With a population of more than 1.36 billion over 29 states, India is a huge country with diverse cultures. The tax and regulatory framework in India is a mix of Central Government-led and State Government-led regulations & initiatives, making each State a unique geography in itself. The regulations are ever-evolving with the advancement of technology and with a specific focus of the Government through “Ease of doing business” and “Make in India” initiatives.
In such evolving times, it is all the more important for a multinational group to undertake a proper evaluation of the business requirements vis-à-vis the India Entry Strategy considering the local regulations and requirements.
Foreign companies planning to invest in India may plan to set up a sales office / branch office / R&D unit in one or many Indian locations, or a small to medium scale assembly line/manufacturing unit. In this process, they generally need handholding support for the initial years till they are ready to expand their operations and employ more people.
Our services are provided in phases / modules and include:
- Advice regarding choice of entry, mode of entry, exchange control laws, etc.
- Initial advice regarding the tax laws and registration requirements
- Initial advice on employment regulations and business laws
- Formation of Indian entity
- Registration for Corporate Income tax
- Indirect tax registrations
- Payroll registrations
- Assistance with opening of local bank account
- Payroll, book-keeping and / or introductions to local third party service providers
- Financial and MIS reporting requirements
- Assistance with annual company secretarial and legal compliance
- Employer tax compliance
- Advice on customary local employment benefits
- Advice on work permits and expatriate tax issues or introduction to local legal counsel
- Corporate tax compliance and advisory services
- Indirect Tax compliances and advisory services
- Transfer Pricing Services
- Advice on shareholder issues
- Other Tax and Regulatory matters
At KCM, we shall act as a Single Point of Contact (SPoC) for foreign companies and advise our clients on practical issues of set-up, including providing an understanding of the steps required to establish India operations. The offerings are a mix of practical and action-points-based advice along with quick implementation support. We also assist clients in other matters such as local taxation, payroll, accountancy support, drafting standard agreements, etc.
Based on the requirements of our clients, we also identify and introduce the entity to reputable third-party service providers such as banks, labour laws consultants, insurance brokers, immigration lawyers and so on.
Each Incubation Team is led by an Incubation Lead who has overall responsibility of handling and managing work affairs for and in India and is supported by a cross-functional team (comprising Chartered Accountants, MBAs, Company Secretaries, Law Graduates, etc.) who are experts in the following areas:
- India entry / entity structuring
- Accounting and Book keeping
- Corporate Tax
- Indirect Taxes / Goods and Services Tax (GST)
- Transfer Pricing
- Company Law and Exchange Control Regulations
Our attempt is to completely handhold our clients during the initial 2 to 3 years of their set up in India till the time they become self-sufficient and thereafter, become trusted Business advisors to our clients for years to come.
KCM has successfully supported multiple MNCs from the US, Europe, Japan, Taiwan and other areas with Incubation Support Services by handholding their Finance, Accounts and Tax matters for the initial years of their set-up in India and then transitioned the profile to the inhouse team of clients.