By buld_online 
Setting up a company in Dubai to dodge Indian taxes? Ashish Singhal, co-founder of CoinSwitch, has a warning: it’s not a loophole — it’s a trap, and the taxman already knows.
In a post on Linkedin, Singhal dismantled a growing myth among Indian entrepreneurs — that registering a firm in tax-free Dubai can shield income from Indian taxation. “Yup, that’s not going to work… if you live in India,” he wrote.
He outlined the reality: while the UAE doesn’t tax personal income and does offer residency certificates, none of that matters if the operations — emails, proposals, deliveries, deal closings — happen from Indian soil. “Your Dubai company might as well be an Indian one,” Singhal warned, adding that India’s tax department “already sees it that way.”
The logic is grounded in control and location. Even indirect control from India is enough to invoke domestic tax obligations. According to Singhal, “This isn’t a loophole. It’s a trap.” And one that’s already been “patched from three different directions — legal, operational, and data-sharing.”
He didn’t stop there. Singhal reminded his followers that India requires disclosure of foreign assets, and that the UAE shares financial data with India under international agreements. The window for evasion, he suggested, is rapidly closing.
His post arrives at a moment of tightening scrutiny. As more Indians route revenue through foreign entities, 2025 marks a shift: compliance frameworks are expanding just as global data sharing intensifies.
The message is clear — for Indian residents, moving operations offshore without moving yourself could invite more than just audit questions. It could trigger full-blown investigations.