The trade agreement gets the coverage; the Double Contribution Convention is the one that changes what you file. A UK national seconded to India no longer has to contribute to social security in both countries — for up to five years, on the strength of a certificate, provided somebody actually claims it. Most UK employers currently are not.
Identifying who qualifies, obtaining the certificate of coverage, and adjusting the Indian payroll so the exemption is actually taken rather than assumed.
A foreign national on an Indian payroll has historically been treated as an international worker and required to contribute to the provident fund on full salary with no wage ceiling. A social security agreement is what lifts that.
Subsidiary, LLP or branch, with the tax consequences set out before anything is filed, and the RBI reporting handled as part of the same sequence.
Dividends, royalties, interest and technical fees paid to the UK parent, at the treaty rate rather than the domestic rate — which needs a residency certificate and Form 41 in place before the remittance.
A quarterly pack written for a non-Indian reader, and an audit coordinated with an independent chartered accountant.
First entity, first hires, first filings.
Staff moving in either direction between the UK and India.
Of UK parents, where payroll predates the new agreement.
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💬 Get my quote →15 July 2026. The Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement and the Agreement on Social Security Contributions — usually called the Double Contribution Convention — took effect on the same day. The social security agreement was signed on 10 February 2026. For most UK companies the tariff side is a procurement question; the social security side is the one that changes a filing you are already making.
It stops the same employee paying social security twice when they are posted between the UK and India. A worker on a temporary assignment contributes in their home country only, and is exempt in the host country, for up to five years — the period was extended from three. It works in both directions, so it covers a UK national seconded to your Indian subsidiary and an Indian employee posted to the UK. It applies to social security contributions, not to income tax, which is dealt with separately under the tax treaty.
Materially, if you claim it. A foreign national employed by an Indian establishment has historically been treated as an international worker and required to contribute to the provident fund from day one on full salary, without the ₹15,000 wage ceiling that applies to local employees — a significant cost on a senior secondment. Where a social security agreement applies, that person can stay in their home scheme and be exempted in India on production of a certificate of coverage. Note that the Indian international-worker provisions were struck down by the Karnataka High Court in 2024 and the position is under appeal, so the underlying rule is itself unsettled and worth confirming for your facts.
No, and this is where the saving is lost. The employee has to be certified as covered by the home country scheme, and that certificate has to be held and produced. Until it is, the Indian employer is expected to deduct and remit as before. An agreement coming into force does not retrospectively correct a payroll that carried on unchanged through it, so if you have UK nationals on an Indian payroll it is worth a look now rather than at the year end.
No. CETA is a trade agreement — tariffs, market access, services and mobility. Corporate tax, GST and withholding are unaffected by it, and the rates on dividends, royalties, interest and technical fees paid to a UK parent continue to be governed by the India-UK tax treaty, which is a separate instrument. Anyone telling you the trade deal reduces your Indian tax has conflated the two.
For a subsidiary: two shareholders and two directors with at least one resident in India, apostilled corporate and personal documents, a registered office, and the capital remitted through banking channels with the allotment reported to the Reserve Bank in FC-GPR within 30 days. The UK is party to the Hague Convention, so apostille is the route rather than consular legalisation, which is one of the faster document positions to be in. Five to eight weeks end to end is realistic, most of it documents and banking.
No. Entry into India for work is immigration practice and belongs with a specialist, and we would rather say so than guess. What we do handle is everything that follows once someone is on an Indian payroll — the provident fund position, the certificate of coverage under the social security agreement, salary withholding, and the individual return where one is due.
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