• +91-9582224324
  • jatin@cajatinminocha.com
 
     
   
 
 
     
   
 

Our updates

30/12/2020
The ITDeptt carried out search & seizure action in Delhi on a no of hawala operators engaged in routing & handling unaccounted cash.
Seizure of unaccounted cash of Rs. 14crore & Bullion worth Rs. 2crore has been made. Evidence of bogus purchases/sales of over Rs. 300crore detected. 

The Central Economic Intelligence Bureau (CEIB) has put forward a proposal to impose 18% GST on bitcoin transactions, estimated to be around Rs 40,000 crore annually. The CEIB has conducted a study on levying GST on cryptocurrencies. It suggested to the finance ministry that bitcoin can be categorized under the ‘intangible assets’ class and GST could be imposed on all transactions. Presently, there is an absence of a regulator for cryptocurrency and hence there is also fear of it being used for big-time money laundering and undermining of legitimate currencies.
The Supreme Court asked the government to come up with cryptocurrency regulation policies. The apex court in March, this year struck down the curb on cryptocurrency trade in India. The Supreme Court quashed an earlier ban imposed by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on trading in virtual currencies such as bitcoin.

Record-keeping of cash deals in gems & jewellery trade now a must under PMLA:
1. The Government in exercise of the powers conferred under section 2(1)(sa)(iv) of the Prevention of Money-laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, rescinded the notification No. 8/2017, dated 15 November, 2017 which provided for a relaxation to jewellers from reporting requirements of PMLA. 
2. Under the PMLA, every reporting entity has to maintain record of all transactions of value exceeding Rs 10 lakh, all cross border wire transfers of more than Rs 5 lakh and all purchase and sale of immovable property of Rs 50 lakh or more.
3. With the above notification, The Central Government has notified the dealers in precious metals, precious stones as persons carrying on designated businesses or professions, if they engage in any cash transactions with a customer equal to or above Rs 10 lakhs, carried out in a single operation or in several operations that appear to be linked.

29/12/2020
Ministry of Finance has issued a Press Release dated December 23, 2020, regarding Measures recommended by GST Council to curb fake dealers/invoice rackets notified.
(i)  tightening of verification process for new registration
(ii)  suspension based on data analytics and mismatches
(iii) minimum cash payment to deter dummy businesses and
(iv) ease of doing business and precise targeting in the interest of small business intelligently protected.

28/12/2020
The UK and the EU have finally agreed on a trade deal. Here are the major takeaways:
1. Trade:
Businesses exporting to the EU will have to file customs declarations. 
Companies will need to file documents proving the origin of their goods. Only goods that contain a sufficient quantity of U.K. or EU inputs will be eligible for zero-tariff treatment.
Some goods will need to bear a new U.K. Conformity Assessed (UKCA) mark from Jan. 1, instead of the EU’s CE mark, in order to be sold in Britain.
Businesses may need to establish an office in the EU to continue providing services, and may need local approval for their professional qualifications.
Britain has deferred full import controls on goods coming from the EU until July.
Animal products will require export health certificates issued by a veterinary professional.

2. Financial services:
Finance firms may lose their passport to offer services across the EU, forcing them to shift staff and beef up their operations in the EU since there is decision on ‘equivalence’, thus the importance of London may diminish. 

3. Immigration:
The U.K. is planning to use a ‘points-based’ immigration system, where overseas workers must prove they meet certain criteria before being allowed to come to Britain for a job.
Staying in the EU for longer than 90 days may require a visa for Britishers. 

4. Level playing field:
The deal commits both sides to upholding their environmental, social, labour, and tax transparency standards to make sure they don’t undercut each other
Either side will be able to impose with tariffs if they diverge too much — subject to arbitration.

27/12/2020
The The road transport and highway ministry on Sunday extended the Validity of Driving License (DL) and other vehicle related documents like RC, permits and fitness certificate till March 31. This will be applicable for documents whose validity has expired since February 2020 or would expire by 31st March 2021 

RBI cautions against lending apps:
1. RBI has advised a verification of the antecedents of the company/ firm offering loans online or through mobile apps. 
2. It has also cautioned not to share copies of KYC documents with unidentified persons, unverified/unauthorized Apps. 
3. Such Apps/Bank Account information associated with the Apps should be reported to the concerned law enforcement agencies or use the Sachet portal. 
4. The link is https://sachet.rbi.org.in to file an online complaint.

26/12/2020
GST :Finance Act 2020 provisions effective from 01-01-2021:
1.    Composition Taxable person barred from following transactions in services in wake of composition scheme applicable to services also to limited extent i.e. he is barred from
a)    Making supply of services not leviable to tax
b)    Making inter state supply of services
c)    Making supply of services through electronic commerce operator, who is required to collect tax u/s 52

2.    Time limitation for taking Input tax credit on debit note was earlier tagged with related invoice. If invoice is related to 19-20, then ITC could not be taken post due date of return for September following financial year i.e. Sep 2020. Hence if debit note is issued in December 2020, ITC could not have been taken because related invoice pertained to 19-20. However now w.e.f. 01-01-2021, debit note has been delinked with invoice and ITC for debit note issued in December 2020 can be taken.

3.    Person taking voluntary registration was barred from applying cancellation for a period of one year before 23-01-2018, by virtue of proviso to Rule 20. The proviso was omitted w.e.f. 23-01-18, thereby removing one year restriction. However section 29 still barred person registered voluntarily to opt out of registration. However now with effect from 01-01-2021, person applying for voluntary registration can also opt out of registration if he no longer requires the registration.

4.    Revocation for cancellation of registration has to be filed with in 30 days. The government has twice declared amenesty also. Recently all cancellations till 12-06-2020 were allowed to be got revoked till 30-09-2020. Now w.e.f. 01-01-2021, additional or Joint Commissioner have been empowered to extend the period by further 30 days. Commissioner has been empowered to grant 30 days beyond the period allowed by additional/Joint Commissioner. Hence the period of revocation may get extended maximum to 90 days.

5.    W.e.f. 01-01-2021, government has been empowered to specify category of service or supplies for which tax invoice shall be issued in prescribed time and manner which may be different from current time limit of 30 days. At present for banking services, insurance services invoice may be issued in 45 days.  Further in certain supplies, requirement to issue tax invoice may be done away or any other document issued may be treated as tax invoice. For example in case of cinemas, electronic ticket is deemed to be invoice.

6.    Provision for Late fee of Rs. 200/- per day for late issue of TDS certificate beyond 5 days  from date of deposit of tax by the deductor subject to maximum of Rs. 10000/- has been deleted w.e.f. 01-01-2021. Form and manner of TDS certificate shall be as prescribed. Earlier the freedom was available only to prescribe particulars in addition to contract value, rate of deduction, amount deducted, amount paid to the Government

7.    Beneficiaries and person abetting following transactions have been made liable to *penalty*
a)    Supply of goods or services without issue of invoice or on the basis of incorrect/false invoice
b)    Issue of invoice without supply of goods or services
c)    Taking or utilizing ITC without actual receipt of goods.
d)    Taking or distributing ITC in contravention of section 20 or rules there under

8.    Availment of ITC on the basis of invoice not accompanied by supply or without basis of invoice has been declared one of offences u/s 132 for prosecution, subject to monetary limits specified in the section.

9.    Transfer of business assets or use of business assets by private purposes or non business purposes, without consideration* has been excluded from the purview of classification of supply of goods or services w.e.f. 01-01-2021, because such transfer or use without consideration is not a supply.

25/12/2020
Nine Gst amendments applicable from 01st January 2021 

1. Section 119 : Amendment in Composition Scheme (Section 10(2) of the CGST Act, 2017)
It may be noted here that second proviso to Section 10(1) of the CGST Act, 2017 allows the person paying tax under Composition Scheme to make Supply of services upto 10% of turnover in a State or UT in the preceding financial year or Rs 5 lakh , whichever is higher.
Due to above amendment apart from above condition, a composition supplier cannot:
a) Supply services which are not leviable to tax under the CGST Act, 2017;
b) Engage into Inter-state Supply of services;
c) Supply services through an electronic commerce operator who is required to collect tax under Section 52 of the CGST Act, 2017.

2. Section 120 : Time limit to avail ITC against Debit Note de-linked with the date of Invoice (Section 16 of the CGST Act)
Now with the above amendment the time limit for availing of ITC in respect of a debit note has ben delinked from the date of invoice and time limit for availing of ITC shall be determined considering the date of the debit note. 

3. Section 121 : Person who opted for Voluntary Registration can apply for Cancellation of Registration (Section 29 of the CGST Act)
The effect of the above amendment is that the person who has taken voluntary registration under Section 25(3) of the CGST Act, 2017, who was otherwise not required to get registered under Section 22 or Section 24 of the CGST Act, 2017, can now apply for cancellation of registration which was not permissible earlier.

4. Section 122 : Provision for Condonation of Delay in filing application for Revocation of Cancellation (Section 30 of the CGST Act).
Section 30(1) of the CGST Act, 2017 provides that if the registration of any person has been canceled suomotu by the proper officer than such person can apply for revocation of cancellation within 30 days of the order of cancellation. 
Now such period can be extended upto 30 / 60 days on reasonable cause by AC / JC or Commissioner.

5. Section 123 : Power of Central Government widened with respect to Tax Invoice (Section 31 of the CGST Act,2017)
Thus, the Central Government can now even prescribe a different time limit for issuance of tax invoices for such categories of services as may be notified.

6. Section 124 : Late fee on non / delayed issue of TDS Certificate abolished (Section 51)
The above amendment provides that the form and manner of issuing certificate for deduction of tax at source shall be provided in the CGST Rules, 2017. Further, the provision imposing late fee for not issuing the certificate within the prescribed time limit has been omitted.

7. Section 126: Insertion of new sub-section (1A) to Section 122 of the CGST Act
a person who retains the benefit of the above transaction and at whose instance such transaction is conducted shall be liable to penalty of an amount equivalent to the tax evaded or input tax credit availed of or passed on.

8. Section 127 : Beneficiary to be Penalized (Section 132 of the CGST Act)
The purpose to amend Sub-section (1) of Section 132 of the CGST Act, 2017 is to penalize the person who actually gets benefited from the fraudulent transactions and the person at whose instance such fraudulent transactions are committed.

9. Section 131 : Amendment in paragraph 4 of Schedule II
Activities or Transactions to be treated as supply of goods or supply of services: Transfer of business assets - whether or not for a consideration-  is omitted 

24/12/2020
Gist of Gst changes vide Notification no 94 
1. GST Excessive outward supplies reported in GSTR-1 as compared to GSTR 3B and wrong availment of ITC can invite cancellation of gst registration. Notification 94/2020 dated 22-12-2020 adds to the list of the grounds for cancellation of gst registration.

2. If the details of outward supplies in GSTR-1 for one or more tax periods are in excess of GSTR 3B for the same period, then, it implies that more ITC is being passed on to the recipient of supply, while tax is being paid on lesser outward supplies. And this can now be ground of cancellation of gst registration.

3. However it may be noted that w.e.f. 01-01-2021, in case of quarterly filers having turnover up to 5 crores, invoices up to monthly limit of Rs. 50 lacs are also required to be furnished in invoice furnishing facility and only invoices not furnished in invoice furnishing facility are required to be communicated through GSTR-1. Under such circumstances, the volume of outward supplies communicated through GSTR-1 is expected to be on lower side. Here invoices submitted through invoice furnishing facility have not been made a subject matter of cancellation.

4. Wrong availment of ITC under section 16 read with Rule 36 under following circumstances shall also invite cancellation i.e.
a)  ITC not supported by invoice.
b) ITC supported by invoice but all requisite particulars not mentioned.
c) ITC taken without receipt of supplies, 
d) ITC taken without tax having been paid by the supplier , 
e) ITC taken without filing of return
f) ITC taken on payments delayed beyond 180 days
g) ITC taken post September of following financial year
h) ITC taken on capital goods inspite depreciation claimed on ITC component
i) ITC pertaining to some other registered person, whether having same or different PAN
j) ITC on supplies not in course or furtherance of business
k) ITC taken in respect of tax paid on account of fraud, wilful misstatement or suppression of facts
Further, if value of taxable supplies in a month , other than exempt and zero rated supplies, exceeds Rs. 50 lacs, then if 100% of tax is paid through ITC and condition of paying 1% of tax liability through cash ledger is not met, it can also be ground for cancellation of gst registration.  

5. GST Per day distance Validity of E way bill curtailed by 50% w.e.f. 01-01-2021; 
For a normal transportation vehicle one day validity of eway bill was allowed for travelling to 100 kms or part there of. For every another 100 Kms  or part one additional day was allowed. So a truck travelling 1760 Kms was allowed validity of 18 days from the midnight of date of generation of e way bill.

6. However NN 94/2020 dated 22-12-2020 has increased the distance from 100 kms to 200 kms and has thus reduced the period of validity of e way bill. Thus a truck travelling 1760 Kms shall be  allowed validity of 9 days from the midnight of date of generation of e way bill. Thus the period of validity of e way bill has been reduced to 50% w.e.f. 01-01-2021.

7. Wef 1.1.2021, avail only ITC in GSTR-2B plus 5% instead of 10% earlier. Amendment of Rule 36(4) 

?GST: Wef 1 Jan 2021, E-invoicing Mandatory for Turnover above Rs 100 cr in 17-18, 18-19 or 19-20 (including Branch Transfers, goods outside GST etc).

last date for filing e-form PAS-6 for all unlisted companies is 31.12.2020. Obtain the ISIN of your company and get demat registration at the earliest to avoid last minute rush.

SEBI might remove the word 'permanent' from the definition of 'employee' under norms on stock-related employee benefits, Business Standard reported. According to the existing regulation, only permanent employees (including executives) and directors are eligible for ESOPs.

?Suspension of Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 (IBC) has been extended for another three months. Finance Minister announced that the insolvency and bankruptcy law will remain suspended till 31 March 2021 now.

Government has received over 120 foreign direct investment (FDI) proposals worth about Rs 12,000 crore from China since April, when it was made mandatory for a company from countries sharing land border with India to invest in any sector only after getting government approval. As per that decision, FDI proposals from China need government approval for investments in India in any sector.

23/12/2020
Over 55,000 FD holders of DHFL brace for a two-thirds haircut
Lenders are to decide the fate of more than 55,000 fixed deposit holders in two days. In all likelihood, they will lose over 60% of their investments.
As the sale of the ailing DHFL is all set to close, over 55,000 fixed deposit (FD) holders, whose life’s savings are stuck for long, are waiting with bated breath. Their claims have added up to around ?5,375 crore, with retail FD holders accounting for 40%. People close to the resolution process said the lenders are yet to take a final call on FD holders. “The fact is that the average recovery for everyone will be around 30%, given the total claims of ?90,000 crore and the bids in the range of ?35,000 crore. But some lenders are a little more sympathetic about FD holders. 

Highlights of the amendment in CGST Rules dated 22nd December 2020 
1. Cancellation of GST registration for excess availing of ITC
The Notification has empowered the officer to proceed with the cancellation of GST registration where a taxpayer avails Input Tax Credit (ITC) exceeding that permissible in Section 16. In this regard Clause (e) has been inserted in Rule 21 of CGST Rules 2017 w.e.f 22-12-2020.

2. Increase in time limit for grant of GST Registration
The CBIC has w.e.f. 22-12-2020 notified the increase in the Time limit for GST Registration from 3 days to 7 days, which means that now the department shall be required to review and grant registration within 7 days from the date of filing of the registration application. It is further notified that if the applicant does not do aadhaar authentication or where the department feels fit to carry out physical verification the time limit for grant of registration shall be 30 days instead of 7 days.

3. ITC restriction under Rule 36(4) amended
In order to nudge taxpayers to timely file their statement of outward supplies  (GSTR-1), restrictions on availing of input tax credit by the recipients was imposed by inserting sub-rule (4) to Rule 36 of the CGST Rules vide Notification No. 49/2019 Central Tax, dated 09-10-2019 and later amended vide Notification No. 75/2019 – Central Tax 26-12-2019.
The notification has further amended Rule 36(4) of the CGST Rules, 2017 in respect of restriction on claim of ITC wherein it has revised the limit to 5% instead of earlier 10%. This change will be applicable from 01-01-2021.

4. Mandatory payment of 1% from cash ledger
The notification has inserted new Rule 86B regarding restriction on use of Input Tax Credit for discharging the output liability. The main highlight of the new Rule 86B is laying down limit of 99% of output tax liability for using the ITC.

5. Restriction in filing of GSTR-1 if GSTR-3B not filed
The notification has inserted Rule 59(5) w.e.f 22-12-2020, which says that a registered person shall not be allowed to furnish the details of outward supplies of goods or services or both under section 37 in FORM GSTR-1 if he has not furnished the return in FORM GSTR-3B for preceding two months. This provision will cause issues to tax payers.

6. Cancellation of GST Registration if liability in GSTR-3B is less than GSTR-1
As per newly inserted clause (f) to Rule 21 in case a registered person furnishes the details of outward supplies in FORM GSTR-1 under section 37 for one or more tax periods which is in excess of the outward supplies declared by him in his valid return under section 39 (GSTR-3B) for the said tax periods, GST registration can be cancelled. This provision is applicable from 22-12-2020.

7. Suspension of GST registration in case of differences in GST returns
The notification has inserted new sub-rule (2A) in Rule 21A of the CGST Rules, 2017  regarding suspension of GST registration in cases of significant deviation between GSTR-1 & GSTR-3B or GSTR-3B & GSTR-2B.

8. GST registration can be cancelled without giving opportunity of being heard
The words “opportunity of being heard” has been omitted from clause (2) of Rule 21A, which means now the taxpayer’s registration can be cancelled without the opportunity of being heard, where the proper officer (PO) has reasons to believe that the registration of the person is liable to be cancelled. This change is effective from 22-12-2020.

9. No refund when GST registration is suspended:
As per newly inserted sub-rule (3A) to Rule 21A, a person whose registration has been suspended shall not be granted any refund under section 54, during the period of suspension of his registration. In other words GSTIN Suspension proceedings have to be closed before applying for a refund. This newly inserted sub-rule is effective from 22-12-2020.

10. Change in distance for validity of E-way Bill
With effect from 01-01-2021, one day validity shall be granted to cover a distance up to 200 kms which was earlier 100 km, under e-way bill provisions viz. Rule 138 of the CGST Rules, 2017.

22/12/2020
Important Changes introduced CGST(Fourteenth Amendment) Rules 2020

Time limit for system-based GST Registration increased*
1. The time for system-based registration has been enhanced from 3 days to 7 days. That means, now department shall be required to review and grant registration within 7 days against 3 days as provided earlier from the date of filing of registration application. Where the applicant does not do adhaar authentication or where department feels fit to carry out physical verification the time limit for grant of registration shall be 30 days instead of 7 days. 

More Powers to GST department in cancellation of GSTIN*
2. Now the officer can proceed for cancellation of GSTIN where a taxpayer avails Input Tax Credit (ITC) exceeding than that permissible in Section 16. Clause (e) has been inserted in Rule 21 of CGST Rules 2017.

3. Now where the liability declared in GSTR 3B is less than that declared in GSTR 1 in a particular month, department may now proceed with cancellation of GSTIN. There might be some practical difficulties in implementing such a provision as there are number of corrections which are made in GSTR 3B which may result in lower tax liability as compared with GSTR 1. The clause (f) newly inserted talks about details of outward supply to which we understand that Taxable value and tax both should be in synchronization between GSTR 1 and GSTR 3B.

4. Now, no opportunity of being heard shall be given to a taxpayer for suspension of GSTIN, where the proper officer (PO) has reasons to believe that the registration of person is liable to be cancelled. The words “opportunity of being heard has been omitted from clause (2) of Rule 21A. 

5. Where there are significant deviation/anomalies between details of outward supply between GSTR 3B and GSTR1 or inward supplies (ITC) between GSTR 3B and GSTR 2B which indicate contravention of Act, department shall now serve a notice in FORM GST REG 31 to call explanation as to why GSTIN should not be cancelled. Taxpayer shall be required to submit his reply within 30 days of such notice being served to him. 

6. Where a GSTIN is suspended no refund u/s 54 of CGST Act 2017 can be availed by the taxpayer. This means that first GSTIN Suspension proceedings have to be closed before applying refund. 

Restriction on claim of ITC as per Rule 36(4)
7. The claim of ITC in respect of invoices not furnished by the corresponding vendors has now been restricted to 5% of the credit available in GSTR 2B. This limit earlier was 10% of ITC available. This would be mean that a taxpayer’s ITC claim shall now be restricted to 105% of the Credit reflected in his GSTR 2B. Any claim exceeding the specified limit shall result in violation of CGST Act read with rules which may result into suspension of GSTIN as described above. The provision shall come into effect from 1st January 2021.

GSTR 1 to be blocked in case of non-filing of GSTR 3B
8. Where a taxpayer fails to file GSTR 3B for two subsequent months, his GSTR 1 shall now be blocked. Earlier non filing of GSTR 3B used to result in blocking of E-way Bill facility but from now on it shall also result in blocking of GSTR 1 of the taxpayer. Similarly, for quarterly return filers, the taxpayer failing to file GSTR 3B for the preceding quarter shall not be permitted to file GSTR 1 of subsequent quarter.   

9. A taxpayer whose is restricted to avail ITC as per rule 86B shall also not be permitted to file GSTR 1 where he has not filed GSTR 3b for the preceding tax period.

Restriction on Utilization of Input Tax Credit – Rule 86B
10. New Rule 86B shall be affected from 1st January 2021 wherein restriction has been placed on setting off more than 99% of tax liability from Input tax credit where the value of taxable supplies other than exempt supply and zero rated supply exceeds Rs. 50 lakhs in a month. Though few exceptions have been provided to this rule which are as follows:
(i) Where the taxpayer has paid Income Tax exceeding Rs. 1 lakh in two preceding financial year.
(ii) Where taxpayer has received refund exceeding Rs. 1 lakhs u/s 54 of CGST Act 2017.
(iii) Where taxpayer has used electronic cash ledger to pay of liability on outward supplies which cumulatively makes 1% of the total liability up to the said month
(iv) Where a person is a Government Department, Public Sector Undertaking (PSU), local authority or a statutory body.

Narrowing the validity of Eway bill
11. Earlier one day was permitted for distance up to 100 kms under e way bill provision. Now the same has been increased to 200 kms. This means that only one day validity shall be granted to cover a distance up to 200 kms which was earlier 100 km

21/12/2020
SEBI might remove the word 'permanent' from the definition of 'employee' under norms on stock-related employee benefits, Business Standard reported. According to the existing regulation, only permanent employees (including executives) and directors are eligible for ESOPs.

?Suspension of Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 (IBC) has been extended for another three months. Finance Minister announced that the insolvency and bankruptcy law will remain suspended till 31 March 2021 now.

Government has received over 120 foreign direct investment (FDI) proposals worth about Rs 12,000 crore from China since April, when it was made mandatory for a company from countries sharing land border with India to invest in any sector only after getting government approval. As per that decision, FDI proposals from China need government approval for investments in India in any sector.

20/12/2020
IMPORTANT four changes effective 01st Jan 2021
1) FASTag mandatory for all four-wheelers
The Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has issued a notification making a FASTag mandatory for all four-wheel vehicles from January 1, 2021. FASTag will be mandatory for four-wheelers or M&N category of vehicles that were sold before 1 December, 2017. For this, the Central Motor Vehicles Rules, 1989 were amended.

2) ‘Positive Pay’ system for cheques
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has decided to introduce the ‘positive pay system’ for cheque from 1 January 2021. Under the new rule re-confirmation of key details may be needed for payments beyond ?50,000. The concept of Positive Pay involves a process of reconfirming key details of large value cheques. The issuer of the cheque has to present information, such as the cheque number, cheque date, payee name, account number, amount, and other details.

3) Contactless card transaction limit increased
The Reserve Bnk of India (RBI) has enhanced limits for contactless card payments from ?2,000 to ?5,000. This will be effective from 1 January 2021 and will be at the discretion of the user.

4) Quarterly Goods and Services Tax (GST) return filing facility
About 9.4 million small businesses are set to come under a simpler, quarterly Goods and Services Tax (GST) return filing facility being rolled out from 1 January. These firms with sales upto ?5 crore, will need to file only four returns showing summary of all transactions in the quarter in the new regime instead of 12 now filed–one every month, said a finance ministry official.

The Maharashtra Authority of Advance Ruling (AAR) in its recent ruling in the case of Mr. Amogh Ramesh Bhatawadekar has ruled that 18% GST is applicable on the service of Online Gaming. It has further been held that in case of import of online gaming services by a registered person, reverse charge will be applicable.

19/12/2020
The CBIC has decided to relax the entire gamut of compliance and security requirements for MSMEs. The relaxation has been carried out to ensure that the MSMEs arc facilitated through rationalized compliance requirements and minimum but effective security requirements. The Board has decided to facilitate MSMEs by further relaxing the current accreditation process and reducing the compliance burden for their AEO accreditation. The Board has prescribed the procedure in respect of the modifications/relaxations for AEO accreditation of MSMEs. Firstly, the eligibility requirement of handling a minimum of 25 documents during the last financial year has been relaxed to 10 documents, subject to handling at least 5 documents in each half-year period of the preceding financial year.

Secondly, the requirement for the applicant to have “business activities for at least three financial years preceding the date of application” has been relaxed to two financial years. Thirdly, the qualifying period for legal and financial compliance has been reduced from ‘the last three financial years’ to ‘the last two financial years’. The time limit for processing of MSME AEO T1 & AEO T2 application has been reduced to fifteen working days (presently one month) and three months (presently six months) respectively after the submission of complete documents for priority processing by customs zones. The benefit of relaxation in furnishing of Bank Guarantee for AEOs has been further relaxed to 25% from 50% and 10% from 25% of that required to be furnished by an importer/exporter who is not an AEO certificate holder, for MSME AEO T1 and MSME AEO T2 entities respectively. “The AEO accreditation for MSMEs now requires submission of only two annexures for AEO TI and three annexures for AEO T2 applicants respectively. The two common annexures for AEO T1 and AEO T2 are: MSME Annexure 1 (General Compliance), MSME Annexure 2 (Legal, Managing Commercial Records, and Financial Solvency Compliance). Further, the third annexure for AEO T2 is MSME Annexure 3 (Safety and Security Requirements). These annexures have been designed to fulfil the aspirations of simpler application procedure with reduced documentation requirement for AEO accreditation of MSMEs,” the CBIC in the circular said.


18/12/2020
Supreme Court has vide its order dated December 17, 2020 stayed the Delhi High Court judgment permitting Bharti Airtel to rectify GSTR-3B returns and has listed the matter in the first week of March, 2021 for final disposal.

Huge dip in Loan disbursements by NBFCs: 
Loan disbursement by non-banking financial companies-microfinance institutions (NBFC-MFIs) declined 43 percent to Rs 10,617 crore in the quarter ended September as against Rs 18,565 crore in the same period of previous fiscal, according to a report by MFIN.
In the quarter ended June 2020, loan disbursement had declined 96 percent to Rs 570 crore from Rs 15,865 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous fiscal.
The data pertains to NBFC-MFI members of the Microfinance Institutions Network (MFIN), a self-regulatory organisation and industry association of the microfinance industry in the country.

Denial of lower withholding TDS due to technical issues:
Let us study the Delhi HC writ petition in the case of British Airways PLC (petitioner) (W.P. (C) No. 13496/2019):
1. The Petitioner is engaged in the business of operating aircraft in international traffic and its revenue/income in relation to its international air traffic to and from India is derived from ticket sales and cargo traffic. As its income/profits are not chargeable to tax under Article 8 of India-UK DTAA r/w Section 90(2) of the Act, the Petitioner requested for nil rate of withholding tax.
2. Application for the lower deduction certificate in Form 13 was made online unsuccessfully, on account of, technical issues. Offline applications were not allowed. 
3. Due to technical issues, some of the certificates have been made effective from 13.06.2019 whereas the same had been applied for financial year 2019-20.
The Hon Delhi HC held as below:
1. The only plausible reason the names could not be added in the designated fields, was the technical inadequacy of the system. That said, concededly, for the TANs in the said list, the Revenue subsequently has indeed issued certificates. 
2. Accordingly, it is declared that the withholding tax certificates issued by the respondents which are the subject matter of the present writ petition shall be effective from 1st April, 2019 for FY 2019-20.

17/12/2020
RTI reveals Wilful Defaulters Owe Rs1.08 Lakh Crores:
In a reply to an application filed under the Right to Information (RTI) Act, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) says there are 1913 wilful defaulters, who together owed Rs1.46 lakh crores to banks as on June 2020.
The information shared by RBI reveals that:
There are 264 wilful defaulters who defaulted on a loan of Rs100 crores and above. 
There are 23 defaulters with an outstanding of over Rs1,000 crores and their dues accrue to Rs43,324 crores. 
Wilful defaulters who owe between Rs500 crore to Rs1,000 crores to banks are 34 and their outstanding is Rs22,105 crores. 
There are 207 wilful defaulters in the Rs100 crore to Rs500 crores default range and together they owe Rs43,095 crores to PSBs. 
This also means there are total 264 wilful defaulters with bad loans of Rs100 crores and above and owe Rs1,08,527 crores to banks.
As per the RBI regulations, willful default covers several broad areas: Deliberate non-payment of the dues despite adequate cash flow and good networth, Siphoning off of funds to the detriment of the defaulting unit, Assets and proceeds have been misutilised; Misrepresentation / falsification of records; Disposal / removal of securities without bank’s knowledge; Fraudulent transactions by the borrower.

16/12/2020
Special units for Panama cases: 
The Central Board of Direct Tax (CBDT) has created specified units to expedite probes into the Panama and Paradise papers and other foreign assets-related cases. 
In 2016, approximately 400 companies with foreign accounts were under the scrutiny of the CBDT. In the Panama Papers case, the CBDT had brought into light over Rs 1,000 crore of undisclosed income, in which several celebrities were also named. In 2017, in the Paradise case, approximately 700 companies and individuals were named.
In Mumbai and Delhi, which have the highest numbers of foreign assets cases, these units have been increased. Mumbai has twelve units from the earlier eight, and in Delhi four more units have been set up.

National Informatics Centre (NIC) has announced the release of the beta of version of ‘NIC-GST e-invoice Preparing and Printing’ (NIC-GePP) excel based Tool to assist the taxpayers, who are not having the ERP solution, to enter an invoice in web-based form and print the e-invoice with QR code, after downloading the IRN from e-invoice portal.
 
15/12/2020
RBI Governor announced that the RTGS facility would be available round-the-clock from today. The RBI also decided to increase the limit for contactless card transactions to ?5,000 at PoS terminals from 1 January 2021.

Reserve Bank of India has issued guidelines regarding the distribution of dividends by NBFCs from FY21 onward. -PFC and REC reacted negatively to the new rules.

Gst E Way Bill latest threshold limits.....
Read More 
cajatinminocha.com/Image/EWB_Limits_4-12-2020.jpg

Rbi guidelines for opening of current accounts.....
Read More 
cajatinminocha.com/Image/RBI_Current_Accounts.pdf

14/12/2020
1. The Finance Ministry (MoF) on Saturday said it has approved RS.9,879.61 crore worth capital expenditure proposals of 27 states. Of this, Rs.4,939.81 crore has been released as the first installment.

2. All states, except Tamil Nadu, have availed benefits of the newly-announced scheme for 'Special Assistance to States for Capital Expenditure',

3. The capital expenditure projects have been approved in diverse sectors like, health, rural development, water supply, irrigation, power, transport, education, urban development.

4. As part of the AatmaNirbhar Bharat Package, the Centre had announced that the government will offer Rs.12,000 crore special interest-free 50-year loan to states, exclusively for capital expenditure.

5. The Scheme has three parts:
Part –I of the scheme covers the north-eastern region. Under this part, Rs.200 crore is allocated to 7 north-eastern States (Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripura).
In view of a higher population and geographical area, Assam has been allocated Rs.450 crore under the scheme.
Part-II of the Scheme is, for all other States not included in Part-I. An amount of Rs.7,500 crore is earmarked for this part.
Under Part- III of the scheme, an amount of Rs.2,000 crore is earmarked. This amount will be available only to those states who carry out at least 3 out of the 4 reforms specified by the Ministry of Finance in its letter dated 17th May, 2020 regarding reform linked additional borrowing permissions.
The 4 reforms are - One Nation One Ration Card, Ease of doing Business Reform, Urban Local Body/ Utility Reform and Power Sector Reform.

Authorities have been scaling up use of technology and data analysis in recent months to identify businesses with poor compliance track record
Fake invoices are used for violations including tax evasion, money laundering and diversion of funds from companies. 
Goods and Services Tax (GST) authorities have cancelled 1,63,042 GST registrations in October and November for defaulting on filing monthly tax returns for more than six months, said a government official.
Besides, 28,635 other taxpayers have been identified for cancellation of registration for defaulting on filing monthly returns for more than six months as on 1 December, the official said.
The strict action for not filing returns showing monthly summary of transactions (return form 3B) is taken as part of a drive to improve tax compliance amid a sharp decline in tax receipts. Central GST officials and Directorate General of GST Intelligence (DGGI) have been on a compliance enforcement drive since November focusing on frauds involving fake invoices.
As part of this, 132 persons have so far been arrested including four chartered accountants (CAs) for dealing in tax credits wrongfully. Officials have also booked 1,430 cases against more than 4,586 fake registered entities across the country, said the official. One of the CAs arrested is linked to setting up of 14 fake firms to deal in invoices without supply of goods, the official said.

Direct and indirect authorities have been scaling up use of technology and data analysis in recent months to identify businesses with poor compliance track record. With the sharp reduction in tax revenues this year, the trend is expected to gain further momentum

13/12/2020
In a rather unusual revelation, 103 kg gold worth Rs 45,00,00,000 (45 crore) has gone "missing" from the "safe" custody of India's premier investigating agency-the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). The CBI had reportedly seized the gold from a Chennai-based importer in 2012. 

This month, December, is the 36th straight month that India's economic growth has been slowing down.
The collapse began in January 2018 according to government data and has continued for three years. 
It showed that Indians were spending less money in 2018 than they had been in 2012. Meaning that they were earning less also. 

Income Tax Department has carried out search and seizure operations on 03/12/2020 in the case of a Group involved in the manufacturing and trading of steel products having premises in and around Rourkela, Odisha. The Group entities were booking bogus purchases of around Rs. 170 crore for two financial years in the name of 17 bogus entities. All the 17 parties have confessed in the statements recorded during the course of search and seizure operation, that they were unaware of any such business concerns in their name. 

12/12/2020
Enhancements in e-Way Bill System: 
1. Recipient GSTIN should be registered and active, on the date of preparation of the document by the supplier.

2. Document Nos. are case sensitive for e-Waybill generation.

3. In the Bulk Upload, if the Pin-to-Pin distance is not known, distance may be passed as zero. The system will automatically populate the distance, if available. However, if the distance is not available then error is returned. For such cases, user has to pass the distance.

4. If Pin code does not exist in the EWB system then at-least the first 3 digits of the pin code must match with the State selected.

5. In Bulk upload, 96 can also be passed as state code for ‘Other Country’.

6. In case EWB is generated from e-Invoice System, then IRN is displayed in the e-Waybill print

11/12/2020
QRMP Scheme For Taxpayers: Taxpayers having Aggregate Annual Turnover (AATO) upto Rs. 1.5 crore and are filing GSTR-1 on monthly basis will not be automatically migrated and have to opt-in for the scheme .
Automatically migrated taxpayers can opt-out of the scheme. 
 
Due Date Of Payment of 3rd Installment of Advance Income Tax for the financial year 2020-21 : 15.12.2020

10/12/2020
DGFT directs Regional Authorities to provide docs required by authorities:
1. ECA Circular No 36/2015-20 dated 7/12/20 requires the regional authorities to provide the requisite records to the investigating agencies such as CBI, DRI, ED, etc. 
2. This Directorate has been regularly receiving references from the Regional Authorities seeking permission to hand over documents/copies of documents to the external investigating agencies. Making such references to Headquarters delay the handing over of documents and consequently result in delays in the investigations.
3. It has been decided that whenever a request for documents is received from an investigating agency, the Head of the Regional Authority may decide the same keeping in view facts and circumstances of the case

In the last 15 months, three major Indian banks have gone into the red, crumbling under a mountain of bad debt. This has prompted many experts to ask questions about the financial health of Indian banks. 
Lakshmi Vilas is the third bank to meet this fate in the last 15 months.
In September 2019, Punjab and Maharashtra Co-operative Bank (PMC) went under, and the bank is currently being investigated for fraudulent loans worth $600m. In March this year, restrictions were imposed on India's fifth-largest private bank, Yes Bank, after it failed to raise capital to erase its bad debt.
The RBI was quick to bail out both Lakshmi Vilas Bank and Yes Bank - it merged the former with DBS, Singapore's biggest bank, and injected capital into the latter. But depositors of PMC bank are still awaiting relief.

09/12/2020
High Court slams AO for withholding refunds so as to window dress collection of tax revenue
Huawei Telecommunications (India) Company (P.) Ltd. v. Union of India - [2020] (Punjab & Haryana)
The issue before the Punjab & Haryana High Court was:
Whether refund can be withheld under section 241A without the conditions mentioned therein being fulfilled?
The High Court held that section 241A applies to the assessment year commencing on or after 01-04-2017. The refund due under section 143(1) can be withheld till assessment is made if: (i) there is a notice under section 143 (2); (ii) the Assessing Officer believes that revenue would be adversely affected in case of grant of refund; (iii) the Assessing Officer has to get previous approval of the Principal Commissioner or Commissioner; and (iv) the reasons are to be recorded in writing.
In cases where the above-said conditions are fulfilled, Section 241A empowers withholding of refund. The check mechanism is inbuilt in the provision i.e. for reasons to be recorded in writing. This ensures that opinion of the Assessing Officer is based on some material.
In the instant case, there was no reason recorded for concluding that the grant of refund was likely to adversely affect the revenue. As per the note of approval of the Principal Commissioner, the only reason mentioned was there was outstanding of Rs. 5 crores odd against the petitioner and for the said reason, the refund was withheld.
Pendency of demand of Rs. 5 crores wasn’t good enough to withhold the refund of more than Rs. 300 crores. In the instant case and also from the number of cases, it was evident that procedure for refund and withholding of refund was often being used as delaying tactics for various reasons including window dressing of collection of revenue.
The method adopted was a short-sighted vision. Apart from harassment to the assessee, it results in paying interest on the delayed amount of refund putting further burden on the exchequer
There cannot be the second opinion that the revenue collection and securing the interest of the revenue is of great importance, at the same time the revenue is to be collected like an apiarist extracts honey from a beehive without destroying it.



