Society News

BEPS Study Circle Meetings held
on 7^th and 22^nd December 2016

International Taxation Committee of BCAS organized 2 BEPS
Study Circle Meetings on 7^th and 22^nd December, 2016 at
BCAS Conference Hall. CA. Rashmin Sanghvi led the discussion on BEPS Action
Plan 1 thereby addressing the Tax Challenges of the Digital Economy.

The first meeting of BEPS Study Circle was held on 7^th December,
2016 to explain the objective of the meeting. President CA. Chetan Shah,
Chairman of International Taxation Committee CA. Gautam Nayak, CA. Rashmin
Sanghvi and CA. T. P. Ostwal explained the motive and importance of study
circle in studying the subject of future importance.

OECD/G20 have brought out BEPS Action reports. Countries are
obligated to take measures considering that the erstwhile ways of International
tax practice will not hold good. The Multilateral instrument to amend the DTAs
is expected to be ratified by the countries by June 2017. It is better to plan
with the objective to study the BEPS reports and understand what will be the
implications. 

The 2^nd meeting was held on 22^nd
December to take the discussions forward on BEPS Action Plan-1. In both the
meetings, CA. Rashmin Sanghvi made the presentation and explained the
provisions of the challenges existing in Taxation of Digital Transactions and
the Equalisation Levy being levied by Indian Government to tackle the same. He
further emphasised that current International Tax rules require the presence in
the country of source, to enable that country to tax the income. E-commerce
companies do not pay tax in country of source as they do not have their
presence in the country of source. Due to sophisticated tax planning, they also
do not pay tax in country of residence. Mr. Sanghvi also informed that the
world is debating on how to tax such companies and that the Digital Economy is
the only report where there are no specific recommendations. The report gives
three alternatives – bringing in the concept of Significant Economic Presence,
TDS and Equalisation Levy. India has adopted Equalisation Levy and other
countries are also studying the Indian law.

Members debated the basic principles for equitable taxation
of Digital transactions between country of residence of entity and country of
revenue. Equalisation Levy by India has some difficulties as tax is being
collected from Indian residents and not from non-residents. Members discussed
the alternatives to reduce the difficulties.

The meeting was very informative, participative and was
appreciated by members.

Direct Tax Law Study Circle
Meeting on “Appellate Proceedings & Penalty Pro-ceedings”

The Taxation Committee of BCAS conducted Direct Tax Law Study
Circle Meeting on “Appellate Proceedings & Penalty Proceedings” on 5^th
January 2017 at BCAS Conference Hall.

The meeting was chaired by CA. Ronak Doshi. The Group leader,
CA. Jhankhana Thakkar meticulously explained the procedural aspects during
appellate proceedings.

During the course of discussion, emphasis was placed on
practical aspects while drafting appeal including stay application before each
level of appellate authorities mentioned below:

–    Appeal to Commissioner of Income-tax
(Appeals)

–    Dispute Resolution Scheme, 2016 (since
filing date was extended to 31 January 2017)

–    Dispute Resolution Panel

–    Income-tax Appellate Tribunal

–    Proceedings for stay of demand.

She reiterated that due care needs to be taken while drafting
appeal, covering technical issues as well the merits of the case, based on
authorities’ impression on submissions filed by assessee.

However, due to paucity of time, Penalty Proceedings were not
taken up for discussion which would be covered up in the next study circle
meeting.

The members benefitted from the meeting and thanked Taxation
Committee for organising the meeting on such interesting subject.

Lecture Meeting on “Important
Case Laws of 2016 on Service Tax”

Bombay Chartered Accountants’ Society organised a lecture
meeting on “Important case laws of 2016 on Service Tax” on 11^th January
2017 at BCAS Conference Hall which was addressed by the speaker CA. A. R.
Krishnan. 

CA. A.R. Krishnan

It was the first lecture meeting of the year 2017.The Speaker
stressed upon the importance of understanding the facts of the case properly
for representing before the tax authorities. He began his lecture with case
laws related to “Cross Border Transactions”. Various case laws on this subject
namely Tech Mahindra vs. CCE, Genom Biotech Pvt. Ltd. vs. CCE&C etc.
and their decisions were very well explained by the speaker.

Then he moved on to “Currency Conversion Transaction” (use of
credit/debit cards) wherein the case laws namely SBI Cards and Payment
services Pvt. Ltd. vs. CST and Citibank N.A. vs. CST were elaborated
with the help of chart which was very helpful for the participants’
understanding.

It was followed by case laws based on “freight forwarder
(airline & shipping industry)”. Few case laws under this subject which were
Greenwich MedrianLogistics(I) Pvt. Ltd., Global Transportation Services Pvt.
Ltd. and DHL Lemuir Logistics Pvt. Ltd. etc. along with a circular
No.197/7/2016-ST dated 12.08.2016 were also taken up by Mr. Krishnan.

