Ajay Bahl and Deepak Chopra head AZB & Partners’ tax practice, which is particularly well equipped to handle high-value tax transactions. Advice on international taxation, transfer pricing, permanent establishment, M&A and private equity deal structuring, corporate tax planning, import/export considerations and the full scope of direct and indirect tax regulation is routinely provided to a global corporate client roster. Chopra spearheads the tax litigation practice. Recent instructions on this front involved challenges before for the ITAT and High Court on behalf of global automotive, telecoms, technology and consumer goods companies.

Khaitan & Co LLP. provides a full-service tax practice for the entire breadth of contentious and non-contentious issues. Dinesh Agrawal and Arvind Baheti are key names for indirect tax instructions and Ashish Mehta, Aditi Sharma and Bijal Ajinkya are go-to names for direct tax matters. Recent landmark litigation highlights involved disputes concerning withholding tax provisions and international proceedings relating to the confidentiality of taxpayers’ information. A high volume of transfer pricing disputes are also handled by Sanjay Sanghvi and Ritu Shaktawat. High-value global deals ranging from joint ventures and M&A transactions to strategic divestments are routinely handled for premier corporate and private equity clients. The team recently welcomed Sudipta Bhattacharjee at its New Delhi office who joined from Advaita Legal in February 2021.

Lakshmikumaran & Sridharan’s tax vertical covers all aspects of contentious and non-contentious matters under the the leadership of founding partner V. Lakshmikumaran. Indirect tax matters pertaining to GST (encompassing the hot-button issues surrounding anti-profiteering), excise tax and VAT are a point of strength for the practice; key names on this front include Ravi Raghavan and Mathivanan N. for advisory services and Charanya Lakshmikumaran and Narasimhan B.L. for litigation.  Direct tax engagements are spearheaded by S. Vasudevan, who advises a diverse client base of FMCG, IT, telecoms, manufacturing and financial services corporates on income tax assessments, M&A transactions, business restructurings, corporate expansions and transfer pricing disputes before the ITAT.

On the transactional side of Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co’s tax offering, high-profile global corporates frequently engage key partners Amit Singhania and Gouri Puri on market-leading M&A deals, joint ventures, foreign investments and large-scale corporate reorganisations. Abhay Sharma regularly provides direct taxation advice to global private equity funds and sovereign wealth funds, while Rajat Bose (who recently joined from a Big Four accounting firm) leads the indirect tax team, encompassing GST, VAT and service tax issues. Additional fields of expertise include state-specific excise tax knowledge, provided to alcoholic beverages companies, and digital taxation, provided to digital businesses, social media platforms and government bodies. On the contentious front, tax controversies including audits, investigations and appeals are handled.

In a successful year for Advaita Legal’s indirect tax offering, a host of domestic and international banks engaged the team on GST litigation with wide-ranging consequences for the banking sector. The engagements concern complex issues surrounding the taxability of free services. A R Madhav Rao, Kanupriya Bhargava and Shashank Shekhar handle indirect tax litigation, including recent disputes concerning GST levies on ocean freight services, while state excise tax advice for global alcoholic beverages clients is another strong point for the team. Further sectors of expertise include oil and gas and solar energy. Since publication, Sudipta Bhattacharjee left for Khaitan & Co. in February 2021.

Key names at Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas for tax advice include S.R. Patnaik, Mekhla Anand and Daksha Baxi, who lead teams focused on direct, indirect and international tax issues respectively. The bulk of instructions pertain to complex transacting structuring (domestic and cross border) and corporate reorganisations across a broad range of sectors, from banking and finance and insurance to FMCG and healthcare. Though primarily focused on non-contentious issues, the team has witnessed a rise in tax disputes instructions, and is currently involved in direct tax litigation regarding income tax assessments.

Advisory and restructuring matters are major points of strength for the tax practice at Kochhar & Co. Practice head Shahid Khan has a focus on direct tax issues, particularly cross-border investment and transaction structuring (benefiting from a recently established Dubai office), transfer pricing and compliance with international tax treaties. New join Shampa Bhattacharya (from a Big Four accounting firm) strengthens the indirect tax side of the practice, with ongoing engagements pertaining to GST, VAT and market pre-entry guidance. Disputes before the appellate authorities were also recently handled. Professional services and IT are key sectors of focus.

Vikas Srivastava and Jatinder Pal Singh are go-to names at L&L Partners Law Offices for direct and indirect tax matters respectively. Corporate transactions and investment structuring are points of focus. Transfer pricing litigation is also handled.

Recent highlights for Majmudar & Partners’ tax practice co-head Akil Hirani involved advising high-profile multinational clients on complex ESOP and equity compensation plan structuring, alongside a healthy stream of M&A-related tax structuring. International corporate clients and high-net-worth investors benefit from co-head Ravishankar Raghavan’s extensive knowledge of permanent establishment issues, international taxation treaties and the establishment of Indian subsidiaries. The team witnessed an increase in US-based clients, who instructed Rukshad Davar to advise on joint venture restructuring and transfer pricing provisions for their Indian operations.

Tax advisory and cross-border restructuring matters at Phoenix Legal are handled by co-head Abhishek Saxena on the direct side and co-head Pranav Srivastava on the direct side. The team was recently engaged by Indian subsidiaries to advise on transfer pricing, triangular trade agreements, import-export transactions, permanent establishment issues and general M&A activity. Co-heads Manjula Chawla and Saket Shukla add strength to transactional matters. sectors of focus include insurance, financial services, IT, healthcare and the heavy industries. The team welcomed a new partner Jatin Arora who joined from PwC Legal in September 2021 to lead the firm's indirect tax practice.

Singh & Associates Founder – Manoj K Singh Advocates and Solicitors has an active direct tax practice which draws upon the corporate expertise of co-head Daizy Chawla and the litigation expertise of Vijay Kumar Singh and founding partner Manoj Kumar Singh. Recent High Court successes saw positive results in quashing income tax recovery orders for clients in the manufacturing, infrastructure sectors. Other recent instructions saw the team providing advice on GST and customs tax to corporate clients.