By Sunil B. Gabhawalla
Suhas Paranjpe
Hon.Jt.Secretaries
GST series lectures by Indirect Tax Committee held jointly
with Indirect Tax Study Circle on 20th August, 10th September, 17th September and 1st October, 2016
A
batch of
3 lecture series
on GST model
law was organised on 20th August, 10th September and 17th September, 2016 at BCAS
Conference Hall, to discuss the
significant provisions of Model GST law
and related literature available in the Public domain. Considering the nature
of the subject on hand, the maximum enrolment under each meeting was restricted
to 60 members and the enrolment was closed few days before the scheduled start
date. The above series was welcomed by members and was fully enrolled.
Owing
to the nature of the subject and encouraging response on GST, another lecture
for discussing the provisions relating to “Input Tax Credit under the GST Model
Law†was also organised on 1st October, 2016 at BCAS.
Each
session was taken up by CA Shashank Kumar in depth under the mentorship of CA
Bharat Shemlani.
The
contribution by the group leaders especially in terms of the presentations was
highly appreciated. The sessions witnessed excellent participation amongst
members and interactive discussions on the subject.
As
the seats were limited, a total of 60 members could attend each meeting.
Lecture meeting on Place of Supply Rules under GST by CA
Bhavna Doshi held on 3rd October, 2016
In
view of the importance of the proposed GST Reform, the Society
organised an interactive
lecture meeting on Place of
Supply Rules by CA Bhavna Doshi at K. C. College Auditorium, Churchgate,
Mumbai.
The
learned Speaker explained in detail the various provisions under the Place of Supply Rules, both
L to R – CA Bhavna Doshi
(Speaker), CA Narayan Pasari, CA Chetan Shah (President), CA Sunil Gabhawalla
pertaining
to goods as well as services. She highlighted the same through various
illustrations and explained how the rules helped in maintaining the credit
chain and also explained the concept of IGST. She addressed various
queries raised by
the participants. The meeting
was very well received and the video recording of the same is available on WebTV.
Around 176 participants attended the meeting.
Direct Tax Law Study Circle Meeting on “Settled position for Disallowance of Expenses and Additions of Income†held on 6th October 2016
Direct
Tax Law Study Circle Meeting on “Settled position for Disallowance of Expenses
and Additions of Income†was held on 6th October 2016 at BCAS Conference Hall, New Marine Lines, Mumbai
The
meeting was chaired by CA Ameet Patel where Group leader CA
Hetal Gala meticulously
discussed a settled position for disallowance of expenses and additions
of income, covering plethora of Supreme Court and High Court decisions on
important issues on each head of income which is briefly outlined hereunder:
a) Factors to determine Capital vs. Revenue
b) Subsidy from government or government grant
c) Non-Compete fees
d) Preliminary Expenses
Further,
with respect to subsidy from government or government grant, following aspects
were discussed.
The
Finance Act, 2015, has amended the definition of income and widened the scope
to include subsidy or government grant under the definition of income. The Finance Act, 2015, has aligned the aforesaid provision with Income Computation and Disclosure Standards- VII which provided for subsidy to account as income in
the books of accounts, if not deductible from cost of fixed assets.
The
Finance Act, 2016 provided an exception from income for subsidy which is taken
into account for determination of value of capital assets.
However, ICDS VII
(issued vide notification dated 31st March 2015) relating to government grants
is in line to matching concept of accounting and year in which such Government
Grant is to be taxed, as income is to be decided keeping in mind the provisions
of Paras 6, 8 and 9 of ICDS-VII
A
total of 17 participants attended the meeting.
Crash Course
on “Information Systems Control and Audit (ISCA)â€held on 9th October,
2016
The Human Development and Technology Initiatives Committee
of the Society organised a half day crash course on Information Systems Control
and Audit (ISCA) for CA final Students
on Sunday, 9th October, 2016 at the BCAS Conference Hall, where CA
Kartik Iyer took the session to guide students on how to study for ISCA and
score good marks.
Vice
President CA Narayan Pasari gave his opening remarks and spoke about the
purpose behind organizing this crash course. CA Raj Khona, the Course
Co-ordinator introduced the speaker CA Kartik Iyer who addressed the
participating students and gave a brief overview of the all chapters in the
ISCA portion for CA final students.
He
covered the key amendments in the ISCA Portion applicable to the students
appearing for CA final exams in November 2016. He also gave useful tips to the
students on how to revise the subject and suggested a model exam day schedule
which students can follow.
The
event was highly successful with around 90 students in attendance.
ITF Study Circle – “Benchmarking under Transfer Pricing
Regulations†held on 10th October, 2016
ITF
Study Circle – “Benchmarking under Transfer Pricing Regulations†was held on
10th October, 2016 at BCAS Conference Hall.