The next topic presented was “Freight Forwarder Ocean Freight
Surplus” where cases of logistics and transport service providers were
deliberated in details.

Thereafter, Mr. Krishnan elucidated the case laws related to
“CENVAT Credit” and talked about various issues related to availing credit and
payment methods. He also described other important case laws on the CENVAT such
as Jawahar SSK Ltd. vs. CCE, Tata Technologies Ltd vs. CCE etc. with
numerical illustrations for easy grasping of the attendees.

The speaker also enlightened those present about the case
laws relating to “Cost Sharing Arrangements” including judgment of the Supreme
Court in the case of Gujarat State Fertilizer & Chemicals (GSFC). At the
end, miscellaneous case laws i.e. N. Bala Baskar vs. UOI and Sumeet C.
Tholle vs. CCE were discussed.

The participants had a very enriching experience as all the
relevant and important case laws and the principles of service tax law were
brought out with the help of analytical and lucid presentation.

FEMA Study Circle Meeting

International Taxation Committee of BCAS conducted a FEMA
Study Circle Meeting on 12^th January, 2017 at BCAS Conference Hall
on the topic of “Foreign Direct Investment in Construction & Development”
and “Investment in Immovable Property In and Outside India” where CA. Niki Shah
& CA. Natwar Thakrar led the group for a very interactive discussion. It
was a wonderful beginning of the year 2017 and the FEMA study circle began with
a bang.

As India started gaining popularity among other emerging
economies, 2016 offered a few major Liberalisations in the overall FDI segment.
Construction and Development sector saw a major overhaul with many conditions
like “minimum capitalisation” and “minimum built up area” made redundant. CA.
Niki Shah led a power packed session and enlightened the group.

The participants were also greatly benefitted by one of the
most consistent and oldest group member CA. Natwar Thakrar. He shared his rich
experience on the subject and briefed the members on how Foreign Residents
misused FEMA provisions to acquire Immovable Property in India and how RBI
tackled the issue.

Experts Chat @BCAS on “Effective
Professionalization of Family Managed Business – Opportunities &
Challenges”

Mr. Jalaj Dani in the fireside chat with CA. Shariq Contractor

An Expert Chat @BCAS was  
organised  on the subject  on 23^rd January, 2017 at BCAS
Conference Hall wherein a fireside chat was arranged between  the industrialist Mr. Jalaj Dani, Executive
Director, Asian Paints Limited and CA. Shariq Contractor, Past President, BCAS.
The programme commenced with the welcome address by BCAS Vice President CA.
Narayan Pasari who introduced the session with entrepreneurial and professional
aspects of family run businesses in India. The session was made available
online for our members. Mr. Dani enlightened the audience in regard to the
progression of Asian Paints Limited starting from a very small set of 4
families to a large number of shareholders and creating huge wealth for the
investors with current market capitalisation of Rs. 90,000 crores. The pillars
on which  the business stood were innovation,
team building, shareholder value, professionalization, responsibility and
empowerment. He emphasised that patriarchs and professionals must act in
synergy and are a part and parcel for the success of any family managed
business.  

Mr. Shariq initiated the Experts Chat with Mr. Dani on his
expert views on the opportunities and challenges in professionally managed
family businesses in India and abroad. He also posed various interesting
questions to Mr. Dani on the challenges in managing the conflict of interests
in personal and professional lives within the partnering families and also with
hired professionals at the helm of affairs of the company, for sustainable
growth in the present competitive environment. They also discussed about the
Social, Economic and Financial Impact of the large family run businesses on the
economy as a whole. At the end, the floor was opened for a Q & A Session.

The programme was an interactive one with active
participation from all participants. CA. Shariq Contractor thanked Mr. Jalaj
Dani for responding to all the queries candidly and also enlightening the
partticipants on the subject in depth.

Lecture Meeting on “Global
Developments in International Taxation-Impacting India”

A  lecture meeting  on “Global Developments in International
Taxation-Impacting India” was held on 25^th January, 2017 at BCAS
Conference hall which was addressed by CA. T. P. Ostwal. The session was
chaired by the past president of the society CA. Mayur Nayak.

Mr. Ostwal, in the technical session, dealt with the subject
of “Case Studies on Recent Developments and Issues in Cross-border Taxation” in
his inimitable style covering day to day issues in the fields of Equalisation
Levy, Transfer Pricing, Indirect Transfers, Residential Status, Place of
Effective Management and Taxability of the overseas dividends in the hands of
the Indian shareholders. While dealing with case studies on different topics,
he covered various jurisdictions and examined the taxability under both the
domestic tax laws as well as applicable tax treaties. He also answered various
queries raised by the participants on these case studies.