As first reported by us in August, two PwC indirect tax experts have now joined in partner-equivalent positions as executive and associate directors in Mumbai.

According to the firm’s press release, PwC director, a 2004-batch chartered accountant and 2011 Delhi University law graduate Abhishek A Rastogi has joined as an executive director. He was previously also at Ernst & Young.

Rashmi Deshpande, who is an ILS Pune 2006 graduate, has joined Khaitan from PwC as an associate director in indirect tax, having previously also worked at KPMG, BMR Advisors and Deloitte.

Khaitan partner Rabindra Jhunjhunwala said in a statement: “Their vast experience of working at top accounting firms, will strengthen our regional capabilities and our existing indirect tax practice.”

We reported in August that Khaitan's existing tax practice consisted of eight partners, with three in indirect tax - Nihal Kothari, Dinesh Agrawal and Arvind Baheti - with associate partner Kabir Bogra, while three partners and one associate partner were focused exclusively on direct tax work.

Khaitan’s press release stated:

Abhishek was previously a Director with PwC, specialising in Indirect Tax for close to 12 years. Prior to that he was with Ernst & Young for 4 years. Abhishek is a Chartered Accountant (batch of 2004) and graduated from Law Centre II, University of Delhi in 2011.

Abhishek has worked on diverse Indirect Tax assignments covering Service Tax, Customs, Excise, VAT and GST He has represented a wide range of clients in Indirect Tax litigation matters at the Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi and Mumbai Tribunals. Abhishek has authored books on GST, Service Tax, Foreign Trade Policy and Central Excise which have been published by Taxmann Publications and LexisNexis.

Rashmi was previously with PwC, specialising in Indirect Tax for more than 4 years. Prior to that she was with KPMG from January 2010 to April 2011 and BMR Advisors from May 2006 to September 2009. Rashmi started her career with Deloitte after graduating from ILS Law College, Pune in 2006.

Rashmi has significant experience in advisory and litigation matters and has advised clients in the financial, construction and pharmaceutical sectors.