Twelve questions, answered directly

A fixed fee, quoted in writing before we begin, and built on two things: the volume of your business and the nature of the work. Never a percentage of your turnover — that measures how big you are, not how much work you need. Never a percentage of your refund, and never “depending on the case”. If the scope changes, the fee is re-quoted in writing before we continue. You will never see a charge you did not agree to first.

How we arrive at a fee.

The parts we control move quickly: a capital gains computation within days of receiving complete papers, applications filed as soon as you approve them. The parts we do not control — a lower-deduction certificate from the assessing officer, a refund from the processing centre — take as long as the department takes. We give you realistic timelines for both, in writing, and chase the slow parts so you do not have to.

Send it to us the day it arrives. We read it, tell you in plain language what it actually says and what is at stake, and draft the reply with supporting documents. You approve everything before it is filed. Most notices are procedural and die with one complete, punctual response. The dangerous ones are the ones answered late or casually — so the only rule is: never sit on it.

Yes, and it is often the right arrangement. Your existing accountant may know your affairs well; we add the non-resident layer — the withholding on a payment to a non-resident, the certificate application, repatriation paperwork. We share workings openly, in a form another professional can check. We are not trying to displace anyone. We are trying to get your matter done correctly.

Yes. GST, income-tax and TDS compliance is filed on all-India portals, so location matters less than process. Our base and most of our clients are in Kerala, and for NRI property matters the property is usually here — which is exactly where you need someone. For clients elsewhere in India, everything works as it does for a client in Kochi.

No. Most of our NRI clients are in the Gulf, the US or the UK, and the work is built around that: calls scheduled to your hours, every discussion confirmed by email so nothing depends on memory, documents exchanged through a shared folder you can open at midnight. Indian deadlines are managed on Indian time by us; your involvement is planned around yours.

Documents move through a controlled shared folder with access limited to the people working on your matter — not over WhatsApp, not through personal email. We keep a register of what you have given us and return or delete it on request. We do not share your information with anyone unless a filing requires it and you have approved that filing.

How we handle your data.

With a call, at a time that suits your time zone, at no charge. You describe the situation; we tell you what the sequence is, what we would do, what we would not do, and what it costs. If you want to proceed, you get a written scope and fee. Work begins when you confirm — not before.

For a property sale: your PAN, the title documents, how and when the property came to you (purchase deed, or the previous owner’s papers if inherited), any improvement records, the draft sale terms, and your non-resident ordinary account details. If something is missing — old records often are — tell us; there is usually a lawful way to establish the position, and we will tell you what it is.

No, and we will never let you think otherwise. GSTserve is a limited liability partnership specialising in tax, accounting and compliance work — book-keeping, computations, registrations, returns, management accounts, certificates applied for, notices answered. None of that requires a chartered accountant’s signature, and we do it to a standard we are happy to be judged on. Where the law does require one — the certificate your bank needs to remit funds abroad, for instance — we say so plainly and you appoint your own. You will always know exactly who is doing what, and why.

We tell you first, before you find out another way. Then we correct it at our own cost — revised filings, replies, whatever the correction requires — and we show you what went wrong and what we changed so it cannot recur. A firm that has never had to say this to a client is not being honest with you.

At any time. Your records are yours: every filing, working paper and acknowledgement we hold for you is handed over in full, in usable form, within days of your asking. No exit fee, no withheld files, no awkwardness. We would rather you stay because the work is good than because leaving is difficult.