Insights
Notes from the desk.
Long-form writing from Nucleus partners. Fundraise mechanics, term sheets, M&A, valuations, risk and tax. Filter by service line, tag, or author; sort newest or oldest; or search the archive.
Latest: 26 May 2026
Inverted-duty ITC refunds: getting them released without litigation
Textile manufacturers, restaurants, fertilizer companies pay GST at 18% on inputs and collect at 5% on outputs. The accumulated ITC sits as a refund claim under Section 54. Why most claims get stuck in deficiency-memo loops, and the file build that releases them in 60 days instead of 600.
Search & seizure: the first 24 hours when GST officials show up
GST officers arrive at 10:30 am with a Section 67 authorisation. The receptionist calls the founder. The next 24 hours determine whether this is a closed-out audit or a five-year litigation with arrest under Section 132. The protocol that holds.
Section 80-IAC tax holiday: who actually qualifies, and what trips them up
A three-year 100% tax exemption sounds straightforward. DPIIT recognition is one gate. Inter-Ministerial Board approval is the second, harder gate. The turnover trip-wire is the third. Of the DPIIT-recognized startups in India, fewer than 4% have the 80-IAC certificate.
Faceless assessment: how to actually win at the first appellate forum
Roughly 30-35% of taxpayers win at the Commissioner (Appeals) under the faceless regime. The other 65% lost a winnable case at the first forum because of avoidable mistakes — missed deadlines, weak grounds, additional evidence filed wrong, no pre-deposit stay. Six tactical decisions that move the win rate.
Buy-back tax post-2026: the math founders are still getting wrong
The Finance Act 2024 shifted buy-back tax from the company to the shareholder, effective 1 October 2024. Founders modelling exit via buy-back are still running the old 23.296% number. The new math: 39% slab rate, no cost-of-acquisition deduction, full consideration taxed as deemed dividend.
The 100-day GST notice playbook: responding without escalating
A GST DRC-01 lands. The instinct is panic-pay or panic-litigate. Both are usually wrong. A 100-day framework — from the day the notice arrives to the day it is resolved or appealed — that we have run through more than sixty matters.
International tax structuring after the Mauritius cleanup: what works in 2026
The 2016 India-Mauritius Protocol ended the capital gains exemption. The MLI added the Principal Purpose Test. GAAR matured. The structures that genuinely work in 2026 are narrower and harder to set up than the structures founders read about in 2014.
Section 56(2)(viib) angel tax in 2026: what survived the Budget and what changed
The Finance Act 2024 removed angel tax for every class of investor from AY 2025-26. The notices already issued under the old regime did not disappear. We are still defending valuations from 2019 share issuances, and the assessing officer still has Section 56(2)(x) in their pocket.
ITC mismatches: why GSTR-2B reconciliation is now make-or-break
Post the Finance Act 2022 amendment to Section 16, ITC is available only if it shows up in your GSTR-2B. The 5% buffer is gone. Vendors who do not file their GSTR-1 silently transfer their non-compliance into your tax cost. The reconciliation discipline that recovers 5-10% of working capital.
POEM and CbC reporting for Indian-founded global structures
A Delaware C-Corp with two Indian founders, a Bangalore engineering team and an Indian-domiciled board chair has a POEM problem before it has revenue. Section 6(3), the CBDT 2017 framework, and what Indian-founded SaaS groups should structurally build to stay non-resident.
Place of supply: the GST mistake export-heavy startups keep making
You invoice a US client, receive payment in dollars, file as zero-rated export. The auditor reclassifies the supply as intra-state, denies the LUT, demands 18% GST plus interest plus penalty. The five fact patterns where exports stop being exports.
Equalisation levy: what's in, what's out after the 2026 amendments
The 2% e-commerce equalisation levy on non-resident operators was withdrawn from August 2024. The 6% levy on online advertisement payments stays. What Indian companies paying Google, Meta, Amazon and the next layer of non-resident platforms actually owe in 2026.
TDS on overseas payments: 15CA/CB without the panic
Every overseas remittance from an Indian company runs through Section 195 of the Income-tax Act. Form 15CA and 15CB are the procedural shell. The substance — the rate of TDS, the DTAA benefit, the TRC and Form 10F — is where remitters lose money or get caught.
Transfer pricing for tech startups: documentation that survives an audit
Indian tech startups with a Delaware parent, a Singapore holdco or a UK subsidiary will face transfer pricing scrutiny within three assessment years of the first inter-company invoice. The four transactions everyone mis-prices, and the documentation that holds up at the TPO level.
GST refunds that get blocked: the procedural failures that delay claims
Most GST refund delays are not disputes about eligibility. They are documentation failures that the department is entitled to reject. Each one has a fix, if you know where to look.