MRUNAL PAREKH

Advisory:

• Examining and providing opinions on various issues relating to international taxation: (a) Permanent Establishment, (b) Taxability of Royalty/Fees for Technical Services, (c) Offshore Supply of Equipment, (d) Taxability on Indirect Transfers, (e) Taxability of Incidental Income in the case of Airline and Shipping Companies, (f) Secondment of Employees, (g) Withholding of Taxes on Payments Made to Non-Residents, (h) Structuring to Tax-Efficient Jurisdictions, (i) Efficient Modes of Repatriation, (j) Analyzing Tax Treaties, (k) BEPS/MLI, etc.
• Analyzing and opining on the tax implications of setting up a REIT in India, and the transactions that will occur between the investors, unit holders, and special purpose vehicles.
• Analyzing and opining on the tax impact of clients' claims based on amendments, prospective or retrospective, introduced by Finance Acts.
• Analyzing and opining on the transactions of share pledging and corporate guarantees provided by non-resident entities on behalf of their Indian AEs, and especially the applicability of transfer pricing provisions to such transactions.
• Analyzing and opining on seafarers’ taxation in India on a secondment basis, where the salary is received in a foreign bank account.
• Analyzing and opining on TDS implications under sections 194B and 195 of the Income Tax Act, 1961 (“Act”) for a company providing an online gaming platform to its participants.
• Analyzing and issuing opinions on the liability of the parent entity to make good the loss of interest income and diminution in value of the investment, as per the prevailing provident fund laws.
• Analyzing and issuing opinions on the implications of Supreme Court rulings, wherein it was held that special allowances paid by an establishment to its employees would fall within the expression 'basic wages.'
• Analyzing and issuing opinions on accounting treatment to recognize interest as a contingent liability based on IRDA regulations.
• Analyzing and advising clients on whether an application for an advance ruling should be filed for the contemplated transaction.
• Analyzing and opining on the sums expended and transferred by an entity to ascertain whether the Corporate Social Responsibility obligations have been duly discharged.
• Advising clients on tax positions to be adopted at the time of finalizing and preparing the computation of total income, and filing income tax returns.

Restructuring/reorganization:

• Examining various tax issues (domestic and international) about mergers, reverse mergers, slump sales, and demergers, i.e., the 'Vodafone-Idea merger.'
• Issuing opinions on the eligibility and availability of benefits under Section 47 of the Act.
• Analyzing and opining on the tax implications under MAT on the merger/capital reduction of entities, and the implications arising due to the merger of two group entities, as well as the adoption of IND AS by such entities.
• Analyzing and opining on the tax liability of the Company and its non-resident shareholders on the buy-back of shares by the Company.
• Preparing advice/opinion on entry strategy reports for foreign companies for investment in India, i.e., jurisdictional analysis/treaty analysis.
• Carrying out our due diligence of a target entity (hospitality industry) from a finance, tax, and company law perspective.
• Appearing and representing clients in assessment proceedings, reassessment proceedings, preparation of submissions, and representation before the Assessing Officer ("AO").

Litigation:

• Carrying out cross-examination of expert witnesses from income tax authorities on issues of technical services involving human intervention or not.
• Appearing before the Deputy Director of Investigation to furnish a submission or explanation on seized material regarding survey, search, and seizure matters.
• Drafting of appeals to be filed with the Commissioner of Income Tax Appeals [“CIT (A)”] and objections before the Dispute Resolution Panel.
• Compiling and filing paper books before the CIT(A), DRP, and ITAT.
• Drafting appeals, cross objections, miscellaneous applications, and other applications before the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (“ITAT”) under the Act and the Black Money (Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets) and Imposition of Tax Act, 2015 (“BMIT”).
• Representing clients before the ITAT and before the Hon’ble High Courts.
• Drafting appeals, writ petitions, and interim applications to be filed in the High Court and Supreme Court, and appearing in the courts (representation individually and with senior counsels).
• Analyzing and advising clients on various tax amnesty schemes, i.e., the Direct Tax Vivad Se Vishwas Act of 2020 or 2024, and under the one-time scheme of the Taxation Laws (Amendment) Act of 2021.
• Drafting compounding applications with the income tax authorities in connection with prosecution initiated against the assessee, appearing, and obtaining the relevant orders.
• Appearing in the Metropolitan Magistrate Court in connection with prosecution proceedings initiated by the income tax authorities.
• Drafting appeal and bail applications, and appearing in Sessions Court to challenge the prosecution order passed by the Metropolitan Magistrate.
• Drafting representation letters to be filed with the CBDT to seek clarifications on several issues.
• Appearing in the High Court, Sessions Court, and Metropolitan Magistrate Court in prosecution matters filed by the Income Tax Department.