Providing Relief to his clients in fighting tax litigation

Dr Avinash Poddar – Founder Partner, ASHVA Legal Advisors LLP

Dr Avinash Poddar is a CA turned Advocate. He completed his Graduation from holy city of Haridwar and is the founding partner of Ashva Legal Advisors LLP. He is based at Surat, Ahmedabad, Mumbai, and Delhi. He qualified as a CA in 2000 and has established his firm APV & Associates. Later, he ventured into software development and promoted TARUN Group. In the first eight years of his practice, he primarily worked in the areas of Direct Taxation, Auditing and Software Development and Sales. Subsequently, in the year 2008 he felt that the share of service sector is increasing in the Indian Economy; and therefore, service tax has the potential of growing immensely. He therefore decided to concentrate on the field of Service Tax and Excise.

Now 47, Dr Avinash, started his profession at the age of 24 as a CA and then in 2017 turned into practicing law. Today Ashva Legal Advisors is a 3 crores worth firm providing legal aids to those who need it most in the field of tax disputes, commercial law disputes, cyber-crime, corporate laws, RERA law, et al. With an objective to provide legal services at national as well as international level, Ashva Legal Advisors are marching ahead steadily.

Presently, Dr Avinash is pursuing LLM in Human Rights and preparing for Advanced Diploma in International Taxation (ADIT, UK) Exams. He adopted multi-disciplinary approach for gaining specialization in Indirect Taxes.  He delivers lectures on current issues in GST at various seminars, writes articles on the current issues in newsletters, journals, etc. He regularly appears before Hon’ble Supreme Court, various High Courts, Court of Sessions, Special Courts, NCLT, NCLAT and other Tax Tribunals. He is dealing with the practical aspects of Service Tax/Excise/GST through his advisory role with various organizations.

Apart from running his ventures, he has authored several books on Service Tax, Excise, Customs and GST. He also has authored one motivational title which was released globally in 2017, names as “Unleash Your Hidden Potential”. He regularly writes articles, case summaries, etc for various portals such as taxindiaonline, etc. Further he writes for his newsletter “Avinash Poddar’s Communique” fortnightly, which comprises of case laws, articles, etc. on Indirect Taxes. It is circulated to more than 50,000 members. His online blog www.gstclub.in is an interaction platform for professionals, corporates and taxpayers about GST. The portal has features such as creating a Public Forum, one can Post Articles related to GST and also Ask queries relating to GST from the GST Club team. Mobile App of GST Club shall be released soon both for Android and IOS.

On asking who inspires Dr Avinash, he candidly states,

“There are many such persons who are inspiration to me as a CA, Author and as a Lawyer. It started with my Mausa ji who is a CA that I decided to do CA when I was in 11^th class and then it kept on moving from one place to another.”

However, looking back to his journey trail, he figured out that lots of struggle were faced during this journey of being the first-generation Chartered Accountant and now first-generation Lawyer. But he is constantly learning to keep working hard and keep growing.

Even though he has been felicitated by several awards and recognition throughout his career, some important ones are – winner of prestigious “TIOL Gold Award in TIOL 2021 Awards” in the category of Facilitator / Intermediaries, prestigious recognition as GEM of CA Profession by the Ahmedabad Branch of WIRC of ICAI, Prestigious Recognition for Contribution as a Chartered Accountant by the Southern Gujarat Chamber of Commerce & Industry, and winner of “Gujarat No Dikaro” Award by PAGE 3 Magazine, Surat. To all aspirants in this particular line, he has a very practical set of advice – Give your 100% and achieve the desired result.

RECOGNITIONS & AWARDS

• Winner of prestigious TIOL Gold Award in TIOL 2021 Awards in the category of Facilitator / Intermediaries.
• Prestigious recognition as GEM of CA Profession by the Ahmedabad Branch of WIRC of ICAI.
• Prestigious Recognition for Contribution as a Chartered Accountant by the Southern Gujarat Chamber of Commerce & Industry.  
• Winner of “Gujarat No Dikaro” Award by PAGE 3 Magazine, Surat

He has authored following books on Service Tax, Excise, Customs and GST:

1. “GST Referencer and Manual”
2. “Audit & Annual Returns in GST”
3. “Glimpses of GST”
4. “A Guide to GST E-Way Bill”
5. “WIRC GST Referencer”
6. “Step by Step Guide to GST Compliance Made Easy”
7. “Background Material on GST” for EIRC of ICAI
8. “GST Concepts for Layman”
9. “GST Saral Samjhuti” in Gujarati
10. “Background Material on GST” for WIRC of ICAI
11. “Appeals & Litigation in Indirect Tax”
12. “Audit, Investigations and Prosecution under Indirect Taxes”
13. “Indirect Taxes Manual”        
14. “Service Tax – Law, Practice and Procedure”.
15. “Service Tax Made Simple”
16. “Service Tax Ready Reckoner”
17. “Service Tax Margadarshan” in Gujarati
18. “Service Tax” in Hindi

He also has authored one motivational title which was released All over world in 2017 “Unleash Your Hidden Potential”.

Websites: www.avinashpoddar.com; www.gstclub.in; www.ashvalegal.com