Transfer Pricing — India & US
Documentation, benchmarking and certification for Indian transfer pricing compliance — coordinated with the broader transfer pricing policy of US and global parent groups, so your India position is defensible on both sides of the border.
Transfer pricing built around how multinational groups actually operate.
For an India subsidiary that is part of a global group — a captive IT/ITES delivery centre, a contract R&D unit, or a marketing support entity — transfer pricing is not an isolated annual compliance exercise. It is the documented justification for how profit is allocated between the India entity and the rest of the group, and it needs to be defensible to Indian tax authorities while remaining consistent with the group's broader transfer pricing policy, often anchored in the US or another jurisdiction.
Our Transfer Pricing practice handles both sides of this equation — Indian compliance and documentation, and the coordination needed to keep the India position aligned with group policy.
- India-based GCCs / captive service centres of US and global groups
- Indian subsidiaries providing contract manufacturing, R&D or back-office services
- Indian parent companies with overseas subsidiaries or branch operations
- Companies undergoing group restructuring affecting intercompany flows
- Entities preparing for or undergoing transfer pricing audits/assessments
Documentation, benchmarking and certification under Indian regulations.
Indian transfer pricing regulations require contemporaneous documentation and, for applicable taxpayers, a Form 3CEB report certified by a Chartered Accountant. The quality of this documentation — particularly the functional analysis and economic benchmarking — is what determines exposure in a future audit.
- Transfer pricing documentation (Local File) under Rule 10D
- Form 3CEB certification and filing
- Economic benchmarking studies using Indian and pan-Asian comparable databases
- Functional, Asset and Risk (FAR) analysis of intercompany transactions
- Master File compliance for groups meeting prescribed thresholds
- Country-by-Country Reporting (CbCR) compliance coordination
Keeping the India position consistent with group policy.
When a US (or other overseas) parent has its own transfer pricing policy — covering, for example, a cost-plus markup for the India captive, or a defined royalty rate for IP usage — the India-side documentation needs to reflect and support that same arrangement under Indian rules, which may apply different benchmarking ranges or methods than US Section 482 regulations.
We work directly with client groups' US or global tax teams to ensure the Indian transfer pricing position is internally consistent with the group's intercompany agreements and global TP documentation — reducing the risk of a position that satisfies one jurisdiction's auditor but creates exposure in the other.
- Alignment of India TP documentation with US Section 482 / OECD-aligned group policy
- Review and drafting of intercompany agreements (service agreements, IP licences, cost-sharing arrangements)
- Advisory on Advance Pricing Agreements (APA) — unilateral and bilateral
- Safe Harbour eligibility assessment for eligible international transactions
- Support during transfer pricing assessments, audits and Mutual Agreement Procedure (MAP) cases
The single largest tax risk for most captive centres.
For India-based GCCs and captive service entities, transfer pricing is typically the single largest source of tax controversy — Indian tax authorities have historically scrutinised cost-plus markups, the treatment of reimbursed costs, and the characterisation of services provided to the parent.
Getting the documentation, benchmarking and intercompany agreements right at the outset — and keeping them updated as the entity's functions evolve — is materially cheaper than defending a position during an audit years later.