CII Survey on MNCs: India would be the top 3 investment destination:
1. According to the CII survey on “FDI in India Now, Next and Beyond, Reforms and opportunities”  India can expect to attract US$120 billion to US$160 billion of FDI annually by 2025 if it manages to increase the FDI to GDP ratio between 3% to 4% range by 2025. This can aid in bringing back India’s GDP growth rate to 7%-8% range.  
2. About 50% of respondents see India amongst the top three economies or leading manufacturing destinations of the world by 2025. The respondents have pinned down market potential, skilled workforce, and political stability as the top three reasons to make India their favoured destination.
3. The survey shows that more than 80% of all the respondents and 71% of the non-Indian headquartered respondents plan to make investments globally in the next 2-3 years. About 30% of companies are planning to invest more than USD 500 million.
4. For 40% of the non-Indian HQ companies, effective implementation of labour laws and FDI reforms are very significant, while 52% of the Indian HQ companies believe corporate tax rate reduction would be the prime mover of future investments. 
5. In terms of Trade Policy reforms, investors would like to see a faster turnaround time for exports and imports, improved cargo handling, and trade facilitation measures to be in place.

08/12/2020
The CBDT has issued Circular No. 21/2020 dated 4.12.2020 containing FAQ’s & Clarifications on some crucial & vital issues in the Vivad se Vishwas Scheme, 2020. 
The Key takeaways are as follows:
1. Appeals filed beyond the cut-off date of 31.1.2020 with Application for Condonation of Delay and the appeal is admitted before the date of filing declaration would be regarded as eligible applications. 
2. Enhancement Notice issued by CIT(Appeal) after the cut-off date of 31.1.2020, but before 4.12.2020, shall be required to be taken into account for determining the amount of disputed tax payable under the VsV Scheme.
3. Assessment Order which has been framed in the case of an assessee u/s 143(3)/144 based on the search executed in some other taxpayer case, shall be regarded as a search case. 
4. An appeal filed against intimation u/s 143(1) is eligible under the VsV Scheme if adjustment has been made under sub-clauses (iii) to (vi) of clause (a) of section 143(1) of the Act.
5. Appeals against the Orders denying Registration to Trusts u/s 12AA are not eligible to be settled under the VsV Scheme. 
6. Appeals or Writs against the Order u/s 263 is not eligible. 
7. The Cross Objections filed and pending as on 31.1.2020 are also eligible to be settled under the Scheme.
8. Proceedings pending before Income Tax Settlement Commission are not eligible. 
9. Unsecured Loans/Share Capital/Share Premium, settled under the VsV Scheme, cannot be credited to the Capital Reserve. 
10. Consequential relief will not be available in proceedings u/s 201 for settlement of disallowance u/s 40(a)(i)/(ia). 
11. Once appeal against order u/s 201(1) is settled under VsV Scheme, there would be 100% waiver of corresponding interest levied u/s 201(1A) of the Act.
12. if prepaid taxes (TDS/TCS/Advance Tax) are clearly identifiable with the source of income, these will be adjusted against tax liability. 
13. Declaration can be revised any number of times, before the PCCIT issues a Certificate of final tax amount payable. 

CBIC issues clarification over Invoice Furnishing Facility with relation to the QRMP Scheme-: IFF is an optional facility to be used depending on the needs of the suppliers and their buyers. Taxpayers may file their GSTR-1 for the quarter without filing IFF. 
(The Invoice Furnishing Facility (IFF) is a facility where quarterly GSTR-1 filers can choose to upload their invoices every month)

IT Department has said that entities filing declaration under the direct tax dispute resolution scheme ‘Vivad Se Vishwas’ can *revise* them till the time authorities issue certificate specifiying details of tax arrear and the amount payable. In a set of FAQs issued on the scheme, CBDT said that it cannot be availed in a case where proceedings are pending before Income Tax Settlement Commission (ITSC) or where writ has been filed against the order of ITSC.

07/12/2020
Finance Minister urged the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) and customs authorities to ensure that every offender of India’s economic frontiers is taken to task. the apex anti-smuggling intelligence and investigation agency functioning under the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC). 

Income Tax : Bogus Iron & steel Purchase : ITAT Mumbai  restricts addition to 4% to the assessee. Case Name : M/s Pavapuri Metals & Tubes Vs ITO (ITAT Mumbai)

06/12/2020
Partnership cannot be treated as AOP merely for execution of deed on inadequate stamp paper. Case Name : Kachhi Heritage Vs ACIT (ITAT Pune)

E-invoicing under GST, overcoming early hiccups, picked up pace right in the second month of its roll-out, with bill generation posting 17 per cent growth in November over the previous month. This paves the way for the second phase of e-invoicing, which is to make it mandatory for entities with a turnover of Rs 100 crore and more from January 1 and the rest from April 1 for business-to-business transactions. The e-invoicing system is now mandatory for entities with a turnover of Rs 500 crore and more.

E-commerce industry saw a 56 per cent growth in order volume and 50 per cent rise in gross merchandise value (GMV) this festive season over a similar period last year. Unicommerce, e-commerce focused SaaS (software as a service) platform, analysed shopping trends for the festive month of 2019 and 2020, and the analysis is 30 days prior to Diwali with a sample size of over 44 million orders.

05/12/2020
RBI can restrict export/import of currency
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) notified the Foreign Exchange Management (Export and Import of Currency) (Second Amendment) Regulations, 2020 which seeks to amend the Foreign Exchange Management (Export and Import of Currency) Regulations, 2015.
The RBI which is empowered under Section 47(2) of the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999, inserted Regulation 10 in the Foreign Exchange Management (Export and Import of Currency) Regulations, 2015.
The Regulation states that notwithstanding anything contained in these regulations, the Reserve Bank, may, in public interest and in consultation with the Central Government, restrict the amount of Indian currency notes of Government of India and/or of Reserve Bank, and/or foreign currency, on a case-to-case basis, that a person may bring into or take outside India and prescribe such conditions as it may deem necessary.

04/12/2020
Key announcements by RBI on Friday:
1. The Reserve Bank of India on Friday kept the repo rate unchanged at 4% and the reverse repo rate at 3.35%. This is the third time in a row that the central bank kept the key interest rates unchanged.Inflation (Consumer Price Index) is expected to be high at 6.8% for the 3rd quarter and so the rates have been kept unchanged. 
2. The central bank also revised India’s real Gross Domestic Product growth projection for the year 2020-’21 from -9.5% to -7.5%. Mr Shaktikanta Das (RBI Governor) said that the recovery in rural demand was likely to become stronger and urban demand was also gaining momentum.
3. RBI also announced that the Real Time Gross Settlement or RTGS payment system will be available round-the-clock in the next few days. It currently operates from 7 am to 6 pm on all working days of in a week, except for the second and fourth Saturday every month.
4. RBI will introduce risk-based internal audits in large urban co-operative banks and NBFCs. RBI will also put in place criteria for declaration of dividends and their regulatory regime will be reviewed to take a scale-based approach.
5. Governor Das said that RBI is taking measures to reduce volatility, and will continue to respond to global spillovers to secure domestic stability with our liquidity management operations. 

Income Tax Return filing Dates: Non Audit case 31/12/2020, Audit Case 31/01/2021 and Tax Audit 31/12/2020.

?Wef 1.12.20, E-way Bill generation will be blocked if GSTR-3B/CMP-08 of 2 or more tax periods are pending. To unblock apply in EWB-05 online on www.gst.gov.in

GST: The lack of preparedness from the banks has forced the government to waive off proposed penalty for not implementing dynamic QR code on invoices issued by GST-registered taxpayers with over `500 crore annual turnover, sources in the revenue department said. The provision was to penalise businesses not using QR codes on their invoices from December 1 but now it would come into force from April 1.

Kumudchandra Atmaram Patel Vs TTK Prestige Ltd. (NAA): vide Section 112 of the Finance Act, 2019 specific penalty provisions have been added for violation of the provisions of Section 171 (1) which have come in to force w.e.f. 01.01.2020, by inserting Section 171 (3A).

03/12/2020
Delay in auto-population of e-invoice details into GSTR-1: GSTN: Certain notified taxpayers have been preparing and issuing invoices by obtaining Invoice Reference Number (IRN) from Invoice Registration Portal (IRP) (commonly referred as ‘e-invoices’). Details from such e-invoices are be auto-populated in respective tables of GSTR-1.

The gross GST revenue collected in the month of November, 2020 is Rs. 1,04,963 Cr, total number of GSTR-3B Returns filed for the month of Nov. is 82 lakhs

The Supreme court on Thursday upheld that the GST shall be imposed on the sale of lotteries, betting and gambling

SC Judgement dated 2.12.2020 in the SLP No.3543 of 2020 Of Paramvir Singh Saini 
The larger bench of the Hon'ble Supreme court orders all Investigation Agencies, including DRI/ NCB/ED/NIA/CIA/CBI/SFIO, having the power to interrogate and arrest, to install CCTV camera and recording equipment and record the same when interrogation takes place.
A few observations & Directions of the SC : 
The Union of India is also to file an affidavit in which it will update this Court on the constitution and workings of the Central Oversight Body, giving full particulars thereof. In addition, the Union of India is also directed to install CCTV cameras and recording equipment in the offices of:
(i) Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI)
(ii) National Investigation Agency (NIA)
(iii) Enforcement Directorate (ED)
(iv) Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB)
(v) Department of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) 
(vi) Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO)
As most of these agencies carry out interrogation in their office(s), CCTVs shall be compulsorily installed in all offices where such interrogation and holding of accused takes place in the same manner as it would in a police station.
The COB shall perform the same function as the SLOC for the offices of investigative/enforcement agencies mentioned above both in Delhi and outside Delhi wherever they be located.

The SLOC and the COB (where applicable) shall give directions to all Police Stations, investigative/enforcement agencies to prominently display at the entrance and inside the police stations/offices of investigative/enforcement agencies about the coverage of the concerned premises by CCTV. This shall be done by large posters in English, Hindi and vernacular language. In addition to the above, it shall be clearly mentioned therein that a person has a right to complain about human rights violations to the National/State Human Rights Commission, Human Rights Court or the Superintendent of Police or any other authority empowered to take cognizance of an offence. It shall further mention that CCTV footage is preserved for a certain minimum time period, which shall not be less than six months, and the victim has a right to have the same secured in the event of violation of his human rights.

Since these directions are in furtherance of the fundamental rights of each citizen of India guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution of India, and since nothing substantial has been done in this regard for a period of over 21/2 years since our first Order dated 03.04.2018, the Executive/Administrative/police authorities are to implement this Order both in letter and in spirit as soon as possible. Affidavits will be filed by the Principal Secretary/Cabinet Secretary/Home Secretary of each State/ Union Territory giving this Court a firm action plan with exact timelines for compliance with today’s Order. This is to be done within a period of six weeks from today.

IMPORTANT DSC UPDATE
1. w.e.f 01.01.2021, Issuance of New DSC of Class 2 will be discontinued by all Certifying Authorities.
2. Existing / Already Issued / Downloaded till 31.12.2020 DSC will be valid till expiry. 
3. Remaining Stock of Class 2 DSC will be converted to Class 3 as per company policy and pricing. [ Conversion Policy is not declared by any Company till now ] 
4. Government User DSC will require video verification w.e.f 01.01.2021
5. w.e.f 01.01.2021 Issuance process will be Paperless ( No Paper based DSC ) for all Class 3 Types. 
6. All DSC downloading limit would within 30 days of approval.
For more details and guidelines, go through below CCA Guidelines :- 



02/12/2020
Issuance of Class 2 DSC will get Discontinued from 01/01/2021
After 01/01/2021 Class 2 DSC cannot be purchased or renewed. 
Class 3 DSC will be valid for all (Government departments GST, Income tax, PF, ROC, tenders etc)
*BUT* Existing Class 2 DSC will be valid for usage.Even if  your Class  DSC  2 is getting expired after 01/01/2021 It is recommended  to buy new Class 2 DSC before 01/01/2021.

Relaxation wrt Form CRA-4
Relaxation of additional fees and extension of last date of filing of CRA-4 (form for filing of cost audit report) for FY 2019-20 under the Companies Act, 2013.

SIDBI launches a portal to help MSMEs
SIDBI said it has launched a web portal to help micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) take benefit of the Reserve Bank of India’s one-time debt restructuring.

01/12/2020
RTGS fund transfer service to be available 24X7 from Dec. 2020
RBI of India has said that Real Time Gross Settlement System (RTGS), used for large value transactions, will be made available round-the-clock from Dec.2020

CBIC waives penalty on QR code on e-invoices till March 31, 2021
CBIC has waived penalty on non- implementation of dynamic quick response code which is mandatory for companies, till March 31, 2021

Over 5.4 lakh businesses risk losing GST registration for defaults
All such taxpayers who have not yet filed their returns shall be sent text messages and emails, the official said on condition of anonymity

30/11/2020
CGST Act Section 142(1) obliges Show Cause Notice under GST to be uploaded on website: Case Name : Ram Prasad Sharma Vs. Chief Commissioner and another (Madhya Pradesh High Court)
Communicating by Email is not a prescribed manner of serving SCNs: Akash Garg Vs State of MP-WP No. 16117/2020- High Court of Madhya Pradesh

Global tech giants will be subject to a new regime under the UK's Digital Markets Unit to give people more choice and control over their data and to ensure news outlets are not forced out by their bigger rivals, the government announced.

29/11/2020
Rbi reports discontinued....
Read More 

New Fcra compliances...
Read More 

28/11/2020
Gst Update 28-11-2020

Reset of GSTR 1 option to be provided soon by GSTN

A facility has now been provided to the taxpayers on the GST Portal, from 28th November, 2020 onwards, to file an application online for unblocking of their EWB generation facility (in Form EWB-05), in case their EWB generation facility has been blocked on the EWB Portal.
So far, the taxpayers were applying to tax officials vide manual application, for unblocking of their EWB generation facility and tax officials were issuing orders online on GST Portal, in Form GST EWB 06. Now this facility is being discontinued.
To file an online application for unblocking EWB generation facility on GST Portal, a taxpayer need to:
The application so filed is populated to dashboard of jurisdictional tax official. 
The tax official can issue a Notice for personal hearing to the taxpayer. 
Then the taxpayer can file their reply to the notice online, along with supporting documents.
At conclusion of the proceedings, the Tax Officer can issue an order (in Form EWB-06) approving the taxpayer application for unblocking the EWB generation facility. 
After which their EWB generation facility will be restored for the duration specified in the order.
If the Tax Officer rejects the taxpayer’s application vide order in Form EWB-06, the EWB generation facility will remain blocked and the taxpayer shall be required to file their pending returns (in Form GSTR-3B / Statement in FORM CMP-08, so as to reduce the pendency to less than two tax periods), for restoration of the EWB generation facility.
Notice(s)/ Order issued by Tax Officer will be sent via SMS and mail to taxpayer and will be made available on the taxpayer dashboard (Services > User Services > View Additional Notices/Orders option).

26/11/2020

Gst E invoicing
The government introduced e-invoicing this October for business-to-business (B2B) transactions of companies having a turnover of at least Rs 500 crore a year. The Centre will extend it to companies with at least a Rs 100-crore turnover in January and for all companies in April next year for B2B transactions.
For business-to-consumer (B2C) transactions, e-invoicing will be made mandatory for companies with an annual turnover of at least Rs 500 crore, effective this December.
Under B2B e-invoicing, specified firms have to raise e-invoices through a unique invoice reference portal and generate the IRN (invoice reference number). If they don’t, they will not be able to move goods for B2B transactions. For B2C transactions, companies have to fix the QR code, which is to be generated by them.

Entities seeking GST registration would be profiled on the basis of their credentials and classified into trustworthy and others.
Trustworthy entrepreneurs are those who have a credible income tax payment history and have their identity authenticated by Aadhaar and have no history of having their GST registration cancelled.
These entrepreneurs will get GST registration within a week. 
The others will be given the registration within two months of physical verification of business premises, said the ministry official cited above.
Those that are not trustworthy may also be asked to pay a part of their tax liability in cash instead of adjusting it fully against the tax credit available to them.
The proposals put together by the law panel at a meeting held last week will be further discussed before they are placed before the council, the official said, requesting anonymity.

The move signals a major tightening of the three-year-old indirect tax system leveraging GST’s ability to track the entire supply chain using the system of input tax credits. Discrepancies will get flagged, as the system for filing GST returns becomes more automated with the use of e-invoices and auto-filled tax returns.
GST authorities have been on a nationwide compliance enforcement drive this month, which led to the busting of an invoice racket and the arrest of 48 people and three chartered accountants. As many as 648 cases have been registered so far this month.

25/11/2020
The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has made it mandatory to prefix 0 before a number for making landline to mobile calls, effective from January 1, 2021. The move comes after the sector regulator, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) recommended the move to create enough numbering space for telcos.

The Law Committee of the GST Council has suggested a two-pronged strategy to tackle the issue of fake invoices, sources said. According to people in the know, the panel has recommended that new or fresh registrations in GST may adopt an Aadhaar-like registration process under which new registration can be done online with live photo and use of biometrics with due verification of documents.

E-Invoicing
The Centre will extend it to companies with at least a Rs 100-crore turnover in January and for all companies in April next year for B2B transactions. 

24/11/2020
GST registration to get tougher with live photo, biometrics. GST registration could become tedious if the GST Council accepts its Law Committee's recent recommendations to plug GST leakages via input tax credit (ITC) using fake invoices.

Retail investors can apply for new bond issues from Jan 1 through UPI - SEBI. The regulator has allowed the UPI mechanism to block funds for application value up to Rs 2 lakhs submitted through intermediaries

E-invoicing under GST mandatory for Turnover over Rs 100 Crore from January 1, 2021

SEBI confirmed the ban on Karvy Stock Broking Ltd (KSBL) from taking new clients and directed stock exchanges as well as depositories to take appropriate action against the entity and its directors

23/11/2020
Forty one people have been arrested in the last eight days in a fake invoice cartel busted by the Directorate General of GST Intelligence (DGGI). They are accused of having a role in arranging for fake invoices of fictitious firms and in wrongfully availing tax credits.
In the nationwide crackdown on people abusing the GST system using fake invoices, DGGI has booked 577 cases against 2,221 entities in the last eight days, said the official.
On Friday, GST authorities held searches and surveys in 20 cities including Chennai, Ahmedabad, Pune, Nagpur, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Delhi, Bengaluru, Mumbai and Kolkata.
Fake invoices are used to evade Goods and Services Tax (GST) and income tax and to divert funds from companies. These are also used for showing non-existent transactions to jack up figures on books to obtain loans from banks. These are also used to wrongfully claim GST refunds meant for exporters.
Direct and indirect authorities have been scaling up use of technology and data analysis to identify businesses with poor compliance track record. With the sharp reduction in tax revenues this year, the trend is expected to gain further momentum. On Friday, the Income Tax Department searched 16 premises of a cattle feed producer including in Kanpur, Gorakhpur, Noida, Delhi and Ludhiana, the department said in a statement.


22/11/2020
The government is considering opening up the banking sector for private players by relaxing some of the rules for the participation of corporate and foreign banks in the banks that the government is looking to privatize. 
Reports have suggested that RBI is planning to allow some big industrial behemoths such as the Tatas, Birlas, and their other counterparts to set up full-scale banks like HDFC and ICICI Bank.
Policymakers Considering Opening Up Banking Sector For Private Players 
As of now, the industrial houses that have less than 60% of their turnover from non-financial entities are not allowed to apply for bank licenses and their equity participation is also allowed for 10% only.
As per reports, the policymakers are considering modifying the existing policy. 
Policymakers are now discussing allowing foreign banks that have Indian subsidiaries to participate in the sale of the government's stake in Central Bank of India, Bank of India, Punjab and Sind Bank, IOB and UCO Bank.
RBI To Allow Tatas, Birlas, Ambanis, Mahindras To Set Up Their Own Banks 
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) also has plans to permit large corporations to launch full scale banks similar to private-sector lenders HDFC and ICICI Bank. Recently, the RBI had announced that corporate sector could set up payments banks for the first time. 
This attracted some behemoths like the Tatas, Birlas, Ambanis, Mahindras, and a few others to obtain a differentiated banking license. Reliance Industries, Aditya Birla Nuvo, Tech Mahindra, Tata Sons, Sun Pharma were also some of the companies who applied for a similar license.

21/11/2020
CENTRAL GOVERNMENT'S BOON FOR SENIOR CITIZENS - MEDICAL CONSULTING TOTALLY FREE. Please visit for more details

GST: Micro-enterprises will soon begin to feel the heat of the government’s tax enforcement drive, with key compliance measures now covering larger businesses becoming applicable to them over the next few months. From December, firms with sales below rs5 crore - defined as micro firms - will not be able to generate an electronic permit (e-way bill) for goods transportation if they have defaulted on filing return forms for two consecutive tax periods.

20/11/2020
Husband income to be disclosed to wife : 
The Central Information Commission (CIC) on Wednesday said that the wife has the right to know her husband’s salary and can seek information about the same through Right to Information (RTI). The major decision from the CIC came after it heard an appeal filed by Rahmat Bano of Jodhpur after the IT department held that the information sought by her on her husband’s income belonged to a third party. Apart from this time, the CIC earlier while hearing other cases also had said that the wives of government servants have a “right” to know salary particulars of their husbands and these details should also be made public through RTI Act. While hearing the matter, the CIC turned down the denial of information to the complainant seeking information about her husband’s gross and taxable income, and directed the income tax department of Jodhpur to provide the said information in 15 days from the date of the order.
The CIC further rejected the argument that such information pertaining to a third party and said it does not come under the definition of information under RTI. The Commission while relying on the Bombay High Court decision in the case of Rajesh Ramachandra Kidile vs. Maharashtra SIC and Ors noted that in a litigation, where the issue involved is of maintenance of wife, the information relating to the salary details no longer remain confined to the category of personal information concerning both husband and wife, which is available with the husband hence accessible by the wife.

19/11/2020
Telangana HC in the case of Agarwal Foundries Private Ltd.  in first of a kind case observed that officials belonging to GST Intelligence Department cannot resort to physical violence while conducting interrogation of Petitioners and their employees while making several other important remarks. 

GST: Contact Grievance Redressal Officer if vehicle detained beyond 30 minutes.

18/11/2020
MCA extends due date of defaulting LLP to file belated documents under LLP Settlement Scheme, 2020. The MCA has notified the extension for defaulting LLP to file belated documents under LLP Settlement Scheme, 2020 till Nov. 30, 2020.

SEBI is considering a reform of its initial public offer (IPO) regulations, three  sources told Moneycontrol.The capital markets regulator may cut down the requirement of 10 percent equity dilution for IPOs that have more than Rs 4,000 crores of post-issue equity capital.

MSME/Udyam Registration launched by Union MSME Ministry, w.e.f. 1st July, 2020, has stood the test of Time & Technology as  more than 11 lakh MSMEs have successfully registered themselves by now.. This portal is seamlessly integrated with CBDT and GST networks  as also with the GeM. It may  be noted that through this integration, now MSME registration is a totally paperless exercise.

17/11/2020
GST newly introduced 2B
A major difference in 2A and 2B in regard of invoicing appearing in B2B sheet.
*In 2A of July* - 
Only Invoices pertaining to the July month will appear in 2A whenever the supplier will furnish it through the GSTR 1. 
For example such invoice may be furnished through GSTR 1 of July in any month say If the Supplier furnishes such invoice in GSTR1 July - filed in the month of November - such invoice will still appear in July. 
*In GSTR 2B of July*- 
Invoices of any month furnished through any month of GSTR 1 but filed during period 12.07.20 to 11.08.20 then such invoices will appear in GSTR 2B of July. 
If the Supplier file GSTR 1 of March or the other Supplier file GSTR 1 of July during the above stated period then invoices furnished through these GSTR 1 will be appeared in GSTR 2B of July of their respective recipients.
Basically, 2B will display the invoices filed thru Gstr 1 till 11.08.2020
Gst 2B will reflect invoices for July month (as per the above example) which will assist the recipient to know applicability of 10% itc rule 36(4). One can know exactly which invoices appear and which itc to be claimed on 100% basis 
And rest invoices by applying 10% rule. Under Rule 36(4), 11th was the cut off date to take itc 

16/11/2020
The Goods and Services Tax department (GST) blocking the Import Export Code (IEC)- a 10 digit identification number similar to a license for exporting- is illegal and invalid a Bombay High Court ruled.

15/11/2020
Govt may invoke COFEPOSA against offenders in fake invoices for GST credit. Govt. is examining if the offenders can be booked under COFEPOSA- Conservation of Foreign Exchange and Prevention of Smuggling Activities Act

The government is working to tighten the procedure for new GST registration after it has detected GST fraud of over Rs 5,000 crores in the last one week in a major anti-tax evasion drive. The idea is to ensure only genuine businesses get a GST registration.
“Businesses whose owners or promoters do not have commensurate income tax payment records will require physical and financial verification before their companies can be given GST registration,” a top official from the Directorate General of GST Intelligence (DGGI) told this publication. The move comes after the government initiated a drive against fake GST invoice racket on November 9.
Surging instances of non-compliance has prompted the government to tighten the process for new GST registration. “In just the last four days, 25 persons have been arrested including two kingpins and two professionals in some 350 cases booked for issuance of fake invoices against 1,180 entities. Actual amount of fake ITC involved is being ascertained,” the official added.

14/11/2020
Canada to invite more immigrants, offer PR status to 4 lakh every year. Canadian government plans to invite 4 lakh new permanent residents to the country each year till 2023. Under its 2021-2030 Immigration Levels Plan

The Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs ( CBIC ) has clarified that, E-Way Bill generation facility to be blocked for all taxpayers irrespective of their Aggregate Annual Turnover who failed to file GSTR-3B for 2 or more Tax period from December 1st, 2020. In terms of Rule 138E (a) and (b) of the CGST Rules, 2017, the E-Way Bill (EWB) generation facility of a taxpayer is liable to be restricted, in case the taxpayer fails to file their FORM GSTR-3B returns / Statement in FORM GST CMP-08, for tax periods of two or more. From 1st December, 2020, onwards, the blocking of EWB generation facility would be made applicable to all the taxpayers (irrespective of their Aggregate Annual Turnover (AATO)) In terms of Rule 138 E (a) and (b) of the CGST Rules, 2017, on the EWB Portal.

13/11/2020
Gst turnover details reflecting in 26AS : 
In view of the amendment to form 26AS of Income Tax , form 26AS is now showing Details of monthly Turnover as per GSTR-3B along with ARN Number and Date of Filing is reflecting.
The taxpayer should verify it before filing of ITR. in case of multiple GSTIN then all such details also would be reflected in 26AS of the taxpayer.
So all data has started synchronizing with PAN Number and Aadhaar Number.
The taxpayer needs to do one more reconciliation to be done at the time of filing of ITR.  And if ITR is already been filed, taxpayer needs to reconcile it with ITR.

Now GST Data is visible in Income Tax 26AS
Reconcile the following
3B with 2A 
3B with 2B
2A with 2B
3B with 1
3B with 1 with 9 with Books of A/c
All above with 26AS
All above with ROC & XBRL
All above with TDS/TCS of IT/GST

12/11/2020
Atmanirbhar 3.0 package announced by FM
Income Tax Relief under section 43 CA , section 50 C as well as 56 (2) (x) for home buyer and builders . Now sale price can be below up to 20% of circle rate for residential property up to 2 crore.

Government announced production-linked  incentives (PLIs) of a little under Rs 1.5  lakh crore to support domestic manufacturing in 10 sectors.

11/11/2020
GSTN has earlier introduced Form GSTR-2B, a static statement with details of ITC available for a tax period, for the benefit of taxpayers. GSTR-2B is an auto-drafted Input Tax Credit (ITC) statement generated for every recipient, on the basis of the information furnished by their suppliers, in their respective Form GSTR-1 & 5 and Form GSTR-6 filed by ISD.

Telangana High Court condemns use of violence and torture against suspected tax evaders during interrogation proceedings for alleged tax evasion under the Central Goods and Services Act, 2017 (‘CGST Act’).

MCA notified the Company Secretaries (Procedure of Investigations of Professional and Other Misconduct and Conduct of Cases) Amendment Rules, 2020. The notification seeks to amend Company Secretaries (Procedure of Investigations of Professional and Other Misconduct and Conduct of Cases) Rules, 2007.

10/11/2020
Gist of Gst Notifications issued on 10.11.2020

Notification No 82,83,84,85 and 86/2020: 
*Below updates are effective from 01.01.2021:*
*GSTR-1 related:*
- Quarterly return filers can file their *first and second month B2B invoices* in Invoice Furnishing Facility (IFF) on or before 13th of 1st month in next qtr
- Total value for such B2B invoices is capped to 50 lakhs per month
- No need to report invoices again in GSTR-1 if already reported in IFF
- Due date of GSTR-1 for quarterly filers is 13th of 1st month in next qtr
- *HSN/SAC codes shall be mentioned mandatorily in GSTR-1* ( <5Cr- 4 digit, >5Cr- 6 digit)

*GSTR-2 related:*
- The invoices reported in IFF shall be made available to recipient in their GSTR-2A/2B
- Notified FORM GSTR-2B

*GSTR-3B related:*
- Rule 61(6) was inserted to provide due date for filing GSTR-3B for the months of Oct 2020 to Mar 2021 as 20th of next month if TO > 5 Crores
- Quarterly return filers shall deposit tax in electronic cash ledger on or before 25th of next month for first and second months 

*87/2020:* 
- Due date for filing ITC-04 (Job worker return) for the period July 2020 to September 2020 is extended to 30th November 2020

*88/2020:*
*E-invoicing* is mandatory from 01.01.2021 for every taxpayer (other than SEZ unit) whose aggregate TO in any of the FY from 17-18 exceeds *100 Crores*

09/11/2020
Income tax Decisions 

AGRICULTURE INCOME
1. The ITAT, Pune Bench in the case of Asstt. CIT v. KF Bio Plants (P.) Ltd. ITA No. 1110/PN/2011 [(Pune-'A' Trib)] held that the nature of agricultural income would not change merely because agricultural operation was carried out in a greenhouse under a controlled environment
2. The ITAT Ahmedabad Bench 'A' decision in the case of Dy. CIT v. Best Roses Biotech (P.) Ltd. (2012) 49 SOT 277 (Ahd-A'-Trib) : (2012) 144 TTJ (Ahd 'A'-Trib) 645 has analyzed the advanced mechanism of growing rose plants in a controlled environment and held as under :
"7.2 Considering the advancement of technology and the use of the advanced equipment in cultivation coupled with the conventional cultivation method put together, it has to be held that the operation carried out by the assessee was agricultural operation in nature. Therefore, the income in question was an agricultural income.*It cannot be included in total income being within the ambits of the provisions of section 10(1)."
3. In the case of Dy. CIT v. Inventaa Industries Private Limited [ITA Nos. 1015 to 1018/Hyd/15 (Hyd-Trib)(SB)], mushrooms were grown by the assessee in 'growing rooms' under 'controlled conditions' in racks placed on shelves above land and on Compost (manure) which was prepared with paddy straw, Horse manure, Chicken manure, Gypsum and Urea. The ITAT Special Bench held that "soil", even when separated from land and placed in trays, pots, containers, terraces, compound walls, etc., continues to be a specie of land and hence "land" for the sole purpose of determining whether activity performed on such land is for production of an agricultural product. The Bench finally held that as basic operations were performed by expenditure of human skill and labour on land by the assessee, which resulted in the raising of the 'product' called "Edible white button mushroom" on the land and as this product has utility for consumption, trade and commerce, the income arising from the sale of this product was agricultural income and hence exempt under section 10(1) of the Income Tax Act.

Income Tac Sec. 68 Bogus Cash Credits: The Revenue can examine the source of the source. Merely pointing out to a source and the source admitting that it has made the payments is not sufficient to discharge the burden placed on the assessees by s. 68. CIT vs. Sadiq Sheikh (Bombay High Court) (Goa Bench)

Whether a bank can institute or continue with proceedings against a guarantor under SARFESI Act when proceedings are the principal borrowers are pending under the Insolvency Code. The above question of law was argued by the State Bank by relying on the decision of the Apex court in the case of State Bank of India Vs V Ramakrishnan and another (2018) 17 SCC 394(SC) that Section 14 and 31 of the Insolvency Code do not bar initiation and continuation of proceedings against the Guarantor under the SARFESI Act. Kiran Gupta Vs State Bank of India. 

Assessee is not liable to deduct TDS on payment made to transporters, if duly complied with provisions of section 194C by collecting requisite 15-I Form as held by 
High Court of gujarat in the case of Principal Commissioner of Income Tax v. Dilipkumar Bapusaheb Patole

New Information on GSTN Portal Dashboard of RTP in respect of Determination of Aggregate Turnover as on 09th November 2020

08/11/2020
Mca new requirement of placing annual return on the Weblink of the company......
Read More 

Gst List of Exempted goods.....
Read More 

Four years before on 08th November at 8 pm.....
Read More 

07/11/2020
The government plans to roll e-invoice for entities with turnover of 100 crore and above from January 1, 2021, and to all firms from the April 1, 2021, for business-to-business (B2B) transactions. 

E-invoicing was proposed to come into effect from 01.04.2020. The same was postponed and now has come into effect 01.10.2020 for taxpayers having turnover more than Rs.500 Crores. Notification No.61/2020-CT 30.07.2020.

E-Invoice portal enabled for taxpayer having aggregate turnover of more than 500 Crore from FY 2017-18 onward. 

Status of GSTIN enablement: A taxpayer can check if their GSTIN is enabled for E-Invoicing or not.

E-Invoicing relaxation is given for one month from 01.10.2020 to 31.10.2020. Refer Notification No. 73/2020-CT dated 01.10.2020. 

FAQs – Frequently Asked Questions on E-Invoice:
NIC has issued FAQs on E-Invoicing - IRN and QR code. 

Master Codes like State Codes, HSN Codes, Country Codes, Port Codes, Currency Codes, UQC Codes is available in IRP

GST Suvidha Provider: For list of GST Suvidha Provider

'Verify e-invoice' Mobile App is also released for verification of authenticity of e-invoice (QR code/IRN)

To download the App

GSTINs can be updated with latest information from the  GST Common Portal [Search -> Tax Payer / GSTIN].

Common errors in e-invoicing and its solution.

More than 495 Lakh e-invoices have been generated by 27,400 tax payers within the first month of introduction of E-Invoicing. Press Release dated 02.11.2020.

06/11/2020
TCS new code on sale of goods  : 6CR for section 206C(1H)

05/11/2020
WhatsApp has finally rolled out its UPI payment services for iPhone and WhatsApp for Android users in India. Starting today, users in India will be able to send and receive money through WhatsApp. 
Notably, this feature has been launched after WhatsApp received approval from the National Payments Commission of India to operate its payments service using the Unified Payments Interface (UPI). The feature was initially launched in India in 2018 but it got stuck in Beta mode.
However, at present, WhatsApp Pay is being rolled out for 20 million WhatsApp users in India, and will slowly expand its user base in a graded manner. India has a huge user base of over 400 million users in India.
The platform is currently working with ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, Axis Bank, the State Bank of India, and Jio Payments Bank and also supported by more than 140 banks.

Amazon Web Services (AWS) will invest Rs 20,761 crore to set up multiple data centres in Hyderabad, the Telangana government announced on Friday. 
Telangana's Minister for Information Technology and Industry K.T. Rama Rao said this would be the largest foreign direct investment in the history of Telangana. 
AWS will set up Asia Pacific (Hyderabad) Region with three Availability Zones (AZs). It is expected to start operations by mid of 2022. 
The AZs consist of multiple data centres in separate distinct locations within a single region that are engineered to be operationally independent of one another with independent power, cooling, physical security, and connections via a low-latency network.

04/11/2020
It seems PM Narendra Modi's demonetisation move has gone viral globally and now, it is being implemented by other countries as well to tighten the noose around the flow of black money.
In a major development, Singapore on Tuesday announced that it will discontinue the circulation of 1,000 Singapore dollar (SGD) notes from the beginning of next year to counter money laundering and terror financing risks associated with large denomination currency.
The move is aligned with international norms and major jurisdictions have already stopped issuing such large denomination notes, said the MAS, the country's de-facto central bank.
The SGD 1,000 note is currently valued at INR 54,501.
A limited quantity of SGD 1,000 notes will be made available each month from now until December 2020, said the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS). Existing SGD 1,000 notes in circulation will remain legal tender and can continue to be used as a means of payment, it added.
The MAS will make available sufficient quantities of other denominations, in particular the SGD 100 note which is the next highest denomination after the SGD 1,000 note, to meet demand.
The MAS is also encouraging everyone to go cashless and use electronic payment systems.

Wef 1.11.20, assessees with turnover above 500 cr must generate IRN before despatch of goods as 30 days relief for e-invoice generation was only upto 31.10.20.
Ensure that you receive e-invoice from vendors with turnover above 500 cr. No ITC for Invoice without IRN in QR code as it is not treated invoice. Rule 48(5).

Interest payable on late payment of GST on NET Liability (after ITC in Tax Ledger) wef 1.7.17 inspite of Notification 63/2020. CBIC Press Release of 26.8.20.

Income tax department carried out search and seizure action on a large network of individuals running a Rs 500-crore racket of entry operation and generation of huge cash through fake billing. 

CGST officials bust racket for generating fraudulent ITC through fake billing of around Rs 1,278 Cr. Searches were conducted over more than nine places spread over different locations in the state of Delhi and Haryana to identify the taxpayers, who were defrauding the Govt of its legitimate taxes

03/11/2020
Govt has decided to extend the income tax exemption available under leave travel concession (LTC) cash voucher scheme to non-central government employees also to boost consumer spending

Bombay High Court in the case of CIT vs. Sadiq Sheikh U/S 68 of Income Tax Act decided about  Bogus Cash Credits: The Revenue can examine the source of the source. Merely pointing out to a source and the source admitting that it has made the payments is not sufficient to discharge the burden placed on the assessees by section 68. 

RBI said it will restore trading hours in the bond and currency markets in a graded manner, effective November 9. The trading hour restrictions were put in place on April 7, in view of the national lockdown owing to the Covid crisis. 

RBI allowed banks time till 15 December to comply with its guidelines on opening of current accounts. The earlier deadline was 5 November. RBI said it will soon release a set of frequently asked questions (FAQs) and its responses on the issue. In August, RBI had said borrowers with more than Rs.50 crore exposure to the banking system need to have an escrow mechanism and only banks managing such escrow can open current accounts.

02/11/2020
FSSAI extends timeline for modification of licence by existing FSSAI licenced manufacturer without modification fee. The period for modification of licence by existing FSSAI licensed manufacturers without any modification fee extended till June 30, 2021.

Delhi High Court today held that Banks/Financial Institutions can initiate and continue the proceedings against the guarantor for recovering their dues under Securitisation and Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement of Security Interest Act, 2002.

Supreme Court today issued notice in a plea seeking a probe into Westland Trade Private Limited, in what has been alleged to be "India's biggest franchisee scam".

