Asia: Tax

The GST Council, at its 57th meeting held on 8 October 2026, recommended a package of measures intended to facilitate the export of services from India. For enterprises that deliver services through overseas branches, the most consequential recommendation is the proposed removal of the restriction under which a supply between an Indian establishment and its own foreign branch could not qualify as an “export of services”. The Council has also recommended system-based processing of refunds and a wider eligibility for refund of accumulated input tax credit (“ITC”), both of which bear directly on working capital.

Aurtus provides comprehensive tax and advisory services spanning direct tax, indirect tax, and international tax matters. Their expertise includes transaction structuring, M&A assistance, IPO advisory, GST compliance, transfer pricing, and specialized services for family offices and GIFT IFSC setups. The firm offers end-to-end solutions for corporate tax planning, dispute resolution, and regulatory compliance across domestic and cross-border transactions.

The 57th meeting of the GST Council was held in New Delhi on 8 October 2026 under the chairpersonship of the Union Finance & Corporate Affairs Minister, Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman. While the 56th meeting focused on rate rationalisation and reduction of rates, the 57th meeting made recommendations on process reforms covering registration, returns, refunds and adjudication; clarifications on the applicability of GST to certain goods and services; and other trade facilitation measures.

The article discusses the key changes introduced in the recent amendment to Section 9D of the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act. which provides certainty, price parity, and uniform taxation across the country. It also discusses the background of the said amendment, which necessitated this amendment.

Tasmania's new taxation bill introduces significant changes for foreign investors and corporate groups, including reduced thresholds for surcharge relief and streamlined restructuring exemptions. The amendments lower the dwelling requirement from 50 to 10 units for foreign investor duty relief and eliminate pre- and post-transaction association requirements for corporate reconstructions.

Victoria's Commercial and Industrial Property Tax represents a fundamental shift in how commercial and industrial properties are taxed, replacing traditional upfront stamp duty with an annual property tax after a 10-year transition period. Understanding how this new regime affects property valuations, financing arrangements, and long-term ownership costs is crucial for anyone involved in commercial or industrial real estate transactions.

For an overseas business entering India, the first legal decision is not what to sell but how to be present. A liaison office, a branch, a project office and an Indian subsidiary each decide what the business may do in India, which regulators it answers to and how it is taxed.

An engineering, procurement and construction contract in India is taxed on the strength of decisions taken before the award: how the scope is divided, which entity signs, where title to equipment passes, and what the employer is told to withhold.

An Indian company pays a foreign supplier, parent or consultant, and deducts nothing. The invoice is settled, the money has left India, and a notice arrives two years later. From 1 April 2026 this sits in the Income-tax Act, 2025, where the withholding obligation on payments to non-residents is in Section 393(2) and the consequences of failure are in Section 398. The liability falls first on the Indian payer, but the recipient is rarely left untouched, because the payer usually looks to the contract to recover what it has paid. This note takes both sides in turn. The firm sets out the framework on its page on withholding tax on payments to non-residents.

In December 2020, an arbitral tribunal ordered India to pay Cairn Energy about USD 1.2 billion, plus interest and costs, for a tax demand raised under a retrospective amendment. Three months earlier, Vodafone had won a similar case. Both claims succeeded because the investment treaties under which they were brought did not exclude tax. Under the treaties India signs today, neither claim could have been brought at all.

An Indian resident can live, work and build wealth entirely in India and still have a potential U.S. federal estate-tax exposure merely because part of their wealth is invested in U.S. securities.

As Hong Kong's talent policies attract more mainland residents to work and invest across the border, complex tax residency questions emerge. Can obtaining Hong Kong identity and spending fewer than 183 days in mainland China eliminate mainland tax obligations?