This is somewhat shady. Spent a couple of years at JSA at an M&A team there. Barely got anything in the 8% bill share. It's paid out when the client pays the firm. Often the clients pay a lump sum for all matters for the FY. The partners then decide how the revenue will be split matter wise. If the deal doesn't go through, they tend not to allocate much to that matter - which means you don't get paid the 8% despite putting in the work. Also depends on how much clout your partner has at the table when the split between transactions is decided - particularly where multiple partners/teams are involved. My peers at other firms were paid far better, left for greener pastures. Financially a very prudent decision to leave.

Claiming item wise tax exemptions and paying tax under Section 44ADA (the presumptive taxation scheme for professionals) is not the same. While on paper "claiming HRA- rent of 30k" sounds easy, practically may not be so. Not many landlords, atleast in Delhi, accept rent in any form other than cash and would seldom share their PAN with you, for obvious reasons, let alone issue you with rent receipts, without which you can't claim the exemption. Further, such deductions are subject to ceilings, which typically comes to 60k pa. Whereas under the presumptive taxation scheme, straightaway 50% of gross receipts is deducted and you're also eligible for further deductions, such as contribution to ELL. The difference literally is in lakhs- compounded over time.

Quote:

How much would the 8% bill sharing be

8%, that can be a lot or a little. It all depends on you and how much business you bring in. When you think of all the headaches most people go through in life, ours is all boiled down to one. Not a bad deal right?

I wasn't taking into account HRA exemptions and tax savings simply because HRA exemptions are not as available if you are not paying the actual rent. In addition, you're running a fixed income of 16.4 when the number is 17.4. The tax saving exemptions are fair point. I've run the numbers - and to be clear -

a. Under the salary regime, the tax hit is 2.69L (under the new regime) and 1.89L (under the old regime - including HRA exemption and 80C++ savings) in total. Versus 57.7K (under the new regime) and 58.8K (under the old regime + 80C++ savings).

This number increases drastically at say 5-6 year PQE where at an overall payout of say 40L -

b. Under the salary regime, he tax hit is 9.75L (under the new regime) and 8.93L (under the old regime - including HRA exemption and 80C++ savings) in total. Versus 3.51L (under the new regime) and 3.82L (under the old regime + 80C++ savings).

It peaks at 49.9L total income, where the retainer regime only levies a tax of 5~ Lakh and the salary levies a tax of 12~ Lakh.

The total hit is well in the 10-20L range overall.

I don't think you needed to say "got it completely wrong here" - lol

No, totally incorrect. There's a trainee tier at JSA called "permanent internship" where they get paid around 40k a month, which is different from JA. Most new hires are JAs and get hired at 60k which is then changed to full Associate pay of 90k within 6 months. New associates are given an increment to bring them up to 1-1.2 when they finish their first year and then start making 8% on their bill share, which can be substantial

Completely got it wrong here. The effective tax payout difference will be 10 percent or less. On a fixed income of 16.4 you end up paying tax close to 1.5 lakhs (claim HRA - rent of 30k per month, 80C, 80CCD) whereas someone with a retainer of the same amount will end up paying 70-80k as tax. The difference definitely increases proportionately but not as much you make out it to be.

Honestly depends on your partner and team. Could range widely based on practice area as well. I've heard capital markets isn't very lucrative whereas a well run m&a team can help you make big bucks potentially. Only big issue is if you leave you leave a large portion of 8% earnings on the table since those are paid upon recovery from the client.

To expand on Some Corrections' pay caveat re: NDA, the employee payout will effectively mean a difference of at least 3-4 Lakhs in the first year in effective take home - and will increase until you cross a CTC of 50L. You could lose up to 10-20 Lakhs during this period in taxes versus being on retainer elsewhere.

After that it will broadly not make a difference whether you are on retainer or an employee (other than increased flexibility in tax planning).

I think it's important to point out that NDA's pay of 16.2+1.2 may seem great, but a sizeable portion is deferred up to 18 months and 3 years of joining. I also understand they're subject to higher income tax brackets due to how they treat their lawyers (i.e. as employees rather than retainers).

Additionally, JSA may seem small at 11.5+2, but associates (post-probation) are also entitled bill-sharing of 8%. That's where the real money lies.

Also, if it helps, the split up at L&L is 13.8 + 2.2

Based on the discussions on the LI threads, articles and data available online, i have tabulated this table to provide easy reference for law freshers:

Trilegal: 13.2 + 2.2
KCO: 14.4 + 1.8
CAM: 13 + 2
SAM: 15
AZB: 14 + 1.5
L&L: 16
JSA: 11.5 + 1
TTA: 13 + upto 40%(usual 10-20%)
S&R: 13.2 + 3
NDA: 16.2 +1.2
DSK: 10
Induslaw: 12 + 1.2
Lexygen: 15
Veritas: 14
ELP: 8 + 20k
Bharucha: 9 + 1
Pioneer: 9.6
Poovayya: 9
WG: 6.6
HSA: 6
Finsec: 10.8
DMD: 7.8
PDS: 7.8
Rajani: 6-7
Tatva: 6-7
Algo: 6-7.2
Anoma: 4.8 -5.4
Acuity: 9-10
Rajaram: 6-7.2
Juris Legal: 5.4