Navigating Tax Strategy in the FMCG Sector An Internship-Based Study at Kellogg’s India

Abstract

The report "Navigating Tax Strategy in the FMCG Sector: An Internship-based Experience at Kellogg's India" provides an overview of my summer internship with the Tax Team of Kellogg India, as part of the MBA - Finance curriculum of ATLAS SkillTech University. The internship provided a perfect opportunity to experience a difficult and heavily regulated area of corporate tax to get a sense of the fast then exciting and ever-changing world of Fast-Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG). Kellogg's India is part of a substantial market climate to observe how tax strategy, compliance with regulation, and education on financial correctness assist with the long-term sustainability agenda of one of the largest food companies in the world. Some of the tax work I performed during my internship was the filing of GST returns, reconciliation of accounts, raising of debit and credit notes using an SAP-based system, input towards inward register consolidation and documentation review in a regulatory tax audit example followed by various statutory provisions relating to taxation in India contained in the Income Tax Acts i.e. Section 40(a) and Section 23. These experiences enabled me to apply theoretical education that I got in school to practical outlook, and on the other hand learning the implication of tax decisions in the environment of the FMCG industry. The report describes the learning experience I received as it relates to technical and strategic aspects of taxation. It outlines what is the significance of tax planning towards cost management, regulatory compliance and risk aversion that is extremely important to conduct business in high competition and low margin region like FMCG. Taking the internship also enabled important soft skills to be developed in areas such as the ability to communicate with stakeholders, data understanding, and self-provision in order to build professional rigour. In an executive summary, we summarize the experiences and lessons developed from the chapters of my report. Therefore, it is hoped that this report takes the reader through my placement with Kellogg's India and consider the trusting and lessons of my experience related to my more general development as a young finance and consulting professional.