International vs domestic office relocation: what changes when the office leaves India

An international office relocation differs from a domestic one because the goods leave Indian customs territory and enter another country's, so in the countries this guide checked, your company, itself or through an agent, declares its furniture and IT as their importer and plans for tax on arrival, while a move within India runs on a GST e-way bill.

This guide is for Indian companies opening or moving an office in another country. It compares the two moves point by point, then takes each difference in turn, with the official rule behind it.

For the service itself, see international office moving with IMove. Staff moving home with the office can see international moving.

An office move abroad differs from one within India in who declares the goods, what tax falls due, how the freight travels and which data rules apply, because a move inside India stays in one tax and customs territory, while a move abroad crosses two customs borders and lands under another country's laws.

The table sets the two moves side by side.

Within India, the GST e-way bill system (opens in a new tab) applies to goods moved for reasons other than a sale. So moving an office's goods above its value limit calls for an e-way bill. Abroad, the goods also need export clearance in India and an import declaration where they land.

Sea, air or both

Air freight is charged on chargeable weight, the greater of a shipment's actual weight and its volume weight. Airline terms such as Vietnam Airlines Cargo’s conditions of carriage (opens in a new tab) set this out. Desks, chairs and cabinets are bulky for their weight, so they cost more by air than their weight suggests.

You can split the move. Furniture goes by sea, and the laptops and network gear you need first go by air. The comparison of sea freight and air freight sets out the trade-off.

Yes, in each country this guide checked, your company, or an agent acting for it, declares the office goods to customs as their importer, because the goods belong to a business rather than to a person moving home, so the paperwork is the company's.

Three countries show what that means:

• In Singapore, the company needs a Unique Entity Number, an active Customs account and a customs permit before the goods are imported
• In the USA, a security filing goes in at least 24 hours before a sea shipment is loaded abroad
• In the UK, the goods go on an import declaration, and relief should be claimed at the time of import

The rules are on Singapore Customs (opens in a new tab)' import pages, in the US Customs and Border Protection rules (opens in a new tab) and in HMRC’s Notice 343 (opens in a new tab). For the routes themselves, see India to Singapore, India to USA and India to UAE.

Who files the declarations

Your company can file them itself or appoint an agent. Singapore lets a declaring agent obtain the permits for you. The UK lets someone else complete the declaration if you give them clear written instructions about the relief.

They can be, because in the UK the relief that lets families bring used household goods in free of duty is closed to companies, and the business relief applies only on strict conditions, such as the business having ceased its activities outside the UK.

HMRC (opens in a new tab) says transfer of residence relief is not available to companies. HMRC’s Notice 343 (opens in a new tab) offers a separate relief on office equipment and computers when a business moves to the UK. These are its main conditions for duty relief:

• The business has completely ceased its activities outside the UK
• The goods have belonged to the business and been used by it for a set period before the move
• The goods are used for exactly the same purpose in the UK
• The goods arrive within a set period of the business closing abroad

After import, the goods must be kept for a set period, and not lent, hired out or transferred. The notice gives each period, and the cases where HMRC can waive one. If your company keeps its office in India open, this relief does not apply, so budget for the import charges on what you ship.

Office furniture and IT are not on Singapore Customs’ (opens in a new tab) short list of dutiable goods, so they incur GST only. The importer accounts for it on the customs permit. For other costs that can sit outside a quote, see the guide to the hidden costs of international moving.

Treat devices as both freight and data, because laptops and phones carry lithium batteries that fly only under set conditions, and the personal data on every device stays your company's duty to protect under Indian law while the devices are packed, shipped and stored.

IATA (opens in a new tab) says lithium batteries can be carried by air depending on how they are packed, and their watt-hour rating or lithium content. Ask how each mover packs and sends laptops before you book air freight.

Today, Indian law asks a company holding sensitive personal data to follow reasonable security practices. That duty comes from the IT Rules, 2011 (opens in a new tab), made under section 43A of the IT Act.

The Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 (opens in a new tab) adds wider duties, such as security safeguards and reporting a breach. The DPDP Rules, 2025 (opens in a new tab) are phasing these duties in. Once in force, the Act also lets the government restrict transfers of personal data to countries it notifies.

Before the devices leave, settle these:

• A record of each device's make, model and serial number
• A tested backup of the data
• What to wipe, and what to ship with data on it
• Export controls on servers and network gear, checked with your legal team

For how a move of servers and workstations is planned, see IT equipment moving.

Keep it running by moving in phases, with the systems the business cannot work without set up and tested at the new office before the rest arrives, so a delay at customs or in freight holds up one part of the move instead of the whole company.

A phased plan needs a list of what moves when, and somewhere for goods to wait if the new office isn't ready. Storage at the destination is one way to bridge that gap.

With IMove, office moves carry a zero-business-downtime guarantee. For running the move as a project, see move management.