Tax & Transfer Pricing Counsel, From Structure to Certainty
LawCrust runs the full tax lifecycle across direct tax, GST, and transfer pricing: structuring and advisory, compliance and documentation at managed-service scale, notice and audit response, litigation strategy from CIT(A) and ITAT through the High Courts and GSTAT, and the certainty instruments, APAs, safe harbours, and settlements, that end disputes instead of feeding them. Built for the transition years: India has rewritten its income-tax law effective April 2026 and restructured GST, and every position, document, and dispute now straddles two regimes. One desk holds the direct-tax, GST, and TP position together, across the India-UAE, India-USA, India-UK, and India-Singapore corridors.
Scope of Work
What We Deliver Under Tax & Transfer Pricing.
The named, recurring work an enterprise client engages us for in this practice. Adjacent matters are common, scoped on the call.
- Tax strategy and structuring: entity and holding architecture, transaction structuring, repatriation and exit planning, and treaty and MLI/PPT positions
- Direct tax advisory and compliance: corporate tax positions, TDS/TCS architecture, provisioning support, and returns run as an ALSP-backed operation across both regimes
- Transfer pricing policy and documentation: benchmarking, local file, master file, CbCR, and intercompany agreements, delivered as an annual managed cycle
- Transfer pricing certainty and defence: safe-harbour elections under the rationalised 2026 rules, APA strategy (unilateral and bilateral), the multi-year block-assessment approach, DRP/ITAT defence, and MAP
- GST advisory and compliance: classification and rate positions under the two-slab structure, ITC architecture and reconciliation, refunds, place-of-supply, and e-invoicing operations
- GST disputes: audit and scrutiny response, show-cause defence, adjudication, GSTAT appeals now that the tribunal is operational, and High Court writs
- Direct tax disputes: faceless-assessment strategy, reassessment defence, CIT(A) and ITAT appeals, High Court and Supreme Court questions of law, and stay and recovery protection
- Search, investigation, and enforcement response: pre-incident protocols, statement strategy, seized-material handling, and block-assessment consequences
- Cross-border corridor tax: India-UAE, India-USA, India-UK, and India-Singapore structuring, DTAA relief and PPT defence, PE analysis, and withholding on cross-border flows
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About the app →How we compare
The Difference Is the Operating Model, Not Just the Price.
| Variable | Big 4 & large consultancies | Tax litigation boutiques | CA & compliance firms | The LawCrust way |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lens | Compliance and advisory at scale; litigation handed off. | Dispute-first; engaged after the notice. | Filings without strategy. | Stage-choice first: win the position at the cheapest winnable stage. |
| Coverage | Strong silos; direct, GST, and TP often separate teams. | Forum-focused. | Compliance only. | One desk across direct tax, GST, and TP, so positions never contradict each other. |
| Court & tribunal reach | Cannot appear as advocates in the High Courts. | Strong, at premium rates. | None. | Full chain: CIT(A), ITAT, GSTAT, High Courts, and Supreme Court through panel advocates under our oversight. |
| Operations scale | Priced at global rates. | Not built for volume. | Manual. | ALSP-backed compliance, reconciliation, and TP documentation operations at managed-service cost. |
| Transition readiness | Generic alerts. | Case-by-case. | Form-level only. | A dedicated transition desk for the 1961-to-2025 Act changeover and GST 2.0 restructuring. |
| Cross-border | Strong but siloed by member firm. | India-side only. | None. | Corridor desks (UAE, USA, UK, Singapore) with treaty strategy and local-qualified counsel abroad. |
Who it's for
The Buyer Profile.
CFOs and tax heads of multinationals and GCCs operating in India; mid-market Indian groups rationalising structures and dispute portfolios; PE/VC funds and their portfolio companies; family offices and HNIs on cross-border wealth and NRI positions; exporters and manufacturers; and businesses facing notices, audits, and search proceedings.
Regulators & Frameworks
Bodies and frameworks we operate under.