01/11/2020
The anti evasion branch of Central Goods and Service Tax (CGST), Commissionerate, Delhi (East) busted a major racket of claiming input tax credit (ITC) through fake e-way billing of Rs 1,278 crore, without actual movement of goods.
Seven different fake firms were floated with the intent of passing of inadmissible credit to the tune of Rs 137 crore, the finance ministry said in a statement Thursday. Searches were conducted at over nine places in Delhi and Haryana to identify the fraudulent taxpayers.
Ashish Aggarwal has been arrested under Section 132 of the CGST Act on October 29, and has been remanded to transit judicial custody. The primary beneficiary firm of this bogus billing network was M/s Maya Impex, which has been registered in the name of Aggarwal’s 66 years old mother through which fake ITC of Rs 77 crore has been passed on primarily to the milk products industry.

Ten important points for Income tax TCS collection:
1. Timing of collecting TCS
The tax should be collected at the time of receipt of amount from the buyer if the sale consideration received in a previous year exceeds Rs 50 lakh. There is no requirement to collect TCS on any sale consideration received before October 1, 2020. 
2. How to compute the threshold limit of Rs 50 lakh
The threshold of Rs 50 lakh shall apply to the entire financial year starting from April 1, 2020. If up to September 30, 2020 the seller has already received Rs 50 lakh or more from the buyer, tax under this provision shall be collected on all sum received on or after October 1, 2020.
3. Whether TCS to be collected on sale of service
TCS shall be collected on the consideration for "sale of any goods". The term 'goods' is not defined in the Income-tax Act. The term 'goods' is of wide import. Anything which comes to the market can be treated as goods. Therefore, the sale of services are not subject to collection of TCS.
4. Whether TCS has to be collected on Sale of Immovable Property
TCS is required to be collected on sale of goods. As per Section 2(7) of the Sales of Goods Act, 1930, 'goods' means every kind of movable property. Thus, the immovable property shall not be treated as 'goods'. Consequently, the TCS shall not be collected from the sale of immovable property.
5. Whether TCS has to be collected on GST amount
TCS is required to be collected on the sale consideration inclusive of GST. The CBDT has clarified that since the collection is made with reference to receipt of the amount of sale consideration, no adjustment on account of indirect taxes including GST is required to be made for the collection of tax under this provision.
6. Rate of collecting TCS
The tax shall be collected by the seller of goods at the rate of 0.1 per cent of the sale consideration exceeding Rs 50 lakh if the buyer has furnished his PAN or Aadhaar. If buyer does not submit PAN or Aadhaar, then, the tax shall be collected at the rate of 1 per cent.
The rate of TCS has been reduced to 0.075 per cent till March 31, 2021 due to the economic situation arising out of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, if the buyer does not submit the PAN or Aadhaar, the tax shall be collected at the rate of 1 per cent.
7. Requirement to collect TCS on advance received from the buyer
TCS is required to be collected under this provision from the advance received for sale. If the trigger event (i.e., receipt of sale consideration) has occurred before October 1, 2020, no liability to collect tax will arise. 
On the contrary, where the sale has been made before October 1, 2020 but the sale consideration is received after the said date, the same shall be subject to TCS. Consequently, it would apply on all sale consideration, including advance, received on or after October 1, 2020 even if the sale was carried out before October 1, 2020.
8. No requirement to collect TCS on branch transfers
The TCS under this section is required to be collected by any person, being a seller receiving consideration for the sale of goods. Thus, the existence of two distinct parties as 'seller' and 'buyer' is a pre-requisite to construe a transaction as a sale. The condition of sale is not fulfilled in the context of branch transfer. Therefore, the provisions of this section shall not apply in the case of branch transfers.
9. Due date to deposit TCS
Tax collected during the month shall be deposited on or before the seventh day of the next month in which tax has been collected. For example, the TCS collected in the month of October shall be deposited by November 7, 2020.
10. Consequences for failure to collect or pay TCS
If a collector fails to collect or after collection fails to pay it to the credit of the Central Government, he shall be liable to pay interest at the rate of 1 per cent for every month or part thereof on the amount of tax he failed to collect or pay. The interest shall be calculated for the period starting from the date on which tax was required to be collected and ending on the date on which tax is deposited. The interest is required to be paid before furnishing of TCS return.

31/10/2020
8 Goods on which Gst Rcm is applicable 
1. Cashew nuts, not shelled or peeled
(RCM applicable from 01.07.2017)
2Bidi wrapper leaves (tendu)
(RCM applicable from 01.07.2017)
3Tobacco Leaves
(RCM applicable from 01.07.2017)
4Raw cotton
(RCM applicable from 15.11.2017 vide N.N. 36/2017-CT(R) dated 14.11.2017)
5Silk yarn
(RCM applicable from 01.07.2017)
6Supply of lottery
(RCM applicable from 01.07.2017)
7Used vehicles , seized and confiscated goods, old and used goods , waste and scrap.
(RCM applicable from 13.10.2017 vide N.N. 36/2017-CT(R) dated 13.10.2017)
8Priority Sector Lending Certificate
(RCM applicable from 28.05.2018 vide N.N. 11/2018-CT(R) dated 28.05.2018)

30/10/2020
Come January 1, your cheque of a larger amount of Rs 50,000 and above will bounce unless you intimate your bank in advance on drawing up such a cheque. The new system introduces a double check on the cheque transactions.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) last week announced a new "Positive Pay" system for cheque truncation system (CTS) to prevent fraudsters emptying your bank account with fake cheques or tampering of your cheque leaves. The scheme involves a process of reconfirming key details of large value cheques.
If you are issuing a larger amount cheque, you are required to inform your bank about it electronically through channels like SMS, mobile app, Internet banking, ATM, etc., providing certain minimum details of that cheque like date, name of the beneficiary, payee and amounts.
These details will be cross-checked when the cheque is presented for payment in the CTS. Any discrepancy will be immediately flagged by CTS to the drawee bank and presenting bank, who would take redressal measures. The RBI advisory asks banks to make it mandatory in case of cheques for amounts of Rs 5 lakh and above.
Only those cheques that are compliant with the above instructions will be accepted under the dispute resolution mechanism at the CTS grids. Banks have been advised to implement similar arrangements for cheques cleared and collected outside CTS.
All scheduled commercial banks including regional rural banks, cooperative banks and small finance banks have been advised by the RBI to adopt the new scheme in the next three months to be ready for transition from January 1. They have been also told to create adequate awareness among their customers on features of the positive pay system through SMS, display in branches, ATMs as well as through their website and internet banking.
The RBI circular issued on September 25 says the National Payment Corporation of India (NPCI) shall develop the facility of the positive pay in CTS and make it available to all participant banks. The banks, in turn, shall enable it for all account holders issuing cheques of Rs 50,000 and above.
In its earlier circular on August 6, the RBI had announced the positive pay mechanism for cheques, saying the operational guidelines will be issued separately. The latest circular provides the necessary guidelines that will ensure safety in the cheque payments and reduce instances of fraud occurring on account of tampering of the cheque leave. This measure will cover 20% of cheques issued in the country by volume and 80% by value.
The CTS for clearing the cheques is already operational pan-India but it covers only 2% and 15% of total retail payments in terms of volume and value respectively. The average value of a cheque cleared in the system is presently is Rs 82,000.
The new system seeks to improve upon the The CTS-2010 standard specifying minimum-security features on cheque leaves that acts as a deterrent against cheque frauds, while standardisation of field placements on cheque forms enables straight-through-processing by use of optical / image character recognition technology.

29/10/2020
Income Tax: No 25% relief in TDS/TCS Rates for 194N (Self withdrawal above 20 lacs/1cr from banks etc), 194B/194BB  & 206C(1G)(Foreign remittance/foreign tour). 

Income Tax department has issued refunds worth over Rs 1.26 lakh crore to over 39 lakh taxpayers this fiscal so far. This include personal income tax (PIT) refunds amounting to Rs 34,532 crore and corporate tax refunds amounting to Rs 92,376 crore during this period.

Central government has brought in a new law via ordinance to tackle the problem of pollution in Delhi-NCR. After receiving the approval from President Ram Nath Kovind, the ordinance will come into force with immediate effect. Those flouting the laid out norms to contain pollution problem in the region will now have to pay up to Rs 1 crore fine or up to five years jail or both.

Supreme Court agreed to transfer to itself a batch of petitions challenging Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) provisions relating to insolvency of personal guarantors (Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India v. Lalit Kumar Jain & Ors).the Court said that no further writ petitions on the issue are to be entertained by any High Court.

Government released the consolidated foreign direct investment (FDI) policy document for 2020, after a three year gap, incorporating all the changes made in the policy recently. The consolidated policy is a compilation of various decisions taken by the government with regard to FDI in different sectors. The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) said the new circular has come into effect from October 15.

28/10/2020
Earlier, the Income Tax Return (ITR) Verification Form or ITR-V was treated as a proof of filing of return of income as it used to contain data of income, deductions, tax payable, taxes paid etc of an assessee.
However, the figures of income, deductions and taxes have been removed from the ITR Verification Form (ITR-V).
This is because ITR-V is not a valid proof of filing the return of income, as the process of e-filing an ITR gets completed only after the ITR Verification Form is verified.
To eliminate any chance of its use as a proof of filing of return of income, all the figures – viz. Income, deductions, tax payable, taxes paid, tax refund / payable, exempt income etc – have been removed from ITR-V.

Bank credit growth on a year-on-year basis inched up to 5.66 per cent in the fortnight ended October 9 from 5.14 per cent in the previous fortnight. The rise in commercial banks' credit growth is in sync with the elevated business activity at the end of the second quarter. Sequentially, credit showed some signs of a pick-up, according to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). 

Reserve Bank of India said payment system operators (PSOs) who use proprietary QR codes have to shift to one or more interoperable QR codes by March 31, 2022. It also said PSOs cannot issue any new proprietary QR codes for transactions, henceforth. There are two interoperable QR codes at present — UPI QR and Bharat QR.

27/10/2020
SEBI now clarified on SOPs for handling of investors grievances thru SCORES.
Freezing of demat accounts will be only of promoter(s) instead of promoter and promoter group.

SEBI has notified the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Alternative Investment Funds) (Amendment) Regulations, 2020 which shall come into force on the date of their publication in the Official Gazette i.e October 19, 2020.

26/10/2020
CBDT has extended the date of filing IT return for tax audit. It has been extended to 31st Jan, 2021 and thus date of Filing TAR will be 31st Dec, 2020.
ITR Filing date for entities subject to tax audit for AY 20-21 extended to 31st January, 2021.
ITR Filing Due date of International Transactions Taxpayers for AY 20-21 extended to 31st January, 2021.
ITR Filing Due Date for other tax payers extended to 31st December, 2020.
Tax Audit Filing date also extended to 31st December, 2020.
Self Assessment Tax payment upto 1 lac - Date extended upto 31/01/21 & 31/12/20 respectively.

Income Tax Deduction Introduce in FY 2019-20 which you can claim while filing ITR for FY 2019-20 
80 EEA :- Deduction for interest paid on home loan for affordable housing. 
80 EEB :- Deduction in respect of interest paid on loan taken for the purchase of electric vehicle. 

GST: Due Date for Filing GSTR9(Annual Return) - Extended to 31st Dec, 2020
Due date for Filing GSTR9C (Reconciliation Statement) - Extended to 31st Dec, 2020. 

25/10/2020
Facility to file GSTR 3B and GSTR-1 with the EVC in lieu of DSC extended to the registered person, who are also registered under the Companies Act, 2013, shall be withdrawn w.e.f. 1st Nov. 2020. However, facility to file NIL returns through OTP verification, shall be continued for all types of registered persons in view of notification 58/2020- dated 1st July 2020. 

Central Government borrowed Rs 6,000 crore and transferred to 16 states and two union territories as the first tranche of the GST compensation gap. The money was raised at an interest rate of 5.19 per cent.The union government intends to transfer the money to the tune of Rs 6,000 crore each to the states on a weekly basis through this window. The tenure is expected to be in the range of Rs 3-5 years.

MCA has extended the Relaxation in minimum residency requirements of 182 days in India by at least one director in every Company. MCA has clarified that relaxation of the residency norms of minimum stay of 182 days in India, by at least one director of every Company, for the financial year 2020-2021 and that non-compliance of residency norms of minimum stay of 182 days in India, by at least one director of every Company, shall not be treated as a violation of Section 149 of the Companies Act, 2013 for the financial year 2020-2021. 

SEBI has issued the clarification on the procedure for handling certain types of complaints by the Stock Exchanges as well as the standard operating procedure for actions to be taken against listed companies in case of failure to redress investor grievances. 

CBDT notifies tolerance/variation limit between arm’s length price u/s 92C and the actual price for international/specified domestic transactions for AY 2020-2021. The Ministry of Finance has issued a notification notifying the variation between the arm’s length price determined under Section 92C.

24/10/2020
In a notification dated October 22, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has asked all payment operators to switch to at least one interoperable QR code- UPI or Bharat QR- by March 31, 2022.
RBI Pushing For Interoperability! 
In 2019, RBI had set up a committee to study the use of QR codes to process contactless transactions, digital payment system scalability, innovation, awareness, privacy, security as well as interoperability. 
According to the RBI data released this year in July, the volume of digital payments using UPI QR was around 25 crore on a monthly basis with over 2 crores UPI QRs been used in the market.
RBI has banned the payment system operators from issuing new proprietary QR codes.
RBI has banned the payment system operators from issuing new proprietary QR codes.

Rather, the operators should work towards interoperability, suggested the national banking regulator.
This move by the RBI is mainly aimed at facilitating payments through any UPI-enabled apps to all QR code issuing firms. For instance, Google Pay users can pay via scanning the matrix barcode issued by any other payment operator like PhonePe, Paytm, BharatPe among others. 

How Will This Impact the Payment Operators? 
PhonePe launched the interoperable QR code in September 2019 while Paytm also launched this facility in January 2020. 
Paytm, PhonePe, and Google Pay have already stopped issuing proprietary QR codes and these new RBI interoperability norms won't impact them at all. 

E-Invoice is effective from 01.10.2020. In view of Notif. no.73/2020-CT dt. 01.10.2020 taxpayer is allowed to generate e-invoice for invoice raised from 01.10.2020 to till today, if not generated, within one month from the date of invoice. For example, invoice dated 03.10.2020 without obtaining IRN and QR code can be reported to IRP on or before 02.11.2020. 

23/10/2020
IT Dept goes data hunting for tax defaulters; many cos, individuals get notices. 
The Income Tax (IT) Department has taken up data analysis to identify tax defaulters with a renewed data sharing agreement between CBDT and CBIC.
The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), the authority for direct taxes, and the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC), the authority for indirect taxes, renewed their agreement which was first signed in 2015.
Tax notices are being sent to companies and individuals based on income and service tax returns. For example, from 2014-15 onwards, if an employee or company paid too much income tax but no service tax then authorities are questioning how a business earning substantial revenue didn’t pay enough service tax.
CBDT and other indirect tax authorities issued tax notices on the basis of the data revealed through the process. Businesses were asked to pay 15% service tax on earned revenue. For example, as per a report in ET, a tax notice questioned how a company paid lakhs of rupees in income tax but zero in service tax for 2014-15.
IT authorities used data analytics to find individuals who claimed to earn money from companies or by providing services were checked against service tax data. The IT department seems to be focused on the informal sector, as notices have been issued to astrologers as well.
The CBDT-CBIC agreement for data sharing was renewed in July this year. The MoU signed between the two authorities was aimed at facilitating the sharing of data and information between them on an automatic and regular basis.
“In addition to regular exchange of data, CBDT and CBIC will also exchange with each other, on request and spontaneous basis, any information available in their respective databases which may have utility for the other organisation,” said the statement of the agreement.

22/10/2020
CBDT reiterated tolerance range of 1-3% under transfer pricing rules for the current financial year even though experts said it was expected that the tax department would provide concession given the Covid-19 pandemic. India’s transfer pricing rules, which apply to the transaction among subsidiaries of multinational companies, set an acceptable tolerance range for the variation between arm’s length price and the transaction price, failing which the department adjusts the pricing leading to tax implication.

CBDT has issued directions to the officers that where any survey action is required by officers of "Central Charge" (involving search/ seizure), international charge, NeAC (National e-Assessment Centre)/ NFAC (National Faceless Assessment Centre), the same shall have to be first approved by a collegium comprising high-ranked officers. Pursuant to 'The Taxation and Other Laws (Relaxation and Amendment of Certain Provisions) Act, 2020', the apex direct tax body CBDT has issued an internal order on exercising the power of survey by tax officers under Section 133A of the I-T Act. In an I-T survey, tax officers visit business premises of the taxpayer to gather information by way of examination of books of accounts, data stored electronically and also access e-mail communication.

Delhi ITAT has held that indirect transfer of Indian assets will not face long-term capital gains tax. The ruling was in the context of the sale of Singapore-based Accelyst Pvt Ltd (Freecharge) by Singapore startup incubator Augustus Capital PTE Ltd to Snapdeal’s holding company Jasper Info tech Pvt Ltd (JIPL) in FY16. The decision comes as a relief to foreign funds and entities being subjected to tax demands for earlier years, according to experts. The crux of the issue lies in the addition of Rs 36.3 crore as long-term capital gains (LTCG) by the assessing officer (AO) against a claim of nil income by Augustus Capital, stating that the transaction was not taxable in India.

21/10/2020
Madras High Court held that The Assessment proceeding no longer involved human interaction and were based on records alone. Such Assessment proceedings could lead to erroneous assessment if officers were not able to understand the transaction and statement of account of the assessee or nature of the assessee. The assessee was to explain its stand in writing so that the assessing officer could arrive at an objective conclusion on the facts based on the record. Case Salem Sree Ramavilas Chit Co. Pvt. Ltd.  Vs.  DCIT ,  4th Feb. 2020. 

MCA Relaxation u/s 149 for FY 2020-21 related Minimum residency Period. General Circular no. 36/2020 dated 20 October, 2020. it is hereby clarified that Non Compliance of Minimum residency in India for a period of at least 182 days in a year, by at least one director in every Company, under section 149 of the Companies Act, 2013 shall not be treated as non – compliance  for the Financial Year 2020-21 also.

20/10/2020
Securities and Exchange Board of India’s (Sebi’s) new guidelines that enable holders of listed debentures to enter an inter-creditor agreement (ICAs) face several implementation challenges. 

ALL THE SSI & MSME INDUSTRIES NEED TO GET REGISTERED UNDER UDYAM REGISTRATION..
The validity of UAM/EM PART II is till 31.03.2021 so it is advised  to get the new registration should be done before 31.03.2021   

19/10/2020
GST taxpayers above Rs 5 crore turnover will not be allowed to generate e-way bill henceforth if they have not filed two or more monthly summary returns (GSTR-3B). The anti-evasion measure was originally scheduled to come into force last year in June but has been repeatedly set aside due to various reasons. The rule has been modified to be applicable only to taxpayers above Rs 5 crore turnover threshold while the earlier rule was meant to apply to all taxpayers.

18/10/2020
The government on Friday issued notices to Amazon, Flipkart and other e-commerce firms for not mandatorily displaying information, including country of origin, on products sold on their platforms in India.
The development comes at a time when Amazon and Flipkart are hosting their biggest festive sale events ‘Great Indian Festival’ and ‘Big Billion Days’ this week and are expecting a massive surge in demand for products across the country due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The notice dated October 16, 2020, has been sent by the department of consumer affairs, ministry of consumer affairs, food and public distribution. The firms have been asked to reply to the notices and explain the reasons for non-compliance within 15 days.
“Otherwise action should be initiated against you with the available documents as per provisions of Act and Rules,” said the notice, seen by Business Standard.
The letter said that it has come to the notice of the department of consumer affairs that some of the e-commerce entities are not displaying the mandatory declarations as required under the Legal Metrology (Packaged Commodities) Rules of 2011.
It said registration of manufacturers, packers and importers of pre-packaged commodities is mandatory. Thus every individual who does this for sale is required to be registered with the director or controller of legal metrology.
The letter said that in the marketplace model of e-commerce, responsibility for the correctness of the declarations lies with the manufacturer, seller, dealer or importer.

17/10/2020
MCA and the department of economic affairs have agreed to do away with the contentious clause of dual listing, which required a company to list in India as well as overseas. As a result, a company can directly list in one of the seven markets including the US, the UK and Japan. While the list will be expanded later, Hong Kong is a notable exclusion and comes in the midst of India’s border tensions with China.

The Govt proposed Gst E invoicing system will be extended to businesses with more than 100 crore turnover from January 1, 2021 for B2B transactions and for all B2B transactions from April 1, 2021. 

16/10/2020
Summary of Gst notifications issued on 15th October 2020

Gst Audit bulletins to be taken into consideration 

15/10/2020
Finance Secretary Ajay Bhushan Pandey on 09th October Friday said that e-invoicing will soon replace the existing e-way bill system. Further, it will also ease the return filing system for smaller and medium businesses.
e-Invoicing essentially involves reporting details of specified GST documents to a government-notified portal and obtaining a reference number. e-way bill is an electronic document showing GST due is paid, and is required for the movement of goods. From October 1, e-invoicing is mandated for businesses with annual turnover of more than ?500 crore. By January 1, it will be available to taxpayers having turnover more than ?100 crore a year. It will be finally made available to all taxpayers for B2B transactions from April 1, 2021.
According to GSTN and NIC, as per the statistics available, within seven days of the introduction of e-invoicing, more than 69.5 lakh IRNs were generated by about 71,000 users. On the very first day of introduction, more than 8.4 lakh IRNs were generated by 8,453 users, while on October 7, about 13.69 lakh IRNs were generated by 14,100 users. Around 82 percent of IRNs were generated using GSP mode, while 15 percent were generated via direct Application Programming Interface (API) mode. Only 3 percent were generated through bulk uploading using offline tools.

14/10/2020
Google, Facebook, Amazon, LinkedIn and Netflix could face larger domestic tax liability after OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) postponed a common tax framework for global economies, a move that will allow countries like India to go ahead with their own plans to tax the digital giants. OECD was expected to come out with a common tax framework by December this year, now it's expected to do so mid-next year. 

Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs has issued a circular for the faceless assessment -measures for the timely assessment of the Bills of entry and clarification on the defacement of physical documents. 

Ministry of Finance has issued a press release dated October 13, 2020, for grants permission to 20 States to raise an additional amount of INR.68,825 crore through open market borrowings. A special borrowing window, coordinated by the Ministry of Finance to borrow the amount of shortfall in revenue through the issue of debt. The total shortfall in the revenue of the States on this account has been estimated at around INR. 1.1 lakh crore.

13/10/2020
Sebi laid down the framework for debenture trustees (DTs) signing inter-creditor agreements (ICAs) on behalf of investors. “The resolution plan shall be finalised within 180 days from the end of the review period. If it is not finalised (within this timeframe), the debenture trustee(s) shall be free to exit the ICA altogether with the same rights as if it had never signed the ICA and the resolution plan shall not be binding on the debenture trustees. 

NCLT: Revised default threshold of ?1 crore for trigger of corporate insolvency applies prospectively from March 24 and not retrospectively, the NCLAT has ruled.This would mean that those applications before March 24 which had debt default of less than ?1 crore, but over ?1 lakh can be admitted for corporate insolvency process.

RBI has clarified that loans which have remained standard without any defaults as of March 1, 2020, will be eligible for restructuring under the pandemic-related resolution framework issued in August, 2020. 

Delhi High Court wants the Central government to disclose whether or not it intends to challenge the international arbitration award favouring Vodafone in the Rs 40,000-crore retro tax tussle, whose origins can be traced back to 2007. In a recent order, which Moneycontrol has reviewed, a division bench of the Delhi High Court said the government’s legal officers should get “categorical instructions” on the issue by November 17, 2020, the next date of hearing.

12/10/2020
Finance Minister has introduces the biggest incentive for employees to avail the LTC Cash Voucher Scheme is that in a four-year block ending in 2021, the LTC not availed will lapse, instead, this will encourage employees to avail of this facility to buy goods which can help their families.

Global economy could shed more than 1% of output if international talks to rewrite cross-border tax rules break down and trigger a trade war, the OECD said. after countries agreed to keep up negotiating to mid-2021. Nearly 140 countries agreed on Friday to extend talks after the pandemic outbreak and U.S. hesitation before the presidential election squashed hopes of reaching a deal this year.

GSTR-9 of 2018-19, report only values of 2018-19. Ignore values of 2017-18 already reported or adjusted. No issue if already filed. CBIC Press Release of 9.10.2020.

11/10/2020
Government may consider allowing India Inc to deposit GST on cash basis to help them tide over the liquidity woes during the COVID-19 pandemic, a PwC report said. It said while formalising its support strategy for the industry in the next phase, the government could also consider suspending GST payments for select sectors during the COVID-19 period.

All The  MSME Industries Need to Get Registered Under UDYAM REGISTRATION. The validity of UAM/EM PART II is till 31.03.2021 so it is advised  to get the new registration should be done before 31.03.2021. 

NCLT has further notified that the Regular Proceedings at NCLT shall now start from 02-11-2020 instead of 12-10-2020. The regular proceedings at NCLT Delhi were stopped immediately after the lockdown was announced on 24-03-2020. 

Reserve Bank has decided to move to the Next Generation Treasury Application (NGTA) for managing the country’s foreign exchange and gold reserves. The NGTA, according to the RBI, would be a web-based application providing scalability, maneuverability and flexibility to introduce new products and securities, besides supporting multi-currency transactions and settlements. 

10/10/2020
GST 3B -crucial month of Sep2020
1st April to 8th October 2019

Taxpayers were allowed to claim ITC in their GSTR-3B on a provisional basis (whether credit appearing in GSTR-2A or not) without restricting the upper limit.

9th October to 31st December,2019
20% restriction was imposed on provisional credits every month based on eligible ITC in GSTR-2A.

1st January to 31st March, 2020
10% restriction was imposed on provisional credits every month based on eligible ITC in GSTR-2A.

Apart from above, due to relief from the pandemic, the ITC restriction of Rule 36(4) was suspended between February 2020 to August 2020 and accordingly the taxpayers were allowed to avail full ITC on provisional basis without any restriction. 
However, above relief was with rider that the restriction under Rule 36(4) should be applied by taxpayers cumulatively for the months viz Feb to August, 2020 in its GSTR-3B for the month of September,2020.
Thus we can say that GSTR-3B of September,2020 is most critical not only in regard to availing of ITC of FY 2019-20 (application of cumulative ITC restriction for months Feb and March, 2020) but also for FY 2020-21 in regard to the months April to August,2020.

09/10/2020
GST Annual Return (GSTR-9) and Reconciliation Statement (GSTR 9C)  for the FY 2018-19 due date for furnishing the  forms has been extended till 31.10.2020. notification No. 69/2020 – CT, dated 30.09.2020.

National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) directed to exclude the lockdown phase - March 25 to August 31, 2020 - while computing the insolvency resolution period for Anil Ambani-led Reliance Naval and Engineering Ltd. 

08/10/2020
In terms of Rule 138 E (b) of the CGST Rules, 2017, the E Way Bill generation facility of a person is liable to be restricted, in case the person fails to file their GSTR-3B returns, for a consecutive period of two months or more.
As you might be aware that the GST Council in its last meeting has decided that this provision will be made applicable for the taxpayers whose Aggregate Annual Turn Over (AATO, PAN based) is more than Rs 5 Crores.  
Thus, if the GSTIN associated with the respective PAN (with AATO over Rs 5 Cr.) has failed to file their GSTR-3B Return for 02 or more tax periods, up to the month of tax period of  August, 2020, their EWB generation facility will be blocked on the EWB Portal. Please note that the EWB generation facility for such GSTINs (whether as consignor or consignee or by transporter) will be blocked on EWB Portal after 15th October, 2020.

Code on Social Security 2020, which received the Presidential Assent on 28 September 2020, subsumes nine regulations relating to social security, retirement and employee benefits.The objective is to consolidate and simplify the multitude of labour regulations into four labour Codes – the Code on Wages, Social Security, Industrial Relations and Occupational Safety and Health, subsuming 29 existing regulations.

06/10/2020

GST Council meeting Updates:
1. Due date of furnishing quarterly GSTR-1 revised to 13th of the month succeeding the quarter w.e.f. 01.01.2021

2. Auto-population of GSTR-3B liability from own GSTR-1 w.e.f. 01.01.2021.

3. GST Auto-population of input tax credit from suppliers’ GSTR-1 through the newly developed facility in GSTR-2B for monthly filers w.e.f. 01.01.2021 and for quarterly filers w.e.f. 01.04.2021.

4. GSTR-1 mandatorily required to be filed before GSTR-3B w.e.f. 01.04.2021. The present GSTR-1/3B return filing system to be extended till 31.03.2021.

5. Small taxpayers having aggregate annual turnover < Rs. 5 cr., allowing filing of returns on a quarterly basis with monthly payments w.e.f. 01.01.2021.
First 2 months of the quarter, have an option to pay 35% of the net cash tax liability of the last quarter using an auto generated challan.

6. GSTR-1 w.e.f. 01.04.2021 HSN/SAC at 6 digits for AT above Rs. 5 crores; HSN/SAC at 4 digits for B2B, AT upto Rs. 5 crores. Furnishing of Nil CMP-08 through SMS.

7. GST Refund to be paid/disbursed in a validated bank account linked with the PAN & Aadhaar of the registrant w.e.f 01.01.2021. Satellite launch services supplied by ISRO, Antrix Corporation Ltd. and NSIL would be exempted.

05/10/2020

CBDT said that the payment gateway won’t have to deduct tax under section 194-O of the Income Tax Act on a transaction if it has been deducted by the e-commerce company. For example, according to CBDT’s circular issued, if a consumer buys goods worth X amount from an e-commerce company and pays through a payment gateway, since e-commerce payments are generally routed via such gateways, the liability currently under sector 194-O of the Act to deduct tax may fall on both the e-commerce company and the payment gateway.

Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs has through a tweet intimated the extension of due date for filing of GSTR-9 and 9C for the year 2018-2019 from September 30, 2020 to October 31, 2020.

04/10/2020

CBIC said in a statement that the companies will not attarct any penalty if they move goods without e-invoicing, provided that they get invoice reference number (IRN) for such invoices within a month of the date of invoice. The relief has been provided for the month of October only. The GST Council has made e-invoicing compulsory for companies having an annual turnover of over Rs 500 crore. The deadline has been extended a couple of times. 

Delhi High Court ruled that a person , who has retired as the Director of the Company, cannot be said to be in charge of and responsible for the conduct of the day-to-day affairs of the Company, as contemplated in Section 141 of NI Act for being proceeded against. 

02/10/2020

cajatinminocha.com/resource/Ten_Changes_01-10-2020.aspx
Ten important changes taking effect from 01st October 2020.

01/10/2020

Income tax changes Applicability wef today 01st October 2020

1. TCS on Receipt on Sale of Goods above 50 lacs

2. TCS on Foreign Remittance under LRS for  Education etc  above 7 lacs & 

3. TCS on for foreign tour

Gst E invoicing for turnover above 500 crores. 
Yesterday, 11th hour changes by the govt to include export value in counting the turnover of 500 crores and 
turnover criteria above 500 crores applicable from 2017-18 onwards

30/09/2020

September 2020 is a crucial month with respect to Gst compliances...... 

The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) on Monday cautioned people not to fall prey to unscrupulous entities that are charging between Rs.50 to Rs.200 for printing Aadhaar on a plastic card in the name of 'smart card'.
"The Aadhaar card or the downloaded Aadhaar card printed on ordinary paper is perfectly valid for all uses. If a person has a paper Aadhaar card, there is absolutely no need to get his or her Aadhaar card laminated or obtain a plastic Aadhaar card or so called 'smart' Aadhaar card by paying money. There is no concept such as smart Aadhaar card," said Ajay Bhushan Pandey, director general and mission director of UIDAI.
In case a person loses his Aadhaar card, he can download his Aadhaar card free of cost from the official website. The print-out of the downloaded Aadhaar, even in black and white form, is as valid as the original Aadhaar letter sent by UIDAI, the statement said.
It also cautioned the e-commerce companies not to allow their merchants to collect Aadhaar information from general public for printing Aadhaar card as collecting such information or unauthorised printing of Aadhaar card or aiding such persons in any manner may amount to a criminal offence punishable with imprisonment under the Indian Penal Code and also Chapter VI of The Aadhaar Act, 2016.

29/09/2020
 
Central Board of Direct Taxes has clarified that there is no requirement for scrip wise reporting for day trading and short-term sale or purchase of listed shares in the filing of income tax return (ITR) in assessment year (AY) 2020-21.
 
CBDT notified the Faceless Appeal Scheme, 2020 on September 25, 2020 whereby appeals before the Commissioner (Appeals) shall now be conducted in a faceless manner. The scheme has been made operational with immediate effect. Under this Scheme the National Faceless Appeal Centre will conduct e-appeal proceedings in a centralized manner. To support its functioning, Regional Faceless Appeal Centres and Appeal Units have been set up across the country to facilitate the conduct of such proceedings.
 
New TCS provision are applicable w.e.f 1 october 2020
SECTION 206 (1) (h):  if any seller of any goods whose turnover in the preceding FY exceeds Rs. 10 Crore then, from 1st of October 2020, he shall be liable to collect TCS @ 0.1% (Rate will be 0.075% till 31.03.2021) of the sale value from the buyer if the buyer purchase goods for the value exceeding Rs. 50 Lacs.
 
28/09/2020

30.9.2020 (Wednesday) is last date to file GSTR-9 & 9C of 18-19. Also last date to file GSTR-3B from Feb-Jul 2020 with interest & maximum late fee of 500.

MCA Companies Fresh Start Scheme (CFSS) 2020 & LLP Settlement Scheme extended till 31.12.2020. DPT-3, DIR-3KYC E-Form/Web form and INC-22A (Active) were originally part of the CFSS. So, as per our understanding due dates of these forms also extended. 
 
IBBI notifies amendment in Section 10A of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, (Second Amendment) Act, 2020. No application for initiation of Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process of a corporate debtor shall be filed, for any default arising on or after March 25, 2020 for a period of 6 months or such further period, not exceeding 1 year from such date as may be notified in this behalf.
 
27/09/2020
 
Delhi High Court ruled that a person, who has retired as the Director of the Company, cannot be said to be in charge of and responsible for the conduct of the day-to-day affairs of the Company, as contemplated in Section 141 of NI Act for being proceeded against. 
 
Income Tax Reduction in TDS and TCS rates by 25% of the present rates are for payments from 14 May till 31 March 2021. 
 
Commissioner of Commercial Taxes issued a Circular No. 8 /2020(PP2/2305/2020) dated September 21, 2020, regarding the blocking of credits under Rule 86A. Deptt may, for reasons to be recorded in writing, not allow debit of an amount equivalent to such credit in electronic credit ledger for discharge of liability under Section 49 or for claim of any refund of any unutilized amount.
 
26/09/2020
 
Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs issued a Notification No. 66/2020 – Central Tax dated September 21, 2020, regarding extension of time limit for issuance of invoice w.r.t. goods sent/taken out of India on approval from the 20 March, 2020 to the 30 October, 2020, and where completion or compliance of such action has not been made within such time, then, the time limit for completion or compliance of such action, shall stand extended up to the 31 October, 2020.
 
Central Govt announced the suspension of fresh insolvency proceedings under the Insolvency Bankruptcy Code (IBC) by three more months till December. In a gazette notification, the Ministry of Corporate Affairs said that the suspension on the operation of Section 7, 9 and 10 of the IBC has been extended.
 
25/09/2020
 
Income tax department has started taking stern actions against the offenders. The Income Tax Department has started sending notices on non-payment of taxes or irregularities. The notices are being sent for big and small amounts. 

Income Tax Section 206C, Sub-section (1H) has been inserted vide Finance Act, 2020 every seller of goods, who receives consideration or aggregate of consideration for sale of goods exceeding INR 50 Lacs in any year, shall collect TCS @ 0.1% of sales consideration from buyer on sales of goods applicable from 1st October 2020.
 
Income Tax due date for Tax audit stands extended from 30 September 2020 to 31 October 2020. Similarly, the Income tax returns filed upon a Tax audit are now due by 30 November 2020.
 
24/09/2020

GST: If Final Return in GSTR-10 not filed in 3 months of cancellation of registration, file it till 31.12.2020 with late fee of 500. Notification No 68/2020- CT of 21.9.2020.
 
GST taxpayers who were under Composition Scheme, during any period till 31st March, 2019, have been provided relaxation in payment of late fees, on filing Form GSTR-4 (Quarterly Return). This relaxation is available, if Form GSTR-4 (Quarterly Return) is filed by them, between 22nd Sept., 2020 and 31st Oct., 2020, for any tax period of financial year 2017-18 or 2018-19. 
 
23/09/2020
 
CBIC has issued a notification to waive off the late fee payable for failure to furnish the return in Form GSTR-4 and Form GSTR-10. The Board has waived the amount of late fee payable under Section 47 of the Act which is in excess of two hundred and fifty rupees, for the registered persons who fail to furnish the return in FORM GSTR-10 by the due date but furnishes the said return between the period from 22nd day of September, 2020 to 31st day of December, 2020.
 
GST portal introduce the facility of GSTR-2B is going to be an auto drafted consolidated ITC statement which auto populates the ITC details for each register person on the basis of information furnished by their suppliers in their GSTR-1/5/6. Now GSTIN has released a “OFFLINE UTILITY” to match the auto populated GSTR 2B data with the purchase register.
 
22/09/2020
 
New Codes on Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions, Social Security, and Industrial Relations passed by Lok Sabha on Tuesday will cut down the web of paperwork and switch to a “One Licence, One Registration, One Return” mechanism to ramp up ease of doing business in India.
 
Two of the three labour codes passed by Lok Sabha give both the Centre and the states power to exempt any establishment from “all or any of the provisions” of the codes “in public interest”. This has caused fears that the workers’ rights and safety and welfare rules could be suspended by the state governments for specific periods citing exigencies. However, labour ministry sources said these are just “saving provisions” and are meant for exigencies; it is highly unlikely that these will be put into effect under normal circumstances, they added.
 
21/09/2020

CBDT has issued Guidelines for compulsory selection of returns for Complete Scrutiny during the Financial Year 2020-21 and conduct of assessment proceedings in such cases. Keeping in view of the Faceless Assessment Scheme, 2020 implemented by the Department and the difficulties being faced amid COVID-19 pandemic, the parameters for compulsory selection of returns for Complete Scrutiny during Financial Year 2020-21 and conduct of assessment proceedings in such cases are prescribed.

Central Government has introduced Taxation and Other Laws (Relaxation and Amendment of Certain Provisions) Bill, 2020 to replace the Taxation and Other Laws (Relaxation of Certain Provisions) Ordinance, 2020 and to regularise certain extensions made vide CBDT Notifications and to introduce faceless income-tax administration.

