Constantine Advisory Services Law Direct Tax practice offers tax services across various disciplines helping its clients navigate through complexities in an ever-changing tax environment. Our competencies include the following –

1.   TRANSACTION TAX SERVICES

Our team of professionals have many years of experience advising clients on a variety of complex tax and regulatory issues / aspects of mergers, acquisitions joint ventures, equity investments, or divestitures including assisting clients end-to-end on:

• Transaction structuring;
• Deal negotiation support;
• Capital structuring; and
• Execution support.

2.   TAX CONTROVERSY AND DISPUTE RESOLUTION

Our Direct Tax practice group has significant experience in advising / representing clients on managing controversy in complex domestic and international tax matters across Indian appellate fora, developing litigation strategy, assistance in filing appeals, Writs, Special Leave Petitions before various courts in India, appearing before tax appellate fora and Authority for Advance Rulings, briefing Senior Counsels on representation before High Court / Supreme Court on matters pending dispute resolutions and providing opinions / memos. The team has handled matters such as allegations of tax avoidance, liquidation / post liquidation tax issues, domestic corporate re-organisations involving merger / de-merger/slump sale, tax treatments on complex leasing transactions, cash credits, deductibility of corporate social responsibility expenditure, challenging reassessments (including filing writ petitions) and expediting cash tax refunds, denial of benefit under DTAAs, taxability of cross border corporate re-organisations involving buy-backs / indirect transfer / direct transfer / gift of shares, taxability of cross border of services, payment for software acquisitions / royalties and allegations on permanent establishment, including representation before the Authority for Advance Rulings.

3.   CORPORATE INSOLVENCY

Our team advises clients on tax aspects of restructuring for protecting against insolvency proceedings and assisting clients in managing tax implications of going through a resolution process under the IBC owing to items such as conversion of debt into equity / quasi-equity, distressed sale of undertakings, debt waiver, interest waiver or issue of shares at a premium / discount.

4.   TAX & REGULATORY POLICY SUPPORT

Partners in the Firm have represented businesses / industry coalitions before various regulators and policy makers including the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade, Reserve Bank of India and Central Board of Direct Taxes (the apex direct tax administration body of India) on a variety of issues such as permissibility of FDI in real estate broking services, representations of interest limitation provisions, withholding tax matters, loss carry forward for a specific industry, etc.

5.   TAX ADVISORY & PLANNING – DOMESTIC & INTERNATIONAL TAX

Our Direct Tax practice group has extensive experience in advising clients in domestic, international and cross border tax matters. We assist clients in identifying and implementing tax planning / optimisation strategies, advising them on the impact of general anti-avoidance rules (GAAR) on a transaction / structure,eligibility to claim the relevant tax treaty benefitsincluding considering impact of principal purpose test and/or the limitation on benefit provisions, place of effective management,etc.

6.   SUCCESSION PLANNING / PRIVATE CLIENT

Our team assists families in designing and setting-up an ownership structure that facilitates efficient inheritance of wealth including assists in identifying alternate holding structures for the family (such as holding companies, LLP, Trust etc.) for wealth maximization and protection. Our team has the experience in advising families, from a tax & regulatory perspective, on asset distribution, family settlements and matters of formation, investment & divestment by family offices.