lakh gain.
- Proceeds repatriated to the US with Form 15CA/15CB in place, in the same financial year as the sale.
Run your own numbers with the NRI property TDS & Form 13 estimator, or read the full NRI property guide.
US parent to invoicing-ready Indian subsidiary in 5 weeks.
The situation
A US technology company had signed commercial commitments that required an Indian entity able to invoice, hire, and bank — and the commercial clock had already started. The parent wanted a wholly owned subsidiary, a clean FDI paper trail, and a single point of accountability rather than four separate vendors for incorporation, FEMA, GST, and banking.
The complication
Both proposed directors were foreign nationals. Their identity documents needed apostille before anything could be filed, and Section 149(3) of the Companies Act requires at least one director ordinarily resident in India — a requirement the parent had not planned for. Downstream, the capital infusion had to be reported on Form FC-GPR within 30 days of allotment at a FEMA-compliant price, and GST registration plus bank account opening are exactly the steps where India-entry timelines usually slip from weeks into months.
What we did
- Confirmed the structure: a wholly owned private limited subsidiary, with the sector qualifying for 100% FDI under the automatic route.
- Ran document legalisation in parallel with structuring — apostilled director documents, Digital Signature Certificates and Director Identification Numbers for the foreign directors — and resolved the Section 149(3) requirement with a resident director appointed at incorporation.
- Reserved the name and incorporated through SPICe+ with PAN and TAN issued alongside.
- Opened the bank account, received the parent's capital infusion, and reported it on Form FC-GPR within the 30-day window at a FEMA-compliant issue price.
- Completed GST registration, set up the invoicing and payroll rails, and handed the parent a statutory compliance calendar with a single monthly dashboard.
The outcome
- Invoicing-ready Indian subsidiary — incorporation, FDI/FC-GPR, GST, and bank account — 5 weeks from engagement.
- FDI reporting closed inside the statutory 30-day FC-GPR window; no condonation, no penalty exposure.
- The parent's CFO sees one compliance dashboard, not four vendor threads.
The playbook is in our India entry guide and on the India Entry desk.
One India–US memo, signed off on both sides.
The situation
A US-resident founder held a controlling interest in an Indian operating company, with payments flowing between the two sides. Three questions kept resurfacing: the correct DTAA treatment and Section 195 withholding on the cross-border payments, the Form 15CB position supporting each remittance, and whether the Indian company's earnings created a GILTI inclusion on the US side.
The complication
The client's Indian auditor and their US CPA each held a defensible position — and the positions did not agree. Months of conflicting advice had stalled filings on both sides: the Indian side would not certify remittances against a withholding view the US side disputed, and the US side would not finalise the GILTI computation against facts the Indian side characterised differently. Every new question spawned another three-way email thread.
What we did
- Consolidated the facts both advisers were working from into a single dossier — shareholding, residency, payment flows, and the underlying contracts — so everyone argued from the same page.
- Prepared one India–US position memorandum: the DTAA analysis with article-level references, and the resulting Section 195 withholding treatment for each payment stream.
- Addressed the GILTI question head-on in the same memo — controlled-foreign-corporation status, the inclusion computation, and its interaction with Indian tax paid — framed so the US CPA could adopt it directly.
- Coordinated Form 15CB certification through a Chartered Accountant on our panel, with Form 15CA filed on positions consistent with the memo.
- Walked both advisers through the draft, resolved their comments in one revision cycle, and issued a final version each could sign off against.
The outcome
- A single position memo signed off by both the client's Indian auditor and their US CPA — one set of facts, one treaty analysis, one answer on GILTI.
- Months of conflicting advice ended; stalled filings proceeded on both sides on a consistent position.
- Every future remittance now runs against the memo instead of reopening the debate.
More on this corridor in the India–US cross-border tax guide and on the Cross-Border Tax desk.