20/09/2020
 
Last date to file GSTR-3B of Jun 2020 is 23/25 September & of July 2020 is 27/29 September for turnover upto 5 cr. File till 30 September with interest @ 9% pa & late fee of 500.
 
Late fee for GSTR-4 waived off / reduced from July 17 to March 2020. Condition: GSTR-4 needs to be filed between 22 Sept to 31 Oct, 2020. 
Waiver Type: 1.) If Tax Payable is NIL - Late fee waived off fully 2.) If Tax Payable exists - Only Rs 250 late fee will be levied. Notification No. 67/2020
 
GST Network(GSTN) Chief Executive Officer Prakash Kumar on said that GST-registered businesses will soon get a pre-filled Return form, GSTR-3B. Mr. Kumar proclaimed that GSTN is moving towards providing taxpayers with a pre-filled GSTR-3B form so that they can pay their taxes at ease.
 
19/09/2020
 
Lok Sabha has passed the Companies (Amendment) Bill, 2020 through voice vote. The Bill to further amend 48 sections of the Companies Act, 2013 by decriminalizing various non-compoundable offences in case of defaults, but not involving frauds, omitting imprisonment for various offences which were considered procedural and technical in nature.
GST: Government of India issued an administrative instructions dated September 18, 2020, for recovery of interest on net cash tax liability under GST w.e.f. July 01, 2017.

 MCA : As per the Rule 16 of the companies (Acceptance of Deposits) Rule, 2014, the due date of Form DPT-3 is 30th June, 2020 on an annual basis. However, as per relaxation provided by MCA vide General circulation No. 11/2020 dated 24th March, 2020, Form DPT-3 can be filed upto 30th September, 2020.

18/09/2020

Finance Minister said law provides for carrying out insolvency and bankruptcy proceedings against corporate debtors as well personal guarantors together. She was replying to a debate on the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (Second Amendment) Bill, 2020, in the Rajya Sabha which passed the proposed legislation to replace an ordinance in this regard with voice vote.  

Debt Recovery Tribunal (DRT) in Chennai has pronounced that banks cannot deny copies of account statements to their customers.Two, in an auction deal, the authorised officer has no power to extend the timeline for payments by the purchaser. 

17/09/2020

Delhi GST (Amendment) Act, 2020: Section 132 of the Delhi Goods and Services Act was amended so as to make the offence of fraudulent availment of input tax credit without invoice or bill cognizable and non-bailable under sub-section (1)of section 69 and to make any person who retains the benefit of certain transactions and at whose instance such transactions are conducted liable for punishment.

GST : Professional services for maintenance of accounts and other allied items of work provided to SSNNL a Government undertaking by applicant is not exempt under serial No. 3 Notification No. 12/2017 Central tax (Rate), dated 28-6-2017 and is liable to GST.

The notification further amended section 140 of the Delhi Goods and Services Act relating to transitional arrangements for input tax credit, so as to prescribe the time limit and the manner for availing input tax credit against certain unavailed credit under the existing law. This amendment shall take effect retrospectively from the 1st day of July, 2017.

16/09/2020

MCA : If you hold a DIN or appointed as a Director in a Company or as a Designated Partner in an LLP, then kindly ensure to submit your KYC details to the MCA on or before Wednesday, 30 September 2020 otherwise a penalty of INR 5,000/- will be imposed.

SEBI through informal guidance has clarified that the LLP and its partners are distinct persons. Therefore, LLP should meet the minimum net worth criteria of INR 10 crore even if its partners qualifies as an angel investors in their individual capacity

15/09/2020

Income Tax: 30.9.2020 is last date to file Belated/ Revised ITR for AY 19-2020 & to make investments for Capital Gains Exemption for AY 20-2021. 
 
Income tax collections has slowed down with total tax mop-up touching Rs 2,53,532.3 crore so far this fiscal, which though is still down 22.5 percent from the year-ago period. 
 
GST Network issued clarifications through frequently asked questions ahead of the October 1 launch of the scheme for businesses with more than Rs 500 crore turnover. The scheme will introduce a standard invoicing standard for all companies. "Businesses will continue to issue invoices as they are doing now. Necessary changes on account of e-invoicing requirement to enable reporting of invoices to Invoice Registration Portals (IRP) and obtain Invoice Reference Number (IRN), will be made by ERP or accounting and billing software providers in their respective software. 
 
14/09/2020
 
GSTN portal has incorporated the De-linking of credit and debit notes with original invoices. The section 34 of CGST Act, 2017, which deals with Credit/Debit notes under GST law, states that a single credit/debit note has to be raised against an invoice.
 
Banking Regulation (Amendment) Bill, 2020 was passed in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday. The bill, moved by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, seeks to bring cooperative banks under the supervision of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). 
 
SEBI has issued a circular for collecting and reporting of margins by Trading Member (TM) and Clearing Member (CM) in the cash segment. A circular for the guidelines for the same was issued by SEBI on July 31, 2020. 
 
13/09/2020
 
CBDT said that 35,074 direct tax-related disputes have been resolved under the Vivad se Vishwas scheme as on September 8. This is even as nearly 6 lakh such cases are pending in different forums, including commissioner of appeals, tribunals, high courts and the Supreme Court. The dispute resolution scheme meant for direct taxes was passed as an Act earlier this year but the deadline for the scheme to avail concessional settlement provision has since been extended to December 31 due to Covid-19. 

?TCS on Goods Sold u/s 206C (1H) w.e.f 1st October 2020: Applicable if Turnover is more than 10 Crore last year. Seller to Collect TCS from Buyer on Sales exceeding Rs. 50 Lakhs in year. Sale of Goods covered only. No TCS on Sale of Services.

TCS Rate 0.1% (0.075% till 31.03.2021) on Sales after crossing 50 Lakh means-No TCS on First 50 Lakh. TCS to be deposited on receipt basis i.e. after payment received from buyer. No TCS in case of Exports, Sales to Governments, Local Authority. TCS Rate will be 1% if buyer don’t provide PAN or Aadhar. 
 
12/09/2020
 
Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has cracked the whip on banks which often overrule automated calculations on NPAs (non-performing assets) and provisioning by manual identification, or what is commonly known as technical adjustments.  
 
MSMEs said it has “strongly" taken up with top 500 private companies the issue of delayed payments and dues to small businesses. The outbreak of covid-19 and a consequent nationwide lockdown has battered small businesses, with most of them struggling to survive. 

Government introduced in Lok Sabha the Banking Regulation (Amendment ) Bill,  which seeks to bring cooperative banks on par with development  in the banking sector through their better management and proper regulation to protect the interests of depositors. 

11/09/2020

Income Tax: To decide whether a particular source is business income, one has to look to the notions of what is the business activity. The activity must have a set purpose. The fact that the assessee does not carry on business activity for profit motive is not material as profit making is not an essential ingredient. National Co-operative Development Corporation vs. CIT (Supreme Court)

CBIC to roll-out Faceless Assessment at all India level by 31.10.2020. The All India roll-out of Faceless Assessment, of import goods, is being implemented in a phased manner i.e. 8th June 2020 (Phase-I) and 031d August 2020 (Phase-II). 

Companies will get time till December to hold their annual general meetings.  Registrars of Companies in Maharashtra, Punjab, Delhi, Kerala, Rajasthan, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat have extended the September-end deadline by an additional three months.  adding that all other registrars will follow suit. “Most RoCs would be providing an extension at their level. 
 
10/09/2020
 
GST: This is with reference to the requirement of certain taxpayers to prepare invoice in terms of Rule 48(4) of CGST Rules (e-invoicing). As a facilitation measure, all the taxpayers who were having aggregate turnover of Rs. 500 Cr. (from 2017-18 onwards) were enabled on e-invoice portal https://einvoice1.gst. gov.in/. The listing is based on GSTR-3B data, as available in GST System. One can search the status of enablement of a GSTIN on e-invoice portal: https://einvoice1.gst. gov.in/ > Search > e-invoice status of taxpayer In case any registered person, is required to prepare invoice in terms of Rule 48(4) but not enabled on the portal, they may request for enablement on portal: ‘Registration -> e-Invoice Enablement’.

GST AAR :Maharashtra AAR held that GST is not applicable on nominal amount charged by the employer from its employees for transportation services.

09/09/2020
 
Delhi High Court said it has reduced the number of benches that would be holding physical hearings due to the ”alarming” rise in COVID-19 cases in the national capital and majority of lawyers preferring virtual hearings.  
 
CBDT issues refunds of over Rs 1,01,308 crore to more than 27.55 lakh taxpayers between 1st April,2020 to 08th September,2020. Income tax refunds of Rs. 30,768 crore have been issued in 25,83,507 cases &corporate tax refunds of Rs.70,540 crore have been issued in 1,71,155 cases. 

08/09/2020
 
Any amount sent abroad to buy foreign tour packages, and every other foreign remittance made above Rs. 7 lakh, will attract a TCS beginning 1 October unless you are making the remittance from income that is already TDS.  While the tax on foreign tour packages will be 5% for any amount, for other foreign remittances, the tax will kick in only for the amount spent above Rs. 7 lakh. For education-related foreign remittances funded by loans, though, the tax will be just 0.5% for the amount above Rs. 7 lakh, considering many Indian students take loans to pursue education abroad. 

MCA: as per the sub-section (1) of section 96 of the Companies Act, 2013 that not more than 15 months shall be elapsed between the date of One AGM of a company, and that of the Next AGM. So in spite of extension of AGM for 3 months due to covid for FY 2019-20, the time Gap between the Two AGM shall not exceed 15 months in any case.
 
07/09/2020

Income Tax Due date for payment of ADVANCE TAX For FY 2020-21 is 15.09.2020 if your tax liability is more than Rs 10,000 in a financial year. It should be paid in the year in which the income is received.  
 
MCA has amended the rules related to acceptance of deposits by companies, a move that offers more flexibility to start-ups for raising funds at a time when Covid-19 has severely impacted the economy and businesses, especially MSMEs and start-ups. The amendment allows start-ups to raise funds through corporate bonds or other convertible instruments for 10 years as against 5 years earlier.
 
06/09/2020
 
Union cabinet approved amendments to the labour codes on social security, industrial relations, and occupational safety and health (OSH), which could include pension and medical benefits to workers. 
 
National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC) has started e-filing from September 7, 2020. As per a notification issued by the Commission, electronic filing of consumer cases at the NCDRC has commenced through the online portal https://edaakhil nic. in
 
05/09/2020
 
 Sebi’s new margin norms may spur ‘dabba trading’ in equities - a parallel market where trades are done based on prices quoted on exchanges but settled in cash off-market. The rise in futures and options (F&O) contract sizes, along with higher margin requirements, has goaded investors to move to this platform since the past year, said market players. They added that the requirement for upfront margins could push more investors to this segment.
 
MSME New Definitions Enterprises come into effect from 01.07.2020): 

Micro enterprises where the investment in Plant and Machinery or Equipment does not exceed one crore rupees and turnover does not exceed five crore rupees;

Small enterprises: where the investment in Plant and Machinery or Equipment does not exceed ten crore rupees and turnover does not exceed fifty crore rupees;

Medium enterprises: where the investment in Plant and Machinery or Equipment does not exceed fifty crore rupees and turnover does not exceed two hundred and fifty crore rupees

04/09/2020

CBIC said in a circular that Customs Department will roll out pan-India faceless assessment for all imported goods by October 31. While faceless assessment for import of certain goods was already rolled out in Bengaluru and Chennai ports on June 8, it was extended to Delhi and Mumbai Customs on August 3. This will now be extended in phases to all ports across the country by December 31.
 
Gujarat High Court allowed Britannia Industries to petition for a claim of refund of Input Tax Credit (ITC) distributed by Input Service Distributor (ISD) under Section 54 of the CGST Act. The Petitioner, having a unit situated in Special Economic Zone (SEZ), filed an application for refund in Form GST RFD-01A with regard to the credit of Integrated Goods and Services Tax (IGST) distributed by ISD for services related to the SEZ unit. 

Applications by iPhone contract makers Foxconn, Pegatron and Wistron as well as Samsung, Karbonn, Lava and Dixon to export mobile phones worth around $100 billion from India have been cleared by the empowered group.

03/09/2020

GST: A pdf statement has been made available to taxpayers, filing monthly GSTR-1 statement, with system computed values of Table 3 of Form GSTR-3B. This PDF will be prepared on the basis of the values reported by them, in their GSTR-1 statement, for the said tax period. Note: This facility will also be provided to quarterly GSTR-1 filers in due course of time. This PDF will be available on their GSTR-3B dashboard, from tax period of August 2020 onwards, containing the information of GSTR-1 filed by them on or after 4th September 2020.
 
Under the Consumer Protection Act, 2019 (Act 35 of 2019), the Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) is empowered to issue necessary guidelines to prevent unfair trade practices and protect consumers’ interest. Accordingly, draft guidelines for prevention of misleading advertisements and necessary due diligence for endorsement of advertisements are proposed to be notified by the CCPA for public comments.
 
02/09/2020

Income Tax department said it has launched a functionality for scheduled commercial banks to check status of income tax returns filed by entities based on their PAN. The I-T department has already provided a functionality 'Verification of applicability u/s 194N' for banks and post offices since July 1, 2020.

CBDT has said the income tax authorities can share information with scheduled commercial banks, a move that would ease the lenders’ hassle of deciding TDS deductibility on various payments to their customers. In a notification dated August 31. 
 
01/09/2020

GST collections slumped to a three-month low in August, and came in 12 per cent lower year-on-year (YoY), indicating slower recovery in economic activity. However, compensation cess collections rose for the first time in five months, and 6 per cent YoY, amid the tussle between the Centre and states. The overall mop-up remained well below the Rs 1-trillion mark for the sixth straight month owing to the pandemic, even as unlocking began in June. 
 
RBI resolve to keep bond yields under check and the loud signal emitted in favour of a stronger rupee swiftly translated into rallies in the bond and currency markets. The rupee closed at 72.87 a dollar, up 1.03 per cent from its previous close of 73.62. The 10-year bond yields fell 18 basis points to close at 5.942 per cent from its previous close of 6.117 per cent.
 
31/08/2020

CBDT notified Form 26QD for section 194M TDS payment. Section 194M of Income tax Act, making it mandatory for Individual & HUF to deduct 5% TDS on prescribed payments. 

?GST: Due date for filing GSTR-4 for 2019-20 extended to 31.10.2020. Notification 64/2020- CT of 31.8.2020. 
 
CBIC has issued a notification making some enhancements in the tax administration and implementing the incremental approach of filing GST. The council has introduced the auto-drafted input-tax credit statement which will help in determining the input tax credit that is available for every taxpayer.
 
30/08/2020
 
Reserve Bank of India announced a series of steps aimed at maintaining “orderly” market conditions and “congenial” financial conditions. The steps came against the backdrop of a sharp rise in bond yields after the Monetary Policy Committee left interest rates unchanged at its last meeting, while raising concerns about the elevated levels of inflation. 
 
Reserve Bank of India may propose amendments to the Sarfaesi Act to allow asset reconstruction companies (ARCs) to bid for bankrupt companies and infuse equity in them at the resolution stage. 
 
Delhi Govt has issued a notification stating that all the corporate debtors under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 and are undergoing the process of corporate insolvency resolution shall follow a special procedure from the date of appointment of the interim resolution professionals and resolution professionals till the period they undergo the corporate insolvency resolution process.
 
29/08/2020

GSTR-2B has been launched on the GST Portal from July 2020 onwards. It is not a Return but a static report of GSTR2A of invoices uploaded by supplier uptil 11th of the subsequent month.
Thus it’s similar to GSTR-2A with some exceptions.

Key features of GSTR-2B: It is an auto-populated static ITC statement which will clearly show ITC available and not available for every invoice monthly. It will be updated once a month on 12th of every succeeding month.

For example, GSTR-2B generated on 12th September 2020 shall contain invoices uploaded and filed by suppliers between 12th August 2020 to 11th September 2020.

GSTR-2B also contains info on _Imports from other countries and SEZ’s. Invoices will be marked as _ITC Not Available in two cases:
A. If the supplier files the invoice after 30th September of succeeding year of invoice i.e. Section 16(4). B. If POS is different from the recipient state.

GSTR-2B provides an option to search invoice and to request statement over an e-mail.
 
28/08/2020
 
RBI may tweak certain rules under the Securitisation and Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement of Security Interest (SARFAESI) Act to allow asset reconstruction companies (ARCs) to acquire equity directly in companies sold under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC).  
 
Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs on Friday launched the online dashboard of the PM Street Vendor's AtmaNirbhar Nidhi (PM SVANidhi) scheme. The online dashboard is dynamic, interactive and would provide a one stop solution to all stakeholders looking for information and tracking monitoring of progress of PM SVANidhi up to city level.
 
27/08/2020

Delhi High Court in the judgment of Pitambra Books Pvt Ltd Vs. Union of India & Ors. [WP.(C) 627/2020] held that Para 8 of Circular No. 125/44/2019-GST dated November 18, 2019 restricting the spread of refund claim across different financial years is arbitrary and there is no rationale or justification for such a constraint. Court observed that the impugned circular take away the vested right of the taxpayer that has accrued in the relevant period. The Court directed the Respondents to either open the GSTN Portal so as to enable the Petitioner to file the tax refund electronically, or to accept the same manually and thereafter, process the same in accordance with law.
 
GST: Centre offered two options to states to compensate them amid inadequate cess collections under GST regime. One was an offer of a special window to states, in consultation with RBI, to the tune of Rs 95,000 crore at a reasonable interest rate. The other was for states to borrow Rs 2.35 trillion from the market, with the RBI as a facilitator. However, the burden of repayment will not be on states. The timeline for cess imposed on sin and luxury goods will be extended beyond June 30, 2022 (up to which states are Constitutionally guaranteed compensation), to help service the debt.

26/08/2020
 
MCA in an attempt to ease matters for the companies, has introduced a new scheme known as the Companies Fresh Start Scheme, 2020 (CFSS). For the Defaulting Companies: Shall pay only the normal fees as prescribed by the Companies Rules, 2014 for all filings with the MCA 21 registry. No additional fees to be paid, whatsoever.
 
MCA: for Immunity against prosecution and proceedings for imposing penalty only where: The prosecution and proceedings arose due to the delay in filing of belated documents.  No other cases covered.
 
MCA : For the Inactive Companies: The defaulting inactive companies may apply for the CFSS 2020 so as to file the due documents. Additionally, they may also do the following:-Submit an application for Dormant Status under Section 455 of the Companies Act, 2013 by way of filing of e-Form MSC – 1 along with the prescribed fees. Submit an application for striking off the name of the company from the Register of Companies.
 
25/08/2020
 
Finance ministry has asked public sector banks to monitor cases where insolvency proceedings could be initiated against individuals who are guarantors of corporate debtors that have defaulted on loans. The IBC provides for a time-bound and market-linked resolution of stressed assets. The Code also provides for initiation of insolvency proceedings against personal guarantors of corporate debtors, even though the provision has not been used much by lenders to recover dues.
 
Reserve Bank of India Governor Shaktikanta Das said that banking system needs to reorient business in the post coronavirus world by looking within. Shaktikanta Das said that financial institutions face challenges ahead, nudged by the pandemic, he however stressed that the banking system in India at the juncture is resilient enough.

Pay Interest on late payment of GST on Gross Liability till 31.8.2020 & on Net Liability (after ITC in Tax Ledger) wef 1.9.2020. Notification 63/2020-CT of 25.8.2020. 
 
Central Government hereby appoints the 1st day of September, 2020 as the date on which the provisions of Section 100 of the Finance (No.2) Act, 2019 shall come into force As per Notification no. 63/2020 – Central Tax, dt: 25th August, 2020. 
 
24/08/2020

Bombay High Court To Resume Hearing Of Tax Matters through Video Conferencing w.e.f. 31.08.2020 To 30.09.2020

Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs issued a Notification No. 62/2020 – Central Tax dated August 20, 2020, with regard to make Tenth amendment (2020) to CGST Rules Aadhaar authentication would be the basic document for every registration application. 
 
23/08/2020
 
Sebi has ordered impounding of wrongful gains worth Rs 3.6 crore from four entities related to a case of insider trading in the shares of Infibeam Avenues Ltd. In the order, Sebi saidRs 2.61 crore will be impounded, jointly and severally, from Dhiren Mahendrakumar Shah HUF, Amee Dhiren Shah and Affluence Fincon Service. 
 
SEBI has issued the master circular for Mutual Funds superseding the previous Master Circular issued in the year 2018. For effective regulation of the Mutual Fund Industry, SEBI has been issuing various circulars from time to time. 
 
Reserve Bank suggested setting up GST Council type apex authorities for land, labour and power to drive structural reforms and expedite implementation of national infrastructure pipeline. 
 
22/08/2020

Finance Ministry said that business with an annual turnover of up to Rs 40 lakh are now GST exempt, adding that those with a turnover up to Rs 1.5 crore can opt for the Composition Scheme and pay only 1 per cent tax. Ministry said that since GST's implementation, the tax rate on a number of items has been brought, noting that "28 per cent rate is almost solely restricted to sin and luxury items". Out of a total of about 230 items in the 28 per cent slab, about 200 items have been shifted to lower slabs. 

GST: 31.8.2020 is last date to apply for Composition Scheme for FY 2020-21 in CMP-02 & for Composition Suppliers to file return for FY 2019-20 in GSTR-4. 
 
21/08/2020
 
Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR) on August 24 recommended a 10 percent safeguard duty on single-mode optical fibre imports. This duty would be imposed over a one-year period as it found that there has been a significant surge in imports for the product. 

MSME Industries Need to Get Registered Under UDYAM REGISTRATION. The validity of UAM/EM PART II is till 31.03.2021 so it is advised  to get the new registration should be done before 31.03.2021. 
 
20/08/2020
 
Reserve Bank of India need to share the cost with banks associated with maintaining UPI infrastructure as it reduces the demand for cash and helps in curtailing expenditure on printing and managing currency notes, according to a report prepared by IIT-Bombay. Observing that about Rs 5,000 crore is spent annually on printing cash alone and even more on managing it. 
 
Reserve Bank of India said it will conduct a simultaneous purchase and sale of government securities under open market operations (OMO) for an aggregate amount of Rs 20,000 crore in two equal tranches. The auctions will be held on August 27and September 03.  
 
19/08/2020

Equalisation Levy (EL) was to come into effect from April 1, 2020, giving foreign companies operating in the digital space less than 10 days’ notice. The scope and reach of the revised EL came as a bolt from the blue for all stakeholders, as the broadest digital tax currently levied or proposed across the globe.
 
MCA has not given any extension of AGM. As per the circular the companies can avail options. 1. Companies can use relaxations in General Circular No. 20/2020, dated 05.05.2020 regarding holding of AGM through video conferencing (VC) or other audio visual means (OAVM). File applications in form No. GNL-1 for seeking extension of time in holding of AGM.
 
18/08/2020
 
Every LLP is required to prepare books of accounts file financials in Form-8 pursuant to Section 34(2) of the LLP Act, 2008 within 30 days of the end six months of the closure of the financial year.  In case of non-filing of the form before the due date, additional fees of Rs. 100 per day is levied till the date of filing. Due date to file LLP Form-8 for FY 19-20 : 30th October, 2020.
 
Madras High Court effectively restrained the Central Government from appointing technical members to the Goods and Services Tax Appellate Tribunals (GSTAT) until further orders (RBA v. Union of India).  
 
17/08/2020
 
Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council meeting is likely to be held on August 27 and another meeting will be scheduled on September 19. As decided earlier by the council itself earlier, the August 27 GST Council meet, which will be the 41st Council, will be to discuss a single point agenda that is to iron out measures to meet the compensation requirements to continue to pay off states.
 
Sebi has proposed to increase the minimum free float for companies relisting after undergoing the corporate insolvency resolution process (CIRP). The capital markets regulator has also called for greater disclosures to ensure better price discovery and transparency. The move is triggered by the extreme movement in the Ruchi Soya Industries' stock. The company's shares had surged more than 450 times after it got relisted following the acquisition by Pantanjali Ayurved under the CIRP. 

Commerce and industry ministry and the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) is expected to ask top online retailers such as Flipkart, Amazon and Snapdeal to focus on listing and promoting geographical indication (GI) products to provide visibility to locally produced items.

16/08/2020

CBDT outlined various conditions under which pension funds can avail exemptions from income tax on income from investments in infrastructure companies via debt or equity. Accordingly, pension funds cannot undertake commercial activity in India or overseas, should be regulated by laws of the country, province, state or local body where it is based and use the proceeds from investments to solely provide pensions or benefits on the lines of social security to its beneficiaries. 
 
CBDT has notified changes to include change in nomenclature of scheme from ''E-assessment scheme to 'Faceless Assessment Scheme. 
 
14/08/2020

GST RFD-11 for LUT for Exports & Supplies to SEZ without payment of tax & GST CMP-02 to opt for Composition Scheme for FY 2020-21 last date to file is 31.8.2020. 
 
Delhi High Court has dismissed a petition asking the court to classify mask and sanitisers as essential commodities and reduce GST on alcohol-based sanitisers to either 12% or 5%. Dismissing the plea, the high court said that masks and sanitisers are now easily available and there is no need to control such commodities or to regulate supply.
 
Directorate General of GST Intelligence (DGGI) has issued broad guidelines to officers not to resort to excesses. Top management of big firms, including PSUs, must not be issued summons in the first instance during probe, it said. “As an enforcement agency, it is imperative for the DGGI to maintain a balance wherein investigations should proceed strictly, as per law, while simultaneously ensuring that no excesses are meted out to the taxpayers and their sensibilities are respected,” it said in a circular dated August 14.

13/08/2020

Key highlights of PM Modi’s speech (13 August) on Tax Reform:
Faceless Income Tax Scrutiny – Now, Income tax assessment shall be done completely faceless. No local officer shall be involved in the process. Such process shall be secretive to tax payer as well as tax officers.

Seamless, faceless and tireless process now.

Faceless Income Tax Appeals.
No issue on transfer posting of Income tax officers.
Only 1.5 Crores Indian pays Income Tax out of 130 Crores. Hence should come forward to pay their taxes properly.
In the last 6 years, about 1500 law have been abolished by Modi’s Govt. for ease of business in India.
Introduced TaxPayer’s Charter, wherein the commitment of Income tax department and expectations of the TaxPayers have been set.
Hope, this will improve the quality of assessments, evenif there would be more litigation at ITAT/HC/ SC level due to difference of opinion of Tax Payers and Income Tax Department.
 
12/08/2020

Loose papers cannot be classified as ‘incriminating material’ unless Assessing Officer establishes nexus. Mani Square Ltd Vs ACIT (ITAT Kolkata) Appeal Number : I.T (SS).A. No.58/Kol/2019 Date of Judgement/Order : 06/08/2020 Related Assessment Year : 2013-14 Courts : All ITAT (7056) ITAT Kolkata (575)

Gujarat High court in case of Engineering India Private Limited wherein the Hon’ble Gujarat High court held that Service provided by Indian subsidiary to its 100% holding company  abroad is export.  
Case law: LINDE ENGINEERING INDIA PRIVATE LIMITED OTHER VS. UNION OF INDIA [R/SPECIAL CIVIL APPLICATION NO. 12626 OF 2018]

11/08/2020

MCA has extended the last date of filing of Form No BEN-2 and BEN-1. The MCA also relaxed the additional fees under the Companies Act 2013. In a Circular issued by MCA stated that the time limit for filing e-form No.BEN-2 is extended up to 31.03.2020 without payment of additional fee and thereafter fee and additional fee shall be payable. Consequent to such extension of the date of filing e-form No. BEN-2, the date of filing of Form No.BEN-1 may be construed accordingly.

MCA will work closely with SEBI for implementation of the ‘Business Responsibility and Sustainability Report (BRSR)’ framework in the country. Releasing the report of the MCA appointed committee on Business Responsibility Reporting (BRR), Verma highlighted that Indian companies are aspiring to have a global foothold and thus they cannot ignore the emerging trend of Corporate Governance, i.e. Responsible Business.

10/08/2020

Sebi asked investors to lodge complaints only through its web-based centralised grievance redressal system, Sebi Complaints Redress System (SCORES). complaints against listed companies, registered intermediaries and recognised market infrastructure institutions sent on se...@sebi.gov.in or on any official ID of Sebi officers will not be processed now.
 
Prime Minister will address the Tax Administrators / tax practitioners / taxpayers and other stakeholders on "Transparent Taxation - Honoring the Honest" via Webcast on 13th August 2020 at 11 a.m.

09/08/2020

Income Tax S. 56(2)(viib)/ Rule 11UA: The assessee has the choice to choose a prescribed method for ascertaining the market value of the shares transferred. If the assessee has chosen one, than AO has no power to change that method to another method.  Karmic Labs Pvt. Ltd vs. ITO (ITAT Mumbai)
?15.8.2020 is last date to pay ESI/ PF for July & to issue TDS/TCS certificates in Form 16 for 19-2020 & 16A /27D for Q4 of 19-2020. 

Coaching classes do not get any exemption from Goods and Service Tax (GST), this position was reiterated by a ruling given by the Andhra Pradesh bench of the Authority for Advance Rulings (AAR). A similar stand has been taken earlier, including by the Maharashtra bench of the AAR. Entry No 66 of the relevant notifications provides exemption to educational services, if these are provided by an educational institution, subject to certain conditions.

08/08/2020

Reserve Bank of India’s monetary policy review has come and gone but it’s done little to calm traders’ nerves over an unprecedented government bond supply. Their patience is running thin as the RBI refrained from taking steps to ease the market’s debt burden at a policy review last week, even as the government plans to sell Rs 12 trillion ($160 billion) of bonds this fiscal year.

Income tax returns (ITR) picked up for scrutiny has dropped significantly, a data published by the tax department. The number of scrutiny cases dropped to 0.25% in FY18-19 from 0.71% in FY15-16. 

Income Tax issue under consideration is whether the onus to prove the case which strictly falls under exemption provisions is fully on the taxpayer. Shamji Manekji Shah Vs DCIT (ITAT Mumbai). 

07/08/2020

Income tax authorities started  a voluntary e Campaign from 20th July 2020 is reaching to certain taxpayers via sms or email who have either not filed income-tax returns (ITR) or failed to accurately report high-value transactions in their returns pertains to FY 2018-19. The Department wide this e-campaign seek information in regards to taxpayers high value transaction from various sources like SFT (Statement Financial Transaction), TDS, TCS and from GST portal too.

CBDT has conveyed that it is targeting to complete close to 49,500 Scrutiny Assessments under Faceless e-Assessment Scheme by September-15-2020. Till date out of Total 58,319 Cases picked up for Faceless Scrutiny Assessment for the AY 2018-2019, 8,700 Cases have been disposed off.

06/08/2020

Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) chief set a monthly target of disposing of pending appeals by sending communication through the e-filing portal and or through emails only.

Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has authorised income tax authorities to share information or details in its possession with the Competition Commission of India (CCI), in a notification issued on Friday.

GST Portal has restored the GST Returns data for the year 2017. In a statement published in GST Portal said that, Facility to view, file and download returns of the period July 2017 has been restored on the portal. The functionality to enable taxpayers for filing revocation application again, in view of ROD order No.01/2020 has been implemented w.e.f. 6th Aug, 2020 A couple days back taxpayers were unable to view, file or download returns on the GST Portal for the year 2017.

05/08/2020

Amount of stale demand drafts not claimed by customers and which had become barred by limitation could not be treated as income of bank. 
 
Madhya Pradesh Authority of Advance Ruling (AAR) ruled that the amount recovered by the applicant, Atal Bihari Vajpayee Institute of Good Governance & Policy Analysis from other government departments for doing research work and study, which help them make policies or understand its impact, shall be exempt subject to satisfaction of conditions laid down under Entry No. 3 of Notification No 12/2017 CTR dated 28th June 2017.

GST: Supply of software by applicant which is not designed and developed specific to any customer and sold without any customisation, qualifies as 'supply of computer software as goods' Classifiable under heading No. 8523. 
 
04/08/2020
 
RBI's monetary policy committee unanimously decided to leave the policy repo rate unchanged at 4% and the reverse repo rate at 3.35% against a backdrop of rising inflationary pressure and a grim economic outlook. 

RBI Increased Loan to Book Value on Gold from 75% to 90%. It means for 100rs of gold value, now you will get loan of Rs90. Earlier it is Rs 75. This is applicable till March 2021. This is clearly indicating that RBI is also expecting upside on Gold Price.

SEBI has made amendment to regulation 42 of the SEBI (LODR) regulations, 2020. New regulation 42 requires a listed entity to intimate the fixing of record date or date of closure of transfer books to the Stock Exchange where it is listed or where stock derivatives are available on the stock of the listed entity or where listed entity’s stock form part of an index on which derivatives are available.
 
03/08/2020
 
NCLT has further notified that the Regular Proceedings at NCLT shall now start from 20-08-2020 instead of 05-08-2020. The regular proceedings at NCLT Delhi were stopped immediately after the lockdown was announced on 24-03-2020. 
 
Supreme Court sought response from the Centre on a plea against a notification which exempts public and private companies, having paid up capital of less than Rs 10 crore, from appointing a full time company secretary
 
02/08/2020
 
Delhi government warned GST defaulters of stringent action as it found that 10,800 companies did not pass on the full amount they collected from people as taxes. 
 
Gujarat High Court ruled that companies can claim refund using unutilised tax credit arising from input services under the inverted duty structure. A bench comprising Justice JB Pardiwala and Bhargav Karia observed that disallowing refund of the tax paid on input services is contrary to the Central Goods and Services Tax Act.
 
01/08/2020
 
India introduced Equalisation Levy in 2016 (EL-1)at the rate of 6% on non-resident companies engaged in online advertisement and related activities. The Indian government further expanded the scope of EL in Finance Act, 2020 to include a levy of 2%, effective from 1 April 2020, on consideration received by an ‘e-commerce operator’ from ‘e-commerce supply or services’ (‘EL 2.0’). The first instalment of EL 2.0 was due on 7 July 2020.

Income Tax : No Penalty can be Levied on Cash Deposits if Assessee Explained its Source from Earlier Withdrawal and Recorded in Books of Accounts. Simply because cash deposited in the bank is a little more than the cash sales, it cannot call for any addition, what to talk of penalty, unless it is proved that the excess cash deposited had no origin. Deoyani Movies Pvt. Ltd. Vs ITO (ITAT Pune)

31/07/2020

Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) is open to the idea of allowing 100% foreign direct investment (FDI) in affordable rental housing projects. Minister told that I am all for it (100% FDI in affordable rental housing), because am clear as to what our objectives are. Our objectives are that we have to cater to a situation where the urban population in the year of the 2030 will be around 600 million. 

Supreme Court said the resolution plan of the newly-constituted board for Unitech Ltd can be shared on its portal to solicit suggestions from the parties to help the resurrection of the embattled real estate firm. that if the court wished, then the resolution plan may be shared with the parties on the portal.
 
30/07/2020
 
Extension of due date of filing belated/revised Income Tax Return for AY 2019-20 has been further extended to 30th September, 2020 from 31st July, 2020.

For AY 2020-21, senior citizen is not required to pay advance Income Tax. Any self assessment tax paid by due date (without extension) will be deemed as advance tax. 

Finance Ministry officials informed the Department related Standing Committee on Finance that it would not be easy to pay GST compensation according to existing rules and regulations. 
 
29/07/2020
 
Reserve Bank of India to cut interest rates again soon, a Reuters poll of economists suggests. The latest findings echo recent criticism of New Delhi's $266 billion economic rescue package, which does not include new spending, tax breaks or cash support, suggesting more will be needed to turn the economy around. With India now the third-worst-hit country by number of infections after the United States and Brazil, the risk of renewed lockdowns after a nationwide shutdown in March-May has risen.

SEBI: Extension of time for submission of financial results for the quarter/half year/ financial year ended 30th June 2020. Extension of time from 14th August to 15th September for results for quarter ended June.

28/07/2020
 
 CBDT has issued the Income-tax (17th Amendment) Rules, 2020 which shall come into force with effect from the 1st day of October, 2020. Through this amendment a new clause in Rule 31AA(4)(vi) has been inserted which specifies the statement of collection of tax under proviso Section 206C(3), which states, “furnish particulars of the amount received or debited on which tax was not collected by the authorised dealer. 
 
Delhi high court in matter of GST refunds wherein the GST officer has not issued any acknowledgement and pointed out deficiency in relation to refund order within the time stipulated as per the provisions of GST laws said that GST officer cannot reject refund application after 15 days. 
 
July 20th, 2020, the new Consumer Protection Act, 2019 came into force in India, replacing the previous enactment of 1986. The new Act overhauls the administration and settlement of consumer disputes in India. It provides for strict penalties, including jail terms for adulteration and for misleading advertisements. More importantly, it now prescribes rules for the sale of goods through e-commerce. 
 
27/07/2020
 
Finance ministry has notified changes in foreign direct investment (FDI) rules which permit non-resident Indians (NRIs) to acquire upto 100% in Air India. The amendment in FDI policy will permit foreign investment in Air India Ltd at par with other Scheduled Airline Operators. 
 
Banks have sanctioned 43.5 per cent of the targeted Rs 3 lakh crore under the Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS) for stressed Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) as on July 23, with sanctions and disbursements rising sharply over the last few weeks, official data show. 
 
26/07/2020
 
Income Tax Last date of file or revise Income Tax Return for financial Year 2018-19 (Assessment Year 2019-20) is 31.07.2020.Those who have not file their ITR then file accordingly. 
 
Income Tax returns filing could get even more easier and transparent for individual taxpayers from this assessment year. This is because the newly revamped Form 26AS—which is effective from June 1– will also contain the information on taxpayers high valued financial transactions that could be a ready reckoner for assessee while filing income tax returns.

25/07/2020

ITAT Delhi Bench held that Section 40A(2)(b) cannot be invoked merely for Unregistered agreement. The assessee company, DE Diamond Electric India Pvt Limited was engaged in the business of manufacturing and trading of ignition coils for motor vehicle engines. For the year under consideration, the assessee filed return of income declaring total income under normal provisions of the Income Tax Act, 1961, and book profit Rs. 17,11,37,860/-under section 115JB of the Act.

Delhi Court in the Judgment of Jian International Vs. Commissioner of Delhi Goods and Service Tax - W.P. (C) No. 4205/2020 has directed the GST Department to grant the provisional refund of 90% along with interest, since there was no deficiency memo issued within 15 days of the refund application.
 
SEBI may hold its plan to change the rules on Related Party Transactions (RPT) at least for some time. Opposition by corporate groups is said to be (one of) the reason, sources said. SEBI had issued a discussion paper on expanding the spectrum of RPT in January this year after a working group it constituted in November 2019 submitted its report. 
 
