ELP boosts its tax practice with Abhay Pitale and Ashish Bhatnagar

Economic Laws Practice has recently hired two Senior Associates Abhay Pitale and Ashish Bhatnagar to further enhance its tax practice. Abhay has joined the Pune office of ELP while Ashish has joined the Delhi office..Economic Laws Practice has recently hired two Senior Associates Abhay Pitale (pictured right) and Ashish Bhatnagar (pictured left) to further enhance its tax practice. Abhay has joined the Pune office of ELP while Ashish has joined the Delhi office..Managing Partner Rohan Shah in a statement said, “Abhay and Ashish joining ELP is part of our commitment to provide a full suite of tax services”..Abhay was previously working with Barclays Technology, Pune. Before that he has worked with KPMG Pune for over 3 years. Abhay is a Chartered Accountant and has extensively worked on expatriate taxation advisory and compliance services. He has also worked on Transfer Pricing assignments including preparation of appeal and submissions in relation to Transfer Pricing matters at Commissioner of Income Tax level..Abhay speaking to Bar & Bench on joining ELP said, “Typically any Big 4 Firm, advising a client on an issue, can represent the client for the same issue up to Tribunal only. In case of unfavorable decision from Tribunal, the client has to appoint Senior Counsel for representing the case before High Court and, if required, before Supreme Court. Senior Counsel may disagree with the advice given by a Big 4 Firm and in such situations the Client is in a fix. ELP is one of the few leading law firms of India which has got both tax advisory and litigation capabilities and it can support the client up to the Supreme Court. I think this is the biggest edge ELP has got over a Big 4 Firm. I am looking forward to bring out best of my advisory and litigation skills under the able guidance of ELP professionals”..Ashish is a Chartered Accountant and has a MBA from Goa Institute of Management. He has a comprehensive experience in the field of international taxation and transfer pricing. Before joining ELP, he was working with PwC Delhi as Manager with Transfer Pricing Group. He has also worked as a part of Global Transfer Pricing Services team with KPMG Delhi as well as Mumbai for over four years..Speaking to Bar & Bench Ashish said, “We see increasingly more multi-national enterprises coming into India because of its rising role as a key investment destination. In India, Transfer Pricing was earlier considered more as a compliance requirement and a niche service offering only from the Big-4. However, given that we now witness increasing disputes in audit assessments and consequently litigation, it is only a matter of time that litigation transcends from the Income Tax Appellate Tribunals to the Courts (High Court/ Supreme Court level) where law firms would be able to appropriately support and advise. I believe that multi-national companies seek assistance in getting faster resolutions, and certainty in their tax positions (even if it involves litigation), which we at ELP aim to offer through our expertise in Transfer Pricing and comprehension of legal mechanics”..ELP had recently added Transfer Pricing practice in its Pune office with Ex-KPMG Ajit Tolani.