Society News – II

GST Seminar at Ahmedabad
jointly with CA  Association of Ahmedabad
held on 23, June, 2017

BCAS held a one day seminar on GST jointly with Chartered
Accountants’ Association of Ahmedabad (CAA). The object of the conference was
to disseminate the views of eminent faculties who have carried out in depth
study of newly enacted law of GST together with their vide experience in
profession. CA Puloma Dalal, CA Chirag Mehta and CA Dushyant Bhatt, faculties
from our Society spoke on various areas of GST at length at the full day
seminar. The seminar was attended by 85 participants.  

CA Chirag Mehta gave a
detailed presentation on provisions relating to return filing and took the
participants through the process of filing of returns. He also discussed the
statutory provisions relating to Input Tax Credit under the GST Law and the
concept of matching of ITC under the GST Law

CA Dushyant Bhatt
discussed the provisions relating to job work and dealt with various issues to
be addressed by the entity carrying out job work as well as by the entity
sending material for job work, payment of tax, TDS and E-Commerce provisions
including TCS.

A one and half hour long
interactive panel discussion was held where various questions of the
participants were taken up by the three speakers. Participants benefitted a lot
from the meeting.

GST Workshop with IMA Indore held on 24^th June,
2017 at Indore

BCAS jointly with Indore Management Association (IMA)
organized Exclusive Workshop on Saturday, June 24, 2017 at Brilliant Convention
Centre, Indore titled “Fasten Your Seat Belt-GST ready for take off”.

Faculty for this workshop
representing BCAS comprised of CA. Rajat Talati, and CA. Deepak Thakkar. CA.
Santosh Muchhal, President, IMA welcomed the delegates and thanked BCAS for
this workshop. President (Elect) of BCAS CA. Narayan Pasari in his welcome
speech introduced BCAS to the gathering. He also mentioned that GST is a
win-win reform for everyone and will have lasting benefits for businessmen,
Government, consumers and professionals.

CA Rajat Talati started the first session by stating that GST
is an Integrated Tax Regime which will reduce Policy Paralysis in Indian
Economy. It will also avoid Double Taxation problem which of late is posed as a
major threat for the Indian Economy.

CA. Talati explained that
Goods and Service Tax (GST) is a destination based tax on consumption of goods
and services. It is proposed to be levied at all stages right from manufacture
up to final consumption with credit of taxes paid at previous stages available
as setoff. In a nutshell, only value addition will be taxed and applicable tax
is to be borne by the final consumer.

CA Deepak Thakkar took the
2^nd Session and explained that Goods and Services Tax (GST) will be
levied at multiple rates ranging from 0 per cent to 28 per cent. GST Council
finalized a four-tier GST tax structure of 5%, 12%, 18% and 28%, with Zero to
lower rates for essential items and the highest for luxury and de-merit goods
that would also attract an additional cess. Goods and Service Tax on services
will go up from 15% to 18%. The services being taxed at lower rates, owing to
the provision of abatement, some services such as train tickets etc will fall
in the lower slabs.

It would be a dual GST with the Centre and States
simultaneously levying it on a common tax base. The GST to be levied by the
Centre on intra-State supply of goods and / or services would be called the
Central GST (CGST) and that to be levied by the States would be called the
State GST (SGST). Similarly Integrated GST (IGST) will be levied and
administered by Centre on every inter-state supply of goods and services. The
GST will be shared by the Centre and the respective State equally.

He also mentioned that
there are many benefits available to small tax payers under the GST regime. The
two speakers answered the many questions raised by the participants at the end
of their sessions.

The joint workshop was a very enriching experience for the
140 participants.

Two days seminar on GST
for Trade, Industry and Professionals held on 24^th& 25^th
June 2017 at Ghatkopar

This two day seminar was held at
Zaverben Auditorium, Ghatkopar where 725 participants attended comprising of
chartered accountants and members of trade and industry.

Lecture Meeting on GST
& CAs – Impact on Compliance & Practice held on 27^th June,
2017

Indirect Taxation
Committee of BCAS organised a lecture meeting on “GST & CAs – Impact on
Compliance & Practice” on 27th June, 2017 at K. C. College Auditorium,
Churchgate which was addressed by CA. Sunil Gabhawalla.

CA. Sunil Gabhawalla

With GST becoming a reality,
there were many issues which were faced by the practising chartered accountants
like the impact on billing under the Service Tax law and receipt under the GST
regime, paying tax on procurements from unregistered vendors, concept of supply
and place of supply with respect to clients being located in other states, a
multi-locational firm etc. CA, Gabhawalla explained about the new GST Law, its
challenges and compliances and how it is going to impact practicing Chartered
Accountants. He also enlightened on the Composition Tax and monthly return
filing process under GST. 

