What does the BATF framework allow, for which clients, after the 2026 amendment?
BATF service providers offer book-keeping, accounting, taxation and financial-crime compliance services from GIFT IFSC to clients outside India, under the IFSCA (Book-keeping, Accounting, Taxation and Financial Crime Compliance Services) Regulations, 2024.
A treatise-grade working reference on the licensing, capital, conduct-of-business and tax framework for BATF Services at GIFT IFSC - every conclusion anchored in verbatim statutory and regulatory text.
GIFT IFSC competes head-on with Singapore, Dubai and Mauritius - on tax, on currency, and on access to India. Here is what actually moves the decision, before the regulatory detail below.
100% deduction on business income for any 20 consecutive years in a 25-year block under Section 147 of the Income-tax Act 2025 (Finance Act 2026), then a 15% concessional rate. MAT capped at 9%.
An IFSC unit is treated as a person resident outside India under FEMA - raise, hold and transact in USD / EUR / GBP, with full foreign-currency freedom and no rupee-conversion drag.
Foreign and NRI investors can hold up to 100% - without the aggregate ownership caps that constrain comparable onshore vehicles.
Unlike a purely offshore hub, GIFT IFSC sits on Indian soil and aligns with national policy - an offshore base that is also a door into one of the world's largest growth markets.
IFSC-exchange transactions are free of Securities and Commodity Transaction Tax and stamp duty; services rendered by IFSC units are zero-rated for GST.
A single unified regulator (IFSCA) under the IFSCA Act 2019, an independent judiciary, and a treaty-anchored legal order - certainty, not just headline rates.
The opportunity is real, but every benefit carries a condition - and that is where counsel at the threshold earns its place.
The IFSCA (Book-keeping, Accounting, Taxation and Financial Crime Compliance Services) Regulations, 2024, in force from 6 June 2024, create a distinct registered activity for the finance-and-accounting outsourcing world. A BATF Service Provider may offer book-keeping, accounting, taxation, and financial-crime (AML/CFT/FATF) compliance services. Crucially, these services may be provided only to non-residents, including IFSC units - positioning GIFT City as a global finance-and-accounting hub.
We advise BATF service providers on registration, the non-resident-client and anti-reorganisation conditions, the Principal/Compliance Officer framework, and the data-protection and engagement-letter architecture for offshore finance-and-accounting work.
The conditions for this head, turned into a tool you can use now. Indicative only - built to orient your thinking before we map it to your facts.
Book-keeping, Accounting, Taxation & Financial Crime Compliance services - to non-residents only.
Indicative tool - not legal or tax advice. Confirm against current IFSCA regulations and your facts.
BATF providers offer Book-keeping, Accounting, Taxation and Financial crime-compliance services from GIFT IFSC.
Indicative only - not legal advice. Figures and steps are anchored to the applicable IFSCA regulations; confirm the current position before acting.
The official instruments and regulator pages this guide relies on. Check the current version on the issuer's site before acting.