FROM THE PRESIDENT

In our profession, too, we can achieve this when we identify and involve ourselves in activity which provides inner motivation to excel. This in turn will make us happy. Once you are carrying on an activity with happiness and with deep belief in your ability to excel, it will lead to success. During the Covid times since 2020, we all have passed through turbulent times. However, it is professionals with self-belief and with knowledge that life always intrudes to disturb the flow, who have come out of such crisis and excelled. At this juncture, when we have entered the third wave of the pandemic, it is all the more important for all of us to lead a fearless life and face the situation with determination and with adequate Covid protocols to overcome the same. There is obvious fear in the minds of all of us due to the contagious nature of the virus and its fast-spreading qualities. However, we should face the fear with confidence, because it is with belief that we shall make it through in spite of our fear.

Our Chartered Accountancy profession at large is passing through times of major changes. The Government of India had introduced a bill to amend the law governing chartered accountants. One of the amendments was the proposed appointment of a Non-Chartered Accountant as the Presiding Officer of the Disciplinary Committee (DC) of the ICAI as well as to have three Non-Chartered Accountants and two Chartered Accountants on the DC. The DC has to deal with the complaints relating to the contentious accounting, auditing and ethical standards related issues. The Presiding Officer who heads the DC as well as Non-Chartered Accountants on the DC should have sound knowledge on all the three aspects. If such members are without adequate exposure during their career to the standards dealing with these three aspects, there is scepticism amongst professionals that the issues may not be addressed in the right perspective by the DC. However, after effective representation, the Bill has been referred to a Parliamentary Standing Committee (PSC). A detailed representation with proper justification has to be made before the PSC over the provisions relating to the disciplinary mechanism of the proposed legislation.

On the economic front, as per the RBI’s annual Trends & Progress Report, the declining trend in bad loans continued in the pandemic year when the gross NPAs of scheduled commercial banks have reduced to 6.9% as of September, 2021 which had reduced to 7.3% in March, 2021 from 8.2% in March, 2020. As per the work place visits tracked by search engine Google, there is an increase of 7.6% over a baseline period before Covid-19 as on 23rd December, 2021, despite rising cases of the Omicron variant. Weekly power generation was also at its highest since mid-October with generation of 3,797 million units of average electricity per day during the week ended 26th December, 2021, which is 3.4% higher than the previous week, 4% and 8.8% higher than the corresponding week of 2020 and 2019, respectively. These are encouraging signals of an economy unshackling the effects of the pandemic and moving ahead to be one of the fastest growing economies of the world.

At BCAS we had two events which were attended in large numbers. One was a Fireside chat on ‘Crypto currencies and their challenge to rupee and all Fiat currencies’. The panellists were Mr. Rajnish Kumar and Ms Shikha Mehra. The session provided really very deep insights on the functioning of cryptocurrencies and the regulatory challenges which have to be addressed before digital currency becomes part of our daily life. Another event was the Webinar on Annual Information System, wherein speakers CA Ameet Patel and CA Sonalee Godbole equipped members with the information which is captured by the Income-tax Department of the assessees and collated for them to verify and the manner in which to communicate with the Department for the discrepancies.

BCAS Taxation Committee representatives along with Tax Committee representatives of IMC and CTC had a fruitful interaction with Hon. CCIT (TDS), Mumbai along with his team from the TDS Department on 17th December, 2021. Various common and pertinent issues faced by the tax deductors / deductees as well as professionals while complying with the various provisions of TDS as well as through the tax portal were conveyed and discussed. Such interactions will go a long way in confidence-building measures between the Tax Department, taxpayers and tax professionals.

A pre-Budget Memorandum on Direct Taxes was also submitted by BCAS to the Hon. Finance Minister with a request to consider the suggestions while framing proposals in the Finance Bill, 2022 for amendments to the Income Tax Act, 1961.

BCAS’s prized Diary and Calendar have also been released and the theme for this year is ‘Independent India’s Achievements @75’. If you have not yet ordered them, kindly ensure to have them ordered at the earliest as there is very limited stock available after pre-booking dispatches.

Let us all welcome 2022 by dreaming that the best period of our life is ahead of us. I would remind you that the great dreamers dreamt great dreams, not necessarily during the best of times but during the toughest of times. So let us DREAM BIG during such trying times and make it BIG. I conclude my message with an advice by my GURU Mahatria Ra.

Welcome to 2022,

Best Regards,
 

Abhay Mehta
President