Liaison Office In India

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Foreign Company

Oldest Indian Tax Advisors for You

Oldest Indian Tax Advisors for You

Since 1976

Our Team Handles Income Tax, Goods & Services Tax, Corporate Law, RBI & FEMA Matters.

Sumeet Khanna

Our Firm

Our Firm Sunil K. Khanna & Co. was founded in 2nd February, 1976 by our founder Late CA. Sunil Kumar Khanna. He founded the firm with a vision to build an institution of learning for the team members associated with the firm and to render a one stop solution to his clients. We are one of the leading Chartered Accountant Firms In India offering services in the field of Income Tax, Goods & Services Tax, Corporate Law, Regulatory Compliance and Audit & Assurance. The immense experience of the firm helps in rendering a wide variety of services to Indian and Multi National companies.

First Consultation Absolutely Free

What We Do

If you are looking for opening a representative office in India for representing your organization in India or for marketing and liaison purposes then Foreign Liaison Office is the best suited for your organization. The main benefit of a liaison/ representative office is that it is not liable to any taxes in India as it is not undertaking any business activity in India. Its scope of work is limited to liaison and marketing for parent company. It is however required to deduct tax at source wherever applicable.

A Liaison Office is in the nature of a representative office set up primarily to explore and understand the business and investment climate. A Liaison Office is not permitted to undertake any commercial/ trading/ industrial activity, directly or indirectly, and is required to maintain itself out of inward remittances received from the parent company through normal banking channels. Its role is limited to collecting information about possible market opportunities and providing information about the company and its products to prospective Indian customers. It can promote export/ import from/ to India and also facilitate technical/financial collaboration between parent companies and companies in India.

Activities Permitted for Foreign Liaison Office

It is subject to various restrictions and can only conduct activities permitted by the Reserve Bank of India at the time of granting permission for opening liaison office or if permitted later. It can only undertake the following activities in India.

  • Representing the Parent Company in India
  • Promoting/ Liaison for Export out of India
  • Promoting/ Liaison for Import into India
  • Representing Parent company for felicitating technical / financial collaboration between parent company and Indian company
  • Acting as a communication channel between Parent Company and Indian Companies

It cannot undertake any activities other than the activities mentioned above subject to the permission of Reserve Bank of India. Some of the activities that a Liaison Office cannot undertake in India are given below.

Other Features of Foreign Liaison Office

  • A Foreign Liaison Office is not subject to Indian Taxes (except as mentioned above)
  • A Foreign Liaison Office cannot undertake any Commercial/ Business Activities in India
  • Parent Company is required to bear all the expenses of the Liaison Office
  • A Liaison Office can neither borrow nor lend money
  • Foreign Liaison Office is now required to file annual return with Income Tax Office but is not subject to payment of any Income Tax

Foreign Liaison Office Setup Procedure

A Foreign Liaison Office is a special business setup mode which can be setup only with prior permission of Reserve Bank of India (RBI). The applications from such entities will be considered by the Reserve Bank under two routes:

(a)   Reserve Bank Route – Where principal business of the foreign entity falls under sectors where 100 per cent Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) is permissible under the automatic route.

(b)   Government Route – Where principal business of the foreign entity falls under the sectors where 100 per cent FDI is not permissible under the automatic route. Applications from entities falling under this category and those from Non – Government Organisations / Non – Profit Organisations / Government Bodies / Departments are considered by the Reserve Bank in consultation with the Ministry of Finance, Government of India.

An application for registration of foreign liaison office is required to be made through a designated AD Category – 1 Bank in Form FNC-1 along with the following documents:

  1. Form FNC-1 in Triplicate
  2. Proposed business activity in India;
  3. Name of Company with Certificate of Incorporation in home country (Attested from Home country i.e. notary + Apostile);
  4. Latest audited balance sheet (Attested from Home country i.e. notary + Apostile);
  5. Brief description of activities of Company;
  6. Value of Import/Export to India by the Company during last three years;
  7. Detail of existing arrangements in India, if any;
  8. Name and address of banker of the Company in the home country;
  9. Certified Copies of Memorandum and Articles of Association/ By Laws/ Regulations of the Company (Attested from Home country i.e. notary + Apostile and to be in English);
  10. List of directors and secretary of the Company i.e. name, address, designation, date of appointment etc;
  11. Registered office address of the Company including telephone no. and email id;
  12. The name and address or the names and addresses of one or more persons resident in India authorized to accept on behalf of the company service of process and any notices.
  13. Full address of the office of the company in India which is deemed to be its principal place of business in India including telephone no. and email id;
  14. Particulars of opening and closing of a place of business in India on earlier occasion or occasions;
  15. Detail of other places of business in India, if any;
  16. List of shareholders containing name of shareholder, address, number of shares and value of shares;
  17. DSC of authorized representative of foreign company;
  18. Certified copy of PAN of authorized representative of foreign company or DIN if available;
  19. Particulars of subsidiary, holding or associate companies of the foreign company in India

RBI may ask for any further documents as may be necessary in addition to these documents.

We at Sunil K.Khanna & Co. are assisting Foreign companies and clients to open Liason Offices in India. The turn around time period for obtaining the approval ranges from 45-60 Days from the date of receipt of documents. 

We have obtained the permissions on behalf of clients from U.S., Europe, Africa, China, South East Asia and Australia. We on behalf of our clients have obtained permissions for opening project offices of construction and engineering companies, marketing offices of MNC companies and Representative offices of Non Profit Organisations.

We charge a consolidated fee for advisory, preparation and representation of an application which is quoted after careful assessment of documentation.

Please feel free to revert in case of any clarification on the subject or the procedure involved therein.

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Saved By Legitimate Tax Planning For Our Clients

Sometimes you may find yourself in difficult situations and not be able to defuse
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Recovered from Tax Authorties as Tax Refunds For Our Clients

Sometimes you may find yourself in difficult situations and not be able
to defuse the situation without going to court.

Get In Touch

We are highly appreciative of all the work done by Mr. Sumeet Khanna and his team for repatriation of money from India to US. Their strong work ethics and connections helped us navigate the bank bureaucracy smoothly. Excellent follow up and quick to respond to queries. We look forward to the next stage of tax filing through this company. I whole-heartedly recommend Mr. Sumeet Khanna!

Mr. Ashish Vyas

Technical Program Manager - Google, Kenmore, Washington, U.S.Am

Sumeet is a thoughtful, knowledgeable, skilled and a very client orientated professional. An absolute pleasure to work with! His company under his leadership provides very professional taxation services. Timely & professional advise, delivering to commitments and a thorough understanding of the subject matter are what impressed me most. And to top it up, Sumeet is a fine person, pleasure to know him and associate with him. Thanks Sumeet and my best wishes.

Mr. Ramit Nagpal

Deputy General Counsel at European Bank for Reconstruction and Development,, United Kingdom

Sumeet is not only my childhood friend but a true professional who is taking care and helping us out for all our accounting, audits, corporate finance, tax consultancy and returns ever since i started my venture. He has been constantly advising us since the inception of our group with his vast and in-depth experience in the finance field, which is helping us to expand and grow across all India.

Mr. Vipul Dewan

Executive Partner, Director - Trutech Constructions Pvt. Ltd.

Get in touch for a free evaluation of your case.