Dear Valued Reader,
“If you want to make God laugh, tell him about your future plans” – Anonymus.
Indeed, man proposes, God disposes.
The way tsunami struck Japan on 11th March, 2011, and the consequent devastation in a very short span of time has proved the supremacy of nature over mankind. Thousands of people died and properties worth billions of dollars destroyed. What followed turned out to be one of the worst catastrophes in human history, perhaps next only to the manmade nuclear holocaust in the last century. But kudos to their spirit and resilience, the Japanese are facing this tragedy simply bravely – a lesson to be learnt by India and the whole world.
A tsunami like provision in the Finance Bill 2011 – 12 relates to “Point of Service Tax Rules” providing payment of service tax on accrual basis, rather than the existing system of cash basis (i.e. Payment of service tax on receipt basis), has been deferred for the time being. BCAS, in coordination with various other similar organisations, lodged a strong protest against the proposed changes, which coupled with provisions of prosecution on failure to raise invoices within 14 days of rendering services, would have created chaos amongst the professional fraternity. We appealed to the Finance Minister as well as the Prime Minister to have a relook. And we also had an opportunity to meet personally the Chairman CBEC to explain our concern in this regard.
The proposed Rules, for the time being, have been deferred till 30th June 2011 and would be introduced with effect from 1st July 2011 after certain modifications. BCAS, as also other professional bodies (including Lawyers, Architects, Tax Practitioners etc.), have requested that professionals be allowed to continue with the cash system for discharging service tax liability as hitherto. And the professionals may be allowed to rise “Tax Invoice” at the time of receipt of payments, as in vogue in UK and other western countries. I heartily thank all those who extended whole-hearted support to BCAS in this behalf and appeal to them to continue with our joint efforts until fair and rational provisions are put in place.
It is rather unfortunate that, as in the past several years, the Union Budget 2011-12 was passed by the Lok Sabha without any discussion. The opposition walked out of the House capitalising on “cash-for-vote” revelation, by the Wiki leaks. When I read through the memorandum in the Finance Bill explaining the amendments (especially those with retrospective effect), which states that the “amendment is sought to carry out the intention of the Parliament, I wondered as to whose intention it is really! For, when Finance Bills are passed by the Parliament, without any debate or even going through the rationale of a provision, how can one establish Parliament’s intention? Theoretically, it may be that the Parliament wanted a particular change made; but in effect, bureaucrats run the country, as most members of the Parliament have neither the time nor the inclination nor are they equipped to understand the legislative process and the concomitant implications. It is a sorry state of affairs, in that heavier responsibility is cast on professionals, trade and commerce to remain vigilant so as to protect the interests of the people and tax paying public. Indeed, vigilance is the price of liberty. I am reminded of the BCAS logo which says:”na bhayam chAsthi jAgrathaha”, meaning one is vigil need have no fear.
The biggest roadblock to India’s development is the “Reservation Policy”, based on caste, creed and religion. It divides the populace and makes for communal disharmony. Today, we find reservations in almost every walk of life, be it education, employment, politics and so on. Reservations, if any, should be based on economic criteria only, regardless of caste, creed and religion. Reservation in education has led to brain drain for decades. Recently Jats are demanding caste-based reservation, taking the Government to ransom. The Gurjars of Rajasthan secured reservation resorting to violent protests and disrupting normal life. It is high time that the Indian Constitution is amended to bury the cancerous “Reservation Policy” once and for all. Verily, the road to hell is paved with good intentions!
I congratulate CA G. Ramaswamy and CA Jaydeep Shah for taking over the reins of the ICAI as the President and the Vice-president respectively for the year 2011-12. I compliment CA Srinivas Joshi and CA Bhailal Patel for taking over as the Chairman and Vice-Chairman of WIRC of ICAI respectively. The ICAI President, CA G. Ramaswamy, has unveiled his detailed and ambitious plan of action encompassing diverse areas of the profession such as branding of the profession, Members in practice, industry, students, international initiatives etc. We extend our whole hearted cooperation in his endeavour not only in enhancing the image of the profession but also serving CAs across the globe.
A lecture meeting on “currency wars” addressed by CA Rashmin Sanghvi in February 2011 elicited very good response from members, in addition to generating a lot of interest in the arena of international economics and politics. Most recent wars were fought for different reasons though labelled “Justice and Peace”. Control of “oil” was one of the prime reasons for these wars. The recent attack on Libya by NATO is also viewed as such. The bigger crisis looming large in the horizon is scarcity of water. Indeed, “Water Crisis” could hit planet earth much sooner than the apprehended “oil crisis”. There is a dearth of potable water in the Middle East. Verily, water has assumed gigantic dimension. No wonder then that the World celebrated International Water Day on 22nd March 2011. The water crisis would be severer in overpopulated countries like India and I shudder to think about it, in the light of our gross neglect to tackle the emerging crisis. Well, sooner we realise, the better for all of us.
In my message for the month of February 2011, I referred to difficulties experienced by CA students in their exams and results. In order to help them prepare properly for their exams, CA. T. N. Manoharan, addressed them live through a webcast on 14th March 2011 on “How to prepare and write for CA Examinations”. The said video is now available for watch freely on the bcasonline.tv. This has already been watched by more than 3000 students/members. Along with this, we have put up the video of Anupam Kher’s motivational talk on “Power Within” delivered on 16th August 2010.
We are embarking on a new Financial Year. The past Financial Year will be remembered as the year of inflation, games and scams.
Let us pray that may the new Financial Year usher in peace and prosperity for one and all.
Regards,
Mayur Nayak