24/07/2020
 
Income Tax Department to share PAN, TDS and bank account details with 10 agencies under
NATGRID. The "furnishing and receiving of information to and from" these central agencies will be done through the National Intelligence Grid (NATGRID), a robust mechanism envisaged to track suspects and prevent terrorist attacks with real-time data and access to classified information like immigration, banking, individual taxpayers, air and train travels.

CBDT has signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, Government of India (MoMSME) for sharing of data by CBDT to MoMSME. 
 
Income Tax department is ready to crack the whip on evaders, following the gradual lifting of the lockdown. It will act on information received from whistle-blowers and informers for the first half of 2020. The move will help the department shore up revenue, clear backlogs, and resume probe in pending matters. CBDT, in a recent communication, directed officials to start scrutinising information from tax evasion petitions (TEPs), and take them up on a priority basis.

23/07/2020
 
CBDT notified clarification in relation to the notification issued under clause (v) of the proviso to section 194N of the Income Tax Act, 1961 prior to its amendment by Finance Act, 2020. Section 194N of the Act as inserted by Finance ( No. 2 ) Act, 2019 provided for deduction of tax at source on payment made by a banking company, a cooperative society engaged in the business of banking or post office, in cash to a recipient exceeding Rs. 1 crore in aggregate during a financial year from one or more account maintained by such recipient.

CBIC has indicated following upcoming events of changes in GST that new GST return which was stipulated to be introduced from April 2020 this year will be introduced in phased manner from October 2020 to January 2021.
 
CBIC has issued a Circular to make amendments to all the industry rates of Duty Drawback. Through the said circular amendments have been made in the notification, including All Industry Rates (AIR) have been enhanced for certain footwear items made from leather and Gold jewellery. 
 
22/07/2020
 
GST e-invoicing which was a drastic change to curb GST evasion may become effective from 1 October 2020, only for large taxpayers having turnover above 500 crore and that too for B2B supplies.
 
RBI may allow banks to extend the moratorium on loan EMIs beyond the August 31 deadline, considering the prolonged impact on companies due to the coronavirus pandemic. Companies, particularly in stressed sectors such as hospitality, automobiles and aviation, might be given a breather.
 
Madras High Court recently restrained Patanjali Ayurveda from using the trademark 'Coronil'- the controversial drug that the company initially claimed to be a cure for the deadly Coronavirus
 
21/07/2020

CBDT and CBIC signed an agreement to share data of assesses to take action against persons claiming fake GST claim

Income tax department will soon start sharing data related to depreciation, sales and gross turnover of micro, small and medium enterprises with the MSME Ministry. CBDT has directed the Principal Director General of Income Tax (Systems) to share information with the MSME Ministry.

20/07/2020

CBDT has started the E-campaign to encourage voluntary compliance of Income Tax for FY 2018-19. The reason for the E-campaign by CBDT is to ensure the benefit of the taxpayers so that they do not get into notice and scrutiny processes etc. 

Income Tax department has disposed of 7,116 cases under the first phase of faceless assessment system. Since its launch on October 7, 2019 and implementation of first phase, faceless scrutiny assessment scheme has provided for assessment of income tax in electronic mode, where taxpayers need not see face-to-face any tax officer or visit an I-T office and can e-file reply on the income tax portal.
 
Karnataka High Court held that the land held as stock, transferred upon HUF-partition, doesn’t tantamount to conversion into “capital asset” for the purpose of imposing a capital gain tax under the Income Tax Act, 1961. 
 
19/07/2020

Consumer Protection Act, passed by the Parliament in 2019, will come into effect from July 20, 2020. The new law aims at further protecting the interest of consumers and strengthening the mandate of consumer courts to take action against errant manufacturers, distributors, and sellers.

18/07/2020

Now any taxpayer whose ITR is pending for verification can verify their ITR on or before 30th September 2020.  ITR for FY 2014-15 to FY 2018-19 can be verified through this one time relaxation scheme 

All such verified ITRs shall be processed on or before 31 December 2020. ITRs can be verified through EVC or by sending duly signed hard copy to CPC Bangalore. if any proceeding has been started against taxpayers considering that return for such year has not been filed by taxpayer then benefit of relaxation can not be availed. 
 
CBDT said that now banks/post offices have to only enter the PAN of the person who is withdrawing cash for ascertaining the applicable rate of TDS. On entering PAN, a message will be instantly displayed on the departmental utility: “TDS is deductible at the rate of 2% if cash withdrawal exceeds Rs 1 crore” (if the person withdrawing cash is a filer of the income-tax return) and “TDS is deductible at the rate 2% if cash withdrawal exceeds Rs 20 lakh and at the rate of 5% if it exceeds Rs 1 Crore” (if the person withdrawing cash is a non-filer of ITR).
 
17/07/2020

Indian foreign exchange reserves surged by a massive USD 6.47 billion to touch an all-time high of USD 513.25 billion in the week ended July 3, the latest data from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) showed. In the previous week ended Jun 26, the reserves had increased by USD 1.27 billion to USD 506.84 billion. The reserves had crossed the half-a-trillion dollar mark for the first time in the week ended June 5 after it had increased USD 8.22 billion and reached USD 501.70 billion.
 
Directorate-General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) is set to revamp its services through a new digital platform starting next week. The move is aimed at eventually providing exporters the option of a single online registration for all benefits significantly cutting down paperwork and transaction time. “In the first phase of the launch, scheduled on July 13, the Web site will cater to services related to IEC (import-export code) issuance, modification and amendment processes. 
 
16/07/2020
 
Promoters are required to submit applications through RERA web application for registration of project with Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA). For scrutiny by the RERA, promoters are required to submit hard copies of only 5 necessary documents. The remaining documents will be submitted online only.  
 
Formal Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) and market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), via a video conference, for exchange of data between the two organisations. This will facilitate sharing of data and information on automatic, regular, request and suo moto basis between the two authorities.
 
15/07/2020
 
Central Board of Indirect Taxes & Customs has issued a Circular No.32/2020-Customs dated July 06, 2020 regarding turant Suvidha Kendra and Other Initiatives for Contactless Customs. Under its flagship ‘Turant Customs’ programme aimed at providing a ‘Faceless, Contactless and Paperless’ Customs administration. 
 
FSSAI: The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India has issued standard operating procedures for reactivation of rejected applications and change in a user profile including new login credentials, Email id etc.
 
14/07/2020
 
Delhi High court ordered status quo on SRL diagnostic trademark and restrained the creation of any third party rights. The next date of hearing is on 28 July. The respondents have to file replies within three weeks.  
 
11/07/2020
Ambani, 63 with a net wealth of $70.1 billion, is now the world’s seventh richest according to Forbes real time data. He is also the only Asian to feature in the top 10, ranking ahead of Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin.
Almost all the gains in Reliance Industries shares have come on account of the Rs1,17,588 crore the company has raised for Jio Platforms. Marquee investors include the likes of Facebook, sovereign wealth fund Abu Dhabi Investment

Authority and private equity players KKR and Vista Equity Partners. The deals have been done at an equity valuation of Rs491,000 crore and an enterprise value of Rs516,000 crore. A sum of the parts valuation of the company values the telecom business as the one with the most potential to grow.

09/07/2020
Formal Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) and market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), via a video conference, for exchange of data between the two organisations. This will facilitate sharing of data and information on automatic, regular, request and suo moto basis between the two authorities.
Central Board of Indirect Taxes & Customs has issued a Circular No.32/2020-Customs dated July 06, 2020 regarding turant Suvidha Kendra and Other Initiatives for Contactless Customs. Under its flagship ‘Turant Customs’ programme aimed at providing a ‘Faceless, Contactless and Paperless’ Customs administration. 

Income Tax Dept's argument that the waiver of a loan constitutes an operational subsidy which is taxable is not correct. Therefore, even if a “loan” is written off or waived, which can be for various reasons, it cannot partake the character of a “subsidy”. The waiver of a loan cannot be brought to tax u/s 28(iv) of the Act (Favour of Assessee) Essar Shipping Limited vs. CIT (Bombay High Court). 

CBIC extends benefits under TurantCustoms by issuing Circular No. 32/2020-Customs providing setting up of Turant Suvidha Kendra in all Customs Formations and introducing other initiatives for Contactless Customs by 15 July 2020.
GST Council, which will meet later in July, is likely to witness sharp differences in opinion over the Centre's obligation to make up for state's GST losses. GST collections have fallen drastically owing to the coronavirus lockdown, which was imposed on March 25. Some states, including Kerala, have been demanding that the Centre borrow from the market to pay dues to states. 

08/07/2020
RBI has extended the timeline for finalization of audited accounts by Non Banking Financial Companies (NBFC). RBI has decided that every applicable NBFC shall finalise its balance sheet within a period of 3 months from the date to which it pertains or any date as notified by SEBI for submission of financial results by listed entities.

Income tax department has amended the TDS form, making it more comprehensive and mandating deductors to state reasons for non-deduction of tax. As per the amended form, banks will also have to report Tax Deducted at Source (TDS) for cash withdrawals above Rs 1 crore. CBDT has amended Income Tax Rules to include TDS on e-commerce operators, dividend distributed by mutual funds and business trusts, cash withdrawals, professional fees and interest. 

Wef 1.7.20, TDS @ 2% u/s 194N for cash withdrawal from bank a/cs of 20 lac to 1 cr & 5% above 1 cr if ITRs for 3 years not filed. For others, @ 2% above 1 cr.

07/07/2020
CBIC issued a Notification No. 57/2020 – Central Tax dated June 30, 2020 that All the Taxpayers who have failed to furnish the return in FORM GSTR-3B for the months of Feb, 2020 to July, 2020, by the due date but have furnished the said return till September 30, 2020, the total amount of late fee shall stand waived which is in excess of INR 250. Also said fees shall stand fully waived for the taxpayers where the total amount of tax payable is nil.
 
RBI through an announcement on the Foreign Liabilities and Assets Information Reporting (FLAIR) system website has extended the due date of filing of Foreign Liabilities and Assets (FLA) Return for FY 2019-20to 31st July, 2020.

06/07/2020
CBIC instructed that person required to pay tax on the shortfall from threshold requirement of procuring input and input services (below 80%) from registered person shall use the form DRC-03 to pay the tax electronically on the common portal within the prescribed period.

30.6.20 was the LAST DAY to pay TDS of March, April & May 2020 with interest @ 0.75% pm from Due Date. Wef 1.7.2020, interest @ 1.5% pm from Date of Deduction.

File TDS Statements for March & Jun 2020 quarters by 31.7.2020. Issue form 16 for FY 19-20 & Form 16A etc for March  & Jun 2020 quarters by 15.8.2020. 
?
04/07/2020
CBDT has issued a notification amending rules to allow taxpayers who are opting for the new tax regime to claim exemption for allowance to meet cost of travel and daily expenses on transfer, tour allowance for travel for official purposes to meet the travel and daily expenses, and conveyance allowance for meeting conveyance expenditure incurred in course of performing official duties. Besides, transport allowance for handicapped employee to commute to and from office is also tax exempt.

CBDT notification clarifies that except free meals/ beverages/ meal coupons, tax treatment of other perquisites specified under Rule 3, such as rent free accommodation, motor cars, free/ concessional education facility, telephone, concessional loan, gifts, club membership, etc. provided by employer will remain the same, both under old scheme as well as under new scheme. 

02/07/2020
CBIC has mandated the Builders payment of 18% GST if procurement of materials from registered dealers falls short of the threshold. builders will now have to pay a higher rate of goods and services tax if they haven’t bought at least 80% of the construction material from registered dealers.

Bombay High Court declared the registered trademark ‘ISKCON’ of the religious organisation International Society for Krishna Consciousness as a ‘well-known mark in India (ISKCON v. Iskcon Apparel Pvt. Ltd. & Anr). Well-known trademarks enjoy broader protections than ordinary trademarks, in view of their widespread reputation and recognition.
CBDT has issued a Notification for further extending the time limits of compliances under Income Tax Act:

01/07/2020
Due date for filing Income Tax Return for F.Y 2019-20 has been extended to 30.11.2020 .

Due date for furnishing of report of audit under any provision of Income Tax for FY 2019-20 has been extended to 31.10.2020 .

Deductions under Ch-VIA like Sec 80C, 80D, 80G, etc can now be made upto 31.07.2020 for FY 2019-20.
In order to provide relief to small and middle class taxpayers, the date for payment of self-assessment tax in the case of a taxpayer whose self-assessment tax liability is up to Rs. 1 Lakh has also been extended to 30th November, 2020.
However, it is clarified that there will be no extension of date for the payment of self-assessment tax for the taxpayers having self-assessment tax liability exceeding Rs. 1 lakh.
In this case, the whole of the self-assessment tax shall be payable by the due dates specified in the Income Tax Act (IT Act) and delayed payment would attract interest under section 234A of the IT Act.

The date for making investment/ construction/ purchase for claiming roll over benefit/ deduction in respect of capital gains under sections 54 to 54GB of the IT Act has also been further extended to 30th September, 2020. Therefore, the investment/ construction/ purchase made up to 30th September, 2020 shall be eligible for claiming deduction from capital gains.

The date for passing of order or issuance of notice by the authorities and various compliances under various direct taxes & Benami Law which are required to be passed/ issued/ made by 31st December, 2020 has been extended to 31st March, 2021.

Consequently, the date for linking of Aadhaar with PAN would also be extended to 31st March, 2021.

The date for commencement of operation for the SEZ units for claiming deduction under deduction 10AA of the IT Act has also been further extended to 30th September, 2020 for the units which received necessary approval by 31st March 2020.

The reduced rate of interest of 9% for delayed payments of taxes, levies, etc. specified in the Ordinance shall not be applicable for the payments made after 30th June, 2020.

30/06/2020
Gst: Government vide Instruction No. 3/2/2020-GST dated 24.06.2020 has prescribed that the payment of shortfall from the threshold requirement of procuring 80% inputs and input service from registered persons shall be made through Form DRC-03 on the common portal within the prescribed period i.e. 30.06.2020 for FY 2019-20.
 
Income Tax Section 40(a)(ia) - The amendment to s. 40(a)(ia) by the Finance (No.2) Act, 2015 w.e.f. 01.04.2015, which restricts the disallowance for failure to deduct TDS to 30% of the expenditure instead of 100%, is curative in nature and should be applied retrospectively. Muradul Haque vs. ITO (ITAT Delhi), ITA No.114/Del/2019 , 18.06.2020

29/06/2020
CBIC issues clarification on calculating 30 day period for filing application for revocation of cancellation of registration where cancellation order was passed up to June 12, 2020.CBIC further issued an order specifying that in said case, the later of the following dates shall be considered, (a) Date of service of the said cancellation order or (b) August 31, 2020

MCA has included contributions towards the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) and Central Para Military Forces (CPMF) veterans and their dependents including widows, within the definition of corporate social responsibility (CSR).

27/06/2020
Foreign companies such as Apple that import finished goods or inputs from China to India could be spared the recently imposed 100% physical check of shipments from that country.  The heightened scrutiny of Chinese imports, which has led to goods getting stuck at ports and airports, follows border hostilities between the two nations and a move to reduce India’s business and trade ties with its neighbour.

TDS Reduced rate of interest of 9% pa for delayed payments of Income tax, TDS, GST etc applicable for payments made till 30.6.2020 Wef 1.7.2020, pay interest @18% pa.

26/06/2020
File TDS Statements for Mar & Jun 2020 quarters by 31.7.20. Issue form 16 for FY 19-20 & Form 16A etc for Mar & Jun 2020 quarters by 15.8.2020.

?GSTR For turnover above 5cr, file GSTR-3B for May by 27.06.2020 & by 20 of next month for Jun, Jul etc. For Turnover upto 5 cr, file for May, Jun & July till 30.09.2020.

25/06/2020
Union Cabinet approved an Ordinance to bring urban cooperative banks and multi-state cooperative banks under the supervision of Reserve Bank of India. This was announced by Union Minister Prakash Javadekar in a media briefing about the cabinet decisions. "It will give an assurance to 8.6 crore depositors in these banks that their money will stay safe. 
Commerce ministry has asked exporters to submit ''Certificate of Origin'' applications for shipments to all Asean countries, except Thailand. India has a free trade agreement (FTA) with 10-nation Asean (Association of South East Asian Nations) bloc. Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam are the members of the bloc.   

GST will be levied on sale of land for which primary amenities - such as drainage, waterline and electricity - have been provided by real estate developer, the Authority for Advance Ruling (AAR) has said. The AAR has also concluded that sale of developed plots will be covered under the clause 'construction of a complex intended for sale to a buyer' and accordingly GST would be levied.

24/06/2020
Government has sought product-wise details of cheap imports, comparison with domestic prices and tax disadvantage, if any, from industry to curb low quality inbound shipments especially from China and boost domestic manufacturing. They said a high level meeting to discuss ways to promote Atma Nirbhar Bharat (Self-reliant India), including cut in import dependence from China, also took place recently in the PMO. 

MCA has given a three-month extension to companies to set aside a part of the deposits and debentures maturing in FY21 in a dedicated account, a statutory requirement under the Companies Act. MCA in a circular that the due date of April end, which was extended till end of June in a circular in March, has been further extended till end of September.

23/06/2020
RBI has told the Delhi High Court that Google Pay is a third party app provider (TPAP) and does not operate any payment systems. Therefore, its operations are not in violation of the Payment and Settlement System Act of 2007. 

Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs issued a Notification No. 48/2020 – Central Tax dated June 19, 2020 regarding filing of GSTR-3B also through EVC. Companies, during the period April 21, 2020 to September 30, 2020, shall be allowed to furnish FORM GSTR-3B verified through electronic verification code.

22/06/2020
GST: Delhi High Court upholds the claim of transitional credit in light with its earlier judgments, even after retrospective amendment in CGST Act. 
Case law: SKH Sheet Metals Components Vs. UOI & Ors (Del. HC I Dt. 16.06.2020 I WP(C ) No. 13151/2019
?
MCA: Relaxation of time limit in filing Form CHG-1 & CHG-9 for registration/ modification of charges from 17.6.20 to 30.9.20. MCA Circular 23/2020 of 17.6.20.

21/06/2020
MCA plans to decriminalise various provisions of the Limited Liability Partnership (LLP) Act as part of efforts to provide greater ease of doing business as well as to de-clog the criminal justice system. More than 1.45 lakh LLPs are registered under the LLP Act and a bulk of them are small and medium enterprises. 

Income Tax: Several Mauritius-based foreign portfolio investors are relooking at their investment company structures, after a recent order by a quasi-judicial body denying benefits of grandfathering provisions under the India-Mauritius Double Tax Avoidance Agreement treaty to private equity firm Tiger Global.

20/06/2020
CBIC – GST : The Central Board Indirect Taxes and Customs has issued a clarification on refund related issues onInput Tax Credit in respect of invoices whose details are not reflected in the FORM GSTR-2A of the applicant.

GST: A domestic company buying goods from abroad and selling to another country will have to pay GST on such transactions even if the said products are not entering the Indian territory, the Authority for advance ruling (AAR) has said. On an application filed by Sterlite Technologies, the Gujarat-Bench of AAR has ruled that GST is payable on goods sold to customer located outside India. 
Delhi High Court, dismissing a petition seeking directions to waive rent payable by tenants during the Covid-19 lockdown period, observed that "there can be no eviction, on ground of non-payment of the rent for tenants who are poor" but "it ought to be kept in mind that even the landlords can be financially dependent on the rent".  

19/06/2020
First quarter advance tax collection from India Inc has been revised upward to Rs 39,880 crore from initial mop up of Rs 8,572 crore as payments by some heavyweight companies have come late due to Covid-19 limitations. In some cases, banks are still updating the final figures. According to the latest numbers, the corporation advance tax payments showed a dip of 40 per cent as on June 17 over Rs 65,558 cr in the same period a year ago.

Income Tax Corporate advance tax collections were down 79% on year in the period while advance payments of personal income tax were lower by 65%. The total collections of advance taxes, a mechanism used by the large individual and corporate taxpayers, were just Rs 11,714 crore till the June 15 deadline, less than a quarter of Rs 48,917 crore collected in the year-ago period.

18/06/2020
MCA had earlier issued General Circular No. 14/2020 dated April 8, 2020 and General Circular No. 17/2020 dated April 13, 2020 for providing clarifications on the passing of ordinary and special resolutions by companies by holding Extraordinary General Meetings (EGMs) through video conferencing (VC) or Other Audio-Visual Means (OAVM) or the passing of certain items only through postal ballot without convening the general meeting.

Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) has released a list of more than 500 ‘Made in China’ products to be boycotted after border tensions between India and China escalated on June 16. Products on the list include toys, fabrics, textiles, apparel, everyday items, kitchen items, furniture, hardware, footwear, handbags, etc

17/06/2020
RBI has relaxed the deployment norms of automated teller machines (ATMs) by white-label players, who will now not need to put up thousands of units every year. This is way off the 1,000-25,000 ATMs that would have been added annually by each operator based on the schemes they had opted for. Industry sources say as many as 200,000 WLATMs would have been deployed if the run rate had been maintained.

FSSAI: Food Safety and Standards Authority of India has decided to extend the date for a mandatory food safety audit of food businesses under the FSS (Food Safety Auditing) Regulations 2018. FSSAI, in order, has stated that the food businesses holding Central licences and falling under high risk category can now complete the mandatory audit by Sept 30, 2020. 

16/06/2020
Income Tax S. 68 Bogus Cash Credits: In the case of an assessee engaged in providing 'accommodation entries', the entire deposits cannot be assessed as unexplained cash credits. Only the commission (0.15%) earned in providing the accommodation entries can be assessed as income (PCIT vs. NRA Iron and Steel (2019) 103 Taxmann.com 48 (SC) distinguished) 

Goods and Services Tax Council decided to further ease compliance burden of businesses by providing relief on late free and interest payable on late payments. It reduced late fee and interest for those with tax liabilities and waived off late fee completely for those with no tax liabilities.

15/06/2020
High Court of Kerala gave an judgment regarding GST Authorities to re-open portal for acceptance of a rectified GST TRAN-1. filling of the Form GST TRAN-1 electronically or accept manually in case of South Indian Bank Ltd. V. Union of India [2020] 113 taxmann.com 306 (Kerala) 

All India Forum of Real Estate Regulatory Authorities (AIFORERA) is planning to approach the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to request for an one-time loan restructuring for the real estate sector, taking a cue from a similar aid extended to the micro, small and medium enterprises segment by the central bank.

14/06/2020
Income Tax -New disclosures asked in the New ITR forms 1 to 7 are: 

1. House ownership: Individual taxpayers who are joint owners of house property cannot file ITR-1 or ITR-4.

2. Passport: One needs to disclose the Passport number if held by the taxpayer. This is to be furnished both in ITR 1-Sahaj and ITR 4-Sugam. Hopefully, it will be made mandatory in other ITR Forms as and when they are notified.

3. Cash deposit: For those filing ITR 4-Sugam, it has been made compulsory to declare the amount deposited as cash in a bank account, if such amount exceeds Rs 1 crore during the FY.

4.  Foreign travel: If you have spent more than Rs 2 lakh on traveling abroad during the FY, you need to disclose the actual amount spent.

5. Electricity consumption: If your electricity bills have been more than Rs 1 lakh in aggregate during the FY, you need to disclose the actual amount.

6.  Investment details:  Details of investment qualifying for deduction under chapter VIA with bifurcation of details of investment made during the period from April 1, 2020 to June 30, 2020.

7.  Extension - For every assessment year, the last date for filing tax returns is July 31, However, this year ITR filing date has been extended till November 30, 2020 due to pandemic Covid-19. 

8.  ?Income Tax Exemptions and Deductions that you can claim under the New Tax Regime for FY 2020-21 (AY 2021-22): Withdrawal by an employee from the Employees' Provident Fund (EPF) is not taxable after 5 years of continuous service.

9. Withdrawal from National Pension Scheme (NPS) on maturity or premature closure up to 40% of the amount received on such withdrawal remains tax free for all. In case of partial withdrawal from NPS, up to 25% of the contributions made by the individual will be tax free. Employer’s contribution to NPS up to 10% of their basic salary and dearness allowance also remains tax free.

10. Under Section 10 (10D) of the Income Tax Act, the sum assured and any bonus paid on maturity or surrender of the life insurance plan is tax free. Maturity proceeds continue to be exempt under Section 10(10D) even in the new regime. The maturity amount including interest received on the Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana will not attract any tax.

11. Conveyance Allowance granted to meet expenditure incurred on conveyance in performance of duties of an office and any allowance granted to an employee to meet the cost of travel on tour or on transfer (including relocation) are tax free. Interest received from post office savings account balance up to ?3,500 annually per individual will remain free from tax.

12. Any scholarship granted to meet education costs is tax exempt under Section 10 (16) of the Income Tax Act. Gratuity received from the employer up to ?20 lakh after rendering 5 years of continuous service. Leave encashment received at the time of resignation or retirement up to ?3 lakh.

13. Form 26AS will now be a complete profile of the taxpayer w.e.f. 01.06.2020, CBDT vide Notification dated May 28, 2020 amended Form 26AS in Sec 285BB w.e.f. 01.06.2020. Key takeaways are:

14. New form 26AS will also provide information in respect of “Specified financial transactions” which include transactions of purchase/ sale of goods, property, services, works contract, investment, expenditure, taking or accepting any loan or deposits of such value as may be prescribed but not less than of Rs 50,000.

15. Information about income tax demand, refund, proceedings pending, and proceedings completed which may include assessment, reassessment under section 148,153A 153C, revision, appeal will also be shared in this form 26AS.

16.Information on this form 26AS will not be a one-time affair at year end. This will be a live 26AS, as this will be updated regularly within 3 months from the end of the month in which such information is received.  

17. Form 26AS will now be a complete profile of the taxpayer for that particular year as against earlier form 26AS which just provided the information about taxes paid by way of TDS/TCS or self-assessing. This form will also have mobile no, email I’d and Aadhar no. of the taxpayer.  

18. Further an enabling provision has been notified empowering the CBDT to authorise DG Systems or any other officer to upload in this form, information received from any other officer, authority under any law. Thus any adverse action initiated or taken or found or order passed under any other law such as custom , GST , Benami Law etc. including information about Turnover, import, export etc. will also be put in this form 26AS so that not only the concerned taxpayer but  also all the Income Tax authorities will  know and have access to such information.    

19. This form 26AS will also provide information received by Tax Deptt from any other country under the treaty /exchange of information about income or assets of the taxpayer located outside India.  

20.  The implication of this new form 26AS will be that banks , financial institutions or any other authority or customer , buyer etc. while carrying out due diligence of the person/ corporate concerned will now ask for form 26AS  so as to be sure that there are not any major issues about such person/corporate.  

21. This will now make difficult for any taxpayer to hide information from any bank / financial institution/ authority about any proceedings against under any law or tax demand, tax disputes etc.
 

13/06/2020
Validity of e-way bill generated upto 24.3.20 & whose validity expired on or after 20.3.20, extended till 30.6.20. Notification 47/2020-CT of 9.6.20.

GST Clarification in respect of levy of GST on Director’s Remuneration Circular No: 140/10/2020 - GST dated 10.06.2020: It is clarified that the part of Director's remuneration which are declared as Salaries in the books of a company and subjected to TDS under Section 192 of the IT Act, are not subject to GST and not treated as supply in terms of Schedule III of the CGST Act, 2017.

It is further clarified that the part of Director's remuneration which is declared separately *other than "salaries" in the Company's accounts and subjected to TDS under Section 194J of the IT Act as Fees for professional or Technical Services shall be treated as taxable supply for GST and company is liable to discharge the applicable GST on it on RCM basis.
 
12/06/2020
MCA has notified the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (Amendment) Ordinance, 2020. The government of India has effectively suspended fresh bankruptcy proceedings against persons impacted because of COVID-19 for at least six months, up to a maximum of one year.
 
Start-ups can now issue equity shares to their employees for up to 10 years from the date of their incorporation or registration. The Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) has amended the Companies (Share Capital and Debentures) Rules, 2014, to allow start-ups to issue sweat equity shares not exceeding 50 per cent of its paid-up capital.
 
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday said the government will consider an extension in the deadline for availing the lower 15% corporate tax rate on new investments, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

 11/06/2020
Same transaction can’t be taxed in the hands of two assessees. Rajesh Gupta Vs ITO (ITAT Delhi). The issue under consideration is that whether A.O. is correct in taxing the same turnover in the hands of two assessees

Share transfer without consideration under family arrangement cannot be treated as sham transaction. Case Name : Glebe Trading Pvt. Ltd. Vs ITO (ITAT Delhi)

10/06/2020
CBDT assigned jurisdiction to officers from its international tax division over assessees coming under the purview of ‘equalisation levy’ on e-commerce companies. Experts said the CBDT’s move is a sign that the government is moving ahead with the levy, which came into force on April 1, despite several representations from industry bodies on behalf of foreign companies calling for deferment of the tax due to the fear that the wide-ranging scope of the law may end up taxing even non-digital transactions, leading to possible double taxation. 

GST: Co-operative society is not liable to deduct TDS where Government participation is less than 51%. AAR gave an ruling regarding clarification in respect of applicability of TDS in respect of Cooperative Societies in case of Tamil Nadu Coop. Silk Producers Federation Ltd  [2019] 112 taxmann.com 7 (AAR - 

09/06/2020
Union Cabinet approved amendments to the Essential Commodities Act, removing APMC restrictions for farmers to deregulate agricultural commodities like cereals, pulses, oilseeds, onions and potatoes.  
 
India will provide relief to overseas companies with global income that may be subject to tax here because the presence of their key management personnel stuck in the country during the lockdown created a ‘permanent establishment’ or place of effective management in the country. 

08/06/2020
Foreign branches of Indian banks and those located in the International Financial Services Centre (IFSC) in GIFT City traded in non-deliverable forwards (NDF) for the first time on Monday. The RBI in the past was against this market, but gave way when it was found that the offshore volume in rupee trading is higher than the onshore one.
 
Prime Minister launched the technology platform ‘Champions’ which stands for Creation and Harmonious Application of Modern Processes for Increasing the Output and National Strength.The ICT based system is aimed at making the smaller units big by solving their grievances, encouraging, supporting, helping and handholding.
 
07/06/2020
MSME and farm sectors received major boosts on Monday as the Union Cabinet approved relief packages announced earlier by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman along with a few new reliefs of Rs 20,000/- Crore. 
 
Union cabinet has approved further changes to the definition of micro, small and medium enterprises, a Rs 20,000-crore fund to provide equity support to stressed entities in the sector, and equity infusion of Rs 50,000 crore into MSMEs through a fund of funds.
 
06/06/2020
Dept of UTGST of Daman and Diu decided to switch over of existing GSTIN with state code 25 to New State code of 26 w.e.f. June 01, 2020

05/06/2020
?Income Tax Form 26AS in Sec 285BB was amended by the Finance Act 2020 W.e.f. 01.06.2020 shall contain following information:
TDS / TCS 
Specified Financial Transactions
payment if taxes 
demand and refund
pending proceedings (vi)completed proceedings specified Financial Transactions are stated in section 285BA(3).
GST Portal: EVC option has been activated for GSTR-1 return. Now, we can file GSTR-1 and GSTR-3B with EVC option in case of companies also.
 
04/06/2020
Ministry of Corporate Affairs, vide Gazette Notification dated 26th May, 2020, has made the Prime Minister’s Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations Fund (PM CARES Fund) eligible to receive contributions from corporate social responsibility (CSR) corpuses of corporates.

Sebi is unlikely to agree to India Inc’s demand of waiving financial results disclosures for the first quarter of this financial year. Industry bodies Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Ficci) had requested the regulator to relax the norms due to the disruption caused by Covid-19.
 
03/06/2020
DGFT vide Notification No. 07/2015-20 dated 28.05.2020 has removed restriction on the export of Paracetamol API, with immediate effect.

PF Contribution @10% for Salary of May, June & July is Optional. Employer or employee can pay at normal rate of 12% FAQ of EPFO of 20.05.2020. 
 
02/06/2020
Supreme Court has observed that Retirement of one partner amounts to dissolution of partnership firms consisting of only two partners: When there are only two partners and one has agreed to retire, then the retirements amounts to dissolution of the firm.
 
Income Tax Gross direct tax collections recorded a 13 per cent fall up to May 23 this year, compared to the same period last year. Gross tax collections declined to Rs 91,646 crore between April 1 and May 23, compared to Rs 1.05 trillion in the corresponding period of FY20. Refunds worth Rs 16,242 crore were issued during this period, a 68 per cent fall compared to the Rs 51,655 crore disbursed last year.

01/06/2020
?GST: ITC-02A enabled at GST common portal for transfer of ITC in Credit Ledger to other registered entities/place of businesses in same state.
 
Government could allow companies to claim input tax credit for personal protective equipment (PPE) kits, sanitisers, masks and other such goods distributed free for battling Covid-19. Officials in Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) aware of the development said the issue was being examined and a decision is expected shortly.
 
31/05/2020
?TDS: Pay Interest @0.75% for 2 months if you pay TDS of March from 1-31 May. Interest @0.75% for 1 Month if you pay TDS of April from 8-31 May.

Government should consider keeping in abeyance the 2 per cent equalisation levy on e-commerce companies as there are ambiguities surrounding its applicability.  Budget 2020-21, expanded the scope of “equalisation levy” to include consideration received by e-commerce operators from e-commerce supply or services. The 2 per cent levy came into effect from April 1, 2020. 
 
30/05/2020
Central Board of Indirect Taxes & Customs has issued a  Notification No. 24/2020 – Customs dated May 21, 2020 regarding to amend notification No. 56/2000-Customs, No. 57/2000-Customs and No. 40/2015-Customs providing for extension of last date of export by six months, for those cases where the last date of export falls between February 1, 2020 and July 31, 2020 due to the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic.
 
Lower PF Rate of 10% to be applicable for both employer(except Central Govt) & employee for Salary of May, June & July 2020. SO 1513(E) of 18.5.20. 
 
29/05/2020
No Penal Damages in case of Late Deposit of PF Contribution or Administrative charges during Lockdown. EPFO Circular no C-I/Misc/2020 21/Vol I/1112  of 15.5.20.
 
Income tax department has notified the 'safe harbour' rates for 2019-20 fiscal for calculation of transfer pricing by foreign companies in India. CBDT has notified changes to Rules 10TD and 10TE of Income Tax Rules relating to Safe Harbour Rules. It said rates applicable from Assessment Year (AY) 2017-18 to 2019-20 will continue to apply for AY 2020-21. Transfer pricing implies the prices at which various overseas divisions of a company transact with each other. 
 
28/05/2020
Commissioner of Central Goods and Service Tax (CGST) issued guidelines for the virtual hearing of appeals and adjudication of indirect tax cases under the provisions of Central Excise Act, 1944; the Finance Act, 1994 and Central Goods and Service Tax Act. addressing all the trade associations of the assessee in Thane commissioner, CAs, manufacturer association, etc.

CBIC has asked GST risk management wing to conduct supply chain analysis to identify risky major suppliers to exporters and share it with jurisdictional field officers. CBIC had received representations from exporters saying in some cases the Integrated GST (IGST) refunds are getting delayed by over 6 months. Last year, the CBIC had detected several cases of firms availing credit fraudulently through refund of Integrated Goods and Services Tax on exports of goods. 
 
27/05/2020
RBI in its press conference announced a cut in the repo rate by 0.4 per cent, which now stands at 4 per cent. Subsequently, the reverse repo rate was reduced to 3.35 per cent. The RBI had cut repo rate by 75 basis points in March and also announced several liquidity measures amidst the COVID-19 outbreak. Besides cutting the repo rate, the RBI has also extended the moratorium period by another three months. Home loans After the repo rate cut and with the cost of funds coming down for banks, borrowers will stand to gain as the EMIs on their home loan and car loan are expected to fall.
 
CBDT has pruned the list of electronic payments methods wholesalers can offer, in a bid to make payment options more relevant to a business’ customer base. CBDT said in a circular that wholesalers need not offer certain electronic payment methods, such as debit cards powered by RuPay, unified payments interface (UPI) and UPI quick response code, which are generally used by retail customers.
 
26/05/2020
CBDT issued the clarification on that the provisions of section 269SU of the Income Tax Act shall not be applicable to a specified person having only B2B transactions i.e. no transaction with the retail customer if at least 95% of the aggregate of all amounts received during the previous year. 

No Penal Damages in case of Late Deposit of PF Contribution or Administrative charges during Lockdown. EPFO Circular no C-I/Misc/2020 21/Vol I/1112  of 15.5.20.

25/05/2020
Lower PF Rate of 10% to be applicable for both employer (except Central Govt) & employee for Salary of May, June & July 2020. SO 1513(E) of 18.5.20. 

Facility to receive payment  via Rupay Dr card, UPI etc Mandatory for B2B business with sales above 50cr, If cash receipts are upto 5%. Circular 12 of 20.5.20.
 
24/05/2020
Relaxations for the Companies and LLPs to make good any filing related defaults, irrespective of duration of default, and make a fresh start as a fully compliant entity by 30th September, 2020. 
 
Supreme Court on 06.05.2020 Extension of limitation period: ordered that all periods of limitation prescribed under the Arbitration and Conciliation Act,1996 and under section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act 1881 shall be extended with effect from 15.03.2020 till further orders to be passed by this Court in the present proceedings.

23/05/2020
Govt will provide an additional Rs. 40,000 crore allocation for the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) for FY21, allow states to borrow up to 5% of gross state domestic product (GSDP) from 3% now and privatise public sector enterprises (PSEs) in non-strategic sectors under a new policy for such units.

Force Majeure : When the parties have not provided for what would take place when an event which renders the performance of the contract impossible, then S. 56 of the Contract Act applies. The effect of the doctrine of frustration is that it discharges all the parties from future obligations. South East Asia Marine Engineering And Constructions Ltd (Seamec Ltd) vs. Oil India Ltd (Supreme Court)

21/05/2020
CBDT clarifies that Sec 269SU (requirement of providing facilities like Debit Card/Bhim UPI by person having turnover>Rs. 50cr ) is not applicable in case where the person deals only in B2B transactions and he receives at least 95% of total receipts in non-cash modes. 

Central Board of Indirect Taxes & Customs has issued a Circular No. 25/2020-Customs dated May 18, 2020 regarding Electronic Sealing-Deposit in and removal of goods from Customs Bonded Warehouses. 

Relaxations for the Companies and LLPs to make good any filing related defaults, irrespective of duration of default, and make a fresh start as a fully compliant entity by 30th September, 2020.  

Delhi Govt announce the new set of detailed rules and regulation including the industrial firms in the national capital. The new rules say that the industries names starting from A to L are allowed to open or function from 7.30 am to 5.30 pm, while the industries names starting from M to Z will function from 8.30, am to 6.30 pm. 

20/05/2020
The one year suspension for filing new cases under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) and a default holiday for loans taken to deal with COVID 19 is likely to force RBI to soften its restructuring and provisioning norms to deal with stressed assets.  

