GST for Foreign Companies — Structured for Recovery, Run for Compliance
GST rewards companies that structure before they transact — and quietly penalises everyone else through blocked input credits, delayed refunds, and multi-state registration tangles that surface at audit.
A2 Consultants designs your GST footprint around your actual supply chain, then runs the compliance engine: registrations, returns, reconciliations, and refunds, across every state you touch.
GST unified India's indirect taxes but multiplied its compliance surface: registration state by state, invoice-level reporting matched electronically against suppliers, and input credits that exist only if your vendors file accurately and on time. For foreign companies, the system's logic is unfamiliar — liability can arise without physical presence, and cash gets trapped in ways group treasury does not anticipate.
Handled well, GST is close to neutral: credits flow, refunds arrive, audits close. Handled reactively, it becomes a working-capital tax — blocked credits, aging refunds, and penalty exposure. The difference lies in structure (where you register, how contracts route supplies) and rhythm (monthly reconciliation, not year-end archaeology).
Who we serve
Foreign subsidiaries manufacturing or trading in India; exporters of goods and services claiming refunds; digital and OIDAR service providers with Indian customers; e-commerce participants; and groups whose intercompany charges into India create GST obligations they did not expect.
The outcomes we deliver
- Input tax credit captured and reconciled monthly — leakage identified before it becomes irrecoverable.
- Export and inverted-duty refunds filed complete and pursued to credit, improving working capital.
- Place-of-supply and classification positions documented before disputes, not during them.
- Clean departmental audits: reconciliations between returns, books, and e-invoices maintained continuously.
- Intercompany flows made GST-safe: cross-charges, cost allocations, and head-office services structured so credits flow and disputes don't.
How we work
- Structure. Registration footprint, supply-chain flows, and contract clauses designed for GST efficiency.
- Operate. GSTR filings, e-invoicing, and ITC reconciliation delivered on a monthly rhythm.
- Recover. Refund claims prepared to departmental standard and tracked to payment.
- Defend. Notices, audits, and litigation handled with documented positions.
Why A2 Consultants
We serve foreign-owned businesses specifically, so our GST advice always accounts for the customs, transfer pricing, and FEMA dimensions that pure GST practitioners miss. Our monthly rhythm is contractual, not aspirational — reconciliations, filings, and exception reports land on fixed dates your controller can build a close around.
Frequently asked questions
Does a foreign company without an Indian entity need GST registration?
It can. Foreign providers of online services (OIDAR) to unregistered Indian consumers must register and remit Indian GST directly. Non-resident suppliers making taxable supplies in India need registration before commencing business. And importing group companies should note: services received from abroad by an Indian entity are typically taxed under reverse charge. The trigger is the nature and destination of supplies — not whether you have an office.
Why are our input tax credits blocked, and what can we do?
Credits fail for a handful of recurring reasons: suppliers who haven't filed or paid, mismatches between your purchase register and GSTR-2B, credits claimed outside time limits, or spends in categories the law restricts. Recovery is procedural — systematic monthly matching, vendor escalation, and contract clauses that make suppliers' compliance their commercial problem. Entities that reconcile monthly recover materially more credit than those that reconcile annually, when trails have gone cold.
How long do GST refunds for exporters actually take?
Statutorily, 60 days from a complete application, with provisional refunds available; in practice, well-prepared claims commonly clear in two to four months while defective ones cycle through deficiency memos for a year or more. The variables you control are completeness — reconciled returns, shipping bills, bank realisation certificates — and responsiveness to queries. We prepare claims to departmental standard and track each one to credit, because a sanctioned refund that hasn't landed is still your working capital.
Do services exported from India really attract zero GST?
Genuinely exported services are zero-rated — but qualification is a five-condition test, and the conditions trip real businesses: payment must arrive in convertible foreign exchange, supplier and recipient cannot merely be establishments of the same person, and intermediary services are deemed supplied in India regardless of the client's location. Group service companies and marketplace models fail these tests more often than they expect. We validate export positions before you build a pricing model on them.
Losing credits or waiting on refunds? Commission a GST health check across your Indian operations.