Khushboo Bhatia

Advisory

• Transaction Lead: Acted as the tax and regulatory lead for a marquee financial services client during their partial divestment by way of a pre-IPO secondary sale followed by an OFS under compressed timelines
• GIFT (IFSC) Regulatory filing: Spearheaded the end-to-end regulatory filing for Fund Management Entity license in GIFT City
• Market Entry & Structuring: Conceptualized India-entry strategies for HFT players and global market makers, evaluated the optimal choice between Domestic v. GIFT IFSC setups for Category III AIFs and stock-broking entities
• Litigation Strategy: Transformed a stalled multi-year administrative matter into a structured litigation track by filing a writ petition before the High Court; provided the Fund board with a time-bound roadmap to secure the refund
• Treaty Analysis: Evaluated the impact of GAAR, MLI, and Beneficial Ownership on the cross-border structures

Compliance

• Fund Operations Management: Managed direct tax engagements for domestic AIFs, stock broking entities and Portfolio Managers which involve reviewing TDS returns, advance tax calculations, unrealized capital gains workings from a NAV perspective, filing of income tax returns, etc.
• Building Efficiency: Spearheaded the filing of 225+ tax returns annually by implementing standardized workflows and weekly cadence calls focused on pre-empting potential technical and operational issues, significantly reducing peak-period pressure
• Stakeholder & Board Reporting: Developed structured MIS dashboards and reporting frameworks for senior leadership, providing visibility into litigation risks, tax positions, and regulatory milestones for global hedge funds and domestic financial service groups
• Regulator Liaising: Represented clients before the Income Tax authorities on tax issues up to the appellate level

Advocacy and Profiling

• Regulatory Advocacy (GIFT IFSC): Led the drafting of a pivotal report on the Unified Investment Fund Regime within GIFT IFSC
• Thought Leadership: Contributed to a couple of articles - ‘The emerging landscape of GIFT IFSC' that was published in the IQ‑EQ bulletin and on ‘Exploring India's FPI landscape: Regulation and taxation' for The Wealth Today platform
• Impact Analysis : Analyzed the potential impact of Union Budget proposals, tax and regulatory updates and prepared presentations for clients and PwC-led webinars
• Tax Counsel briefing: Prepared case for opinions on a wide range of issues and played an active role in briefing the senior counsels

Softer Aspects

• Led a 20+ member team, ensuring high performance and alignment with the Firm's goals
• Established strong working relationships with key industry partners, creating mutually beneficial opportunities for growth
• Assisted senior leadership of the Firm in managing certain aspects of operations.

• Managed the preparation and filing of TDS returns, income tax returns and Tax audit reports for multiple entities within the Group
• Prepared tax liability forecasts to ensure compliance and planning for forthcoming projects