Surprised by scale, length of tax litigation in India: BMW Group India CFO
Aug 6, 2026
Carsten Lammers says prolonged tax and customs disputes create uncertainty for global businesses, urging faster resolution, simpler tax laws and consistent policy implementation
BMW Group India Chief Financial Officer Carsten Lammers on Thursday expressed surprise at the scale and prolonged duration of tax and customs litigation in India, saying faster dispute resolution and simpler procedures are critical for business stability.
Lammers, in his speech at the 3rd SIAM Automotive Taxation Conference, spoke about the uncertainty created by long-running legal disputes for global companies operating in India.
"There's a lot of tax litigation going on. I was very surprised when I joined BMW India to see the number of tax and customs litigations we have and how long they take," Lammers said, drawing from his experience as a lawyer.
He noted that while multiple levels of legal review are positive, cases often take several years to reach a final decision. "Some of the cases which are still in court, I advised on as a lawyer in that court 10 years ago, and they're still not finally decided," he said.
He said "less litigation, faster dispute resolution, and simplified procedures" are needed right now.
Lammers said global companies are closely watching India as the "next big thing" because of its fast-growing economy, skilled workforce and rising middle-class consumption.
"In the times we are in, we need certainty and stability as a business. We have to be able to rely on the policy and the policymakers... that the policies are clear, straightforward, simple, and applied consistently. In some areas, we may also need more simplified tax laws. But I know that's not an easy thing to achieve," he stated.
The CFO acknowledged government measures aimed at improving the ease of doing business, including faceless tax assessments, where taxpayers interact with authorities digitally instead of through physical meetings, digitised GST, faster refunds, risk-based compliance and free trade agreements (FTAs). FTAs are agreements between countries that reduce tariffs and other trade barriers to make cross-border trade easier.
Lammers also said the role of corporate tax departments has evolved from a traditional back-office administrative function to a strategic role within companies. Tax professionals today act as risk managers who help guide capital allocation and protect enterprise value.
While BMW executives use artificial intelligence tools such as Copilot for daily data analysis, Lammers said AI remains a support tool and cannot replace human judgement and ethical decision-making in financial management.
[The Business Standard]