As
30th November, 2016 is the due date of Income Tax order for the tax payer to
have their Transfer Pricing Audit Reports filed by Chartered Accountants and
also get their TP Study completed, the ITF Study Circle was led by CA Namrata
Dedhia, Chartered Accountant having expertise and experience in Transfer Pricing
and wide knowledge on how to appropriately benchmark International Transactions.
The
study circle was mainly focused on the steps involved in Benchmarking analysis,
use of multiple year data, application of range concept and practical
demonstration of the search conducted on database.
There
was an elaborate discussion on how to accept/reject comparable using filters
from the TP software. Also, participants asked questions on practical issues
including as to how, if the comparables changed during assessments, it would
affect the earlier benchmarking done during preparing the Study Report.
A
total of 25 participants attended the study circle.
FEMA Study Circle Meeting held on 18th October 2016
A FEMA
Study Circle Meeting
was held on
18th October, 2016 at BCAS Conference Hall, on the topic of “Establishment of Place of Business in India-Branch, Liaison Office,
Project Office & Agency†where CA Hinesh Doshi led the discussion and
shared his rich experience. The group leader deliberated upon ways of doing
Business in India through Branch, Liaison Office, Project Office and agency in India.
He explained various conditions and compliance to be undertaken to do business
in India through above referred place of business in India.
The
presentation was very thorough and many important aspects were highlighted, a
compliance checklist was also shared with the members which will serve as a
handy guide in future.
Members
learnt that the regional office in Delhi gives approval for LO/BO. A very
informative discussion took place on ROC registration and filing of various
forms with ROC. Certain difficulties in filing ROC forms were discussed. CA
Hinesh Doshi also informed that now NOC from income tax office is not required
to close LO/BO. Besides above, he shared complete formalities for setting up
office in India.
More
than 40 members attended the
meeting and were benefited from
the rich experience shared by the learned speaker.
Experts Chat @ BCAS-Is BEPS Answer To Tax Planning?
BCAS
organised a programme
on Experts Chat @
BCAS -“Is BEPS an answer to Tax Planning?†on 19th October, 2016
at BCAS Conference Hall,
in a chat of CA Rashmin Sanghvi with CA Sushil Lakhani.
The programme commenced with the welcome address by BCAS President CA Chetan
Shah with a brief introduction of the subject and the speakers participating in
the chat. The event was put on Live Streaming to enable our members to join
online, to benefit from the on screen chat between two eminent personalities
from CA fraternity. Many members who could not attend in person availed the
opportunity to see the event live and put forth their views by actively
participating in the debate.
L to R – CA Rashmin
Sanghvi in fireside chat with CA Sushil Lakhani
The Experts Chat started with the presentation by CA Rashmin Sanghvi wherein he
explained various concepts of BEPS.
(a)
He discussed about the
BEPS meaning, issues, causes, tax
planning consequences and
also how the individual countries pass the law. He also described about
the difference between BEPS and earlier
actions along with
macro-long term view on BEPS. He cited the Base Erosion
Illustration on Apple Computers having global business shifted their tax base
from USA to one or more tax heavens by incorporating subsidiaries abroad. He
also broadly covered the BEPS
core recommendations, effects and tax recovery techniques to plug
black money. He touched upon the respective aspects of Country of Residence
(COR), Country of Source (COS), Country of
Market (COM) and Country of Payment
(COP) in tax planning through BEPS
concept.
(b)
He further explained the tax planning by Apple Computers and the importance of
understanding tax heavens and their emergence to avoid COR and COS tax.
(c)
He discussed Equalisation Levy or E-Commerce Taxation, criticisms of Equalisation
Levy including conceptual criticisms, conceptual BEPS issues and responses to
conceptual criticisms followed by out of box thinking.
At
the end, he addressed the issues related to BEPS Action Reports and OECD Myths.
After
the presentation, the dais was set for an interactive chat between CA Rashmin
Sanghvi and CA Sushil Lakhani, before the audience and online viewers. CA Sushil
Lakhani raised some key issues relating to BEPS for tax planning in the context
of domestic and international taxation which were well addressed by CA Rashmin
Sanghvi. Thereafter, the floor was opened for Question and Answer Session
(Q&A) and the queries raised and questions asked were duly answered by CA
Rashmin Sanghvi.
The
programme was interactive with active participation of the attendees and other
members who joined live on the stream. CA Sushil Lakhani thanked CA Rashmin
Sanghvi for responding to all the queries candidly and also enlightening on the
subject in depth.
160
participants attended the programme. 80 participants attended in person and 80
through live web streaming. The programme concluded with a well-deserved vote
of thanks by CA Divya Jokhakar.
