By CA. Sunil Gabhawalla
President
Dear Members,
One more month, one more
opportunity for communication, in a slightly relaxed month of May, the
preferred month for taking vacations. Vacation for anybody is a chance to take
a break from work, see the world and enjoy time with your near and dear ones. Today’s
world is full of choices – right from the choice of destination and
accommodation to the travel options, the sight-seeing itinerary and the like.
In an attempt to optimise the vacation benefits, at times, we cramp too many
goals into one vacation. As if there is no tomorrow!
The objective of vacations
is to increase the happiness levels. The attempt is not only to increase
happiness levels but to portray happiness. Substantial time is spent in taking
selfies, photographs and updating social media rather than really sinking into
the new environment and enjoying the moment. In an attempt to capture and store
the moments, do we compromise on the real feel of the environment?
A slew of notifications was
issued under the GST Law to implement the GST Council recommendation of a lower
rate of tax for builders and developers. The objective was to simplify, but a
cursory look would suggest that the outcome is complex. The taxpayer is
expected to procure at least 80% of goods and services from registered vendors.
What is the genesis of such a provision? Is it the mindset of the taxpayer to
use every possible opportunity to optimise tax outflows or is it reflective of
the government mindset to not trust the taxpayers enough? Whatever may be the
genesis, one thing is certain, we are back to the old days of complex laws,
litigation and uncertainty. Before things really go out of hand, we need to
bring back the much desired simplicity in the law.
GST Law prescribes for a
mandatory audit in case of assessees having aggregate turnover above Rs. 2
crore. This audit represents an opportunity as well as a challenge. In view of
the implementation of GST from the middle of the financial year and the concept
of rectification in subsequent periods rather than revision of returns, the
approach towards audit will have to be fine-tuned. At the same time, by its very nature there will be substantial
transactional volume. Initial months of GST resulted in a lot of chaos. The
auditor will have to walk the tightrope of ensuring strict compliance as per
the law as well as be sensitive to the compliance and portal-related issues.
With this challenge also comes the opportunity of showcasing the abilities of
the members to rise to the occasion and provide valuable and balanced inputs through
the audit report both to the government officials and the assessees.
The renewal fees for
ordinary memberships, subscriptions for journals (including new life members)
and study circles have become due and the Society has already sent emails in
this regard. I am happy to inform that a substantial percentage of renewals are
already effected. In case you have missed the email in view of your busy
schedule, I urge you to kindly renew your memberships or subscriptions at the
earliest.
The ITF Conference to be
held in August, 2019 has already been announced. The preparations for the Jal
Erach Dastur CA Students Annual Day event “Tarang 2K19” are in full swing. This
event will be held in June, 2019 where about 500 CA students will showcase
their talent in various extra-curricular activities. The Youth RRC, specially
designed by young chartered accountants, has also been announced and is
receiving encouraging response. In addition to the above, your Society has
lined up a series of educational programmes, the details whereof are available
alongside. I would request you to participate in large numbers and take benefit
of the same.
Regards
CA.
Sunil Gabhawalla
President
