By Manish Sampat, Abhay Mehta, Hon. Jt. Secretaries
Human Development Study
Circle Meeting on “Interview Demo Pack“ held on 16th August, 2017 at
BCAS.
The meeting organised by
HDTI Committee at BCAS Conference Hall was addressed by Mr. Rahul Majumdar, an
IIT Bombay – IIM Lucknow alumnus and one of the co-founders of “Know Lens”.
He discussed the importance
and relevance of soft skills in the Chartered Accountancy profession and
informed that recent research indicated that 65% of the people are visual
learners. Therefore, today’s learning is more effective by way of visual
knowledge sharing through videos. While there is a lot more rigour in the
management of knowledge, it lacks sufficient focus on skills. To enhance skill
sets, video based learning is more useful, practical and quick to grasp.
Aspiring CAs or article clerks can build their key soft skills to develop their
careers more effectively through video based learning.
The Speaker was of the
opinion that today CAs broadly have their own practices or work in larger
organisations. They have a range of practices including taxation, audit and
even strategic advisory services for some aspects of business. Also,
professionals are exposed to a rapidly changing regulatory framework along with
a fluid client landscape and work culture.
Mr. Rahul also deliberated
upon the case studies on sales interaction and job interviews to make the
participants understand the need to develop soft skills. The meeting was very
interactive and participants benefitted a lot.
“2nd Narayan
Varma Memorial Lecture” held on 18th August, 2017
The
Greatness of one’s life depends not on the number of years lived but rather on
the effect one leaves on the minds of one’s generation.
The 2nd Narayan
Varma Memorial Lecture & Narayan Varma Memorial Awards was organised
jointly by Bombay Chartered Accountants’ Society, Public Concern for Governance
Trust (PCGT) and Dharma Bharathi Mission(DBM)
The Programme was organised
in the memory of Late Narayan Varma who was closely associated with these
organisations and mentored & nurtured many members of these organisations
with his values, ideology & hard work. It was an occasion to salute and
remember him & also pay tribute to his spirit of giving, professionalism,
commitment towards service to humanity, relentless quest for truth &
justice, wit & wisdom, vision & planning and determination to make a
difference to Society. He always inspired many with his simplicity and humility
by setting an example.
Dr. Shashikala Gurpur
The Memorial Lecture was delivered
by Dr. Shashikala Gurpur, who is a distinguished academician and orator having
presented more than 200 lectures, workshops and seminars across India and
abroad. She has an outstanding career with a wide range of experience in
teaching, research and industry. In her address, she described Late Narayan
Varma’s life and his message to humanity. Dr. Gurpur also mentioned about the
role of giving by a responsible person in the society i.e. to connect with the
people, plunge into the movement for people and utilise resources for the good
of everybody. She described that human life is a gift of goodness without any
expectation and is a spontaneous but satisfying experience in the wonderful
journey of life. She explained that both passion and compassion make a person
innovative to do something new in life. Dr. Gurpur also referred to
intellectual and participative skills and managing conflict to achieve one’s
goal and mission in life. She further emphasised on the responsible citizenship
and patriotic belongingness to India.
In the meeting, three
distinguished persons were awarded for their humanitarian services namely Shri
Pankaj Udhas by DBM, Shri Pradeep Shah by BCAS and Shri Anand Bhandare by PCGT.
The meeting ended with
heart-warming memories and inspiration to work for the Society at large as a
real tribute to Shri Narayan Varma.
FEMA Study Circle Meeting
held on 21st August, 2017 at BCAS Hall
FEMA Study Circle Meeting
was held on the topic of “Analysis of select Compounding Orders passed by RBI”
at BCAS Conference Hall where CA. Harshal Bhuta & CA. Tanvi Vora led the
discussion. The session was chaired by CA. Rajesh P. Shah.
The Group leaders discussed
various Compounding Orders passed by RBI touching upon contraventions relating
to “Restrictions on dealing in Foreign exchange”, “Current Account
Transactions”, “ECB”, “Outbound Investment by Individuals”, “Outbound
Investment by LLP”, “Method of funding overseas direct investment”, etc. The
systematic analysis of these orders helped the participants to understand the
law and gain insights on ‘how to not contravene the same’.
CA. Rajesh P. Shah shared
his experience on various issues and that was a valuable takeaway for the
participants.
The participants gained a
lot and appreciated the views put in by the group leaders and the chairman.
