Hi {{firstname|everyone}},
Every accounting firm leader I speak to says the same thing: tax is still a high-margin service line, but it’s become harder to scale profitably.
On one hand, clients expect cross-border clarity faster than ever. On the other hand, tax professionals are scarce, expensive, and constantly being poached.
That’s why I want to bring your attention to a recent Deloitte whitepaper (covered in the Times of India). The findings are clear: India-based Global Capability Centres (GCCs) are no longer peripheral hubs.
The report found that 76% of India GCCs are already running cross-border tax functions.
For anyone still treating GCCs as just a back-office strategy, that’s a wake-up call. This is where tax work is heading.
Let’s break down what the study reveals and what it means for your firm.
Tax Work Is Moving Offshore at Scale
The first shift is simple but profound: tax work isn’t just local anymore.
Clients with international footprints want advice that cuts across multiple jurisdictions transfer pricing, cross-border M&A structuring, VAT/GST compliance.
All of this requires a level of bandwidth that’s impossible to maintain solely with local hires.
The Deloitte study confirms the shift: three out of four GCCs in India are already running cross-border tax. EY adds that firms are scaling India teams by as much as 30% annually in tax and advisory functions.
If your firm is relying purely on domestic teams to handle global tax queries, you’re building in a bottleneck. Start by mapping the areas of tax where turnaround times are slowest or where you’re declining work due to lack of bandwidth.
Cost Savings Aren’t the Real Story Anymore
Of course, there’s a cost advantage. NASSCOM estimates that firms save 30–45% by building out India teams.
But what stood out in the Deloitte paper is that over 60% of firms now cite risk management and compliance quality as the main reason they’ve scaled tax functions in India.
Why does that matter? Because the risk landscape in tax is changing. Regulators are more aggressive on transfer pricing, BEPS (Base Erosion and Profit Shifting), and digital taxation.
Having a larger, centralised tax team allows firms to:
Standardise processes across jurisdictions, ensuring less room for error.
Build review capacity so tax filings and advisory opinions are double-checked at scale.
Respond faster to client queries without relying on overstretched partners at home.
What’s needed here is a mindset shift, don’t just frame GCCs only as a cost play to your leadership team. Frame it as risk mitigation and operational consistency.
The Talent Advantage Is Now Strategic
India is the whole package, offering headcount along with expertise and stability.
With over 400,000 accounting graduates entering the market each year and a strong pipeline of tax-specialised talent, global firms are using GCCs to build out deep expertise in international taxation, digital tax solutions, and AI-driven compliance tools.
The Deloitte study highlights this too: GCCs in India are increasingly responsible for innovation, not just execution.
The trick here is to think beyond capacity. If you’re considering a GCC, ask yourself: what areas of tax innovation could your firm lead if you had 30–50 skilled professionals working exclusively on those initiatives?
Whether it’s automating parts of compliance or developing cross-border playbooks, there is a real opportunity to lead this space.
How Samera can Help
We’ve already made headway with working around GCCs for Dental Services Organisations (DSOs). The model delivers scale, stability, and frees local teams to focus on higher-value work.
Now we’re bringing this same approach to accounting. The Deloitte study shows what we’ve seen first-hand.
The Big 4 are already there, but mid-tier firms still have a chance to move early and gain the same talent advantage.
Cheers,
Arun
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