Gajendra Maheshwari

Partner

Professional Qualification – Gajendra holds a Master Degree in Law and is also a qualified C.A. and I.C.W.A.
Professional Experience – Gajendra has over 25 years of post-qualification experience in the field of litigation, advisory and policy advocacy.

  Tax Litigation and Advisory 

• Assisted one of the world’s leading software companies in a service tax dispute involving the eligibility to qualify as export of service
• Successfully represented passive telecom infrastructure companies before the Delhi High Court in a tax dispute involving effective demand of over USD 1 billion. The matter was concerning availability of input tax credit on tower infrastructure set up by the telecom infrastructure companies
• Successfully argued a matter involving constitutional validity of One Time Tax on sale of motor vehicles in the State of Rajasthan
• Advised two telecom companies on tax (including stamp duty) implications arising out of demerger of their assets valued at over USD 10 billion
• Assisted over 100 groups in India, UAE, Bahrain and Oman with end-to-end VAT/GST implementation and other indirect tax services;
• Conducted service tax review of one of the world’s top telecom companies for streamlining their tax positions as well as the process of computing monthly tax liability
• Conducted a detailed VAT review in the UAE for one of the world’s largest automobile trading company and an international shipping company considered as a market leader. This assignment involved review of documentation, business processes and implementing best practices as well as multiple sessions with client teams for discussing the report prepared in power-point format

 Data Protection and Privacy 

• Conducting training courses on Data Protection and Privacy laws
• Conducted multiple camps for enhancing public awareness on Data Protection and Privacy laws
• Recently spoken in a webinar on Data Protection and Privacy laws organized by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India that was attended by around twenty three thousand participants

 Commercial Legal 

• Empanelled with the Competition Commission of India as their standing counsel
• Represented clients in disputes involving Telecom, Securitization, Insolvency, Specific Performance and other commercial/ regulatory laws
• Represented numerous clients in Supreme Court, High Courts, Tribunals, Arbitrations in commercial/ civil disputes
• Negotiated in commercial settlement agreements on behalf of clients, including preparation of settlement agreements along with other required documentation (undertakings, resolutions etc.)

 Projects with the World Bank Group 

• Assisted the Ministry of Finance in the Peoples Republic of China with implementing reforms to the Indirect Tax laws in China. This project was headed by Mr. Satya Poddar (internationally acclaimed Indirect Tax expert) and was carried out on the basis of the indirect tax regimes in Canada and India
• In a five-year long project, assisted the State of Bihar in India in reforming state VAT laws. This project introduced a simplified tax scheme for minority taxpayers along with implementation of several IT procedures. This project was recognized as one of the most successful projects in Asia by the International Finance Corporation. During this project, Gajendra was involved in carrying out multiple tax workshops involving VAT officials from Bihar as well as other States (Gujarat, Orissa, Maharashtra etc.)
• Under another World Bank project, advised the Government of Pakistan in implementing reforms to the property tax laws in Pakistan. During this project, he delivered presentation on Property Tax system in India conducted in the seminars conducted in Karachi and Lahore
• Conducted extensive compliance cost surveys in the Indian States of Bihar and Rajasthan to ascertain the cost of VAT compliance to taxpayers
• In a recent project, assisted the World Bank Group in preparing a paper on Property Tax Reforms in India for submission to the XV Finance Commission

 Litigation Management Software 

• Developed a comprehensive litigation management software for managing litigation including features such as work-flow management, calendars, managing audit provisions, payments and guarantees

 Academic Highlights

• For the Government of Assam, as a sole trainer conducted a week long GST training course in the month of September 2019 involving entire group of 450 GST officials in Assam
• Engaged by the ICAI for ‘train the trainer programme’ meant for newly empanelled faculty for imparting training on GST topics across the country
• Speaker in numerous events on VAT in the UAE, Bahrain, Oman, Qatar including events hosted by the Dubai Chamber of Commerce, UAE Shipping Association and other organizations
• Prepared the publication of the book titled – “Service Tax: A Practitioners Perspective” published by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India
• Written numerous articles and blogs that have been published in global newspapers, magazines, journals and websites
• Regularly invited by the ICAI to speak on the topic “Constitution and Taxation” in the certificate courses on Indirect Tax/ GST