President’s Message | April 2022

Dear Professional friends,

The Annual Conference of  KSCAA for the year 2022 is planned on 20th and 21st of May 2022 and this year theme is planned around areas which are beyond the conventional practice. This also resonates our thought and happening around the public accounting industry throughout the world, that there is dire threat of technological interruption into the field and our ability to adopt to these changes would decide on our relevance. The Chartered Accountants Act 1949 is now amended by the government to strengthen the lacunas which government thought was prevailing in the existing system, the opinions currently on this subject was quite high. While few claimed that it was written on wall for the way institute handles the matter and few against it were wary of the way the public opinion was sought to arrive at the conclusion, with little left for those involved in the affairs to show their cause. Now whatever may be the claim for and against, the Act has made its way into reality and I only hope our profession would pass the test of time and would leave up to the expected standard.

Let me wish you all great for the new financial year, every year is a reflection of things which we have not done, aspiration for thingswe wish to do and shed the bad habits, all this with what went through during past period.

Direct Tax

Executive developments :

  •  CBDT notifies Rule 21AAA to provide tax relief on income arising from foreign retirement funds
  •  CBDT notifies ITR forms applicable for Assessment Year 2022-23
  •  CBDT Consequences of non-furnishing of PAN applicable from 01-04-2023 if  PAN becomes   inoperative:
  •  CBDT extends due date of filing Form 10AB to seek registration/approval under Sec. 10(23C), 12A or 80G till 30th September 2022
  •  CBDT allows manual filing of Form no 3CF for an applicant seeking approval under Sec. 35

Judicial developments :

  • ITAT Delhi : Subscription charges received by NR for providing its CRM portal services can’t be taxable as royalty
  • ITAT Delhi Interest on refund can’t be said effectively connected with PE; taxable as per Article 11 of  DTAA

Indirect Tax

As we close the financial year, it is important to note that the March month GST returns can be used to give effect to the corrections upon reconciling the figures for the year with Books. Ensure Books ITC is matching with returns and GSTR 2A. Year end reversals u/r 42 & 43 needs to be considered and effect to be given on comparing with provisional reversals made. Delay in reversing the credit would cost interest.

Finance Act 2022 has received President’s assent and the Sec 38 amendments to CGST Act is in place without any modifications, which were urged. This requires a process to be set and overseen for robust matching of ITC with GSTR 2B and follow ups. Though the Act has received the assent of the Hon President, a notification enforcing applicability of said provisions is pending. Meanwhile, this works the best time to suggest for dry run of the provisions to check readiness of businesses to adapt to the change in the pipeline!

IDT & DT committee’s joint program on Joint Development arrangement concluded in Mar 2022 was a success with around 100 members participating in the unique and first physical-cum-virtual program by KSCAA. The topic has been and remains a trending one for the complexities and unique challenges it brings in.

Corporate and Allied Laws

  •   Extension / Deferment of the following Due dates :
  1. Implementation of Audit Trail software now shall be applicable from FY commencing on or after the April 1, 2023.
  2. CSR-2 extended up to May 31, 2022.
  3. The DGFT issued Notification No. 64/2015-2020 dated March 31, 2022 to extend the validity of the existing Foreign Trade Policy (“FTP”) 2015-2020 till September 30, 2022 from March 31, 2022.
  4. The DGFT issued Public Notice No. 53/2015-2020 dated March 31, 2022 to extend the validity of the existing Hand Book of Procedures (“HBP”), 2015-20 till September 30, 2022.
  5. The National Credit Guarantee Trustee Company Limited (NCGTC) extended the Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS) beyond March 2022, till March 2023.
  6. Applicability of below mentioned provisions further deferred till 30/09/22 by the ICAI :

– Responding to Non-Compliance with Laws and Regulations (NOCLAR) [S. 260 & 360]

– Fees-Relative Size [Para 410.3 to R410.6]

– Tax Services to Audit Clients [S 604]

The book ‘Road less travelled’ has a very interesting story, during a research experiment a marine biologist placed a shark into a large holding tank and then released several small bait fish into the tank. As you would expect, the shark quickly swam around the tank, attacked and ate the smaller fish. The marine biologist then inserted a strong piece of clear. She then put the shark on one side of the fiberglass and a new set of bait fish on the other. This time, however, the shark slammed into the fiberglass divider and bounced off. Undeterred, the shark kept repeating this behavior every few minutes to no avail.  This experiment was repeated several dozen times over the next few weeks.  Each time, the shark got less aggressive and made fewer attempts to attack the bait fish, until eventually the shark got tired of hitting the fiberglass divider and simply stopped attacking altogether .The marine biologist then removed the fiberglass divider, but the shark didn’t attack.  The shark was trained to believe a barrier existed between it and the bait fish, so the bait fish swam wherever they wished, free from harm. Let’s not read, reiterate, and believe on happening of negative around us regarding profession and behave like the shark, but be mindful on how to train and equip ourselves to newer reality and build a better profession.

Happy Reading !

Yours faithfully,

CA. Chandan Kumar Hegde A

President