The speaker explained in detail and in candid way the
challenges that a practising chartered accountant would face, He also answered
a few queries raised by the members.

The participants benefitted a lot from the meeting.

‘New Curriculum of CA
Course – Has the bar been raised? organised on 5^th July, 2017 at
BCAS.

HDTI Committee had organised a talk on ‘New Curriculum of CA
Course – Has the bar been raised?’ by Member of Central Council of ICAI, CA
Nihar Jambusaria.

The talk was organised for students who are eligible to
appear for CA exams under new syllabus and having their doubts regarding the
same.

CA Nihar Jambusaria meticulously explained each and every
aspect of the new curriculum and also provided a comparative analysis between
the old and new curriculum. The talk was followed by an extensive ‘Q&A’
session wherein students sought clarifications for their doubts and the speaker
positively answered all their queries.

The talk received overwhelming response from the student
fraternity. Further, quite a lot of students also took the benefit of live
streaming of the seminar at their respective places or CA firms.

The talk provided valuable
guidance to all students and was widely appreciated. 

Study Circle Meeting on
Technology Trends: Impacts of Artificial intelligence, Machine learning,
Drones, Big Data held on 5^th July, 2017 at BCAS Conference Hall.

At this study circle meeting, Mr. Nikunj Sanghvi, a Mobile /
Digital Professional from USA, shared his insights on the upcoming technology
trends and their probable impact on businesses going forward. He started by
explaining the trend of expectations towards new technologies – how they
initially reach a peak followed on by disillusionment as the technologies are
not as good as expected and later on get slowly accepted by public at large. He
covered many different innovations including drones, augmented reality, digital
twins, big data, artificial intelligence & machine learning, intelligent
apps, autonomous vehicles, speech recognition and voice interfaces, block chain
and crypto currencies.

Mr Sanghvi also explained these innovations and their impact
which are already seen in some business areas. For example, using drones,
auditors are doing a physical check of goods in large warehouses in a day which
otherwise would take them weeks! On giving such other examples, the immediate
query from the group was what will happen to many existing jobs. Mr Nikunj
mentioned that while there may be jobs which are lost as and when these
technologies become mainstream, he was positive that there will be many newer
jobs which people will be able to fill in. His point was that Man’s wants are
unlimited and even if a few wants are met by these new technologies, there will
be many more which will remain unfulfilled. Therefore, there may be no need to
worry unnecessarily for job losses.

The meeting ended on this positive note and participants
benefitted a lot.

69^th
Foundation Day Lecture Meeting on “ENERGising India-Changing Paradigm for
Professionals” held on 6^th July, 2017 at Garware Club House,
Churchgate, Mumbai

A lecture meeting on “ENERGising India-Changing Paradigm for
Professionals” was held on 6^th July, 2017 on the occasion of 69^th
Foundation Day of the Society which was addressed by our Hon’ble Union Minister
of State (IC) for Power & Renewable Energy CA. Piyush Goyal.  President CA. Chetan Shah briefly touched
upon the GST regime and also shared the profile of Mr Goyal while welcoming the
Chief Guest and then requested him to address the august audience.

CA. Piyush Goyal – Minister
of State for Power, Coal, New
and Renewable Energy and
Mines (Independent charge)

Mr Goyal started his oration with the past memories of his
BCAS membership and appreciated the caricature of the cover design of GST issue
of July Journal stating that the cover design is very well presented. He then
talked about the GST Bill and explained how GST Council has been empowered to
function without any interference from the Government. Mr Goyal also emphasized
that GST is a great testimony with the culmination of 17 taxes into one tax
“GST” where the Traders, Businessmen, Manufacturers and others will get the
Input Tax Credit when goods move from one place to another. This transformation
would help to curb inflation, bring transparency, eradicate the atmosphere of
uncertainties and corruption, eliminate black money etc. This revolutionary
step has been taken by the Government in the national as well as public
interest without any political opportunism. 

BCA Journal – GST Special Issue Release
L to R : CA. Sunil Gabhawalla, CA. Narayan Pasari, Shri Piyush Goyal (Speaker), CA.
Chetan Shah (President), CA. Manish Sampat, CA. Suhas Paranjpe, CA.Abhay Mehta.

On the topic of the Lecture Meeting “ENERGising
India-Changing Paradigm for Professionals”, he cited Mahatma Gandhi Quote
that we are the trustees of the Planet and it is our collective responsibility
to keep the environment clean, abolish pollution and adapt to healthy and
hygienic climate changes for better quality of life for 1.25 billion Indians.
Our inhabitants especially in the rural areas cannot afford to live without
electricity, shelter, transportation, medical facilities etc and Government has
taken strong steps to provide these amenities to majority of the villages and
would reach the zero defect in a phased manner. Mr Goyal also informed the
gathering that at present, India is energy surplus and self-sufficient in Power
Distribution. As per the world standards, we are contributing to clean energy
and reducing pollution levels. He also urged upon the citizens to use LED bulbs
to conserve the energy and contribute in Nation Building. Besides, Mr Goyal
also remembered our armed forces and assured to provide them with the most
modern equipment and technology to fight any internal and/or external threat.