- Income-tax Act 2025 / 1961
- CBDT
- GST Council / CBIC
- GSTAT
- ITAT / CIT(A) / DRP
- DTAAs / MLI
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Multinationals & GCCs Operating in India
TP policy and documentation, permanent-establishment risk, secondment and cost-allocation structures, and audit defence, built for tax heads answering to global HQ.
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Mid-Market Indian Groups
Group structure rationalisation, promoter and holding-company planning, GST optimisation across entities, and dispute portfolios brought under one strategy.
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PE / VC Funds & Portfolio Companies
Entry and exit structuring, treaty and PPT positions, capital-gains characterisation, indirect-transfer analysis, and the tax terms inside every deal document.
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Family Offices & HNIs
Cross-border wealth and succession structuring, residency planning, and NRI tax positions across the corridors.
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Exporters & Manufacturers
GST refunds and inverted-duty positions, supply-chain structuring, and the classification disputes that decide margins.
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Businesses Facing Proceedings
Notice response, faceless-assessment strategy, reassessment defence, search-and-seizure response, and GST show-cause management, escalated only as far as the position justifies.
The framework
The Tax Certainty Framework: Six Lenses Before Strategy Is Set.
01 · Structure
Entity, holding, and transaction architecture: tax-efficient, treaty-defensible under the PPT, and fit for the exits and repatriations planned.
02 · Compliance Position
What is filed, what is open, and where the gaps are across direct tax, GST, TDS/TCS, and reporting, on both the outgoing and incoming regimes.
03 · Transfer Pricing Position
Whether intercompany pricing matches the functional reality: method selection, benchmarking quality, and safe-harbour or APA eligibility.
04 · Exposure & Open Years
Quantified exposure across open assessment years and pending notices, with the transition rule applied: which years run under the 1961 Act and which under the 2025 Act.
05 · Dispute Posture
For each live or likely dispute: merits, forum, precedent, cost-to-defend against amount-at-stake, and the stage where it is most winnable.
06 · Certainty Route
Which instruments end the recurring disputes: APA, safe harbour, advance ruling, settlement, or a fought precedent, and what each costs against what it buys.
Critical areas
Where Tax Positions Fail.
Fighting at the wrong stage
Litigating what an APA would have settled, or conceding at assessment what the ITAT routinely allows, both destroy value. Stage selection is the first decision on every matter.
Two regimes, one taxpayer
From April 2026, open years run under the 1961 Act while new years run under the 2025 Act, with renumbered provisions and new forms. Positions that silently assume the wrong regime are this decade's new error class. Our transition audit exists for exactly this.
Documentation that does not match the business
TP documentation describing a value chain the functional reality contradicts is an invitation, not a defence. We build documentation from the actual conduct, then align the intercompany agreements to it.
Safe harbours and APAs left unused
The 2026 rules rationalised safe harbours and are built to expedite APAs, yet most eligible taxpayers still litigate the same margin every year. Certainty instruments are usually the cheapest exit from recurring disputes.
ITC discipline treated as accounting
GST credit failures are rarely legal defeats; they are reconciliation failures discovered at audit. The monthly control pack, run as an operation, is what closes scrutiny quickly.
Notices answered casually
The first response frames the entire dispute; admissions made in a hurried reply are quoted for the next decade. Every notice gets a framework-tested position before anything is filed.
Search response without a protocol
Statements made during search proceedings, documents handed over unrecorded, and privilege never asserted convert a survey into years of litigation. We prepare protocols before the knock.
Treaty positions without substance
Post-MLI, a holding structure with no substance fails the principal-purpose test regardless of the paper. We build and document substance, or advise honestly that the position will not hold.
Engagement & retainer models
Structured, Scoped Models Instead of Open-Ended Hourly Billing.
Enterprise Tax Counsel
Standing direct-tax, GST, and TP advisory for CFO and tax teams.
Transfer Pricing Desk
Policy, documentation cycles, safe harbours, and APA strategy as an annual managed service.
