Anatomizing AAR’s Mauritius Ruling – Insights into GAAR, MLI & Tax Planning

Episode Duration:
90 minutes.

Episode Background:
A claim for tax treaty benefits, especially under the India-Mauritius tax treaty, has always been a fiercely contested issue. The pandora’s box seems to have been reopened with the recent ruling by the Authority of Advance Ruling (‘AAR’) in the case of a renowned Private Equity Fund selling its stake in Flipkart Singapore as a part of the Flipkart-Walmart deal. The AAR declined to grant capital gains exemption under India-Mauritius tax treaty in respect of the indirect transfer of shares, that ultimately resulted in Walmart acquiring Flipkart India and made some significant observations, including applying the 'heads & brains' test to rule against the applicants. 

What shall the episode cover?
In this backdrop, Taxsutra in conjunction with premier law firm Lakshmikumaran & Sridharan (L&S) has unveiled a special episode on “Anatomizing AAR’s Mauritius Ruling – Insights into GAAR, MLI & Tax Planning.” Over the course of this episode, Legal Stalwart Mr. V. Lakshmikumaran (Founder and Managing Partner, L&S) & Mr. S. Vasudevan (Partner) have dissected the said AAR ruling and also discussed how the AAR has dealt with investments made through Mauritius in other rulings including Becton Dickinson and Bid Services, and have also thrown light upon the following aspects:

• Key principles laid down by the Supreme Court in Azadi Bachao and Vodafone case – How these are being applied in various cases?
• How courts outside India have dealt with similar issues?
• Impact of Principal Purpose Test(PPT) under MLI and GAAR on such transactions
• Future of tax planning – Key learnings for businesses and tax advisors