The Brains Trust session chaired by the Trustees Anil J. Sathe and Himanshu V. Kishnadwala was very ably managed with a threadbare analysis of the provisions of law vis-a-vis the question bank circulated to the participants. Nina P. Kapasi and Sonalee A. Godbole covered all the clauses of Form 3CD with examples and solutions for practical issues faced while conducting such audit. The handy tips and virtual experience of e-filing of the Tax Audit report conducted by Samir L. Kapadia was very interesting and the audience had a large number of queries sorted out in this session. For the
first time, a practical demonstration was given for e-filing of the tax audit report which was appreciated. Considering the popularity of this workshop held in the past, this year a bigger venue was chosen in the western suburbs (Vile Parle) wherein more than 400 participants benefitted from the workshop.
The video recording of the same is available at www.bcasonline.tv to all subscribers.
Tree Plantation-Visit to Dharampur, 2nd August 2013
The Human Resource Committee of the Society, in their pursuit to contribute to the conservation of nature and rural economic development, organised a tree-plantation programme at Dharampur – Pindval on 2nd and 3rd August 2013, with the support of the Sarvodaya Parivar Trust.
This was a landmark project of planting about 25,000 trees of different types with the twin purpose of developing Gram Vans on village land (to take care of environmental crises) as well as carrying out captive plantation on the land of farmers.
The members of BCAS and their friends donated generously for the project in their endeavour to contribute to this noble task. The group of 15 members from BCAS, looking ahead for active participation in the venture, visited Dharampur.
They distributed 1,500 saplings of mango trees to the farmers. Along with the farmers of village, they planted some mango trees. It was indeed a most satisfying feeling to be with those farmers on the field for a few hours and touch the roots of their life.
They had also great opportunity of sparing time at Nandigram and had a chance of sharing time with Smt. Kundanikaben Kapadia who is the founder trustee of Nandigram. Along with the earlier efforst of Respected Late Shri Makarandbhai Dave, she has also dedicated her life for the upliftment of this tribal area.
We learned about the fantastic contribution of these NGOs towards rural economic development, nursery developments, healthcare, education, environment and water management, among other areas.
It was an excellent, enriching, elevating and divine experience for the participants.
17th International Tax & Finance Conference, 2013
The 17th Residential International Tax & Finance Conference organised by the International Taxation Committee from 15th August to 18th August 2013 at ITC Rajputana, Jaipur, received an enthusiastic response from over 180 participants from various parts of India including Hyderabad, Bangalore, Chennai, Coimbatore, Delhi, Ahmedabad, Pune, Goa, Secunderabad, Jamnagar, Kolkata and Mumbai.
The following papers were presented by eminent faculties:
Papers for Group Discussion
• Recent trend in Indian Treaties including Tax Information Exchange Agreements by Mr. T. P. Ostwal who analysed recent trends in Indian tax treaties in respect of various topics such as taxation of partnership firms, persons covered, appropriate adjustments arising from transfer pricing additions, anti-abuse provisions, user-based royalty, service PE and automatic review of treaty provisions. The faculty also dealt with Tax Information Exchange Agreements including Foreseeable relevance and concept of Fishing Expedition.
• FII, Participatory Notes, Private Equity – Structuring, regulatory and taxation aspects by Mr. Siddharth Shah who dealt with regulatory framework of foreign investment into India such as FDI, FVCI, FII & QFI, indirect FDI, FVCI investment into VCF, FII regulations, FII investment under FDI route, investment in NCDs, Participatory Notes and Derivative Instruments, domestic PE investments, structuring for PE funds and key taxation issues.
• Cross border outsourcing— Tax aspects including transfer pricing—Case Studies by Mr. Padamchand Khincha who analysed intricate issues in respect of outbound outsourcing such as interplay of sections 5 and 9, detailed analysis of section 9, treaty provisions, other relevant areas of concerns such as reimbursement of expenses whether taxable as FTS, location savings, employee secondment or deputation, body shopping and transfer pricing.
• Cross Border Merger/ Demerger—Tax and relevant regulatory aspects by Mr. Pranav Sayta who presented intricate case studies involving issues such as indirect transfer, investments structured by way of CCPS or CCD, taxation of dividend, inbound and outbound mergers and demerger of a PE by a foreign company.
Papers for Presentation
• Real estate investment in India—Structuring, regulatory and taxation aspects presented by Mr. Nishchal Joshipura who covered regulatory milestones, various investment regimes, types of instruments, FDI policy on real estate, permitted investments, NCD structure & comparison with CCD, FII vs. QFI, Singapore listing, regulatory & tax challenges and key structuring issues.
• The Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) of the US including Bilateral FATCA Agreements presented by Mr. Sunil Kothare on behalf of Mr. David Weisner where the learned faculties highlighted key provisions of the FATCA and implications in India.
The participants gained rich knowledge from the knowledge and experience shared by eminent faculties, group discussions and informal interactions. The audience also appreciated the overall ambience and comfort at the venue.