EOGM/ AGM can be held via video conferencing/ other audio visual means during Calendar Year 2020, subject to necessary conditions. MCA Circulars of 8 Apr & 5 May. 

19/05/2020
Sebi has granted mutual funds’ (MFs’) request for allowing additional exposure to government securities (G-secs) and treasury bills (T-bills) for credit risk fund, corporate bond fund, and the banking & PSU fund. The regulator has temporarily revised the scheme categorisation norms to make the option available for MFs. 

Kotak Mahindra Bank on Monday has introduced video-KYC facility for customers opening savings account on Kotak 811 - the banks digital banking platform. The private lender is the first Indian bank to offer video based "zero-contact" onboarding service.

18/05/2020
Labour ministry notified lower rates of provident fund contribution at 10%, thus increasing the take home salary of 4.3 crore provident fund subscribers and giving relief to 6.5 lakh establishments. The existing rate of contribution by both employee and employer is 12%. The reduction in PF rates for three months as part of the government's Rs 20 lakh crore stimulus package, will infuse Rs 6,750 crore liquidity into the system. 
Government has withdrawn its order directing companies and commercial units to pay full wages to workers even when they are not in operation during the COVID-19-induced nationwide lockdown, which began on March 25. The government's move is expected to bring relief to a large number of industries and companies which were unable to pay full wages to their employees. 

17/05/2020
Several states have ordered reopening of markets, local transport and even salons in areas that are considered safe from coronavirus. However, schools, colleges, theatres and malls are among those that would remain closed 

Supreme Court on 06.05.2020 Extension of limitation period: ordered that all periods of limitation prescribed under the Arbitration and Conciliation Act,1996 and under section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act 1881 shall be extended with effect from 15.03.2020 till further orders to be passed by this Court in the present proceedings. 

16/05/2020
Finance minister said the government will amend the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) to exclude debt taken during the Covid-19 outbreak and suspend any fresh resolution filings for up to one year. 
Govt will provide an additional Rs. 40,000 crore allocation for the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) for FY21, allow states to borrow up to 5% of gross state domestic product (GSDP) from 3% now and privatise public sector enterprises (PSEs) in non-strategic sectors under a new policy for such units. 

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced various reliefs in Companies Act in the Fifth and Final tranche of COVID Stimulus of Rs 20 lakh Crore. Key takeaways are:
IBC reforms: Covid-related debt to be excluded from definition of default under the IBC. No fresh insolvency for next one year. Minimum threshold to initiate insolvency raised to Rs one crore from Rs one lakh earlier.  
Decriminalising Companies Act: Violations under most of the Companies Act to be decriminalised. This will ease the burden on courts and tribunals. Seven compoundable offences under Companies Act being dropped, 5 offences to be dealt under alternative framework.    

Listing norms: Companies can now list securities directly in foreign jurisdictions     
New Public Sector Policy: Public sector enterprise policy: All sectors are open to the private sector while public sector enterprises will play an important role in defined areas. Govt will notify strategic areas and in them at least one PSE will remain, but private sector will be allowed. In other sectors, PSEs will be privatised.
Auditing Guidance on Auditor’s Reporting- Key audit consideration amid COVID 19

ICAI has issued Auditing Guidance on Auditor’s Reporting that is key audit consideration amid COVID 19. Key takeaways are:

Impact on Auditor’s Report- Guidance describes the possible impact of COVID-19 on the auditor’s report under various circumstances 
when the auditor should modify his opinion  
Going Concern Consideration  
Including an Emphasis of Matter Paragraph in the Auditor’s Report  
COVID-19 and Key Audit Matters 
KAM Related to Going Concern  
Auditor’s Responsibilities in respect of Discussion about the COVID-19 Pandemic included in the Other Information in the Entity’s Annual Report
BSE and NSE have reduced the annual listing fees for companies listed on SME platform by 25% considering the challenges faced by small and medium enterprises due to Covid 19. The revised listing fee structure will be applicable for the existing listed companies as well as for the companies proposed to be listed on the stock exchange. 

15/05/2020
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced various reliefs in Income Tax in the Second tranche of COVID Stimulus of Rs 20 lakh Crore. Key takeaways are:
Return Filling date Extension- Due date for all income-tax return for FY 2019-20 will be extended from 31 July 2020 to 30th November 2020 and tax audit from 30th September 2020 to 31st October 2020.       

Reduction in TDS and TCS rate-   

TDS, TCS rate for non-salaried payments for period up to March 31, 2021 has been slashed by 25%, If date of deduction is 14.5.20 to 31.3.21, TDS @ 75% of normal rates to deducted on non- salary payments to residents. 

TDS has been cut on 23 items such as securities, bank accounts, securities, payments to professionals etc. Also, TCS on 12 items have been cut. This has been done so that more money is left at the disposal of the people.  

TDS on ecommerce participants which is applicable from 1st October 2020 @ 1% would be now 0.75 % till March 31st 2021.  

14/05/2020
The benefit of latest reduction in the rates of TDS and TCS will not apply to those not furnishing PAN or Aadhaar. 

Not furnishing PAN/Aadhaar for income tax purposes. The benefit of latest reduction in the rates of TDS and TCS will not apply to those not furnishing PAN or Aadhaar. In view of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Central government has reduced rates of TDS and TCS on various transactions by 25 per cent. However, it won’t apply to those who have to pay higher tax on account of not furnishing the PAN or Aadhaar numbers.
TDS has been cut on 23 items such as securities, bank accounts, securities, payments to professionals etc. Also, TCS on 12 items have been cut. the rates at which TDS and TCS were cut on various transactions have been reduced by 25 per cent. This has been done so that more money is left at the disposal of the people. 
Vivaad se Vishwas-The date for making payment without additional amount under the “Vivad Se Vishwas” scheme will be extended to 31st Dec 2020.

13/05/2020
GST on Directors Salary has been put to rest by a recent decision of the Authority for Advance Rulings (AAR), Karnataka bench. AAR bench has clarified that if the director is an employee of the company, there will be no incidence of GST. However, if the director is a non-executive director (that is, a nominated director), and provides his or her services to the company, then the remuneration paid is subject to GST. In such cases, the ‘reverse-charge’ mechanism will apply and it is the company (recipient of the services) who will pay the GST. 

12/05/2020
Government has brought an ordinance to extend due dates for compliances under various tax laws. In CGST Act, new Section 168A empowers it to extend the time-limit specified or prescribed in respect of actions which cannot be completed or complied with due to force majeure. Epidemic has been included in the new definition of force majeure. Notifications have been issued relaxing due dates for filing returns, granting interest waiver, reduced interest for delayed payment and waiver of late fee. 

11/05/2020
Economic recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic will require states to relax labour laws—as Uttar Pradesh (UP), Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and a few other states have done. The economy was not doing well even before the pandemic, and the lockdown decision and the need to enforce distancing at the workplace has meant that the risks to industrial growth have become manifold since. The unemployment rate is already near 25% and, as per data from the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE), nearly 9.13 crore small traders and labourers have lost employment in April 2020. 
Ministry of Corporate Affairs has allowed all companies to conduct General Meetings (Annual and Extra-Ordinary) through video conferencing or other audio visual means (OAVM) complemented with E-Voting facility / simplified voting through registered emails, without requiring the shareholders to physically assemble at a common venue.
 
In the backdrop of the current extraordinary circumstances of COVID-19 pandemic prevailing in the country, the Ministry of Corporate  Affairs (MCA) has provided breather for India Inc. by permitting companies to hold Annual General Meetings (AGM) and Extra Ordinary General Meetings (EGM) through video conference (VC) or any other audio-visual means (OAVM).

10/05/2020
CBDT issues circular excluding period of forced stay in India from 22nd March,2020 to 31st March,2020 while computing residential status in India in Financial Year 2019-20. We can expect similar circular for excluding forced stay in India later on for Financial Year 2020-21.

?Extension of due date for furnishing GSTR 9 & 9C for FY 2018-19 till 30-9-20. Notification 41/2020-CT of 5.5.20. 

CBIC said any registered person during the period from the April 21, 2020 to June 30, 2020, will be allowed to furnish the return under section 39 in Form GSTR-3B verified through electronic verification code (EVC). Currently, businesses are required to digitally sign GSTR-3B form while filing monthly return and paying taxes. 

07/05/2020
?Delhi High Court in the case of Bharti Airtel Ltd. Vs UOI in its decision dated 05-05-2020 decided that Assessee be allowed to file rectified GSTR 3B. Para 4 of Circular 26/26/2017to the extent it requires adjustment in ITC and output in the month in which error is discovered should be read down. 

Delhi High Court: Freezing of petitioner's Bank Accounts - GST liability of the petitioner qua Delhi is about ? 11.5 crores and for PAN India’s is ? 59.24 crores approximately. - on payment of ? 5.5 crores within two days from the date of defreezing of its all accounts, no coercive action be taken against the petitioner till it continue abiding by the undertaking given today. An undertaking be filed in the course of the day.
RBI may cut the reverse repo rate further as banks continue to increasingly deploy surplus funds with it despite the same being cut twice since March 27 to nudge them to lend. Reverse repo rate, which is the interest rate that the central bank pays banks for parking surplus funds with it, has been cut twice -- from 4.90 per cent to 4 per cent on March 27 and from 4 per cent to 3.75 per cent on April 17 -- to encourage banks to deploy these surplus funds in investments and loans in productive sectors of the economy.

05/05/2020
Today (5.5.2020) is last date to file GSTR-3B for March for those with turnover more than Rs. 5cr in previous FY without interest. Interest @ 9% pa shall be applicable from 6.5.2020.
 
Direct tax collection surged 36.5 per cent to Rs 34,784 crore in the first month of fiscal year 2020-21, despite a nationwide lockdown, thanks to a 63 per cent year-on-year (YoY) fall in tax refunds in April. Without accounting for refunds, the collection contracted 5.4 per cent, indicating muted economic activity as the Covid-19 pandemic and subsequent curbs paralysed most sectors. 
 
High Court of Allahabad gave an important judgment that Penalty is imposed on owner of vehicle, irrespective of ownership of goods  regarding detention and seizure of goods and vehicle in case of Ashwini jain v. State of U.P. [2020] 114 taxmann.com 34 (Allahabad)

To avoid too much of rush and to follow social distancing norms, the banks have devised account linked withdrawls wherein starting from 4th May 2020, account numbers ending with 0,1 are allowed to withdraw on 04th may, account numbers ending with 2,3 allowed on 05th may, account numbers ending with 4,5 allowed to withdraw on 06th may and so on. This is envisaged till 11th May 2020

GST Network Helpdesk on Sunday said it has handled over 56,000 taxpayer issues in one month since the nationwide lockdown was imposed on March 25. According to data from GSTN, over 19,552 tickets raised by taxpayers were resolved between March 25 and April 24.
 
04/05/2020
Delhi Govt press release about Allowed Activities wef 04th may 2020

 
Investors who have bid for assets under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) are expected to reassess their offers as cash flow projections have gone awry amid the covid-19 pandemic and the ensuing nationwide lockdown, experts said.  
 
RBI sold a net $500 million in the overseas currency-derivatives market in March, the biggest such intervention in at least a year, to ensure that the rupee remained stable amid a coordinated capital flight to safe havens from the emerging markets.
 
03/05/2020
Supreme Court:- Tax Authorities can't give their own interpretations to legislative provisions on perception of trade practices. 
There is no concept of 'constructive delivery' of goods under the Central Sales Tax Act, 1956, and inter-state movement of goods will terminate only when physical delivery is taken
 
MCA  has invited proposals for funding up to Rs 50 lakh for research in various topics from integration of the MCA-21 database with other databases to a corporate governance and other related topics.
 
Indian Banks are reportedly planning to suggest to the government that all the pending cases under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) should be suspended for at least two years in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic.
 
02/05/2020
Centre has announced an extension for two more weeks in the nationwide lockdown. However, several relaxations will be allowed as per zones.
 
GST collections may likely witness a slow or even negative growth rate for at least six months from March due to the impact on Covid-19 on manufacture, business and consumption. An analysis of different scenarios reveal that GST revenue for the past 30 months has been uneven, volatile, indolent and far below official targets. 
 
Central Government  vide Notification No.37/2020 ,dated 28th April, 2020 has appointed the 21st day of April, 2020, as the date from which  Rule 87(13) of the CGST Rules, 2017 ,which states that a registered person may, on the common portal, transfer any amount of tax, interest, penalty, fee or any other amount available in the electronic cash ledger under the Act to the electronic cash ledger for integrated tax, central tax, State tax or Union territory tax or cess in FORM GST PMT-09,& FORM GST PMT –09 shall come into force.

Central Board of Indirect Taxes & Customs ,  on account of recent outbreak of COVID-19 (Coronavirus) vide Instruction No. F. No. 390/Misc/3/2019-JC,dated 27th April, 2020 has issued guidelines & decided that personal hearing, in respect of any proceeding under Customs Act 1962, given by various authorities, such as Commissioner (Appeals), original adjudicating authorities and Compounding authority, may be conducted through video conferencing facility. 

RBI on Thursday permitted banks to file regulatory returns with a delay of up to 30 days from the due date as several entities face difficulties in timely submission in view of the disruptions on account of the coronavirus outbreak.  

MCA allows companies to hold first AGM before September 30. Mca allowed companies whose financial year ended in December, to hold their first AGMs within the first nine months of their current fiscal or Sept. 30)
 
Govt declares banking industry as a public utility service for six months till October 21. Govt has declared banking industry as a public utility service for six months till October 21 under the provisions of the Industrial Disputes Act
 
RBI allows banks to issue electronic cards for overdraft accounts. RBI permitted banks to issue electronic cards to persons having overdraft accounts that are only in the nature of personal loan without any specific end-use restrictions
 
01/05/2020
Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has extended the lockdown by 2 Weeks with effect from 04th May, 2020 to 17th May, 2020. Detailed Guidelines with respect to Containment Zones, Red Zones, Orange Zones and Green Zones as issued by MHA. 

 
High Court of Orissa gave an important judgement regarding Opportunit y of being hear is must before charging a tax or penalty in case of tax or input tax credit involving fraud or misstatement or suppression in case of Serajuddin & Co. V. Union of India [2020] 114 taxmann.com 480 (ORISSA) 
 
30/04/2020
MCA has issued Companies (Appointment and Qualification of Directors) Second Amendment Rules, 2020. Registration of details of Independent Directors in ID Data Bank is further deferred by two months.
 
Government is considering a proposal to extend the deadline for filing personal income tax returns to September 30 from July 31 because of the lockdown. The last date for paying advance tax has already been extended till June 30 from March 31.

CBIC has issued guidelines for conduct of personal hearings for appeals and adjudications in virtual mode.  The  note provides detailed guidelines including method of notice, PH, VC software to be used, noting and confirmation of hearing minutes etc.  They have issued the same for customs, soon guidelines for GST hearings shall also be issued. 
 
Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) has asked field offices to conduct hearings in customs, excise and service tax appeal cases via video conference with the consent of the appellant or respondent to ensure social distancing amid the COVID-19 outbreak. The CBIC issued guidelines for conducting personal hearings in virtual mode under Customs Act and said that this would also apply to those cases under Central Excise Act 1944 and Chapter V of Finance Act 1994.
 
29/04/2020
High Court of Tripura gave an important judgment regarding Opportunity of being hear is must before order of demand in detention and seizure of goods and vehicle in case of Kalpana Stores v. State of Tripura [2020] 113 taxmann.com 616 (Tripura)

TDS deducted from Salary & Others in March pay by 30.4.20 (Thursday) WITHOUT Interest. Pay till 30.6.20 WITH Interest @ 0.75% pm. Ordinance of 31.3.2020. 

RBI Announces ? 50,000 crore Special Liquidity Facility for Mutual Funds (SLF-MF)   The Reserve Bank of India on Monday stepped in with a Rs 50,000 crore special liquidity facility for Mutual Funds in the wake of Franklin Templeton episode.

Under the SLF-MF, RBI will conduct repo operations of 90 days tenor at fixed repo rate.

28/4/2020
RBI circular Crux as understood-
 
Compulsory audit of branches having advances above Rs 20 crore is not being mandatory in this year.
Total 90% advances seperately for funded and non funded adavance have to be mandatorily Audited (earlier it was 90% of total)
Banks who have already alloted branches may also do the necessary modifications if required.
Auditors who are not willing to conduct audit due to corona effect and refuse to audit then banks may appoint additional auditors with rbi permission.
Banks will arrange for audit preferably through electronic medium from different places in case of remote branches
 
27/04/2020
Supreme Court in the case of  UOI vs. U.A.E. Exchange Centre  describes that Taxability of Liaison Offices under DTAAs: The activities carried on by the liaison office of the non-resident in India as permitted by the RBI, demonstrate that the liaison office must steer away from engaging in any primary business activity and in establishing business connection as such. It can carry on activities of preparatory or auxiliary nature only.
 
High Court of Gujarat gave an important judgment dated regarding detention, seizure and release of goods and conveyance on deposit  in case of Rajkumar Maheshwari V. Union of India [2020] 114 taxmann.com 400 (GUJARAT)
 
26/04/2020
Authority on Advance Rulings (AAR), Karnataka has ruled that GST is applicable on residential accommodation sublet by a tenant, a ruling that experts said could open a Pandora’s box of litigations. In a case involving about 42 single rooms having been sublet by a tenant to students for periods ranging between three months to 11 months, AAR noted that the property given out for sub-renting matched that of a hotel – rooms with attached bathrooms – “which can by no imagination be termed as residential dwelling”, or a house.
 
GoI’s decision to block the automatic route for approving foreign direct investments (FDI) from China has surprised many, and not just Chinese investors. But the decision was probably arrived at after much deliberation, and is meant to be used as a diplomatic lever in dealing with Beijing.
 
25/04/2020
Karnataka based company has moved Supreme Court challenging the Constitutional validity of two Government orders which directed employers to retain their employees and pay full wages throughout the duration of the ongoing nationwide lockdown.

Basir Ahmed Sisodiya vs. ITO (Supreme Court) S. 68 Bogus Purchases: Though the assessee failed to prove the genuineness of the purchases during the assessment proceedings, he filed affidavits and statements of the dealers in penalty proceedings. That evidence fully supports the claim of the assessee. The CIT (A) accepted the explanation of the assessee and recorded a clear finding of fact that there was no concealment of income or furnishing of any inaccurate particulars of income by the assessee. Consequently, the quantum addition will also have to be deleted. 

24/04/2020
Central Government is considering another excise duty hike on petrol and diesel. The hike could be notified after the resumption of economic activity once the nationwide lockdown is broadly lifted. “There may be marginal hike in excise duty to offset revenue loss due to lack of demand. 

Central government is likely to clear a relief package worth Rs 20,000 crore, which will be divided in two separate funds, to help Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) restart economic activities. The Expenditure Finance Committee or EFC, headed by finance minister Nirmala Sitaraman has cleared and forwarded two proposals for govt allocating nearly Rs 20,000 crore for helping MSME. 

22/04/2020
CBDT today issued Circular No. 9 of 2020 dated April-22-2020 whereby certain replies to 55 FAQs; answered on March-04-2020 have been modified or consequentially amended. With this, Circular No. 7 of 2020 dated March-04-2020 has been Withdrawn.
?
20/04/2020
?Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) on extended the deadline to import and export goods without furnishing bonds to the Customs authorities by a fortnight till May 15, a move aimed at facilitating trade during the COVID-19 lockdown. In a circular, the CBIC said businesses will, however, have to furnish proper bond to the Customs authorities by May 30 for import and exports done through undertaking till May 15. 
AAR gave an important ruling regarding classification and taxability of Flavoured milk GST @ 12% in case of Tirumala Milk Products (P.) Ltd. [2019] 111 taxmann.com 495 (AAR-ANDHRA PRADESH)
 
19/04/2020
Supreme Court has held that open spaces left for garden areas in approved building layout plans cannot be allowed for construction
CBIC has issued Circular No. 19/2020- Customs dated April 13, 2020 for electronic communication of PDF based Gatepass and OOC Copy of Bill of Entry to Custom Brokers/Importers. Board has now decided to enable electronic communication of PDF based Final eOoC (electronic Out of Charge) copy of BoE and eGatepass to the importers/Customs Brokers. This electronic communication would reduce interface between the Customs authorities and the importers/Customs Brokers.

17/04/2020
RBI Changes on 17th April 2020:
TLTRO 2.0- 50k cr to begin with in tranches for liquidity injection. Funds availed by banks -50% in NBFCs HTM bonds/ NCds
50k cr for refinance to All India Institutions NABARD/SIDBI/NHB. NHB gets 10k cr. Discussed with them and can be increased if needed. Policy repo rates applicable. 4.4%.
LAF- Reverse repo rate reduced to 3.75% from 4%. Should encourage banks to invest outside RBI. 
WMA limits of states to increase by 60% from limit as on 1st April 2020. States expected to space requirement over the year. Available till September 30th.
Regulatory measures - consistent with Basil guidelines. Asset Classification - All accounts wherein morat given and were standard on 1st March. 0 period.
Large accounts under defaults - additional provision needed today within 210 days for stressed accounts. Period extended by 90 days.
No dividend from 31st March 2020 profits by banks. To be reviewed after 30th September.
LCR- requirements of SCBs from 100% to 80%. Restored to 90% till 1st oct and end of FY.
Loans to CF Projects- 1 year further extension can be given without calling for restructuring.
RBI will continue to deal and make announcements to respond to emerging challenges.
Inflation could recede further making more space.
 
16/04/2020
CBIC has launched electronic delivery of gate passes and final bills of entry to customs brokers and importers with an aim to further simplify import clearance process by reducing human interface and help tackle the scourge of Covid-19.
 
Sebi’s direction to custodians is an immediate reaction to People’s Bank of China (PBOC), the country’s monetary authority, buying a little above 1% in HDFC -- India’s leading non-bank mortgage lender and traditionally considered as one of the blue-chip stocks by most institutional investors.
 
IRDAI has asked insurers to ensure that they have sufficient capital and liquidity to service the requirements of policyholders. “Indian insurers need to prepare strategies and action plans for business continuity to ensure enhanced protection to the policyholders,” the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India said in a circular.

?EPF has extend the deposit date for the month of March 2020,up-to 15 May-2020, Instead of 15th April-2020.

15/04/2020
Section 2(9) of the Finance Act, 2020, provides that where tax is to be deducted from ‘Salary’ income, the deduction shall be made as per the rates specified in Part III of the First Schedule, to which the applicable surcharge shall be added. To such tax and surcharge, Section 2 (12) of the Finance Act, 2020, requires a cess of 4% to be added.
Going a step forward, the rates as per Part III refers to the normal tax rates applicable to an individual. It does not refer to the concessional tax rates provide for under the new regime (aka section 115BAC). In other words, a combined literal reading of the above provisions indicates that the employer has to deduct tax at source at the normal (old) rates only.
A counter argument could be that reading of the I-T Act should not be made so complicated. As the new tax regime is part of the Finance Act, 2020, these rates can apply for the purpose of TDS.
Thus, if an employee self declares that she or he is opting for the new concessional regime, tax should accordingly be deducted at source using the new slab rates. The employer should not be treated as an ‘assessee in default’ and penalised for short deduction of tax (merely because he has not adopted the normal tax rates).

Indian entities of many multinationals, which receive a fixed margin or a mark-up from their parents, fear they could face transfer-pricing issues due to Covid-19. This is because the MNCs are renegotiating and slashing these fixed mark-ups, which the tax authorities may see as an anomaly and question.

GST AAR gave an important ruling dated 15thOctober,2019 regarding supply under contract for ‘design, realization, integration and commissioning of 1.2m Trisonic wind tunnel is a Work Contact in case of Tata Projects Ltd. [2019] 110 taxmann.com 512 (AAR-KERALA)

14/04/2020
MCA Clarification on passing of ordinary and special resolutions by companies under the Companies Act, 2013 and rules made thereunder on account of the threat posed by Covid-19.

MCA Filings under section 124 and section 125 of the Companies Act 2013 r/w IEPFA (Accounting, Audit, Transfer and Refund) Rules 2016 in view of emerging situation due to outbreak of COVID– 19.

MCA has clarified that companies cannot make financial contributions to any ‘Chief Minister’s Relief Fund’ or ‘State Relief Fund for COVID-19' and claim that as ‘corporate social responsibility’ (CSR) spending as per existing law. It said all corporate donations to Modi’s ‘PM CARES Fund’, which was set up to fight the COVID-19 pandemic, could be counted as CSR expenditure that most companies are mandated to make by law.

13/04/2020
CBDT clarified that an employee making a donation to the PM-CARES fund through the employer can claim income tax deduction under Section 80G on the basis of Form 16 issued by the employer. Form 16 is a certificate issued by employers to employees detailing the tax deducted at sources (TDS). 

CBIC has issued instruction No. 03/2020- Customs dated April 09, 2020 to process all pending Customs refund and drawback claims immediately in order to provide immediate relief to the business entities, specially MSMEs, in these difficult times.

Anti-Profiteering has issued Order No. 04/2019 dated 31st January, 2019 To Dominos Pizza guilty of not passing GST benefit in case of Sh. Kiran Chimirala & Director General Anti-Profiteering (Applicant) Vs. M/s. Jubilant Food Work Ltd. (Respondent).

Anti-Profiteering has issued Order No. 13/2019 dated 01st March, 2019: No profiteering if base price of product remain same after GST rate reduction in case of Kerala State Screening Committee on Anti-profiteering (Applicant) Vs. M/s Velbon Vitrified Tiles Pvt. Ltd (Respondent).

GST revenues for April could be down by 30-40% of the annual monthly collections of around Rs 1 lakh crore in FY20. FMCG firms will ensure the dip isn’t more. Currently collections are just a fifth of normal levels.

12/04/2020
Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) has now come up with relief for all law-abiding Companies, who defaulted in any of their previous filings with Registrar of Companies (ROC). Ministry for all default adjustments of companies has introduced Companies Fresh Start Scheme, 2020 where another opportunity is being given to companies to re-initiate their pending fillings with their respective ROCs without any additional fee to be given.
The Scheme was announced in wake of the COVID-19 outbreak, where the Ministry proposed for incentivizing the corporate sector with a kind opportunity to make complete all their pending fillings good with the authorities and do a fresh start as fully compliant entities.

ITAT Dejhi in the case of Aricent Technologies Holdings Ltd vs. ACIT  Decided that where the deductor has deducted tax at source but has not deposited the tax with the Govt, the assessee cannot be made to suffer. U/s 205, the assessee/ deductee cannot be called upon to pay the tax. Credit for the tax deducted at source has to be allowed in the hands of the deductee irrespective of whether the same has been deposited by the deductor to the credit of the Central Government or not. 

CBDT issues order to mitigate hardship arising due to Compliance of TDS/TCS Provisions vide Press Release dated April 04, 2020 issued order U/s 119 of the act to mitigate hardships to taxpayers arising out of compliance of TDS/TCS .

11/04/2020
High Court of Kerala gave an important judgment regarding filing of Form GSTR TRAN-1 electronically or manually and department has to accept it. in case of Leo Distributors V. Commissioner of State GST [2020] 114 taxmann.com 28 (Kerala)

Government has exempt Custom duty and health chess on the import of ventilators, face masks & surgical masks, PPEs and covid test kits. This was done considering the escalating demand for medical goods as India enters a crucial phase in its covid-fight.

Reserve Bank expects the value of the domestic currency to hover around Rs 75 to a dollar and Indian crude basket to about USD 35 per barrel during 2020-21. The rupee came under intensified and sustained depreciation pressures from mid-January, reflecting a generalised weakening of emerging market currencies amid flights to safety, RBI said in its Monetary Policy Report. 

10/04/2020
GST Dept cannot detain Goods for bonafide Misclassifation: Kerala HC
In a major relief to Hindustan Coca Cola, the Kerala High Court recently quashed the notices issued by the Goods and Service Tax (GST) department and directed to release the seized goods which were detained on the ground of bonafide misclassification of goods.
Justice Amit Rawal, while presiding over the case directed the squad officer to release the seized goods on the grounds that there was a bonafide miscalculation as to whether the goods would be exigible to 12% or 28% of GST. The single-judge bench relying on the decision in J.K Synthetics Limited V. Commercial Taxes Officer held that the charging provisions must be construed strictly but not the machinery provisions which would be construed like any other statute.
The High Court observed that the process of detention of the goods cannot be resorted to when the dispute is bonafide, especially concerning the eligibility of tax and, more particularly, the rate of tax.
 
M/S Abbott Healthcare Pvt. Ltd. v/s Shri  B.G. Krishnan IRS & Shri B.S. Thyagarajababu B. Sc. LL.M
The placement of specified medical instruments to unrelated customers like hospitals, labs etc. for their use without any consideration, against an agreement containing minimum purchase obligation of products like reagents, calibrators, disposals etc for a specific period constitute composite supply. The principal supply is the transfer of right to use of any goods for any purpose and is liable to GST under serial no.17 (iii) - Heading 9973 of Notification No. 11/2017 Central Tax (Rate) dated 28.06.2017
 
09/04/2020
Income Tax Department, on its official Twitter handle, announced that it will issue all pending income tax refunds up to Rs 5 lakh immediately to individuals and business entities. 
 
Refunds, customs refunds, and IT will soon be credited into your accounts as the government has decided to provide immediate tax relief to about 1 lakh businesses and 14 lakh taxpayers. With this, the ministry of finance will provide a total tax refund to the tune of Rs 18000 crore. 
 
Maharashtra AAR gave an important ruling dated 22 January 2020, where applicant is  a receiver of supply of services from VFS Global in case of Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai [2020] 114  238 (AAR - MAHARASHTRA)

?GST: Concessional Interest for late filing of 3B & Waiver of Late Fee for GSTR-1 & 3B applies only if filed by specified dates. Notification No. 31/32/33 of 03.04.2020.

CBIC Vide press note dated 09-04-2020 decided to exempt BCD and Health cess on the import of 
Ventilators, Face masks, surgical masks, Personal protection equipment, Covid 19 test kits Inputs for the manufacture of the above items Till 30th Sep 2020. 
 
08/04/2020
Sebi has relaxed its guidelines for foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) seeking a Category-I licence, a move seen giving a boost to overseas investment in stocks. Investors from countries which are not Financial Action Task Force (FATF) members can still qualify for such registrations if the countries are specified by the Indian government.
 
CBDT vide notification 37/2017, has exempted non-residents from quoting Aadhaar in PAN applications and Income Tax Returns. Accordingly, if you’re a non-resident for income tax purposes in India then you shall not be required to quote Aadhaar and resultantly, linking of PAN and Aadhaar shall also not be required to be done.
 
High Court of Kerala gave an important judgment dated 31st October 2019, regarding Opportunity of being heard must be granted before detention of goods of the applicant under transport in case of Pact Machines (P.) Ltd. V. Assistant State Tax Officer (Intelligence) [2020] 113  221 (Kerala)
 
07/04/2020
Non-banking financial companies operating as microfinance institutions (NBFC-MFIs) have sought clarity from Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on whether they are eligible for the three-month moratorium on loan repayments announced by the central bank on March 27. “There is still confusion among banks on whether they should extend the moratorium to NBFCs.
 
Indian companies have seen a sharp decline in fund raising activities during the first quarter of 2020 as the spread of Covid-19 pandemic and sell off in global equities dragged valuations, forcing investors to cut exposure to riskier assets. Fund raising for Q1 2020 fell 78.6% compared to year-ago period and declined 72.19% on a quarter-on-quarter basis, according to data compiled by Refinitiv. 
 
Commissioner of customs has issued a public notice dated April 01,2020 regarding clearance of goods to SEZ- facilitation during lockdown period in view of outbreak of COVID-19.
 
06/04/2020
DGFT department of Commerce, has issued a trade notice no. 60/2019-2020 dated March 31,2020 regarding extension of validity of Registration cum Membership Certificate (RCMC) beyond March 31, 2020.
 
Ministry of Corporate Affairs has issued Companies Fresh Start Scheme, 2020” and revised the “LLP Settlement Scheme, 2020 during the period starting from 1st April, 2020 and ending on 30th September, 2020.
 
Indian share markets are almost certain to get billions of dollars in foreign fund inflows, with the regulatory changes allowing for higher foreign portfolio investment limits in various companies. The only thing that remains uncertain, and depends on an X-factor, is whether it will happen with the impending revision in MSCI indices in May, or sometime later in the next revision.
 
RBI has allowed the foreign remittances from Non-Residents to PM-CARES Fund to fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. The RBI has directed Authorised Dealer Category – I (AD Cat – I) banks is invited to Paragraph 4 of the Master Direction – Opening and Maintenance of Rupee/Foreign currency Vostro Accounts of Non-Resident Exchange Houses dated January 01, 2016 (as amended from time to time), regarding permitted transactions under the Rupee Drawing Arrangement (RDA) channel.
 
Supreme Court has observed that the burden is on the person who alleges that the property is a joint property of an HUF to prove the same. Not only jointness of the family has to be proved but burden lies upon the person alleging existence of a joint family to prove that the property belongs to the joint Hindu family unless there is material on record to show that the property is the nucleus of the joint Hindu family or that it was purchased through funds coming out of this nucleus. 
 
?To mitigate the genuine hardships faced by taxpayers due to the Covid-19 pandemic, CBDT issues notification F.No.275/25/2020-IT(B) dt 03rd April, 2020 regarding submission of Form 15G & 15H for FY 2020-21.
 
05/04/2020
Supreme Court in New Delhi Television Ltd vs. DCIT has laid down important principles of law relating to the reopening of assessments under sections 147 and 148 of the Income-tax Act.
 
CBIC has issued Notification No. 35/2020 – Central Tax (Rate) dated April 3, 2020 for extending due date of compliance which falls during the period from "March 20, 2020 to June 29, 2020" till June 30, 2020 and to extend the validity of e-way bills. 
 
Government given following relations to the tax payers in GST for the matter related to -
• Waiver of interest and late fee for filing GSTR-3B.
• Extension of validity of E-way bill generated between 20th March to 15th April'2020.
• Extension of due date of May'2020 GSTR-3B
• Waiver of late fee for GSTR-1 filing.
 
04/04/2020
Government Temporarily Lifts GST Input Tax Credit Restrictions
The government has temporarily lifted restrictions imposed on businesses to avail GST credit for February to August, a move that would help businesses tide over tight economic conditions following the outbreak of the novel coronavirus. The condition to avail credit in excess of 10 percent of the invoices uploaded for February-August, according to a government notification, will have to be cumulatively adjusted in GSTR-3B returns for September.

GST ease amid Covid 19: E-way bill validity extended, 10% ITC deferred
The government extended the validity of e-way bills till April 30, that were set to expire between March 20 and April 15, giving a big relief to industry grappling with issues of supplies and goods stuck in transit amid the nationwide lockdown due to Covid 19. “Where an e-way bill has been generated and its period of validity expires during the period 20th day of March, 2020 to 15th day of April, 2020, the validity period of such e-way bill shall be deemed to have been extended till the 30th day of April, 2020,” the finance ministry said in a notification Friday.
 
03/04/2020

20 IMPORTANT AMENDMENTS IN FOREIGN TRADE POLICY 2015-20

1. Foreign Trade Policy 2015-20 extended up to 31.03.2021:- Provisions relating to export and import of goods & export incentives under different schemes, shall remain in force up to 31st March, 2021 [Earlier this date was 31.03.2020] [Notification No. 57/2015-20 dt. 31.03.2020]

2. Recognition as Pre-shipment Inspection Agency (PSIA):- Any recognition which has extended validity up to 31st March, 2020 or original validity up to 29th June 2020 would be deemed to be valid up to 30th June 2020.[Public Notice 67/2015-20 dt. 31.03.2020]

3.Extension of the validity of RCMC:- Any person applying for any authorization to import/ export or any benefit or concession under FTP is required to take Registration cum Membership Certificate (RCMC). In case the RCMC is expiring on or before 31st March,2020, the validity will be extended till 30th September,2020 to avail any incentive/ 

4.Merchandise Exports from Indian Scheme (MEIS):- Shipping bills where the Let Export (LEO) date falls during the period 01.02.2019 to 31.05.2019 application may be filed within a Period of 15 months instead of 12 months.[Public Notice 67/2015-20 dt. 31.03.2020]

5.Service Exports From India Scheme (SEIS):-The last date for filing SEIS applications for FY 18-19 shall be 31.12.2020.[Public Notice 67/2015-20 dt. 31.03.2020]

6.Validity of status certificate:-Status Certificates issued under FTP 2015-20 shall be valid for a period of 5 years from the date on which application for recognition was filed or 31.03.2021 whichever is later.[Public Notice 67/2015-20 dt. 31.03.2020]

7.Advance Authorization Scheme:-Imports against Advance Authorization for physical exports are exempted from Integrated Tax (IGST) and Compensation Cess upto 31.03.2021 only. (earlier this date was 31.03.2020). [Notification No. 57/2015-20 dt. 31.03.2020]

8.Extension of validity for import:- For all Advance Authorizations where the validity for import is expiring between the 01.02.2020 and 31.07.2020, the validity stands automatically extended by six months from the date of expiry. No separate amendment/endorsement is required on the authorization.The option to avail further validity extensions under this para would remain available for these authorisations as per eligibility.[Public Notice 67/2015-20 dt. 31.03.2020]

9.Extension in export obligation period:- For all Advance Authorizations where export obligation period expiring between the 01.02.2020 and 31.07.2020, the export obligation period stands automatically extended by six months from the date of expiry. No separate application with composition fees amendment is required for this purpose.The option to avail further validity extensions under this para beyond this period would remain available for these authorisations as per eligibility. [Public Notice 67/2015-20 dt. 31.03.2020]

10. Extension in Application for Replenishment Authorisation:- For the Replenishment Authorisation applications where the last date of filing the application falls between 01.02.2020 and 31.07.2020, the last date stands extended by six months. [Public Notice67/2015-20 dt. 31.03.2020]

11.Duty free Import Authorization (DFIA):-All Duty free Import Authorization (Transferable & Non Transferable both DFIA) where the validity of import is expiring between 01.02.2020 and 31.07.2020 the validity stand automatically extended by further six month from the date of expiry.[Notification No. 57/2015-20 dt. 31.03.2020]

12.Export Promotion Capital Goods (EPCG) Scheme:- Capital goods imported under EPCG Authorization for physical exports are exemptfrom IGST and Compensation Cess up to 31.3.2021.[Notification No. 57/2015-20 dt. 31.03.2020]
Import under EPCG Scheme shall be subject to an export obligation equivalent to 6 times of duties, taxes and cess saved on capital goods, to be fulfilled in 6 years reckoned from date of issue of Authorisation. However, in case the validity period for import expires during 1st February, 2020 to 31st July, 2020, the validity stands automatically extended by further 6 months from the date of such expiry.

