India is still a maturing tax jurisdiction especially on the
international taxation front. The Indian tax landscape has been
fraught with multifarious and protracted litigation especially in
International Tax and Transfer Pricing (‘TP').
A Mutual Agreement Procedure (‘MAP') is a key
mechanism provided under Double Tax Avoidance Agreements
(‘DTAAs') to resolve long standing tax disputes amongst
countries including India when it comes to double taxation of the
same income.
While there were certain guidelines provided under DTAAs as well
as Indian Income-tax Rules, guidance on granular aspects was
missing. This led to procedural delays in the dispute resolution
process as well as on several occasions' termination of the
MAP discussions.
