E-tailers' global warehouses may come under tax net

Storing goods and merchandise is a core business activity of an e-commerce business

Warehouses of e-commerce companies based in countries such as Australia, Japan, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, and Russia may not be exempted from paying the income tax in India once the multilateral instrument (MLI) to prevent base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS) comes into force.

BEPS refers to the reporting framework mooted by the Organisation for Economic 

Co-operation and Development (OECD) and signed by over 100 countries, including India, to prevent exploiting gaps and mismatches in tax rules to shift profits by multinational companies (MNCs) artificially to low-tax regimes.

The representatives of 68 countries on June 7 this year signed an