13.Extension in validity for import:- EPCG Authorization shall be valid for import for 18 months from the date of issue of EPCG Authorization. “However, in case the validity expires between 01.02.2020 and 31.07.2020 the validity stands automatically extended by further six months from the date of expiry.[Public Notice 67/2015-20 dt. 31.03.2020]

14.Extension in Block-wise Fulfillment of EO:-If the block-wise export obligation period expires during 01.02.2020 and 31.07.2020, such period is deemed to be automatically extended by further six months from the date of expiry.[Public Notice 67/2015-20 dt. 31.03.2020]

15.Extension in Export obligation period availed:- If the export obligation period or extension in export obligation period is availed and it is expiring during 01.02.2020 and 31.07.2020, such period is deemed to be automatically extended by further SIX MONTH FROM THE DATE OF SUCH EXPIRY.[Public Notice 67/2015-20 dt. 31.03.2020]

16.Rebate of State & central Levies & taxes (RoSCTL):- Last date of filing of application for Duty Credit Scrip for Shipping Bills with LEO date from 07th March,2019 to 31st December,2019 shall be 31st December,2020 (Earlier the due date was 30th June,2020).[Public Notice 67/2015-20 dt. 31.03.2020]

17.Extension of application and time period for claiming TED /Drawback:-Application for TED refund / drawback (whichever applicable) may be filed within 12 months from the date of realisation of 100% payment against such supplies. In cases where payment is received in advance and supply is made subsequently, in such cases application can be filed within 12 months from the last date of such supplies. In all such cases where the above dates fall on or after 1st March, 2020, the date of filing of applications for refund of TED/Drawback may be deemed to be extended up to 30th September, 2020.[Public Notice 67/2015-20 dt. 31.03.2020]

18. Export Oriented Units (EOUs), Electronics Hardware Technology Parks (EHTPs), Software Technology Parks (STPs) And Bio-Technology Parks (BTPs):-
 All such Letter of Permissions/ Letter of Intents whose original or extended validity expires on or after 1st March 2020, may be deemed to be valid up to 31st December,2020.[Public Notice 67/2015-20 dt. 31.03.2020]
The imports or procurement from bonded warehouse in DTA or international exhibition held in India shall be without payment of integrated tax and compensation cess and such exemptions would be available upto 31.03.2021 (Earlier the date was 31.03.2020).[Notification No. 57/2015-20 dt. 31.03.2020]

19.Transport And Marketing Assistance (TMA) Application(s) for claim of TMA is required to be filed on quarterly basis i.e. for the shipments made in a particular quarter. Application to avail such claims for the quarter ending 31st March, 2019 and 30th June, 2019 may now be filed up to 30th September, 2020.[Public Notice 67/2015-20 dt. 31.03.2020]

20.RBI announced Extension of realization period of export proceeds: Presently value of the goods or software exports made by the exporters is required to be realized fully and repatriated to the country within a period of 9 months from the date of exports. In view of the disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the time period for realization and repatriation of export proceeds for exports made up to or on July 31, 2020, has been extended to 15 months from the date of export.

02/04/2020
FinMin extends Motor, Health Insurance validity till April 21. FinMin amended the law and extended validity of insurance papers till April 21, 2020. If your policy has expired in this time period (March 25-April 15) then you will get continuation of coverage and continuity of benefits

Central government collected Rs 10.27 trillion as direct taxes during 2019-20, a record shortfall of Rs 1.45 trillion, or 12.2 per cent, compared with the revised estimates (RE). This may prompt the revenue department, under the finance ministry, to reset its Budget math for 2020-21. 

01/04/2020
Government has issued an ordinance to give effect to the relaxation in several compliances including extension in last dates to June 30 for making investments in instruments such as National Savings Certificates, Public Provident Fund for claiming income tax benefits. Income tax Act, Benami Act are being sought to be amended via the ordinance - Taxation and Other LAws(Relaxation of Certain Provisions) Ordinance, 2020. The ordinance also seeks to amend the Income Tax Act to enable 100% deduction to donations made to the PM's Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations (PM CARES) Fund, set up to enable citizens to contribute to government’s containment efforts against the Covid-19 outbreak.

Sebi has rejected promoters’ requests to exempt them from extending trading restrictions that apply at the time of results. The regulator had recently allowed listed companies to file fourth-quarter and annual earnings by June 30, rather than May 31. This means the trading window will have to be closed for promoters and management from April 1 till 48 hours after declaration of quarterly results. Sebi rejected the demand, saying insiders would still have access to most of the unpublished annual financials for FY20

31/03/2020
Some of the important features and time limits which get extended by this Ordinance are as under: - Direct Taxes & Benami:

Extension of last date of filing of original as well as revised income-tax returns for the FY 2018-19 (AY 2019-20) to 30th June, 2020.

Extension of Aadhaar-PAN linking date to 30th June, 2020.

The date for making various investment/payment for claiming deduction under Chapter-VIA-B of IT Act which includes Section 80C (LIC, PPF, NSC etc.), 80D (Mediclaim), 80G (Donations), etc. has been extended to 30th June, 2020. Hence the investment/payment can be made up to 30.06.2020 for claiming the deduction under these sections for FY 2019-20.

The date for making investment/construction/purchase for claiming roll over benefit/deduction in respect of capital gains under sections 54 to 54GB of the IT Act has also been extended to 30th June 2020. Therefore, the investment/ construction/ purchase made up to 30.06.2020 shall be eligible for claiming deduction from capital gains arising during FY 2019-20.

The date for commencement of operation for the SEZ units for claiming deduction under deduction 10AA of the IT Act has also extended to 30.06.2020 for the units which received necessary approval by 31.03.2020.

The date for passing of order or issuance of notice by the authorities under various direct taxes& Benami Law has also been extended to 30.06.2020.

It has provided that reduced rate of interest of 9% shall be charged for non-payment of Income-tax (e.g. advance tax, TDS, TCS) Equalisation Levy, Securities Transaction Tax (STT), Commodities Transaction Tax (CTT) which are due for payment from 20.03.2020 to 29.06.2020 if they are paid by 30.06.2020. Further, no penalty/ prosecution shall be initiated for these non-payments.

Under Vivad se Vishwas Scheme, the date has also been extended up to 30.06.2020. Hence, declaration and payment under the Scheme can be made up to 30.06.2020 without additional payment.

Indirect Taxes:

Last date of furnishing of the Central Excise returns due in March, April and May 2020 has been extended to 30th June,2020.
Wherever the last date for filing of appeal, refund applications etc., under the Central Excise Act, 1944 and rules made thereunder is from 20th March 2020 to 29th June 2020, the same has been extended to 30th June 2020.
Wherever the last date for filing of appeal, refund applications etc., under the Customs Act, 1962 and rules made thereunder is from 20th March 2020 to 29th June 2020, the same has been extended to30th June 2020.
Wherever the last date for filing of appeal etc., relating to Service Tax is from 20th March 2020 to 29th June 2020, the same has been extended to30th June 2020
The date for making payment to avail of the benefit under Sabka Vishwas Legal Dispute Resolution Scheme 2019 has been extended to 30th June 2020 thus giving more time to taxpayers to get their disputes resolved.
In addition to the extension of time limits under the Taxation and Benami Acts as above, an enabling section has got inserted in the CGST Act, 2017 empowering the Government to extend due dates for various compliances inter-alia including statement of outward supplies, filing refund claims, filing appeals, etc. specified, prescribed or notified under the Act, on recommendations of the GST Council.

30/03/2020
Income Tax dept asks officers working from home to chase large taxpayers for dues. Income-Tax Department has asked field formations to contact large taxpayers over phone or email to follow up on pending collections

Punjab National Bank unveils new logo ahead of merger. PNB unveiled a new logo which bears the signage's of all the three PSU banks, from the next FY, PNB will become the second largest lender in India
 
MCA introduces Companies Fresh Start Scheme 2020 and Revises LLP Settlement Scheme 2020. MCA offers ‘fresh start’ to companies, LLPs to lower compliance burden

Finance Minister announces Rs 1.70 Lakh Cr relief package. FM announced Rs 1.70 Lakh Crore relief package under Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana for the poor to help them fight the battle against Corona Virus

RBI cut Repo rate by 75 bps to 4.4%, CRR by 100 bps to 3%. Repo rate cut by 75 bps to 4.4%, CRR by 100 bps to 3%, banks allowed 3-month moratorium on all loans - RBI

29/03/2020
SEBI allows top 100 companies to delay AGMs. SEBI further relaxed compliance norms for companies and said top 100 companies by market capitalisation can hold their AGMs a month later

SC invokes its plenary power to extend limitation period of appeals. SC invoked its plenary powers under Article 142 of the Constitution to extend limitation period of appeals from high courts or tribunals on account of coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic

Finance Minister sets Rs 15 Lakh income cap to tax NRIs. FM softened the contentious budget proposal to tax non-resident Indians, putting in place a threshold of Rs 15 lakh for the levy of tax on incomes emanating from India

Companies under IBC will need New GST Registration. Companies under Insolvency and Bankruptcy process must avail a fresh GST registration within 30 days of a resolution professional being appointed for them

Covid-19 related spends to be treated as CSR activity - MCA. MCA said that spending of CSR funds for Covid-19 would be treated as eligible CSR activity

28/03/2020
Ministry of Corporate Affairs in view of COVID-19 taken following measures to reduce their compliance burden and other risks:

No additional fees shall be charged for late filing during a moratorium period from 01st April to 30th September 2020, in respect of any document, return, statement etc., required to be filed in the MCA-21 Registry, irrespective of its due date, which will not only reduce the compliance burden, including financial burden of companies/ LLPs at large, but also enable long-standing noncompliant companies/ LLPs to make a ‘fresh start'. The Circulars specifying detailed requirements in this regard are being issued separately.

Special Measures under Companies Act, 2013 (CA-2013) and Limited Liability Partnership Act, 2008 in view of COVID-19 outbreak

The mandatory requirement of holding meetings of the Board of the companies within the intervals provided in section 173 of the Companies Act, 2013 (CA-13) (120 days) stands extended by a period of 60 days till next two quarters i.e., till 30th September. Accordingly, as a one-time relaxation the gap between two consecutive meetings of the Board may extend to 180 days till the next two quarters, instead of 120 days as required in the CA-13.

The Companies (Auditor's Report) Order,2020 shall be made applicable from the financial year 2020-2021 instead of being applicable from the financial year 2019- 2020 notified earlier. This will significantly ease the burden on companies & their auditors for the financial year 2019-20. A separate notification has been issued for this purpose.

As per Para VII (1) of Schedule IV to the CA-13, Independent Directors (lDs) are required to hold at least one meeting without the attendance of Non-independent directors and members of management. For the financial year 2019-20, if the lDs of a company have not been able to hold such a meeting, the same shall not be viewed as a violation. The lDs, however, may share their views amongst themselves through telephone or e-mail or any other mode of communication, if they deem it to be necessary.

Requirement under section 73(2)(c) of CA-13 to create the deposit repayment reserve of 20% of deposits maturing during the financial year 2020-21 before 30th April 2020 shall be allowed to be complied with till 30th June 2020.

Requirement under rule 18 of the Companies (Share Capital & Debentures) Rules, 2014 to invest or deposit at least 15% of amount of debentures maturing in specified methods of investments or deposits before 30th April 2020, may be complied with till 30th June 2020.

Newly incorporated companies are required to file a declaration for Commencement of Business within '180 days of incorporation under section 10A of the CA-13. An additional period of 180 more days is allowed for this compliance.

Non-compliance of minimum residency in India for a period of at least 182 days by at least one director of every company, under Section 149 of the CA-1 3 shall not be treated as a non-compliance for the financial year 2019-20.

27/03/2020
Companies Affirmation of Readiness towards COVID-19 Form MCA has issued Companies Affirmation of Readiness towards COVID-19 Form which is a simple web form with minimum fields and which can be filed from anywhere. There
is no requirement of DSC and does not involve payment of any fee. Companies/LLPs have been advised to use the service w.e.f 23rd March 2020 onwards at the earliest convenience. Stakeholders have been requested to please note that there is no fee applicable for FORM CAR (Companies Affirmation of Readiness Towards COVID-19). Please note that the form has been deployed as a purely confidence building measure to assess the readiness of the companies to deal with COVID-19 Threat in India. As such no penalty or enforcement related action is applicable. Stakeholders may at their convenience file this form. It is purely voluntary as part of our contribution towards joining the movement to fight against the spread of the disease. Since the portal may experience heavy load, it would indicate 'Busy' alert whenever peak traffic is reached

26/03/2020
Board meetings under the Companies Act, 2013: Considering the need to take precautionary steps to overcome the outbreak of the
coronavirus (Covid-19), the Government has in-principle decided to relax the requirement of holding Board meetings with physical presence of directors under section 173 (2) r/w rule 4 of the Companies (Meetings of Board and its Powers) Rules, 2014 for approval of the annual financial statements, Board’s report, etc. Such meetings may till 30th June, 2020 be held through video conferencing or other audio visual means by duly ensuring compliance of rule 3 of the said rules.

Sensitization of Nidhi companies Sensitization of Nidhi companies towards compliance of provisions of section 406 of Companies Act, 2013 and Nidhi Rules, 2014 as amended vide Nidhi (Amendment) Rules, 2019 w.e.f 15.08.2019 and general public to invest in genuine and compliant Nidhis only(40 KB)

Non Availability of MCA21 Voice and Ticketing Helpdesk services: Please be informed that in view of present total lockdown imposed on transport and people movement by the Government, availability of MCA21 Voice and Ticketing Helpdesk services have been severely impacted. The same would not be available till
further notice. Stakeholders may kindly note and cooperate.

View Public Document (VPD) requests disabled till 31st March, View Public Document (VPD) requests would be disabled till 31st March 2020. Stakeholders are requested to plan accordingly.

25/03/2020
Clarification on spending of CSR funds for COVID-19.(40 KB) Spending of CSR funds for COVID- 19 is eligible CSR Activity. Funds may be spent for various activities related to COVID- 19 related to health care including preventive health care and sanitation, and, disaster management
 
Coronavirus Impact: Electronic And QR Code-Based GST Invoicing Deferred
India deferred rollout of e-invoicing and quick response or QR Code as the coronavirus outbreak has disrupted businesses.
The QR code-based invoicing and electronic invoicing will now be rolled out from October against April earlier, according to a notification by the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs. This comes after the government waived penalties and relaxed certain GST deadlines for small firms earlier this month.
 
24/03/2020
Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) has issued clarifications under GST law for companies under the IBC in connection with the notification issued on Saturday.
 
Central Government through gazette notification dated March 24, 2020 specified one crore rupees as the minimum amount of default for initiation of proceedings under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 (‘the Code’). This represents a hundred-fold increase from the current level of one lakh rupees.  
RBI GIVES BOOSTER DOSE TO THE ECONOMY Repo rate reduced by 75 basis point, CRR ration reduced by 1 % and Intt on working capital loan deferred by 3 months. 

RBI Moratorium of 3 months for term loan RBI inject liquidity of more than 5 lac crore in the system.

Finance Minister has declared extension in the last date for filing of Income Tax Return (ITR) for the financial year (FY) 2018-19 to June 30, 2020 from March 31, 2020 for those assessees who have not filed their returns yet.
 
2. Financial Minister has announced extension of cutoff dates related to income tax, GST and other compliances till June 30, 2020. However, the extension beyond the financial year (FY) 2019-20 end date of March 31, 2020 has created some doubts.
 
3. CBIC has issued Notification No. 16/2020 – Customs dated 24th March 2020 in which CBIC has amend the notification No. 52/2003-Customs dated 31st March,2003. CBIC extended exemption from IGST and compensatio cess to EOUs on imports till 31.03.2021.
 
Sebi is considering a proposal to cut down trading hours for commodities derivatives from 11.30 PM to 5 PM till the time lockdow over coronavirus is in place. This follows the submission by brokers to the regulator requesting such measures following lockdown. Many brokers finding it difficult to call even bare minimum staff required in office. Equity derivatives are functioning till 3.30 for derivatives and cash market.
 
Hon'ble Allahabad High Court in a recent matter of M/s Jindal Pipes Ltd. v. State of Uttar Pradesh reported in 2020 (34) G.S.T.L. 48 (All.); Writ Tax no. 1366 of 2019 decided on 20 January 2020, held that service of order by proper office on driver of vehicle is not a valid service as not served on the person who would have been aggrieved by the order. 
In this matter, Goods were being transported from Ghaziabad to Ghazipur on 20 August 2018 where upon interception of consignment at Kanpur, it was discovered that the distance in E-way bill, generated by Consignor, has been stated as 90 kms which was in fact 980 kms. Goods were seized under Section 129 of UPGST Act, 2017 which were subsequently released upon payment of tax and penalty by the Consignor. Accordingly, an order was passed on 21 August 2019 against which petitioner filed an appeal on 06 March 2019. However, the appeal was dismissed on the sole ground, being appeal filed beyond the period of limitation.
Counsel of the petitioner while placing reliance on the judgment of same Court in the matter of S/S. Patel Hardware v. Commr. of State reported in 2019 (21) GSTN 145 pleaded that the impugned order was served on the driver of the vehicle, who was the driver of transport agency, and therefore, it was neither served on consignor nor on the consignee. It was pleaded that driver was not the 'person aggrieved' to whom the order has been communicated and thus, appeal was filed within the limitation prescribed. Hon'ble High Court held that order served on driver is not a valid service and accordingly, appeal was allowed as filed within time limitation.
 
Ministry of Finance vide Press Release dated March 24, 2020 has given relief in Regulatory and Statutory Compliance due to COVID-19. Key takeaways are:
Income Tax :
1. Extend last date for income tax returns for (FY 18-19) from 31st March, 2020 to 30th June, 2020;
 
2. Aadhaar-PAN linking date to be extended from 31st March, 2020 to 30th June, 2020; 
 
3. Vivad se Vishwas scheme – no additional 10% amount, if payment made by June 30, 2020; 
 
4. Due dates for  issue  of notice, intimation, notification, approval order, sanction order, filing of appeal, furnishing of return, statements, applications, reports, any other documents and time limit for completion of proceedings by the authority and any compliance by the taxpayer including investment in saving instruments or investments for roll over benefit of capital gains  under Income Tax Act,  Wealth Tax Act, Prohibition of Benami Property Transaction Act, Black Money Act,  STT law, CTT Law, Equalization Levy law, Vivad Se Vishwas  law  where the time limit is expiring between 20th March 2020  to 29th June 2020 shall be extended to 30th June 2020. 
 
5. For delayed payments of advanced tax, self-assessment tax, regular tax, TDS, TCS, equalization levy,  STT, CTT  made between 20th March 2020  and 30th June 2020,  reduced interest rate  at 9% instead of 12 %/18 % per annum ( i.e. 0.75% per month instead of 1/1.5 percent per month) will be charged  for this period.  No late fee/penalty shall be charged for delay relating to this period. 
 
GST: 
1. Last date for filing GSTR-3B in March, April and May 2020 will be extended till the last week of 30th June, 2020 for those having aggregate annual turnover less than Rs. 5 Crore. No interest, late fee, and penalty to be charged; 
 
2. For any delayed payment made between 20th March 2020 and  30th June 2020  reduced rate of interest @9 % per annum   ( current interest rate is  18 % per annum)  will  be charged. No late fee and penalty to be charged, if complied before till 30th June 2020.  
 
3. Date for opting for composition scheme is extended till the last week of   June, 2020.  Further, the  last date for making payments for the quarter ending 31st March, 2020 and filing of  return for 2019-20 by the composition dealers  will be extended  till the last week of June, 2020. 
 
4. Date for filing GST annual returns of FY 18-19, which is due on 31st March, 2020 is extended till the last week of  June 2020;
 
5. Due date for issue of notice, notification, approval order, sanction order, filing of appeal, furnishing of return, statements, applications, reports, any other documents, time limit for any compliance under the GST laws where the time limit is expiring between 20th March 2020  to 29th June 2020 shall be extended to 30th June 2020; 
 
6. Payment date under Sabka Vishwas Scheme shall be extended to 30th June, 2020. No interest for this period shall be charged if paid by 30th June, 2020;
 
24X7 Custom clearance till end of 30th June, 2020;
 
Due date for issue of notice, notification, approval order, sanction order, filing of appeal, furnishing applications, reports, any other documents etc., time limit for any compliance under the Customs Act and other allied Laws where the time limit is expiring between 20th March 2020  to 29th June 2020 shall be extended to 30th June 2020.
 
MCA: 
1. No additional fees shall be charged for late filing during a moratorium period from 01st April to 30th September 2020, in respect of any document, return, statement etc., required to be filed in the MCA-21 Registry, irrespective of its due date, which will not only reduce the compliance burden, including financial burden of companies/ LLPs at large, but also enable long-standing non compliant companies/ LLPs to make a ‘fresh start’; 
 
• The mandatory requirement of holding meetings of the Board of the companies within prescribed interval provided in the Companies Act (120 days), 2013, shall be extended by a period of 60 days till next two quarters i.e., till 30th September; 
• Applicability of Companies (Auditor’s Report) Order, 2020 shall be made applicable from the financial year 2020-2021 instead of from 2019-2020 notified earlier. This will significantly ease the burden on companies & their auditors for the year 2019-20. 
• As per Schedule 4 to the Companies Act, 2013, Independent Directors are required to hold at least one meeting without the attendance of             Non-independent directors and members of management. For the year 2019-20, if the IDs of a company have not been able to hold even one    meeting, the same shall not be viewed as a violation. 
• Requirement to create a Deposit reserve of 20% of deposits maturing during the financial year 2020-21 before 30th April 2020 shall be allowed to be complied with till 30th June 2020. 
• Requirement to invest 15% of debentures maturing during a particular year in specified instruments before 30th April 2020, may be done so before 30th June 2020. 
• Newly incorporated companies are required to file a declaration for Commencement of Business within 6 months of incorporation. An additional time of 6 more months shall be allowed. 
• Non-compliance of minimum residency in India for a period of at least 182 days by at least one director of every company, under Section 149 of the Companies Act, shall not be treated as a violation. 
• Due to the emerging financial distress faced by most companies on account of the large-scale economic distress caused by COVID 19, it has been decided to raise the threshold of default under section 4 of the IBC 2016 to Rs 1 crore (from the existing threshold of Rs 1 lakh). This will by and large prevent triggering of insolvency proceedings against MSMEs. If the current situation continues beyond 30th of April 2020, we may consider suspending section 7, 9 and 10 of the IBC 2016 for a period of 6 months so as to stop companies at large from being forced into insolvency proceedings in such force majeure causes of default.
 
23/03/2020
Phytotherapy’ is not exempted under GST, Need to be registered: AAR
The Authority of Advance Ruling (AAR) West Bengal ruled that the ‘phytotherapy’ is not exempted under Goods and Service Tax (GST) and so it needs to be registered. On an application filed by the applicant namely OPTM Health Care Private Limited, the Authority of Advance Ruling (AAR) observed that all the health care services are exempted from paying Goods and Service Tax (GST) and so it is not needed to get registered under Goods and Service Tax (GST). However, the word ‘phytotherapy’ is not included in ‘health care services’.

22/03/2020
In view of coronavirus outbreak, Bihar government withdraws orders to attach tax defaulters’ bank accounts
Deputy CM Sushil Kumar Modi on Monday said the earlier orders issued to attach the bank accounts of tax defaulters for not clearing dues worth Rs375 crore before GST’s enforcement have been withdrawn. The pending dues pertained to the period before the uniform goods and services tax (GST) regime had come into force in the country Modi said.
He said this and a few other measures have been taken by the government specially in view of the impact of coronavirus.

20/03/2020
In order to generate greater awareness and confidence in our state of readiness, the Ministry of Corporate Affairs is in the process of developing and deploying a simple web form for companies/ LLPs to confirm their readiness to deal with the COVID-19 threat. The Web Form named CAR (Company Affirmation of Readiness towards COVID-19) should be filed by an authorized signatory of Companies & LLPs. CAR-2020 shall be deployed on the 23rd of March, 2020. All companies/LLPs are requested to report compliance using the above-mentioned web service on the 23rd instant.

19/03/2020
13 CARO reporting to be done by auditor has been amended. Important changes are as follows:
Reporting on revaluation of Property, Plant and Equipments by company
Reporting of proceedings under the Benami Transactions (Prohibition) Act, 1988.
Reporting if the stock statements filed with banks are in line with books of accounts, if company was sanctioned working capital limits in excess of five crore rupees or more from banks or financial institutions.
Reporting of investments in or  providing of any guarantee or security or granting any loans or advances.
Loans overdue for more than 90 days, evergreening of loans, reporting on any loan default, etc.
Reporting of compliances with RBI directives and the provisions the Companies Act with respect to deemed deposits.
Reporting with respect to transactions not recorded in the books of account but now surrendered or disclosed as income in the income tax proceedings.
Reporting on treatment by auditor of whistle-blower complaints received during the year by the company
Reporting on internal audit system
Reporting on cash losses
Reporting on resignation of the statutory auditors
Reporting on uncertainty of company capable of meeting its liabilities.
Reporting transfer of unspent CSR amount to Fund specified in Schedule VII.

18/03/2020
SEBI relaxes time limit for filling FY 19-20 financials, listed companies can file upto 30 June 2020

ITAT Delhi in the case of Arihant Technology Pvt. Ltd. Vs Pr. CIT states that  Section 263 Jurisdiction cannot be assumed by Pr. CIT for making roving enquiries. 

17/03/2020
GST: Foreign airlines exempt from filing GSTR-9C. CA certified Statement of Receipts & Payments to be filed by 30 Sept of next Financial Year for each GSTIN.

MCA: Notice regarding Board meetings under the Companies Act, 2013

16/03/2020
Government introduced the Companies (Amendment) Bill 2020 in the Lok Sabha. Introducing the Bill, Minister of State for Finance said that the proposed Bill will help in doing ethical and honest business in the country.  

Vivad se Vishwas Scheme 2020 notified. A golden opportunity to settle Income tax related disputes. Avail this by 31st March, 2020 to avoid higher payment at a later date. 

The government garnered Rs 16.89 lakh crore of tax revenue (net of refunds) in the first 11 months of the fiscal, compared with Rs 16.87 lakh crore in the same period last year. Due to corporate tax cut announced in September last year, the total direct tax collection for the April-February period came in 3.5% lower at Rs 8.14 lakh crore. However, indirect tax collection, which includes GST, saw a growth of 3.8% at Rs 8.75 lakh crore.

15/03/2020
Union Minister of Finance informed that due date for filing the annual return and the reconciliation statement for the financial year 2018-19 to be extended till 30th June 2020.

Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) has conducted an inspection on a bitcoin company through Registrar of Companies and prosecutions have been filed for violations under various provisions of the Companies Act. 

MCA has tightened compliance norms for Nidhi companies, a kind of NBFCs, which are created to borrow and lend money among its members. The move comes in the backdrop of the government revising corporate norms to ensure that investors are not duped through fraudulent activities.

14/03/2020
GST Council has decided to hike the levy on mobile handsets and hand-made matches, while lowering it on Aircraft Maintenance, Repair & Overhaul (MRO) services. Total collection from GST Compensation Cess stood at over Rs. 78,000 crore, while the total compensation payout is more than Rs. 1.20 lakh crore during the current fiscal year.

GST Council meeting Update : GST RATES from 1st April 2020) on mobile increased from 12% to 18%. on all types of matches will be 12% from earlier 5% for handmade matches and 18% on other matches. on Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) services in respect of aircraft is reduced from 18% to 5%.

GST RETURNS: GSTR-9 and GSTR-9C due date for FY 2018-19 extended from 31st March 2020 to 30th June 2020. Persons with turnover of up to Rs. 5 crore will has option to file GSTR-9C for 2018-19.

GST: Late fees will not be levied for late filing of GSTR-9 and GSTR-9C for 2017-18 and 2018-19 for persons with turnover up to Rs. 2 crore.

GST: New return system and E-Invoice deferred from 1st April 2020 to 1st October 2020. GSTR-1, and GSTR-3B to continue till September 2020

GST: Interest on delayed payment will be on net cash tax liability. This will be applicable retrospectively from 1st July 2017. Where registrations has been cancelled up to 14th March 2020, application for revocation can be filed up to 30th June 2020.

A new facility called “Know your supplier” to be introduced. A person can have basic information about the supplier with whom they conduct business or propose to conduct business.
Standing Committee on Finance recommended in its report on demand for grants that Exemptions and deductions in personal income tax, “should be continually revisited, rationalised and eventually scrapped in tandem with moderation of tax rates. 

13/03/2020
?MCA: Companies/ OPCs to get PF & ESI registration no. on www.mca.gov.in through Spice+ & AGILE-PRO eforms at time of incorporation even if no. below threshold then.

MCA: Last date of filling e-forms AOC-4, AOC-4(CFS), AOC-4XBRL & MGT-7 is extended till 30.06.20 for Companies  having jurisdiction in UT of J&K & Ladakh. MCA circular No. O9/2O2O.

12/03/2020
 IBC: Parliament passed amendments to the insolvency law that will help ring-fence successful bidders of insolvent companies from risk of criminal proceedings for offences committed by previous promoters.

In a case regarding the Dishonor of Cheque against a private limited company, the Delhi High Court held that the Non-executive Directors of the company cannot be held liable for the dishonor of cheque without specific allegations against them.

10/03/2020
Yes Bank has enabled inward IMPS/NEFT services. This means people can now use other bank accounts to send payments to Yes Bank accounts through IMPS/NEFT.
The private lender has informed via its official Twitter account that people can now make payments towards Yes Bank credit card dues and loan obligations.
Yes Bank presently has a withdrawal cap of Rs 50,000. However, the withdrawal cap on Yes Bank's depositors is likely to be withdrawn as early as March 15, Prashant Kumar - the administrator appointed by Reserve Bank of India
He has also confirmed that there is no question of a merger with State Bank of India (SBI) which is leading the rescue of the troubled lender

State Bank of India (SBI) will submit its rescue plan for Yes Bank within a week to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) that will likely entail a maximum investment of Rs 6,000 crore for a 26% stake. The plan may involve a similar amount to be invested by a group of global investors, said people aware of the matter. The RBI is also firming up plans to provide liquidity support of at least Rs 8,000-10,000 crore to stem any flight of deposits once the moratorium on Yes Bank is lifted.
“RBI governor Shaktikanta Das and SBI chairman Rajnish Kumar met on Monday to firm up the plans on Yes Bank’s reconstruction scheme. Liquidity support from the RBI for Yes Bank is also on the anvil,” said one of persons. “The RBI liquidity line could be against a pledge of securities of a similar value. The details are being worked out.”

Income tax: Any person opting for the presumptive taxation u/s 44AD is liable to pay whole amount of advance tax on or before 15th March of the previous year otherwise interest u/s 234C shall be levied. MAT Credit, Brought forward losses and Relief u/s 89 can be adjusted for the purpose of Advance Tax Calculation.

09/03/2020
Income Tax: 15.03.2020 is the due date to pay Advance Tax (4th Installment) for FY 2019-20.

RBI Deputy Governor N S Vishwanathan has decided to step down by March 31 due to ill health, three months before the end of his extended one-year tenure.

GST: e-invoice Mandatory wef 1.4.2020 for Turnover above 100 cr. Invoice dt Apr 2  can be uploaded as e-invoice on Apr 2 or 3, not before or after that.

08/03/2020
MCA: The Union Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi has approved the Companies (Second Amendment) Bill, 2019 to amend the Companies Act, 2013. The Bill would remove criminality under the Act in case of defaults which can be determined objectively and which, otherwise, lack the element of fraud or do not involve larger public interest.

MCA: Extension of last date of filing of Form NFRA  

07/03/2020
Under LLP Settlement Scheme 2020, pay between 16-3-20 & 13-6-20, Rs 10 per day (Maximum 5000 per doc) for delay in filing of Form 3,4,8,11 due upto 31.10.19.

Sebi is seeking to establish a real-time surveillance mechanism, harnessing artificial intelligence to build a platform that will capture and analyse data and flag suspicious transactions during trading hours. This development assumes significance as it will allow Sebi to intervene even in the mid-market hours.

06/03/2020
Income Tax: You may face double trouble if you fail to link your Aadhaar with PAN by the end of this month. First, your PAN will become inoperative and second, you may be fined Rs 10,000 if you use an inoperative PAN. The income tax department has said that PAN card holders may face penal action under the Income Tax Act if they fail to link it with Aadhaar before the deadline.

Supreme Court set aside an RBI circular that imposed a blanket ban on banks and financial institutions from providing services to any individual or business dealing in digital currencies. As the SC had earlier refused to stay the circular issued in April 2018, the banks and bourses dealing with cryptocurrencies, including bitcoins, had closed down operations since July 6, 2018. 

?Supreme Court dismissed SLP filed by GST department against Punjab & Haryana High Court order which allowed assessee to file Tran-1. Union of India v. Adfert Technologies (P.) Ltd. - [2020] 115 taxmann.com 29 (SC)

05/03/2020
Gst Trans 1 filing update 
The Calcutta High Court has held that the inability to upload Form GST TRAN-1 due to technical errors is a mere procedure and not mandatory.
There were several petitions clubbed together because it was of the same nature. The Calcutta High Court observed that the procedural law must not take away the vested rights of the individuals in which they are empowered by the statutes. At the same time, these vested rights are subjected to scrutiny by the appropriate authority.
The petitioners knocked on the doors of the court with the prayer that they must be allowed to file or upload their Form GST TRAN-1. Though the time limit is extended March 31, 2020, however, this benefit can be availed by only the registered person who was unable to upload the Form GST TRAN-1because of the technical difficulties as per Rule 117(1A) of the CGST Rules.
In this case, the petitioners were denied the benefit of the extended time-limit i.e. March 31, 2020.
The issue raised in this case was whether the petitioners are eligible to avail the benefit pertaining to the extension of time-limit i.e. March 31, 2020, or not.

04/03/2020
Income tax returns filing data 
As many as 6.35 crore income tax returns have been filed electronically till mid February this fiscal, up from 6.28 crore in 2018-19, Parliament was informed on Monday. In a written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha, Minister of State for Finance Anurag Singh Thakur said the number of assessees filing Income Tax Returns (ITRs) has consistently increased during the last three years as well as in the current year.
He said 5.18 crore ITRs were e-filed in Assessment Year 2016-17, 5.32 crore in 2017-18, 6.28 crore in 2018-19 and 6.35 crore in 2019-20 (up to February 15, 2020).

The ITRs of AY 2019-20 can be submitted up to March 31, 2020, and hence this number is expected to go up further.

03/03/2020
The income tax department has also identified 15.58 lakh non-filers of ITRs with potential tax liability for Assessment Year 2018-19, 38.81 lakh for 2017-18 and 32 lakh for 2016-17 through the non-Filers Monitoring System (NMS).

02/03/2020
The NMS assimilates and analyses in-house information as well as transactional data received from third-parties, including Statements of Financial Transaction, Tax Deduction at Source (TDS) and Tax Collection at Source statements, Intelligence and Criminal Investigation data etc. to identify such persons/entities who have undertaken high value financial transactions but have not filed their returns.

29/02/2020
CBDT has decided to honour the best income tax department investigator, revenue collector and innovator among others working in the recently launched e-assessment scheme. As per an order issued on February 20 by the policy-making body of the department, there will be five categories of honours on a monthly and yearly basis and the winning tax personnel will be honoured on 'Income Tax Day' celebrated in July every year. 

Salaried people can choose either of the two income tax regimes at the time of filing their returns irrespective of the choice they have given to the employer at the beginning of the financial year. The budget for the next fiscal has proposed to add a new tax regime to the existing one. 

28/02/2020
A 28% Goods and Services Tax (GST) will be levied on lotteries from March 1, according to a notification. Last year in December, the GST Council had decided to impose a single rate of 28 per cent on state-run and authorised lotteries. 

Vodafone Idea (VIL) will not be able to cash out of the Bharti Infratel-Indus Towers merged entity early enough to generate money to help pay off a bigger part of its huge adjusted gross revenue (AGR) dues by March 17, the deadline set by the Supreme Court. This was stated by industry executives and analysts.

Ministry of Finance has notified the Banning of Unregulated Deposit Scheme Rules, 2020 which shall come into force on the date of their publication in the Official Gazette i.e. 12-02-2020. The Rules include Information and particulars to be considered Competent Authority for provisionally attaching the property of the deposit taker etc.

27/02/2020
CBDT has notified Rule 114AAA u/s 139A(2)  for notifying date to make PAN inoperative if the same is not linked to Aadhar of the PAN holder up to 31.3.2020, except those who are not eligible to obtain Aadhar number and those who are exempted to link u/s 139AA(3).

High Court Allows Filling of Tran-1 despite absence of any evidence of technical glitches.
Samrajyaa and Company Vs DCCE (Madras High Court).

26/02/2020
Reserve Bank of India Governor Shaktikanta Das has said the central bank has already initiated discussions with some institutions and efforts are on for inclusion of government bonds in global indices as quickly as possible.

DHFL draft forensic report by KPMG had found the lender had disbursed loans and advances to inter-connected entities, which were likely linked to the promoters.

25/02/2020
Supreme Court In the matter of PNB- Nirav Modi scam, the has granted relief to Usha Ananthasubramaniam, former MD and CEO of Punjab National Bank, by setting aside the order passed by NCLT by which her assets were frozen.

CBDT has released a notification called the Income-tax (4th Amendment) Rules, 2020 which shall come into effect on April 1, 2020. The CBDT has introduced Forms 10-IC and Form 10-ID to opt for reduced tax rates as declared under Section 115BAA and Section 115BAB respectively for domestic companies.

24/02/2020
Indirect tax department wants the software companies to value the global brand names and logos used in India, charge a fee on that and pay 18% goods and services tax (GST) on top of it, Industry trackers said currently there is no valuation mechanism for global technology companies in India. 

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) seem to like the Indian market compared to other emerging markets, going by the relatively high inflows for the second consecutive month. The impact of coronavirus on other emerging markets and buying in the primary markets are the main reasons for FPI inflows. 

23/02/2020
MCA: The acquirer making an application should deposit at least 50 percent of the total consideration to be payable pursuant to takeover offer at the time of making an application to the NCLT.

MCA has notified the Companies (Registration Offices and Fees) Amendment Rules, 2020 which shall come into force on the date of their publication in the Official Gazette i.e 19-02-2020. 

22/02/2020
Madras High Court in a recent order has opined that the faceless tax-assessment system “can lead to erroneous assessment, if officers are not able to understand the transactions and statement of accounts of an assessee without a personal hearing”. The court, however, said electronic-assessment — introduced to curb cases of corruption and harassment of tax payers by officials— was a laudable initiative.

Central Board of Indirect Taxes & Customs (CBIC) has instructed its officers to initiate measures to recover interest payable for delayed filing of monthly returns (GSTR-3B). As per FE (February 13), the instruction from Member of the Board puts the figure at over Rs 46,000 crore.

