Dr. Ashrita Prasad Kotha

Education

• B.A. LL.B. (Hons.), NALSAR – 2010
• Bachelor of Civil Law, Oxford University – 2014
• PhD, Vienna University of Economics and Business – 2024

Profile

Ashrita began her career as an Associate in the corporate practice of Luthra & Luthra Law Offices (L&L Partners). She has taught Taxation Law, Law of Contracts and Alternative Dispute Resolution at Jindal Global Law School (JGLS). Additionally, she has offered guest lectures on International Taxation for students of ICAI, NUJS, Alliance University and NALSAR.

Her academic interests include Taxation (domestic and international) Law, Law of Contracts, and Alternative Dispute Resolution. She completed her doctoral studies from Vienna University of Economics and Business (WU). Her doctoral thesis analysed issues emanating from earmarking of taxes under international tax treaty law and European Union law.

Ashrita has published in several national and international journals and has received Research Excellence awards from JGLS and WU. She was a KC Mahindra Scholar at Oxford University, and has also been awarded scholarships for research stays at University of New South Wales (Abe Greenbaum Research Fellowship) and the Max Planck Institute of Tax Law and Public Finance. Her co-authored report on Cesses and Surcharges was submitted to the Fifteenth Finance Commission.

Research interests

Taxation (Domestic and International) Law, Law of Contracts and Alternative Dispute Resolution

Publications

Book Chapters: 

• Would, and if so, under which circumstances earmarking raise the acceptance of taxation? in Democracy and the Legitimization to Tax, IBFD’s GREIT Series, 2025 (expected).
• India: Profit Attribution to Permanent Establishments: Global v Local in Tax Treaty Case Law Around the Globe 2025, Lang/Kofler/Rust/Owens/Pistone/Schuch/Spies/Staringer/Storck/Essers/Kemmeren/ Smit (eds.), Linde Publishing (forthcoming).
• Earmarking of Taxes for Disruption and Recovery in Tax Law in Times of Crisis, Peter Harris, Dominic De Cogan and Alexis Brassey (eds.), Hart Publishing, 2023, 75-94.
• National Report India: The Indian Dividend Distribution Tax: Entitlement to Treaty Protection?, in Tax Treaty Case Law around the Globe 2021, Lang/Kofler/Rust/Owens/Pistone/Schuch/Spies/Staringer/Storck/Essers/Kemmeren/ Smit (eds.), Linde Publishing, 2022, 49-64.
• National Report India (co-authored with Prerna Peshori), in Mission Completed ?: The Implementation and Lasting Effects of the Multilateral Instrument, Lang / Rust / Schuch / Staringer / Pistone / Krever (eds.), IBFD Books, 2021, 521-549.
• Taxes on Income According to Art 2 Par 1 and 2 OECD Model Convention 2017, in Taxes Covered under Article 2 of the OECD Model. The Scope of Tax Treaties in a Dynamic Global Environment of Newly Created Taxes, Lang / Pistone / Rust / Schuch / Staringer (eds.), IBFD Books, 2021, 25-43.
• POEM: Indian and International Perspectives (co-authored with Mukesh Butani) in International Taxation in the Digital Era, Parthasarathi Shome (ed.), ITRAF, OakBridge Publishers, 2020, 151-164.
• Cesses in the Indian Tax Regime: A Historical Analysis in Studies in the History of Tax Law Volume 8, Peter Harris and Dominic de Cogan (eds.), Hart Publishing, 2017, 483-511.

Journal articles:

• Evolving Approaches to Treaty Interpretation: Indian Courts (with Palak Sethi), The Chamber’s Journal, April 2025, pp.21-28.
• Baseball Arbitration Option under the EU Dispute Resolution Directive: How Well Does it Fare Against the Objectives?, World Tax Journal 2021, Volume 13, No.2, 253-283.
• Earmarked Taxes: An Indian Case Study (co-authored with Pradnya Talekar), eJournal of Tax Research 2021, Volume 19, No. 1, 97-120.
• The Budgetary Treatment of Indian Earmarked Taxes: A Tale of Governance Gaps, Tax Notes International, Vol.101, No.11, 2021, 1419-1425.
• The Distinction between Cess and Surcharge is Significant for a Taxpayer Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. 53, Issue No. 8, 24th Feb, 2018.
• The Mauritius Route: The Indian Response, Saint Louis University Law Review 62 St. Louis ULJ 203 (2017).
• Place of Effective Management Test in the Income Tax Act, 1961: Is it the Right Way Forward ?, 8 NUJS L. Rev 13 (2015).
• Data Exclusivity – A Reconciliation of the Debate from the Indian Perspective, Volume 4 of NALSAR Student Law Review (2008).

Policy Reports:

• Ashrita Prasad Kotha et al, Cesses and Surcharges: Concept, Practice and Reform Report submitted to the Fifteenth Finance Commission (2018)
• Debanshu Mukherjee et al., Resolving the NPA Crisis – Some Action points for reform A Briefing Report submitted to the Reserve Bank of India (2014)

Select Editorials and Blogposts:

• A Kotha and Pragya Kaushik, ‘Income tax law: Semantics and Beyond’, Hindu Business Line (February 12, 2025)
• A Kotha and M Tatigotla, ‘Bill for Gig Workers Misses the Mark‘, Deccan Herald (September 6 2024)
• A Kotha ‘United Nations: Will it Take the Road ‘Less Traveled’ in International Taxation?’ Oxford Business Law Blog (June 27 2024)
• M Butani and A Kotha ‘Place of Effective Management: Indian Perspective’ Kluwer International Tax Blog (22 August 2018)
• M Butani and A Kotha ‘GST Council’s Bitter Sugar Cess’ The Financial Express (New Delhi 15 June 2018)
• A Kotha, ‘Indian cess taxes: A call for accountability’ Tax Justice Network Blog (December 11 2017)
• A Kotha and P Talekar, ‘Questions about the GST Cess’ The Hindu (New Delhi, 19 September 2017)
• A Kotha, ‘Proposed sin cess against cess spirit’ Business Standard (New Delhi 31 October 2016)
• A Kotha, ‘A cess Here and a cess There’ The Wire (New Delhi 13 March 2016)
• A Kotha, ‘The Finance Ministry’s test is neither consistent nor effective’ The Wire (New Delhi 28 January 2016)
• R Arun and A Kotha, ‘Swachh Bharat cess has many problems – for starters, its name’ Scroll.in (Chennai 7 January 2016)
• A Kamalnath and A Kotha, ‘CSR can restore lost credibility’ The Hindu Business Line (Chennai 1 May 2014)