President's Desk 

President’s Message | May 2020

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Dear Professional friends,

The month of May, which otherwise was one of the busiest months for Chartered Accountants has been a challenge for the whole humanity. Particularly, the dynamics of the challenges which lie ahead of us is extremely ambiguous. They say lockdown had got everyone so much time that, spending time with loved ones and improving the skills and knowledge which otherwise was not possible is the best positive outcome of lockdown. In this journey, this association had conducted series of webinar to update the knowledge of members and the same was well attended by majority of members.

During this lockdown, we have represented to government with list of challenges/feedbacks which the fraternity and the business community require for betterment of economy. Honourable Prime Minister of India, Shri Narendra Modi announced mammoth sized stimulus to help the bleeding business with liquidity and easier compliance. The sheer amount of stimulus is a positive step in the right direction, however the allocation to the needy and the peripheral view of the schemes are yet to be analysed. At the first outlook, Rs. 20 Lakh crore of stimulus 2.0 looks at kickstarting the economy by providing major liquidity to MSME, reducing the compliance burden, early dispersion of refund, reducing TDS etc. Heartening to note that definition of MSME has gone for major change and banks have significant role in the government’s effort of normalising the shock.

KSCAA’s initially pledge to serve around 7,500 meals to underprivileged and stranded workers in Bengaluru was overwhelming responded by the donors. On members demand, we had to rise our charity by naming it #mission10K meals and we were oversubscribed even in this mission. We concluded our service with more than 23,800 meals during the first and second lockdown and the experience of this gesture was humble and great.

News Roundup

Goods and Service Tax

Government in its on-going efforts to neutralize the situation as impacted by Covid pandemic has released following additional reliefs measures to ensure there is ease in compliance of GST law:

  • The long-awaited Form PMT-09 is finally rolled out on the GSTN Portal to enable taxpayers to shift/transfer their Cash ledger balances between different major and minor heads.
  • Taxpayers who are companies may use EVC instead of mandatory requirement of DSC for their filings of GSTR3B returns until 30th June 2020.
  • Filing of SMS based NIL GSTR3B returns is now incorporated and given recognition under CGST rules. However necessary modus operandi in this regard is still awaited.
  • Taxpayers under IBC who have filed all their GSTR1 statements and GSTR3B returns for periods prior to the appointment of IRP/RP, such taxpayers have been shielded from the requirement of adhering to the special procedure framed under notification 11/2017-CT dated 21-03-2020.
  • Other taxpayers under IBC who are subject matter of special procedure to be followed in terms of notification 11/2017-CT dated 21-03-2020 have been given extended time for taking New GST registration until 30th June 2020, if the time limit is ending before that date.
  • Validity of E-way bills expiring between 20-03-2020 and 15-04-2020 has been further extended from existing date 30-04-2020 to new date 31-05-2020.
  • The last date for filing GSTR9 and GSTR9C for FY 2018-19 where aggregate turnover of FY 2018-19 exceeds Rs. 5 Crores has been further extended from existing date 30th June 2020 to new date 30th September 2020.

Direct Tax

  • Government issues clarification regarding short deduction of TDS / TCS due to increase in rates of Surcharge by Finance Act 2019. The Act provided for increase in the rate of surcharge applicable from 1st April, 2019 for previous year 2019-20 relevant to assessment year 2020-21.
  • Clarification regarding selection of option under section 115 BAC related to concessional rate of tax subject to the condition that income shall be computed without specified exemption or deduction, set off of loss and additional depreciation.
  • Government issued a notification for extension of all TDS /TCS returns filing dates which fall during the period March 20, 2020 to June 29, 2020.
  • CBDT issued a notification for deferment of requirements under clause 30C and clause 44 of form 3CD related to GST and GAAR reporting.
  • Order has been passed to extend the validity of Form 15G & 15H for the financial 2019-20 to 30.06.2020 to mitigate hardships to small taxpayers. 

Corporate and Business Law

MCA has issued an FAQ on COVID 19 and CSR clarifying various issues including that the contributions made to PM Cares and State Disaster Management Authority shall qualify as CSR expenditure whereas contributions made to CM’s Relief Fund or State Relief fund for COVID 19 shall not qualify as CSR Expenditure.

MCA has extended the time limits for Name Reservations and resubmissions of certain forms for companies and LLPs. Additional time has been provided for such forms due between 15th March to 17th May 2020.

MCA has extended the due date for filing of Form NFRA -2 by auditors. The form for the reporting period 2018-19 shall be now required to file within 210 days from the deployment of the form.

Conclusion

I read this quote, “That which does not kill us makes us stronger” by Friedrich Nietzsche. Meaning, Simply surviving a calamity doesn’t make you superior, it is how you recover from it that decides whether you are strengthened or weakened by your experience. You can feed your essential fiber of character and strengthen it—as Stephen Covey would say, you “sharpen the saw”. For most people, this includes reading, learning, and practicing the intellectual arts; but some are strong enough to go beyond—to convert even trauma into wisdom, and use it to feed that essential fiber of character. Others, however, cannot, and fall victim to such maladies as demoralization and addiction. Even in that, some people are able to cycle through several seasons of strife before they can learn to rise above; whereas the rest spiral down in disaster and die in misery. Really, it can be seen as a commentary on the human process of learning; trial and error.

Yours Sincerely,

 

Chandrashekara Shetty

President