Audit Checklist Publication Release
L to R : CA. Raman Jokhakar, CA. Sunil Gabhawalla, CA. Narayan Pasari, Shri
Piyush Goyal (Speaker), CA Chetan Shah (President), CA. Manish Sampat, CA.
Suhas Paranjpe, CA Abhay Mehta

He thereafter appealed to the Chartered Accountants
Fraternity to strengthen and upgrade the audit standards to curb the Tax
evasion/avoidance and further transform the future of India, because CAs are
the force to reckon with in the professional industry.

At the end, he expressed confidence that Chartered
Accountants can do a lot for the public good and make India again.

The audience got mesmerized with Mr Goyal’s presentation
skills and gained a lot from the insights straight from the heart and from his
spellbinding Speech.

Lecture Meeting on “Recent Developments in Taxation of
Capital Gains” held on 11^th July, 2017.

Taxation Committee of BCAS organized a Lecture Meeting on
Recent Developments in Taxation of Capital Gains on 11^th July, 2017
at IMC, Churchgate, Mumbai. The first meeting of the year at BCAS which
commences from the Founding Day, 6^th July, was addressed by CA.
Pinakin Desai wherein he explained about the Notional Taxation w. r. t. Fair
Market Value (FMV) of unlisted equity shares under Sec 50CA, shift of base year
for indexation from 1981 to 2001 to compute the cost of bonus shares and
amendment to Sec 10 (38) with background and notification on 3^rd proviso
to Sec 10(38). He also discussed about the Protocol to India – Mauritius Treaty
with emphasis on Mauritius and Multilateral Treaty (MLI) and protocol amending
India-Singapore Treaty. CA. Pinakin Desai further explained about the valuation
of shares under Normative Valuation with draft valuation rule notified u/s. 50
CA and issues under normative valuation. He also deliberated on Sec 195 –
withholding actual or notional consideration for Sec 50 CA. 

CA. Pinakin Desai

Mr Desai also explained the
above topics with case studies on (i) resolving normative valuation of shares
as per draft notification, (ii) valuation of unquoted equity shares, (iii)
acquisition in IPO, (iv) acquisition pursuant to merger, (v) gift of shares,
(vi) Inter-se promoter transfer, (vii) direct transfer vs. indirect transfer,
(viii) impact of dividend distribution and (ix) case study under
India-Mauritius Treaty.

The hall was packed with
the audience and it was a very fulfilling and enriching experience for the
participants to benefit immensely from the meeting.

GST Training Seminar Jointly with NACIN held from 13^th
July to 15^th July, 2017 at BCAS Hall

With the roll out of GST on
1^st July, 2017, the 3^rd batch of GST Training Seminar for
Trade, Industry & Profession was organised by Indirect Taxation Committee
of BCAS jointly with the National Academy of Customs, Indirect Tax and
Narcotics (NACIN), to make understand the intricacies and the importance of GST
laws & provisions.

CA. Mandar Telang

CA. Shreyas Sangoi

CA. Chirag Mehta

CA. Govind Goyal

The purpose of holding such training workshop
was dual – one to educate the trade and industry about the new legislation and
more importantly, partnering Government in disseminating information about this
landmark “One Nation One Tax”.

 The speakers at the Seminar were BCAS members
accredited by the NACIN as GST Trainers, and a few officials from the GST
department. The faculty from BCAS included CAs Chirag Mehta, Dushyant Bhatt,
Govind Goyal, Mandar Telang, Naresh Sheth, Rajkamal Shah, Shreyas Sangoi and Ms
Vishaka Borse, & Mr, Shrikant Shaligram from the GST Department.

The participants immensely benefited from the training
programme.

Dharampur Noble Social Cause Visit – on 15^th &
16^th July, 2017

The visit to Dharampur was
organised for two days by the Human Development and Technology Initiative

Dharampur Noble Social Cause Visit

Committee of BCAS jointly
with BCAS Foundation, for Tree Plantation, Eye Camp project and visit to
various NGOs, at Dharampur. These NGOs are engaged in the various social
welfare activities for Holistic growth of Tribals located in the remote
interiors. A Team of 24 enthusiastic volunteers including students who were
willing to take active participation in this noble mission joined the trip.