GST Operations & Disputes Desk
Compliance operations, refunds, audits, and GSTAT appeals.
Tax Litigation Desk
CIT(A) through Supreme Court, through panel advocates under our oversight.
Regime Transition Desk
1961-to-2025 Act and GST 2.0 changeover audits, remapping, and dual-regime management.
Cross-Border Tax Desk
Corridor structuring, treaty defence, and bilateral certainty instruments.
How we engage
From Scoping Call to First Deliverable.
- 01
Scoping call
A 45-minute conversation to understand your matter, jurisdictions, and operating cadence. Initial calls are nominal.
- 02
Engagement letter
Scope, fees, escalation paths, and SLAs in writing within 2-5 business days.
- 03
Onboarding
Secure document handover, system access, named counsel allocated.
- 04
Delivery & reviews
Compliance calendars run as deliverables; dispute drumbeat on live matters; quarterly reviews aligned to filing and hearing cycles.
Procurement-ready
Built to Clear Your Procurement Desk.
Committed response standard
Urgent matters, notice deadlines, stay applications, search response, and limitation cut-offs acknowledged within 2 hours via tech-driven intake.
Confidentiality & conflicts
Formal conflict checks before onboarding; executed NDAs/DPAs before substantive work.
Data protection under the DPDP Act
Tax engagements move payroll, PAN-linked, and KYC data every month. DPAs are executed before substantive work, with security and breach-notification-support obligations in our processor terms, data-minimised handovers, deletion on closure, and DPDP-aligned infrastructure across the ALSP desks.
Delivery model
Advisory, documentation, and compliance operations delivered by LawCrust; High Court, Supreme Court, and tribunal advocacy through panel advocates under our oversight, BCI-compliant; strategic group structuring with Solvencis.
Tax & Transfer Pricing, Frequently Asked
Questions buyers ask before engaging.
Do you run transfer-pricing documentation?
Yes. TP policy, benchmarking, local file, master file, and CbCR, delivered as an annual managed cycle, with safe-harbour and APA eligibility tested under the rationalised 2026 rules on every mandate.
What is the Tax Certainty Framework?
A structured six-lens assessment, structure, compliance position, transfer pricing, exposure and open years, dispute posture, and certainty route, producing a written position report with quantified exposure and a prioritised plan, so each position is defended at the stage where it is most winnable. The assessment diagnoses position quality; it does not predict outcomes.
Can you litigate at the ITAT, GSTAT, and High Court?
Yes. The full chain: CIT(A) and DRP, ITAT, GSTAT (now operational), the High Courts, and the Supreme Court, with court advocacy delivered through panel advocates under our oversight.
How does the new Income-tax Act 2025 affect us?
For most taxpayers the rates are unchanged, but the statute, section numbers, forms, and terminology changed from April 2026, and open prior years continue under the 1961 Act. Our Regime Transition Desk audits positions, remaps references, and manages the dual-regime period.
Do you advise on DTAA and MLI positions?
Yes. Treaty relief, principal-purpose-test defence, substance planning, and PE analysis are routine on the India-UAE, India-USA, India-UK, and India-Singapore corridors, with bilateral APAs and MAP where certainty needs both administrations.
Can you handle GST audits, show-cause notices, and refunds?
Yes. Audit and scrutiny response, show-cause defence, adjudication and appeals including before GSTAT, and refunds run as a managed, deadline-tracked workstream, alongside ITC reconciliation discipline that closes scrutiny quickly.
Do you respond to search and seizure proceedings?
Yes. Pre-incident protocols, response management during proceedings, statement strategy, and the assessments and litigation that follow, coordinated with white-collar counsel where enforcement intersects.
Can you support the tax side of a transaction?
Yes. Deal structuring, tax diligence, capital-gains and indirect-transfer analysis, withholding on consideration, and the tax representations and indemnities in the documents, run with our M&A and Capital Markets desks.
General questions on engagement, security, and procurement live on the FAQ page.
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