Introduction: Tax advisory services are procured by various government agencies and PSUs in India through tendering processes. These tenders are procured for purposes like filing taxes, GST, TDS, and various other tax related services. Consultants or firms which are providing these services are hired for a certain period of contract. Government agencies like Department of Defence Production, the Ministry of Shipping, and Central Armed Police Forces advertised these tenders to procure consultants for tax related services.
Yearly analysis: This study examines the procurement of tax advisory tenders from March 2023 to March 2024. A total of 1146 tenders were published across various states in India. Around 266 government agencies were involved in publishing these tenders. National Mineral Development Corporation, Bank of Baroda, and Directorate of Municipal Administration were the top ranking agencies among them. For instance, Bank of Baroda in Maharashtra issues a tender for financial and tax due diligence of Nainital Bank Ltd. for bringing in a strategic partner in the Nainital bank ltd. (NBL), a subsidiary of Bank of Baroda.
State-wise analysis: Among these total tenders, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, and Delhi were the top three key buying states in India. The government agencies in Chhattisgarh issued around 320 tenders to procure these services. For instance, Central Armed Police Forces in Chhattisgarh issued a tender for procuring onsite financial advisory services for filing TDS tax services. Whereas around 200 tenders were issued from Maharashtra, like the Directorate Of Municipal Administration in Maharashtra published a tender for appointment agency to property tax survey at NP Seloo.
Department of Defence Production in Maharashtra advertised a tender for providing assistance in consultancy and compliance work related to accounting, goods, service tax, GST and income tax TDS and TCS related matters. Similarly, Military Engineer Services in Delhi published a tender for e-filling of goods and service tax electronically for the period of Apr 2023 to March 2024.
Tenders for procuring GST consultants: Even though there are various types of tax services, around 180 tenders were published to procure GST related services. These GST consultant tenders were advertised by many government agencies like National Aluminium Company Limited (NALCO), Military Engineer Services, and Central Board of Indirect taxes and Customs. For example, Military Engineer Services in Delhi issued a tender for providing services for filing of quarterly return GST in respect of working contractors. Similarly, District Magistrate Alipurduar in West Bengal advertised a tender for e-filing of quarterly IT return and GST for the financial year 2023-24. The Ministry of Shipping in Odisha issued a tender for procuring consultant for procuring GST related works including e-invoices.
State government departments and municipalities: A total of 207 tenders were issued by various state government departments and municipalities to procure tax advisory services. For example, Junagadh Municipal Corporation in Gujarat advertised a tender for preparing the balance sheet for two years of taxation advisory & compliance services for the year 2023-2024. Haryana Government published a tender for printing and distribution of property tax notices to every property owner within the limit of Dharuhera Municipal. Akola Municipal Corporation in Maharashtra issued a tender for total fee in percentage for realization of tax and non tax for providing services for door to door survey, assessment, collection and recovery of municipal taxes, user charges in the Municipal area of AMC.
Education sector: Tax advisory services were procured by the education and higher education departments across various states in India. For example, the Higher Education Department in Maharashtra advertised a tender for appointment of GST consultant. The Medical Education Department in Madhya Pradesh issued a tender for various purposes like concurrent audit, ETDS, GST, NPS, EPF, income tax, and other chartered accountant services. Whereas in U.P. State Council of Higher Education Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh published a tender for engagement of a chartered accountant firm for accounting and taxation works.
Health sector: Health sector also issued many tenders for procuring tax advisory services for various purposes. For example, the Director of Health Services in Tripura published a tender for hiring of agency for e-filing of TDS return under income tax for salaried employees, non salaried vendors, and filing of return of TDS under GST at AGMC and GBPH Agartala. Similarly, the Health Services Department in Madhya Pradesh issued a tender for filing EPF, TDS, and GST return. Additionally, the Centre for Health Research and Innovation (CHRI) in Delhi advertised a tender for procuring tax compliance firm CIMMYT India.
Estimation value: Many tax advisory tenders were published without mentioning the estimation value. But there were still a few tenders with specified estimated cost. Estimation value varies from 40000 to 18 crores. For instance, PHE in Jammu and Kashmir issued a tender with an estimated cost of 40.0 thousand for hiring a chartered accountant (CA) for providing tax related services and filing of the same. Whereas, Goa State Urban Development Agency advertised a tender for GIS based survey of South Goa District ULB properties for tax assessment purpose with an estimation value of 17 crore. Additionally, a few tenders were published to procure these consultants or firms for a contract period of one year to five years. For example, Bhavnagar Municipal Corporation in Gujarat issued a tender for an annual maintenance contract of an online professional tax system for the period of 3 years.
Live analysis:
As of 10th April 2024, there are 52 live tenders for procuring tax advisory services across various states in India. Among these total tenders, Chhattisgarh leads with 26 tenders, followed by Delhi with 8 tenders, Maharashtra with 5 tenders, and Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, and Odisha have 3 tenders each.
Conclusion: Government agencies like Military Engineering Services, Municipal Corporations, Education sectors, and health sectors issued many tenders for procuring consultants for various tax related services like filing taxes, GST, and conducting tax related surveys. The above analysis shows the significant demand for the tax advisory services in India. Thus, it is recommended that the firms which are providing tax related services to actively monitor and participate in the relevant tenders.
