Art. 13 in the contemporary tax treaties stipulate the rules for the Source State's right to tax capital gains. Majority of provisions employ the term alienation (of property). The tax treaties, however, do not define that term. Art. 3(2) in the tax treaties, generally, provides that as regards the application of the tax treaty by one of the Contracting States any term not defined therein shall, unless the context otherwise requires, have the meaning which it has under the domestic tax law of the concerned Contracting State. The Indian income tax law, however, does not contain the definition of 'alienation.

This monograph seeks to analyze the meaning and scope of the term 'alienation' under India's tax treaties in the following five scenarios:

1. Redemption of preference shares;
2. Reduction of share capital by a company;
3. Liquidation of companies;
4. Amalgamation of companies (from the perspective of the shareholders of the amalgamating company); and
5. Conversion of a company into a limited liability partnership (LLP).