A partner with a London-based Magic Circle law firm was visiting Mumbai to meet family but during his vacation he had to connect with an Indian client who's looking to raise some money from the overseas bond market. He and the client, along with another senior partner from an Indian law firm, held the meeting in Singapore. All three then flew back to India. As Covid-related travel curbs are lifted, many multinationals, as part of documented policy, are telling overseas employees vacationing in India to avoid taking office laptops or doing any sort of work while they are in the country. The fear is that if the employees respond to an email or attend a video conference, it could potentially end up in a large tax bill or lead to other regulatory issues. "Some foreign law firms that do not have an office or permanent establishment (PE) in India have a policy that their partners and employees while visiting India should not carry office laptops or should not carry out work like con-calls or respond to official email," said Sujjain Talwar, cofounder and partner at ELP. "The fear is that doing so could result in even the global revenues getting taxed in the country."
