Glossary
Global Mobility Services (GMS)
The function — internal team or external advisor — that manages cross-border employee assignments: immigration, tax equalisation, shadow payroll, social security and compliance for inbound and outbound moves.
GMS coordinates every workstream a cross-border assignment touches: visa sponsorship, tax equalisation policy, shadow payroll set-up, social security analysis, and cost projection for the budget.
For India-inbound assignments, GMS is where the labour-code changes (deemed wages, IW/Para 83 exposure, gratuity timing) meet the Income-tax Act 2025 crosswalk. Both must reconcile into one coherent cost model.
Why it matters now: the four Codes and the new tax Act both landed within months of each other. GMS teams need an updated playbook that accounts for both, not pre-2025-26 assumptions.