Lecture Meeting on Global Services Transformation – Are Indian CA firms insulated? On 21st January 2015
This
lecture meeting was held at the Walchand Hirachand Hall, IMC,
Churchgate, Mumbai. Mr. Milind S. Kothari, Chartered Accountant shared
his insights on various aspects related to Global Services
Transformation and the questions facing Indian CA Firms. He started with
the current scenario based on our Economy, Government initiatives for
the Profession in India comparing it with other countries across the
globe. Challenges faced by the profession were also covered. The
ultimate conclusion was that a step-wise growth plan can lead small
& medium sized firms to a great level. Members present gained
immensely from the knowledge shared by the speaker.
Lecture Meeting on Important Income-tax Decisions of 2014 on 29th January 2015
This
lecture meeting was held at the Walchand Hirachand Hall, IMC,
Churchgate, Mumbai. Mr. Hiro Rai, Advocate covered recent landmark
decisions of the Supreme Court, various High Courts and Tribunals. Apart
from discussing the key inferences from these decisions he also
provided his views on the decisions and its implications for CAs and
other professionals. He covered a wide gamut of issues such as exemption
provisions; prosecution; wealth tax valuation; depreciation; deduction
provisions; parameters for stay applications; Transfer Pricing
applicability and other significant controversies of the past.
Lecture Meeting on Goods and Services tax – Curtain Raiser on 4th February 2015
This
lecture meeting was held at Walchand Hirachand Hall, IMC, Churchgate,
Mumbai. Mr. Satya Poddar, Ph. D. shared his expert knowledge on the
subject of Goods and Service tax. GST being a new tax regime, members
immensely benefitted from this lecture as the speaker covered in depth
the basics of GST, various new concepts under the expected tax regime,
the goals and objectives of the change in GST. How GST impacts all
aspects of business from cash flow, supply chain, pricing, profits and
compliance systems was deliberated upon. He also expressed his view that
taxes should not stand in between the growth. Queries raised by the
members were addressed to their satisfaction. More than 275 Members
present gained immensely from the knowledge shared by the speaker.
Lecture Meeting on “Anger – The Enemy Within” on 13th February 2015
This
lecture meeting was held jointly with The Chamber of Tax Consultants
under the auspices of Amita Memorial Trust at Jai Hind College
Auditorium, Churchgate, Mumbai. Brahmakumari Shivani delivered the talk
on Anger – The Enemy Within. She also taught how anger can be controlled
by just reimagining the scene which one could have created by getting
angry and reacting. According to her one should Say Less, Say Sweet
& Say low and one should make it a motto of life. More than 600
Members present gained immensely from the knowledge shared by the
speaker.
Half Day Workshop on Charitable Trusts on 13th February 2015
BCAS,
jointly with The Chamber of Tax Consultants, organised this workshop at
Jai Hind College, AV Room, Churchgate, Mumbai. The objective of the
workshop was to address various issues under general law and also under
Tax Laws. It has also covered a session on the provisions of the Foreign
Contribution Regulation Act. The following topics were covered at the
Workshop:
Programme on Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) & Infrastructure Investment Trusts (InvITs) on 7th February 2015
To
meet the demands of real estate and infrastructure sectors and to
encourage wider investor participation, investment vehicles such as Real
Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) and Infrastructure Investment Trusts
(InvITs) have been evolved. REITs typically offer investors regular
yields coupled with capital appreciation and a liquid method of
investing in real estate. Introduction of a tax framework by MOF is a
step in the right direction.
InvITs would reduce the pressure on
the banking system while also making available fresh equity to finance/
refinance infrastructure projects. Further, they will also assist in
un-locking tied up capital of developers, lowering domestic financial
institutions’ loan exposure and attracting foreign capital.
With
a view to have better understanding of the nuances/ engineering of
these new investment vehicles, the Corporate & Securities Laws
Committee of the Society organised this full day programme at the
Babubhai Chinai Hall, Walchand Hirachand Hall, Indian Merchants’
Chamber, Churchgate, Mumbai 400020, where the following topics were
covered:
Mr.
Nitin Shingala, President of the Society welcomed everyone. Mr. Kanu S.
Chokshi, Chairman of the Corporate & Securities Laws Committee of
the Society briefly introduced the scope of the Programme.
Guest
of Honour, Mr. Sunil Mantri, Chairman & MD, Mantri Realty Ltd.
thereafter shared the industry perspective and expectations on REITs
& InvITs.
