India’s Ministry of Finance has issued draft guiding principles for determining the place of effective management (POEM). The Finance Act of 2015 contained provisions providing for the significant change in determining POEM, to be effective April 2016. The guidelines have a comment period until 2 January 2016; a link to the guidelines is provided:
Click to access POEM-note-for-uploading.pdf
The guidelines present subjective determinations of determining POEM based on substance over form and a recurring annual test. There are presumptions, such as location for a majority of Board meetings, with exceptions based on facts and circumstances.
As drafted, the new guidelines present increased uncertainty for multinationals having any operations or services with Indian residents, thus this latest report should merit high priority due to the April 2016 effective date, as well as brief period provided for comments.
Strategizing Multinational Tax Risks 
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