Transfer Pricing Rules for India’s Goods and Services Tax

The Indian goods and services tax (GST) regime recently replaced the earlier laws providing for tax on supplies of goods and services. Under the new regime, transfer pricing rules have been introduced, which were virtually non-existent earlier. The GST regime insists on arm’s length pricing in related-party transactions. In this article, the author explains that the new transfer pricing rules have a significant impact on existing supply chains, in particular cross-border transactions between overseas entities and their Indian affiliate entities, both inbound and outbound. Besides the increase in compliance costs, these rules may also entail additional tax outflows.