Inbound Market Establishment Tax Governance Director

The mandate

The board seeks an independent view on whether proposed India establishment choices remain coherent across direct tax, governance, operating conduct and future flexibility. The standing question is not simply which legal form appears efficient. Directors need to understand how residence, permanent-establishment exposure, profit attribution, withholding, financing, transfer pricing and exit consequences change under credible operating scenarios.

The eight-month cadence comprises one weekly working session, a monthly sponsor review and one scheduled committee meeting. Early sessions will test assumptions and decision rights; later work will challenge selected design papers and monitor whether implementation conduct remains aligned with the approved tax basis. Ad-hoc responses inside scope are expected within three business days.

This is an influence-only appointment with no line authority, incorporation power, filing responsibility or ability to appoint advisers. The Director may challenge management evidence, compare alternatives, recommend escalation and advise that a paper is not ready for board decision. Legal, tax, finance and board owners retain their respective approvals and implementation duties.

Current or recent relationships with service providers, counterparties, joint investors or governing bodies connected to the establishment choice must be disclosed. Recusal applies where safeguards cannot protect independent judgment. Renewal requires a fresh board question; incomplete execution does not turn this advisory role into project management.

What you will own

• Test alternative establishment forms through residence, permanent establishment, attribution, repatriation, withholding, financing, transfer pricing and exit consequences.
• Challenge assumptions about where strategic decisions, contracting authority, risk control and key functions will actually occur.
• Shape a scenario comparison covering after-tax cash, accounting effect, implementation lead time, compliance burden, flexibility and reversal cost.
• Press management to identify which facts are committed, which remain choices and which depend on third-party or regulatory action.
• Review the authority map for incorporation, tax positions, intercompany agreements, funding, filings and risk acceptance.
• Examine whether implementation behavior, personnel deployment and contracts remain consistent with the approved tax analysis.
• Facilitate two board rehearsals involving faster growth, delayed approvals, changed decision location or an earlier-than-planned exit.
• Provide a closing independent opinion on decision quality, implementation governance and unresolved tax assumptions.

Candidate qualifications

• Chartered Accountant or equivalent and at least 18 years in Indian and international direct tax, including senior market-establishment advice.
• A market-entry structure your challenge changed after testing operating conduct or exit flexibility, with the ultimate decision identified.
• Breadth across residence, permanent establishments, attribution, withholding, financing, transfer pricing, tax accounting and repatriation.
• Evidence of comparing several viable legal forms without presenting the lowest initial tax rate as the sole decision criterion.
• Experience advising board or investment governance while keeping legal execution and management authority outside the advisory seat.
• A conflict record suitable for sensitive service-provider, counterparty and investment discussions.
• Availability for three days a week and all scheduled Mumbai governance sessions over eight months.

Working terms and boundaries

• The monthly retainer covers three days a week, weekly working sessions and one board or committee meeting in each month.
• The adviser has no line authority and cannot incorporate entities, appoint providers, approve filings, execute funding or accept risk.
• Legal drafting, registration, return preparation and establishment project management remain outside the retainer unless separately scoped.
• Conflicts are refreshed when counterparties or service providers enter the work, with recusal documented by the sponsor.
• The term ends with a governance opinion and transfer session; any renewal requires a new strategic question and fee approval.

Application

Applications for this mandate are received in one way only: through the India Board Terminal's application process. It is automated end to end. Your Executive Passport travels to the mandate holder in its confidential form, your answers to the three questions below are read before anything else in your file, and every stage that follows is recorded on your applications page.

There is no address to write to and no intermediary to call. The mandate holder reads what the Terminal delivers and nothing else, which is what keeps the process the same for every applicant and keeps your name out of it until you release it. Applications close on 11 October 2026. Mandate reference TAX-ADV-2026-BOM-31.