About
Aarav represents Indian corporates and family offices before the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal, the Bombay High Court and AAR. He spent eight years at a Big 4 tax practice — last as Partner, Direct Tax Litigation — before founding Mehta & Associates in 2019. His work spans search & seizure assessments, transfer pricing litigation, GAAR matters and international tax structuring for India-bound investments.
Specializations
Industries
Services & indicative fees
Tax Litigation & Representation
from ₹1.5L / matterITAT, HC and AAR representation for assessments, reassessments and search cases.
Search & Seizure Advisory
from ₹3L retainerEnd-to-end handling of 132 / 132A actions, statements and post-search assessments.
Corporate Tax Advisory
from ₹50K / opinionWritten opinions on M&A, capital structuring, ESOP and cross-border transactions.
Family Office & HNI Tax
from ₹2L annualSuccession, trust structuring, FEMA and global income reporting.
Notable engagements
₹780 Cr search-assessment relief — listed real estate group
Disputed demand reduced by 92%Led representation across CIT(A) and ITAT after a multi-city 132 search action.
Pillar Two readiness — global auto-component MNC
Adopted across 7 group entitiesBuilt the India-side GloBE rules impact model and governance framework.
Landmark transfer-pricing ruling — pharma captive
Argued benchmarking methodology challenge before Mumbai ITAT, cited in 4 later rulings.
Family-office succession structuring
Designed a private trust + LLP structure for an industrialist family worth $420M AUM.
Client identities are kept confidential. Sample profile.
Achievements & recognition
- All-India Rank 27 — CA Final, May 2011
- ICAI Certificate of Merit — Direct Tax paper
- Listed in BW Legal '40 under 40 Tax Counsel' — 2023
- Successfully argued ₹2,400 Cr+ cumulative disputed demand at ITAT
- Advisor to two BSE-listed boards on tax governance
Journey & education
2005
CA Foundation cleared — first attempt
2007
CA Intermediate cleared — both groups
2008-2011
Articleship — Deloitte Haskins & Sells, Mumbai
2011
CA Final cleared — All India Rank 27
2011
Admitted as ACA, ICAI
2016
Elevated to FCA after five years of practice
What clients say
"Aarav reads a tax notice the way a surgeon reads a scan. We've trusted his judgment on every material assessment for six years."
"He defended us through a 132 search with absolute composure. The relief we got was beyond what we'd hoped for."
"Among the sharpest direct-tax minds of his generation. Calm, prepared and devastating in cross."
Publications & speaking
- Monthly column — 'ITAT Watch' in Taxsutra Insight
- Co-author — ICAI Background Material on Search Assessments (2022 ed.)
- Speaker — WIRC Residential Refresher Course on International Tax (2024)