Experts Chat on
Concept & Issues in “Place of Effective Management (POEM)” held on 1st
September 2017 at BCAS
One thing certain about
life is its manifold uncertainties and the same can be aptly equated with the
newly introduced nascent concept of POEM- ‘Place of Effective Management.’ In
pursuance of the knowledge sharing on this subject, BCAS arranged an expert’s
chat where Mr. Kamlesh Varshney, CIT (International Taxation 2), New Delhi was
hosted by CA. Dinesh Kanabar on 1st September 2017 at BCAS
Conference Hall.
The session encompassed
multiple aspects ranging from elementary concepts akin to primary intent,
genesis and comparative global practices, to complex conundrums pertaining to
e-presence in board meetings, threshold turnover calculation mechanism, DTAA
& Transfer Pricing implications, GAAR & MAT applicability.
L to R – Mr. Kamlesh Varshney and CA. Dinesh Kanabar
CA. Dinesh Kanabar proposed
poignant posers on wide-ranging matters such as (i) pre-POEM revenue leakage,
(ii) cost-benefit analysis of POEM implementation, (iii) effect on Indian
inbound-outbound investment ratio, (iv) CFC vis-a-vis POEM, (v)
practical existence of overseas business structures for non-tax objectives,
(vi) subjectivity in proceedings and confidentiality concerns in the Income Tax
department, (vii) availability of foreign tax credit, (viii) requirement of
clear-cut guidelines, (ix) FAQs, (x) circulars from Government, etc. Further,
practical impediments, excessive compliances resulting in genuine industry
grievances and necessity to safeguard bonafide entities were duly emphasised.
Several noteworthy points
highlighted in the Chat included – intent of POEM to curb Intentional Tax
Avoidance because profit shifting in tax havens by artificial restructuring,
emphasis on substance over legal form, minimal deep dive on satisfaction of
active business test and supporting documentation required for entities mainly
earning passive income. P/E peculiar issues, adequate documentation for Board
meetings and establishing controlling personnel were also explained.
Thereafter, Mr. Varshney remarked on assurance of confidentiality of disclosed
information pursuant to section 138 of IT Act and endeavour of overall
improvement & reduced litigation in Income Tax Department. He also touched
upon liberalisation and transitional issues.
The pertinent point pertaining to unaltered
applicability of IT Act provisions specifically applicable to foreign companies
and a foreign company reclassified as resident by POEM drew a fine distinction
between residential status of a company and type of company. Discussions were
also carried out on provisions of draft notification u/s. 115JH of the IT Act
covering eligibility of resident entitled to specific benefits, tax rates for
reclassified foreign companies and implications on other person transacting
with reclassified foreign companies.
The above insightful and
thought-provoking deliberations were followed by Q&A session where queries
were meticulously answered by Mr. Varshney. The participants got highly enthralled
and enriched by the session.
Direct Tax Laws Study
Circle Meeting on “Implications of Ind-AS on MAT” held on 6th
September 2017 at BCAS Hall
The Chairman of the
session, CA. Sanjeev Lalan gave the opening remarks and pointed out some issues
relating to Ind-AS which could face litigation in the long run. The Group
leader, CA. Darshak Shah gave an overview on Ind-AS and its applicability to
companies, NBFCs and Insurance companies.
Thereafter, the group
leader briefly explained the impact of the provisions of MAT under Ind-AS
framework where in order to convert the books of accounts to Ind-AS, the
transition balance sheet has to be prepared from FY 2015-16. The same has been
clarified in the FAQs issued by the Indian Revenue authorities.
CA. Darshak Shah also
touched upon the adjustments under MAT where in case of items accounted under
‘OCI not re-classifiable to P&L’ i.e. revaluation of PPE and Intangible
assets and gains/ losses from investment in equity instruments designed at
FVOCI would be taxed under MAT on disposal only. Also, in case of items
considered as ‘Other Equity’ such as Investments in subsidiaries, JVs and AE
recorded at FMV and cumulative translation, differences of foreign operations
will be taxed under MAT on disposal.
Subsequently, he briefly
explained the provisions in case of certain items that would be offered to tax
equally over the period of 5 years like receivables provided based on expected
credit loss, fair value gains on derivative assets, gains/ loss on fair value
recognition on investments in MFs etc. The team leader then went through
certain case studies to explain various principles impacting the MAT
computation.
The participants got enriched through the
insights provided by the learned Speaker.