Bombay High Court has held that an application made for withdrawal of an amount deposited with the court does not amount to a suit/proceeding/execution within Section 14 of IBC, and therefore, the party that deposited the amount cannot oppose such an application merely because it is undergoing moratorium.

21/02/2020
MCA has allowed the Filing of forms in the registry of MCA-21 by the Insolvency Professional (IP), Interim Resolution Professional (IRP) or Resolution Professional (RP) or Liquidator as appointed under Insolvency Bankruptcy Code, 2016.

SEBI has notified the new norms & Guidelines governing Portfolio Managers and their services. The SEBI has mandated that portfolio managers cannot charge an upfront fee, either directly or indirectly, from clients and the only brokerage at actuals should be charged to clients as an expense. 

income tax (I-T) department has notified forms for companies to avail the reduced corporate tax rates that were announced in September last year. CBDT has notified Forms 10-IC and 10-ID for existing companies that want to avail lower I-T rate and new manufacturing firms, respectively. 

CBDT To maximise revenue mobilisation via the direct tax ‘Vivad Se Vishwas’ scheme has made tax officers’ performance under the scheme a vital criterion for their annual appraisals for 2019-20 and future postings. “Details of the number of disputed cases, amount involved in disputed cases as well the number of cases resolved and the amount collected under the scheme may be reported in the self-appraisal. 

20/02/2020
GST Network CEO said e-invoicing and the new format for filing GST will help improve the ease of doing business and reporting for the indirect taxes. “E-invoicing is a step towards improving ease of doing business and reporting for GST. Manual data entry leads to transcription errors and wrong entries. 

Supreme Court has observed that an arbitration clause in an agreement which is required to be duly stamped, was not sufficiently stamped, cannot be acted upon by the Court.
 
CBDT and SEBI would enter into a Memorandum of Understanding, which inter-alia would include modalities of / exchange of data, maintenance of confidentiality, a mechanism for safe preservation of data, weeding out after usage, etc. about the Assessees.
 
19/02/2020
Supreme Court has stayed the Rajasthan High Court order that extended the deadline for filing of Form GSTR-9 (annual return) and Form GSTR-9C (reconciliation statement) without fine by up to a week to February 12, 2020 on a plea by the Centre that the move could undermine its efforts to boost GST compliance.
 
RBI issued a draft framework for authorization of a pan-India new umbrella entity (NUE) for retail payment systems. At present, only the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), a not-for-profit company, performs this role. The NUE could choose to be a for-profit entity or a not-for-profit as defined under Section 8 of the Companies Act. 
 
18/02/2020
RBI has come up with some changes in operational guidelines for the captioned scheme contained in circular on 'Interest Subvention Scheme for MSMEs'. Under the changes, it has been allowed to submit statutory auditor certificate by June 30, 2020 and in the meantime, to settle claims based on internal/concurrent auditor certificate. 
 
GST: Centre will soon release another Rs 35,000 crore to states to compensate for the revenue loss on account of GST rollout. Under the GST law, states are guaranteed compensation for revenue loss for 5 years if their revenue does not increase 14 per cent on the base year of 2015-16.
 
GSTN has set up a consultation committee to provide feedback on new functionalities in the GST system. Suggestions will be related to policy and technology. The committee, which will include representatives from selected states recommended by the GST Council, member secretary of GSTN, representatives from the CBIC and independent experts, will provide suggestions related to policy and technology. 
 
17/02/2020
MCA has notified the Companies (lncorporation) Amendment Rules, 2020 which shall come into force with effect from the 15th February, 2020. The amendment in Rule 9 prescribes new procedure for reservation or change of name of the company. 
 
SEBI has issued the SEBI (Issuing Observations on Draft Offer Documents Pending Regulatory Actions) Order, 2020 which shall come into force with immediate effect i.e 05-02-2020. 
 
IBC: Supreme Court has directed Dewan Housing Finance Limited (DHFL) fixed depositors to approach the troubled financial service porvider's Committee of Creditors and its Administrator appointed under the Insolvency & Bankruptcy Code, 2016 for release of deposits. 

16/02/2020
Reserve Bank of India governor Shaktikanta Das on Saturday hinted that the central board of RBI may soon decide on aligning its accounting year with the fiscal year of the government.
As of now, the RBI’s accounting year runs from July to June while the government follows the April-March fiscal year.

The government has set the Income Tax Department a target to collect ?2 trillion under the ‘Vivad se Vishwas’ direct tax dispute resolution by end of March although the scheme will run till the end of June 2020. 
The scheme announced in the union budget for FY21, for which the Bill is pending in Parliament, allows beneficiaries to pay disputed tax arrears without interest and penalty if paid before 31 March. In case the tax dispute is over penalty, interest or fee, the settlement amount payable is 25% of the dues if paid before the end of March. There will be a marginal increase in dues to be paid if the tax payer signs up for the scheme after March but before end of June.

15/02/2020
Central Board of Indirect Taxes & Customs (CBIC) in its official Twitter account gave clarification about the interest calculation on delayed payment of net Tax liability. The tweet says “There are some discussions in social media w.r.t. interest calculation on delayed GST payments post a few media reports regarding Rs. 46000 Cr interest on the delayed GST payments to be collected by tax authorities.”
“On this issue of interest calculation, it is clarified that – The GST laws, as of now, permit interest calculation on delayed GST payment on the basis of gross tax liability. This position has been upheld in the Telangana High Court’s decision dated 18.04.2019 (Document 159736439).“
Such amendment will be made prospectively. The States of Telangana and West Bengal are in the process of amending their State GST Acts. After the process of amendment is complete, the changed provisions can be put in operation for the entire country.”

14/02/2020
The government has discovered a new revenue stream to make up for the shortfall in GST collection and is looking to collect ?46,000 crore as interest on late payment of tax.
Tax experts disputed the number saying government had promised to hand-hold the taxpayers at the time of migration to the new indirect tax regime by waiving off interest and penalties for filing their tax returns. Further, it has now resorted to extremely harsh measures to boost its tax kitty.
Moreover, the levying of interest would trigger huge litigations with taxpayers challenging the demand.

The Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs has issued notices to some private equity firms, investors, and others who entered into non-compete agreements with sellers.
The indirect tax (I-T) department demands that these firms and investors pay goods and services tax (GST) at 18 percent on the non-compete fee. According to the I-T department, a non-compete agreement is classified as a service provided by the business seller to the buyer.
 
CBDT and SEBI would enter into a Memorandum of Understanding, which inter-alia would include modalities of / exchange of data, maintenance of confidentiality, a mechanism for safe preservation of data, weeding out after usage, etc. about the Assessees.
 
Supreme Court has stayed the Rajasthan High Court order that extended the deadline for filing of Form GSTR-9 (annual return) and Form GSTR-9C (reconciliation statement) without fine by up to a week to February 12, 2020 on a plea by the Centre that the move could undermine its efforts to boost GST compliance.
 
RBI issued a draft framework for authorization of a pan-India new umbrella entity (NUE) for retail payment systems. At present, only the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), a not-for-profit company, performs this role. The NUE could choose to be a for-profit entity or a not-for-profit as defined under Section 8 of the Companies Act. 
 
13/02/2020
RBI has come up with some changes in operational guidelines for the captioned scheme contained in circular on 'Interest Subvention Scheme for MSMEs'. Under the changes, it has been allowed to submit statutory auditor certificate by June 30, 2020 and in the meantime, to settle claims based on internal/concurrent auditor certificate.

E- assessment scheme 2019 was introduced to eliminatethe interface between the A. O and the assesse. Main feature of scheme were notified by CBDT vide Notification No. 61 and 62 /2019 dated 12/09/2019.

Gujarat High Court has granted interim relief in the case of interest liability on gross tax payable by restraining the department from coercive action for non-payment of interest amount. 

12/02/2020
Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs has launched a revamped and streamlined program to attract investments into India and strengthen Make in India through manufacture and other operations under the bond scheme, under Customs Act, 1962.

SEBI has issued a Master circular on Guidelines on Anti-Money Laundering (AML) Standards and Combating the Financing of terrorism (CFT) / Obligations of Securities Market Intermediaries under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 and Rules framed thereunder.

RBI governor came under pressure at the bank’s board meeting last week, with two external directors questioning how a string of frauds that have surfaced since 2018 remained undetected for years. The two board members referred to the losses suffered by Punjab National Bank, which bankrolled jeweller Nirav Modi and his uncle Mehul Choksi; the multiple irregularities in IL&FS, which came to light after the firm defaulted on payment obligations; and the recent failure of Punjab & Maharashtra Coop (PMC) Bank — 70% of whose loan book was cornered by Mumbai-based realtor HDIL.

11/02/2020
Importers and exporters will have to mandatorily declare GSTIN in documents from February 15 as the revenue department moves to crackdown on evaders and plug Goods and Services Tax revenue leakage. In a circular, the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) said certain cases have come to notice where the importer or exporter did not declare their GSTIN in the Bill of Entry/Shipping Bill despite being registered with GSTN. GSTIN is a 15-digit PAN-based unique identification number allotted to every registered person under GST.

While importers have to fill Bill of Entry with Customs department while importing goods, exporters have to file Shipping Bill. “With effect from February 15, 2020, the declaration of GSTIN shall also be mandatory in import/export documents for the importers and exporters registered as GST taxpayers,” the circular said.
While importers are paying IGST on imports but not claiming credit for the same. This essentially means that the supply of imported goods to domestic channels is being done without a bill.
A similar situation has been witnessed on cess charged on luxury and sin goods with companies paying it at the time of imports but not claiming credit or setting it off from final GST paid by consumers. 
Further, exporters have also been asked to provide details of the state and district of origin of goods and details of preferential agreements under which goods are being exported in the shipping bill.

10/02/2020
Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) has reversed decisions given in favour of seven companies by the Commissioner of Income Tax (CIT) appeals office at Nagpur, in cases involving allegedly suspicious entries of share capital and share premium.

Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) of Bangalore has allowed a claim of deduction under section 54/54F of the IncomeTax Act on a house purchased by the assessee outside India.

09/02/2020
Income Tax Amounts involved in personal income tax (PIT) disputes could jump by a massive Rs 2.5-3 lakh crore in the current financial year from close to Rs 4 lakh crore at the end of FY19 for the sole reason of post-demonetsation cash deposits in banks by about 90,000 individuals that have to date remained unexplained by them to the taxman’s satisfaction.

Direct Tax Vivad Se Vishwas Bill, 2020, seeks to cut down on nearly 4.8 lakh tax disputes involving an amount of Rs 9.32 lakh crore (up to November 30, 2019) by giving the taxpayers the facility to escape interest on the disputed tax amount and any penalty. All direct tax-related cases pending before the Commissioner (Appeals), Income Tax Appellate Tribunal, high courts or the Supreme Court as on January 31, 2020 are eligible for the scheme. The scheme provides that if a taxpayer avails it by March 31, 2020, then he would get complete waiver of interest and penalty.

Direct tax dispute settlement scheme will not cover cases related to undisclosed overseas assets initiated on the basis of information from another country. Neither will it apply to prosecutions under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), the Benami Transactions (Prohibition) Act and the income tax Act.

Direct Tax Vivad se Vishwas Bill, 2020 for dispute resolution related to Direct Tax, which provides for following:—
(a) Provisions of the Bill shall be applicable to appeals filed by taxpayers or Government, which are pending with  CIT (Appeals), ITAT, HC or SC as on 31.01.2020 irrespective of whether demand in such cases is pending or has been paid;
(b) pending appeal may be against disputed tax, intt or penalty in relation to an assessment or reassessment order or against disputed interest, disputed feeswhere there is no disputed tax. Appeal may also be against the tax determined on defaults in respect of TDS or TCS;
(c) in appeals related to disputed tax, declarant shall only pay whole of disputed tax if payment is made before 31.03.2020 and for payments made after the 31.03.2020 but on or before the date notified by CG, amt payable shall be increased by 10% of disputed tax
(d) in appeals related to disputed penalty, disputed intt or disputed fee, amt payable by declarant shall b 25%. of  disputed penalty, disputed intt or disputed fee, if payment is made on or before 31.03.2020. If payment is made after 31.03.2020 but on or before date notified by Central Government, amt payable shall b increased to 30% of disputed penalty, disputed intt or disputed fee.

08/02/2020
GST: BIG Relief Direction to file GSTR 9 and 9C without late fees till 12th Feb by Hon’ble Rajasthan High Court in PIL filed by TBA, JODHPUR vs UOl In PIL No 1805/2020.

Direct tax collection target has been downward revised to Rs 11.80 lakh crore in the Union Budget after making a "realistic assessment" of various economic factors. The set target for revenue collection (personal income tax, corporate tax and others) was Rs 13.35 lakh crore for the FY 2019-20. 

07/02/2020
Employer's contribution exceeding Rs 7.5 lakh in a financial year to retirement funds such as Employees Provident Fund (EPF), National Pension System (NPS), or any other superannuation fund is proposed to be made taxable in the hands of the employee.

Budget Tax Audit Requirement -U/S 44AB of the Income Tax Act, every person carrying on a business or profession is required to get its accounts audited if the total sales, turnover or gross receipts in business exceed INR 1 Cr or, in case of a profession, exceed INR 50 Lac in any previous year. To reduce the compliance burden on small and medium enterprises, it is proposed that the threshold limit for persons carrying on business shall be increased from Rs 1 Cr to 5 Cr provided the aggregate of; 

all receipts including sales, turnover and gross receipts in cash does not exceed 5% of total receipts; and 

all payments including expenditure in cash does not exceed 5% of total payments. 

However, in the case of individuals or HUF, for the purpose of tax withholding compliances under section 194A, 194C, 194H, 194I, 194J and 206C of the Act, the aggregate limit has not been changed: INR 1 Cr in the case of business and INR 50 Lacs in the case of professionals (in the preceding financial year). This proposed amendment will be effective from 1 April 2020.

06/02/2020
Net direct tax collections so far this financial year were Rs 7.3 lakh crore against Rs 7.7 lakh crore in the corresponding period in FY19, finance ministry officials said. This implies a shortfall of about Rs 40,000 crore or over 5%. 

Penalty for Non – Filling of GSTR-9C within due date the taxpayer has to pay Rs. 25000/- as no specific clause for it. thus general penalty RS 50000/- 9C and Gstr-9( 100+100=200) per day max. Upto 0.25% of total turnover of that year including amendment made by dealer(Gstr-9 penalty)

05/02/2020
Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) has frozen tax credits of around Rs 40,000 crore as the returns did not match, exposing alleged fraud by close to 2,000 entities, apart from cases where returns were not filed. 

Gujrat High Court in the case of Mohit Mineral Pvt. Ltd. v. UOI has declared levy of IGST on ocean freight & corresponding notifications as ultra-vires the IGST Act, 2017 for lacking legislative competence and also declared these notifications as unconstitutional. It is concluded that no IGST is leviable on the ocean freight for the services provided by a person located in non-taxable territory by way of transportation of goods by a vessel from a place outside India up to the customs station of clearance in India.

04/02/2020
 MCA is expected to take a major step to revamp the auditor’s report that accompanies company balance-sheets, placing more onus on statutory auditors to fulfill their professional responsibilities. The move is expected in February. Besides overhauling the Companies Auditors Report Order (CARO), the government is also likely to make changes to the secretarial audit reporting that is mandated under the company law. 

National Company Law Tribunal, Cuttack has granted post-facto approval in terms of Section 33(5) of Insolvency & Bankruptcy Code, 2016 to a Liquidator for initiation of a legal proceeding on behalf of the corporate debtor. 

03/02/2020
SEBI has specified the uniform structure for imposing fines as a first resort for non-compliance with LODR regulations and the standard operating procedure for suspension and revocation of trading of specified securities.

01/02/2020
Income Tax : Compliances on S. 269SU read with Rule 119AA
- It is applicable only to those assesses whose sales / turnover / gross receipts exceeded Rs. 50 Crores in preceding FY i.e. FY 2018-19. It should not include GST.
- The prescribed modes have to be made available by 31st January 2020 to avoid penalty of Rs. 5000/- per day w.e.f. 1st February 2020
- As per the language of the law, the assessee has to provide the prescribed facility of ALL THREE MODES i.e:
  (i)  Debit Card powered by RuPay;
  (ii)  Unified Payments Interface (UPI) (BHIM-UPI); and
  (iii) Unified Payments Interface Quick Response Code (UPI QR Code) (BHIM-UPI QR Code).
- The assessee should further fill the functionality which is enabled in the e-filing login of the assessee whose business turnover exceeded Rs.50 crores.

Net direct tax collections so far this financial year were Rs 7.3 lakh crore against Rs 7.7 lakh crore in the corresponding period in FY19, finance ministry officials said. This implies a shortfall of about Rs 40,000 crore or over 5%. 

29/01/2020
Penalty for Non – Filling of GSTR-9C within due date the taxpayer has to pay Rs. 25000/- as no specific clause for it. thus general penalty RS 50000/- 9C and Gstr-9( 100+100=200) per day max. Upto 0.25% of total turnover of that year including amendment made by dealer(Gstr-9 penalty)

Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) has frozen tax credits of around Rs 40,000 crore as the returns did not match, exposing alleged fraud by close to 2,000 entities, apart from cases where returns were not filed. 

28/01/2020
Gujrat High Court in the case of Mohit Mineral Pvt. Ltd. v. UOI has declared levy of IGST on ocean freight & corresponding notifications as ultra-vires the IGST Act, 2017 for lacking legislative competence and also declared these notifications as unconstitutional. It is concluded that no IGST is leviable on the ocean freight for the services provided by a person located in non-taxable territory by way of transportation of goods by a vessel from a place outside India up to the customs station of clearance in India.

MCA is expected to take a major step to revamp the auditor’s report that accompanies company balance-sheets, placing more onus on statutory auditors to fulfill their professional responsibilities. The move is expected in February. Besides overhauling the Companies Auditors Report Order (CARO), the government is also likely to make changes to the secretarial audit reporting that is mandated under the company law. 

National Company Law Tribunal, Cuttack has granted post-facto approval in terms of Section 33(5) of Insolvency & Bankruptcy Code, 2016 to a Liquidator for initiation of a legal proceeding on behalf of the corporate debtor. 

SEBI has specified the uniform structure for imposing fines as a first resort for non-compliance with LODR regulations and the standard operating procedure for suspension and revocation of trading of specified securities.

Employer could soon start deducting 20 per cent of salary in case employee fail to provide PAN and Aadhaar details to them. This latest rule of the CBDT, which came into effect on January 16, will be applicable for all those who earn above Rs 2.5 lakh per annum. 

Chief Justice of India S A Bobde on made a case for speedy resolution of tax disputes saying it will act as an incentive for taxpayers and free the funds locked in litigation. Chief Justice said tax judiciary plays a very important role in resource mobilisation of the country and expressed concern over pendency of cases.

Delhi bench of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) has initiated corporate insolvency resolution proceedings (CIRP) against a Lotus Greens Group Company, the Gurgaon-based Bright Buildtech Pvt. Ltd.

Maharashtra Real Estate Regulatory Authority (Maha-RERA) has ruled that open parking spaces fall within the definition of common areas in the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, and hence developers cannot charge homebuyers for them.

Haryana Real Estate Regulatory Authority will take action against those brokers who are selling properties without a licence in the state.

Supreme Court has set aside the order of National Consumer Dispute Redressal Commission which directed them to jointly pay punitive damages of Rs One Crore for alleged unfair trade practice in relation to the quiz show 'Kaun Banega Crorepati(KBC). 

27/01/2020
Sources with direct knowledge of the development said income and corporate tax collections are likely to miss FY2020 targets by as much as Rs 1.5 lakh crore while indirect taxes may fall short by about Rs 50,000 crore on drop in the Goods and Services Tax (GST) in a sluggish economy.
The exchequer was shaved off Rs 1.45 lakh crore as the government slashed corporate tax rates up to 10 percentage points, the biggest reduction in 28 years. Base corporate tax for existing companies has been reduced to 22 per cent from 30 per cent, and to 15 per cent from 25 per cent for new manufacturing firms incorporated after October 1, 2019, and starting operations before March 31, 2023.

If provident fund (PF) withdrawal or PF transfer is getting stuck due to the missing date of exit in the EPFO system, here’s a piece of good news. The Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) has introduced a facility in the Unified Portal wherein the employee can enter the date of exit from the previous or the last employer by oneself. Till now, only the employers had the authority to enter or update the exit date of the employee. However, from now onwards even the employee after leaving an organization or company can enter the date of exit.

26/01/2020
Tax Invasion is a Social Injustice to fellow citizens - CJI. Chief Justice of India has said that the Tax Invasion is a Social Injustice to follow citizens and arbitrary or excessive tax is also results in injustice to tax payers

GST authorities to block GST Credit of over 1,000 Taxpayers who have allegedly claimed more credit than they were eligible for.

Continue to file GSTR-3B by 20 of next month if turnover in last year exceeds 5cr. For others, due date to be 22/24 of next month as per State of Registration. Proposal wef April 2020

Sebi put in place a stricter mechanism to deal with non-compliance of listing conditions under which stock exchanges will have powers to slap penalties up to Rs 50,000 for certain violations. At present, a stock exchange is allowed to charge a maximum amount of Rs 10,000 for each violation of listing norms that need to be complied with by companies.
 
Reserve Bank of India on Wednesday defended in the Supreme Court its 2018 circular directing banks to desist from dealing in any transactions involving crypto currencies, insisting that it had always been consistent in its opposition to allowing any other payments systems and undermining the integrity of the banking system.
 
Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA) in Karnataka may soon have the judicial powers, similar to what is enjoyed by the consumer forum.
 
Delhi High Court has held that applications filed for seeking permission to sell a vehicle seized by the bank in cases of default cannot be kept pending for long and should be disposed of within 60 days.

25/01/2020
Direct tax collections till January 15 stood at Rs 7.3 lakh crore, down 5.2% from the year-ago period. There is no precedent of a contraction in direct tax growth at least in recent history. Gross direct tax collections — after refunds but before devolution to states — for FY20 is budgeted to grow at 17.4% to Rs 13.35 lakh crore. 

?GSTR-3B due dates for Delhi (07) now rescheduled:- 1) For Annual Turnover Rs. 5 crore or more in previous financial year - 20th of next month. 2) For Annual Turnover up to Rs. 5.00 crore in previous financial year - 24th of next month.

24/01/2020
Kerala High Court in the matter of Kannangayathu Metals decided that if transportation vehicle is carrying proper E way bill and Tax Invoice but the truck driver has taken some other route to reach the destination, vehicle and goods cannot be detained solely because driver has opted for a different route.

GST Network said a total of 65.65 lakh returns for December were filed till January 20, out of which 13.30 lakh returns were filed on the last day itself. “There have been few issues about one-time passwords (OTPs) being received with some time lag on account of delay by the email service provider or local internet issues. 

Calcutta High Court held that the corporate insolvency resolution procedure enumerated under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 (IBC) cannot be used as a tool to curtail any claim which arose prior to the commencement of the insolvency proceedings.  

Allahabad High Court has upheld the constitutional validity of section 164(2) of the companies Act 2013, which stipulates that a Director whose company has not filed Financial Statements or Annual Returns for any continuous period of three financial years, shall be disqualified from holding the position for five years

23/01/2020
?Bombay High Court In the case of ? PCIT vs. Pinaki D. Panani  Even if the purchases made by the assessee are to be treated as bogus, it does not mean that entire amount can be disallowed. As the AO did not dispute the consumption of the raw materials and completion of work, only a percentage of net profit on total turnover can be estimated  (Favour of Assessee). 

Jaipur ITAT quashes the final assessment order passed without issuing draft assessment order u/s 144C of the Income Tax Act, 1961 (‘Act’). Jaipur ITAT notes that the TPO had made additions pertaining to domestic transactions and assessee was an eligible assessee as defined u/s 144C(15). Further, it was held that service of draft order was not merely a procedural requirement but a mandatory procedure to be followed by the AO– Jhandewala Foods Limited vs ACIT 

GST Taxpayer not entitled to additional GST due to faulty contract clauses. HC of Kerala dated 20th March, 2019 regarding levy and collection of tax in case of Jilmon John V. State of Kerala [2019] 112 taxmann.com 62. 

GST :Goods and Transport vehicle cannot be detained by the department on the ground of non filing of GSTR 3B and GSTR 1 ( Ref : Relcon Foundation Pvt Ltd - Kerela High Court )

22/01/2020
DIRECTORATE GENERAL OF GST INTELLIGENCE (HQRS) F.No. 587/CE/167/Po1/2019/11219-11269 dated 13.01.2020 regarding Blocking of Input Tax Credit under rule 86A(1)(a) of CGST.

 Central Goods & Services Tax (CGST) administration has started blocking input tax credit (ITC) for assessees who availed credit against fake invoices, or against invoices without the receipt of goods or services, or both.

Revenue department has set a target of Rs 1.18 lakh crore of average monthly Goods and Services Tax (GST) collection in the remaining three months of the fiscal (January-March) and has asked the indirect tax department to specially focus on fraudulent input tax credit (ITC) claims as revealed in data analytics review.
 
GST authorities have zeroed in on about 40,000 companies for claiming excess or wrongful tax rebates, who will now be pursued for recovery of tax dues. If the authorities are not able to recover tax dues from the identified companies with the electronic communication such as emails and text messages, they will be visited by officials and further steps will be taken. 
 
Ahmadabad bench of National Company Law Tribunal has admitted  a petition filed by IDBI bank to initiate corporate insolvency  resolution process (CIRP) against Anil Ambani's Reliance Naval and Engineering Limited (RNEL) for failing to repay the debt.

21/01/2020
Central Government agreed to take over troubled real estate giant Unitech to streamline the management of the company which is in a financial  mess caused by siphoning off of more than 50% of money deposited by individuals and financial institutions.
 
Reserve Bank of India has included the National Population Register letter as an officially valid document (OVD) for Know Your Customer (KYC) verification for opening bank accounts or applying for credit cards. The Reserve Bank of India has also allowed a video based customer identification process for verification.  

20/01/2020
Change of address in PAN database by assessee is mandatory. Notice u/s 143(2) served on the address given in PAN is sufficient: Supreme Court

RBI issues new debit and credit card rules to improve convenience and security of card transactions
 
Govt saves Rs 350 Cr fake IGST refund due to untraceable of over 1200 exporters. Revenue Dept using its data analytics has discovered a fraud in GST refunds with as many as 1,200 exporters, who have have claimed Rs 350 crore refunds, are now untraceable

Budget may make faking input tax non-bailable crime for buyers too. Govt is likely to make fraudulent claims for input tax credit a non-bailable offence in the hands of recipients of goods and services in the February 1 budget by tightening the GST law

19/01/2020
CBDT has issued Circular No. 4/2020 dated January-16-2020 detailing out all Comprehensive Guidelines for Deduction of TDS on Salaries by the Employers for the Financial Year 2019-2020. 

Income tax department has started questioning the local subsidiaries of several multinational companies to ascertain whether they have foreign operations managed from India. In cases where this is established, the department wants them to pay tax here on their income from such operations. It has already issued notices to the subsidiaries of several MNCs. 

Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India has mandated liquidators of transfer unclaimed dividends or proceeds generated during a voluntary insolvency process into a designated account before applying for dissolution of the company.

18/01/2020
National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) on Thursday said it will provide a formula for proceeds distribution among the creditors of debt-ridden IL&FS group firms.

Delhi Commissioner VAT has opened the portal for filing of Form 9 for the year 2015-16. 

17/01/2020
Cabinet will soon consider a proposal to amend the Companies Act to decriminalize about 44 of 66 offences, including corporate social responsibility (CSR) violations and non-filing of returns. It will also consider easing remuneration norms to allow loss-making companies to offer higher salaries to key managerial personnel. 

Delhi High Court has recapitulated the law with respect to the liability of Independent, Non-executive directors of the Company in complaints filed under Section 138 of NI Act 1881, for the dishonor of cheque.

16/01/2020
Kerala high court has tried to clear the air over the contentious issue of composite supplies under the Goods and Services Tax (GST) which experts say may become guiding principles to decide cases in litigation. If more than one good or service are supplied by a company, these could be considered composite or mixed under the GST system.

Ministry of Corporate Affairs is set to notify new rules for the treatment of third party assets of a stressed financial company under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code.  

Government appointed Michael Debaprata Patra as the deputy governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). The appointment of Patra, who is currently an executive director at the central bank, comes nearly six months after former deputy governor Viral Acharya’s pre-mature resignation.  

15/01/2020
Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT) on January 14 upheld the fine of over Rs 2,423 crore levied by markets regulator SEBI on four directors of PACL Ltd for illegal fund mobilisation through various schemes from public. 

Bombay High Court has appointed a committee for speedy disposal of assets of Housing Development and Infrastructure Ltd.—a borrower to crisis-hit Punjab and Maharashtra Cooperative Bank. The three-member committee will determine how proceeds from the sale of the properties will be used.

14/01/2020
Income tax department now wants to know not only about your earnings and investments but also about your expenses in new income tax return (ITR) forms. Although the finance ministry has relaxed eligibility conditions for filing ITR-1 and ITR-4 forms, yet no changes have been made in the new ITR forms which were notified last week. 

GST: Banks, airlines, insurance companies, armed forces and telecom service providers are likely to be exempted from mandatory issuing of e-invoices under goods and services tax. 

12/01/2020
ITR 1 & 4 AY 2020-21 can be used if assessee owns joint property. ITR-1 can be used if electricity/travel expenses or deposits in current accounts exceed threshold.
 
Finance Ministry on Friday extended deadline to avail waiver of late fee chargeable on GSTR-1 pertaining to period from July 2017 to November 2019 from 10 January to 17 January.
 
Sebi came out with guidelines for entities for operating as investment advisers in International Financial Services Centre (IFSC), under which such advisers need to have a net worth of at least USD 1.5 million. The decision has been taken following the representations received from various stakeholders, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) said in a circular. 
 
11/01/2020
Sebi is considering relaxing the March 31 deadline for listed companies to separate the positions of chairman and managing director (CMD). While the market regulator gave ample time to India Inc to adhere to the rule, not many corporate houses have complied with it. 
 
RBI decided to permit video-based KYC (Know Your Customer) which will be a huge relief to map remote customer authentication, as opposed to physically on boarding customers. The provision allows an officer of the institution to remotely vet a customer’s identity through PAN or Aadhaar and a few questions.

10/01/2020
GST Department to Audit 70% of Taxpayers for AY 17-18. GST authorities have begun issuing notices for the tax audit exercise, which involves detailed scrutiny of the accounts and records for FY18. Tax authorities have issued notices seeking audit of accounts and records from July 2017 till March 2018, the first year of GST implementation.

MCA has extended the time offered to companies to provide information about persons who control 10% or more stake in the entity by 3 months. The process of informing the MCA about significant beneficial owners (SBOs) is part of the exercise to bring in more transparency about persons with significant control over a firm.

National Company Law Tribunal on warned Jet Airways (India) Ltd. Committee of Creditors of contempt proceedings if they do not release interim funds to the resolution professional by Jan. 20 for completion of insolvency proceedings.

RBI is planning to auction distressed private banks that are under the Prompt Corrective Action (PCA) framework for a prolonged period, the Business Standard reported. This is part of the RBI’s plan to have a different rule book for distressed banks. 

09/01/2020
As per section 55A of SEBI Act and Mca Notification dated 22-05-2019, every limited company is required to get Demat registration with nsdl/ cdsl and obtain ISIN. Also with the amendment in section 29 of the Companies act 2013, the word public has been omitted. Hence, private companies may be required to obtain ISIN as well.

A number of trusts set up in overseas tax havens using a complex maze of entities have come under the scanner of Indian and Swiss authorities for suspected tax evasion by parking of illicit funds in Switzerland-based banks, as per notices issued to those entities. In addition, several individuals who are suspected to have moved abroad after evading taxes back in India are also being probed and their banking details are in the process of being shared by the Swiss authorities with their Indian counterparts.

08/01/2020
GST: Medicines/consumables used in the course of providing health care services is ‘composite supply’, exempt from GST. CMC Vellore Association, (AAR - TAMILNADU). 

Revenue Department has brought to the notice of the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGCF) instances of ‘mis-availment’ of Integrated Goods & Services Tax (IGST) refunds, based on fake invoices, by some exporters holding ‘star’ status. It has also advised the DGFT, under the Commerce Ministry, to make the exporters’ accreditation system more robust.

Tax authorities step up heat on erring businesses with GST Audit. GST authorities have started audit of businesses for FY18, the year of the indirect tax reform, indicating that erring assessees will now be held accountable for lapses in tax payment and record keeping

06/01/2020
This is to bring to your notice that a committee headed by Union Home Minister, Mr. Amit Shah has been constituted to strengthen legal framework around sexual harassment at workplace.
The Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013" or ("POSH Act 2013"), that could shortly be followed by an audit by regulatory authorities.   
The POSH Act 2013 is applicable to all companies operating in India and below are the compliances which companies have to perform:
1.    create policy and service rules,
2.    form Internal Complaints Committee (“IC”) at all operating locations (with more than 10 employees),
3.    conduct annual training for IC and employees,
4.    Annual/periodic filing with respective authorities.       

MCA adds Additional criteria for requirement of Secretarial Audit if outstanding loan or borrowings from banks or PFIsis RS 100 Cr. Or more. Notf dtd 03.01.2020
MCA increases Threshold Limit for requirement to appoint of CS in Pvt. Ltd. From Rs. 5 Cr. to Rs. 10 Cr. MCA notification dtd. 3rd January,2020

05/01/2020
CBDT Further gives Extension of time limit of 12 months for applying for Compounding of Offences under Income Tax Act till 31.1.2020. Circular 1/2020-Income Tax of 3.1.2020.

CBDT has notified Rule 119AA of Income tax Rules, 1962 mandating businessmen with Turnover more than INR 50 crores to have facility to accept payment through Rupay Debit Card, BHIM-UPI, UPI QR Code w.e.f. 01.02.2020 otherwise penalty may be levied for INR 5,000 per day.

CBDT releases ITR 1 and ITR 4 for FY 2019-20 (AY 2020-21) vide notification no. 01/2020 dated 
3 January 2020.

No Income Tax is required to be paid by a Professional with Turnover upto INR 10 Lakhs since FLAT 50% will be deemed as Income and hence, No tax will be levied since the Exemption Limit applicable will be INR 5 Lakhs for F.Y. 2019-20 (including 87A Limit)

GST amendments have been made effective w.e.f. 01.01.2020:

Aadhar Authentication has been made mandatory for GST Registrations.
Mandatory online modes of accepting payment also inserted in GST as inserted in Section 269SU of Income tax Act.
Transfer of Cash Ledger balances on the common portal within Major and Minor Heads has been allowed.
Penalty of 10% has been introduced under anti-profiteering provisions.
New SEZ Registrants needs to provide SEZ related information in REG-01.
TRAN-1 and TRAN-2 dates extended for taxpayers facing “technical issues” to 31.03.2020 and 30.04.2020* respectively.

GST: As a one-time measure to enable taxpayers to clear the backlog of all #GSTR-1 which have not been filed from July 2017 to Nov 2019, a late fee waiver till 10.01.2020 (vide NN 74/2019 dt. 26.12.2019) has been provided.

04/01/2020
E-commerce cos may get to upload GST e-invoice for vendors
In a significant relaxation for the ecommerce sector, the government could allow online platforms such as Amazon and Flipkart to upload e-invoice for vendors under the goods and services tax (GST) framework. As part of ongoing trials of e-invoicing, a detailed set of clarifications in the form of frequently asked questions have been issued. “Ecommerce operator can request for e-invoice on behalf of supplier,” the clarification said. The matter has been taken up by the government and could be allowed once the trial period is over. Voluntary uploading of e-invoices on the GSTN portal kicked off from January 1, for businesses having turnover over Rs 500 crore. For businesses having annual turnover over Rs 100 crore will be effective from February 1. Only 10,000 line items per e-invoice would be allowed, as per the FAQ. Foreign services providers will have to set up local entities to integrate with the invoice registration portal (IRP), as per the FAQs.

Revenue secretary, tax commissioners to meet on streamlining GST system
To streamline Goods and Service Tax (GST) system and refunds, enhance GST compliance and discourage tax evaders, commissioners of state tax and chief commissioners of central tax are scheduled to hold a daylong brainstorming session, under the chairmanship of Revenue Secretary Ajay Bhushan Pandey, in New Delhi on 7 January. GST collections crossed the ?1 trillion mark for the second consecutive month in December but missed the target of ?1.1 trillion for the month set by the finance ministry. The central government has beefed up efforts to boost GST revenue collections as both tax and non-tax revenue collections so far this fiscal have been well below expectation. Discussions in the meeting would focus on the road ahead with e-invoicing, new return system and feedback, e-way bill linking with FASTag, pendency of refunds, linkage of Aadhaar to GST registration and the QR code. 

AI, data analytics to track GST evaders, boost compliance
The government plans to increase the use of artificial intelligence and data analytics to track down tax evaders, and improve compliance with the Goods and Service Tax in order to augment revenue.
Top tax officials are scheduled to participate in a brainstorming session to be chaired by revenue secretary Ajay Bhushan Pandey next week to firm up this plan.
The revenue secretary will hold a day-long meeting on January 7 with tax commissioners to discuss ways to streamline the GST system and plug leakages due to fraud,” said a person aware of the development.

CBDT extends deadline for compounding of income tax offences till Jan 31. CBDT has extended till January 31 the last date for taxpayers to avail a "one-time" facility to apply for compounding of income tax offences
 
Bank employees to go on nationwide strike on Jan 8. Normal banking services at bank branches and ATMs are likely to be impacted as major bank unions have decided to resort to an all-India general strike on January 8

03/01/2020
CBDT to fine businesses Rs 5,000/day for not using digital payment facilities
From February 1, businesses will be fined Rs 5,000 per day if they fail to accept payments through digital payment facilities - CBDT

CBDT further extends the timeline for Linking PAN with Aadhaar from 31st December,2019 to 31st March,2020.Notification No. 107/2019

No anticipatory bail, GST violators can be arrested without FIR, clarifies SC

02/01/2020
Startups can get Company Identification Number (CIN), PAN, GSTIN, EPFO No & Employer Code under ESIC in one application at MCA portal through SPICE-AGILE Form.

MCA has extended due date of filing Form BEN-2  and BEN-1 without late fees to 31.03.2020. General Circular No. 1/2020.

MCA has extended due date of filing CRA-4 (Cost Audit Report) for F.Y. 2018-19 without late fees to 29.02.2020. General Circular No. 17/2019.

Wef 11.01.2020, e-way bill will not be generated even if GSTR-1 is pending. File all pending GSTR-1 since Jul 17 to Nov 19 by 10.01.2020 without late fee.

01/01/2020
May God bless all with a happy and prosperous new year 2020.

 
     
132067 Times Visited