Sarvoday Parivar Trust (SPT)

The SPT is a NGO, following
Gandhian philosophy and engaged in various tribal welfare activities in the
field of Education / Health / Agriculture / Water management / Environment,
etc. The BCAS Foundation committed for plantation of 3,000 trees to SPT. The
team also visited the Residential School run by the SPT which is home to more
than 350 children from nearby villages.. This residential school has encouraged
poor labourers and farmers in the tribal areas to send their children for
further studies. It has helped in reducing child labour, child marriage and
other social evils which takes place mainly due to illiteracy and poverty.
Members had good interactions and time with them. The School premises are old
and needs to be renovated and upgraded to provide better amenities to children.
BCAS Foundation has committed its full support for the redevelopment and
upgradation of school/ hostel.

Avalkhandi Kelavani Trust (AKT)

The AKT is an NGO which
carries out various activities in Education & Water Management in the
villages of the most backward forest of Dharampur, running a government School
where approximately 300 students are studying & has one Chhatralaya whereby
180 children are accommodated for stay from other villages who would have
otherwise been deprived of education. The BCAS Foundation committed for
plantation of 2,500 trees to AKT. On behalf of BCAS Foundation, team
distributed kits for outdoor games like cricket / Football/ Badminton  / Flying Dish etc  and many educational games at AKT for their
children. The BCAS Foundation contributed Rs. 30,000/- for setting up a library
in the Chhatralaya.

The team viewed the various
check dams created on mountains in the process of water management.

Dhanvantri Trust (DT)

The trust is founded and
managed by Dr. Kirtikumar Vaidya, from Mumbai who left Mumbai at a young age
& has dedicated his life for socio economic rural development of tribal
villages of South Gujarat. With divine blessings he started an Eye Hospital in
Vansda. Our team member had contributed Rs. 63 lakh for setting up Hospital
with latest Equipment & Technology for treating and curing all types of Eye
Surgeries.

BCAS Foundation sponsored 201 Eye Surgeries for poor Tribals & has
dedicated support for 50 more, thanks to contribution & support of Esteemed
Donors, amounting to Rs.2.01 lakh.

Dr. Vaidya proposed to set up a school in Vansda. BCAS Foundation has
committed their support for the same.

The   trip for Tree plantation
drive and the Eye Camp was truly enriching, enlightening and educational too
for the visiting members and students. The memories treasured from the trip,
would always encourage and motivate them to participate more in such events
which would be beneficial to the society at large.

Direct Tax Study Circle Meeting on ‘Income Computation
Disclosure Standards; ICDS V Tangible Fixed Assets, ICDS IX Borrowing Costs
& ICDS X Provisions, Contingent Liabilities & Contingent Assets’ on 15^th
July 2017

The Chairman of the
Meeting, CA. Anil Sathe gave his opening remarks and raised some issues
relating to ICDS which could face litigation in the long run. The Group leader,
CA. Dhaval Desai drew attention to an extract from the Supreme Court decision
in Woodward Governor 312 ITR 254 wherein the Hon’ble Supreme Court observed
that for income tax purposes, profits are to be computed in accordance with the
ordinary principles of commercial accounting unless, such principles stand
superseded or modified by legislative enactments and this is where section
145(2) comes into play.

Thereafter, the group
leader briefly explained the provisions of ICDS IX ‘Borrowing Cost’-
recognition principle, definitions of borrowing cost and qualifying assets. He
explained the provisions of capitalisation in respect of specific borrowings
and general borrowings and the provisions relating to commencement and
cessation of the capitalisation. He mentioned that as per Accounting Standard
16, an asset qualifies to be a Qualifying Asset only if it takes substantial
period of time to get ready for its intended use or sale, however ICDS has done
away with the criteria of ‘substantial period of time’ (except for inventories)
and this would lead to a huge difference between the capitalisation of
borrowing costs as per books and capitalisation as per ICDS.

The group leader further
touched upon the provisions of ICDS X ‘Provisions, Contingent Liabilities and
Contingent Assets’. He mentioned the yardstick for recognition of a provision
‘probable’ as per Accounting Standard 29 has become stricter under ICDS wherein
the term ‘probable’ has been substituted with ‘reasonably certain’. Similarly,
in case of contingent assets, the term ‘virtual certainty’ used for recognition
as per AS 29 has been substituted with ‘reasonably certain’ under ICDS. He
commented that such provisions would certainly lead to preponement of income
and postponement of deduction of expenses. The group leader touched upon
transitional provisions contained in ICDS X.

Subsequently, CA. Dhaval
briefly explained the provisions of ICDS V ‘Tangible Fixed Assets’. He
highlighted one of the differences between existing AS and ICDS with regard to
treatment of expenditure between trial run and commercial production. In this
context, Revised AS 10 mandates such expenditure to be revenue in nature
whereas CBDT clarification on ICDS states that such expenditure should be
treated as capital expenditure.