Chief Guest, Mr. Ananta Barua, ED, SEBI, gave an overview of the SEBI regulations on the subject and inaugurated the Programme.
The programme was chaired by the eminent personalities mentioned above.
Having
regard to the overwhelming response, 80 participants were accommodated
by the Society for the programme as against the expected 60
participants.
The Programme was coordinated by Ms. Preeti Oza and Mr. Manish Sampat.
Seminar on Permanent Establishment – Critical Aspects on 30th January 2015
International
Taxation Committee of the BCAS organised this seminar at Hotel
Palladium, Lower Parel, Mumbai. Considering the increase in
globalisation, the Concept of Permanent Establishment (PE) has gained
significant importance due to its direct impact on the tax revenues of
the affected countries, both in India and in other countries. The
objective of the workshop was to bring out the importance and the far
reaching implications of the concept of PE and to update members in
practice and working in the industry on the various issues connected
therewith. It is no surprise that litigation on PE issues constitutes
more than 70% of the international tax decisions in the last few years.
The Following Topics were covered at the Seminar:
Introductory Seminar on Fraud Investigation and Forensic Audit on 17th January 2015
Infotech
& 4i Committee of the BCAS organised this seminar at the Walchand
Hirachand Hall, Churchgate, Mumbai. The objective of the seminar was to
open up a new practice area for Chartered Accountants – “Forensic Audit
and Fraud Investigation” which has emerged as one such area that has
received a lot of attention in the past few years. With the Companies
Act 2013 coming into force, there is bound to be an added impetus to
this specialised area which requires training and collaboration with
professionals from diverse fields such as lawyers, computer engineers,
detectives and enforcement specialists. The following topics were
covered at the Seminar:
RTI Workshop on 24th January 2015
The advance RTI workshop held together by PCGT, BCAS and IMC was attended by many RTI activists.the speakers for this workshop were Mr. Shailesh Gandhi (retired Central Information Commissioner) and Mr. Narayan Varma (RTI activist and former president of BCAS). Mr. Gandhi spoke about many personal experiences on RTI when he was the commissioner. he gave an in depth insight as to how the law should be understood to make it favourable to the common man. his knowledge on the topic helped everyone present at the workshop.
Mr. Varma’s experience also made the workshop a memorable one.
Half day event on the launch of publication on Anti-Corruption by Collective Action Project – 6th February 2015 at Mayfair banquets, Mumbai
Collective Action Project’s finale publication titled “Business Case for Anti-corruption in India: Principles, Economics and applications of transparency tools” was launched by Mr. Julio Ribeiro, retd. IPS and Chairman, Public Concern for Governance trust (PCGT) in a half-day event on February 06, 2015 at Mayfair Banquets, Mumbai. Around thirty representatives from public sector, private sector, academia and civil society were present at the book launch. Mr. Nitin Shingala, BCAS President and Mr. Narayan Varma, an RTI activist and Past President of BCaS, represented BCAS and BCAS foundation in this event.
Mr. Narayan Varma spoke about ways to combat corruption using RTI and shared his experience which benefited the attendees. mr. nitin Shingala, President Bombay Chartered accountants’ Society, was part of the panel discussion titled “Business Case for Anti-corruption in India: Principles, economics and application of transparency tools”.
He said that international conventions in the recent times have disallowed facilitation payment which was acceptable in many developed countries such as the uSa. Post 9/11, G20 nations have started playing an active role to address graft. Talking about the indian legislative scenario, Mr. Shingala said all forms of corruption including money laundering has been adequately addressed in the country’s laws. However, the private sector’s indulgence in corruption is a big concern and legislations to its effect are not in place in india. He said that the private sector corruption needs to be vociferously pushed forward, and for this amending the Prevention of Corruption act (PCA) 1988 is a must.
“Action replay by a legend” – Standard Costing demystified on 6th February, 2015
The Infotech and 4i Committee organised this unique programme, at jai hind College auditorium, Churchgate mumbai where Mr. Narendra P. Sarda, Past President of ICAI, took a crash course of students on Standard Costing. It was a mesmerising event where Mr. Sarda without using any formulae by pure logic explained the fundamentals of Standard Costing and also touched upon marginal Costing. Over 800 students took benefit of this event and many more were turned down as the venue was filled to capacity and many senior members also attended the lecture to revive old memories. the lecture has been put up on the Web TV (www.bcasonline.tv) and is available freely for the benefit of students.
