FDI routes, FC-GPR and FC-TRS compliance — can I handle this myself?
Some of it, yes — and we will say so on the call if that is the honest answer. The parts that are worth paying for are the ones where a missed election, a missed deadline or an unverified threshold costs more than the fee: sectoral caps and entry routes determine whether approval is needed, and the reporting is filed by the Indian company on the prescribed forms with a valuation certificate.
What if I have already filed and got it wrong?
That is a common starting point. We re-derive the position, identify whether an amendment or a disclosure route is the right vehicle, and tell you which one preserves the relief that is still available. The order matters more than the speed.
How long will it take?
It depends on the documents rather than on us. Once the pack is complete most filings turn around inside a fortnight; anything that needs a certificate from a tax authority runs on that authority's timetable, which we tell you at the start rather than at the end.
We issued shares to a foreign investor — what do we have to file?
The Indian company reports the issue on the prescribed form, FC-GPR, and it is the company's filing rather than the investor's. The reporting clock runs from the transaction itself, not from the year end, and it is short, so treat it as part of closing the round rather than as an afterthought. A valuation certificate supports the price at which the shares were issued and goes with the filing. Before any of that, check the entry route for your sector, because that decides whether the investment could be taken at all without prior approval.
What is the difference between FC-GPR and FC-TRS?
FC-GPR reports an issue of shares by an Indian company to a person resident outside India — new capital coming into the company. FC-TRS reports a transfer of existing shares between a resident and a non-resident, in either direction, where the money goes to a shareholder rather than into the company. A funding round that combines a primary issue with a secondary sale therefore generates both, and missing the second is a common way a round ends up incompletely reported. Both rest on a valuation and both sit on short reporting clocks.
We reported our share issue late — what happens now?
Late reporting is regularised through compounding rather than ignored. The route involves applying, setting out the facts of the delay and of the transaction, and paying what is determined. What matters practically is that the underlying investment is otherwise in order — the sector route, the pricing and the valuation — because compounding addresses the delay, not a defect in the transaction itself. Work through the substance first, then make the application, and put a calendar in place so the next issue or transfer is reported on time.
Does our sector need approval before we take foreign money?
That is the first question, not the last. Sectoral caps and entry routes determine whether an investment can be taken without prior approval, whether it can be taken only up to a ceiling, and what conditions attach to it. The answer drives the timetable for the whole round, because approval is a process rather than a filing. Establish the position for your actual business activity, in writing, before subscription money moves. Unwinding an investment taken under the wrong route is considerably harder than waiting for a clearance.
Why does our bank want a valuation certificate for the share issue?
Because the price has to be supportable, and the reporting is built on it. The valuation underpins the filing for an issue or a transfer, and it does more work than that: the same valuation is what the tax analysis rests on when the pricing of the shares is examined later. Commissioning one valuation for the regulatory filing and reaching for a different figure in the tax return is how a company ends up defending two inconsistent positions on a single transaction. Do it once, keep the report, and use it for both.
Our foreign shareholder sold shares to an Indian buyer — who reports it?
The transfer is reported on FC-TRS, and in practice the Indian company has to make sure it happens even though it is not a party to the sale. It holds the share register, it is the entity the reporting attaches to, and it carries the consequence if the filing is missed. Get the sale documents, the valuation and the parties' particulars in hand before completion rather than after. Where buyer and seller sit in different time zones and the money moves quickly, the reporting clock is usually the tightest part of the deal.
What is Schedule FA and who has to complete it?
It is the foreign asset disclosure in an Indian return, and the trigger is residential status rather than income: a resident discloses foreign bank accounts, custodial and equity holdings, foreign life insurance with a cash value, immovable property and other assets held at any time in the year, plus any beneficial interest. A non-resident does not. The obligation is disclosure-based, so it applies to an account that earned nothing, and the penalties under the black-money legislation are what make it worth getting right. See Schedule FA reporting.
How is foreign tax credit claimed in India?
By furnishing Form 67 with proof of the foreign tax — the certificate or statement from the other country's authority or payer — and by relieving the income under the specific DTAA article rather than generally. The credit is limited to the Indian tax on that income, and it is computed source by source rather than in one pool. The deadline for furnishing Form 67 has been amended more than once, so we confirm it for the year rather than assume. See foreign tax credit in India.
