Shreya Rao

Practice Areas

Shreya runs Shreya Rao & Associates, a boutique Indian law practice specialising in international tax and private client law. In her previous roles she spent nearly 2 decades at large full service firms as tax partner and head of market leading private client teams. Her firm specialises in cross border matters , and has particular expertise in advising clients with ties to the US, UK, middle East and Singapore.

Shreya’s international tax work is a mix of advisory and controversy for institutional clients such as funds, MNCs and start-ups, who consult with her on issues relating to setting up and doing business in India, the structuring of investments and divestments, incentive structuring, permanent establishment exposure etc. Her private clients include marquee Indian business families, entrepreneurs and celebrities, as well as the fiduciaries, family offices or institutions who assist them. These clients consult with her on the structuring of inter-generational wealth transfers through trusts and wills, relocation related issues, the purchase and bequeathal of luxury assets, philanthropy and family governance. She has consistently received the strongest reviews for her work in tax and private client law for over a decade, including for her ability to navigate “the most difficult, emotional and intellectually challenging issues with grace and apparent ease” (Legal500 Tax, 2023), for her "thoroughness, attention to detail and preparedness" (Chambers Asia-Pacific Tax, 2015), and for being "incredibly smart generally, technically very sound and understanding the complexities of US and Indian trust and tax law" (Chambers HNW, 2021).

Shreya is also invested in and serious about tax academia, and has taught core and elective courses on tax, at various Indian law schools since 2009. In a deeper commitment to tax research, she is pursuing a PhD in tax law (part-time) at the University of Oxford, where she is also the graduate convenor of the Oxford Tax Law and Policy Discussion Group.

Professional Memberships

• International Fellow, American College of Trust and Estate Counsel (ACTEC)

• Academician with the International Academy of Estate and Trust Law (TIAETL)

• Trust & Estate Practitioner (TEP), Society of Trust Estate Practitioners (STEP)

• Lead editor for Indian law, Society for Trusts and Estates Practitioners (STEP)

• Vice Chair for Policy, Southeast Asia/Oceania and India Committee, American Bar Association (ABA), 2024-2025

Education

Awards