CORPORATE AND PROFESSIONAL UPDATES 1 AUG 2018

DirectTax :

• SC dismisses Revenue’s SLP challenging Delhi HC judgement in case of Central Warehousing Corporation (‘assessee’); HC had held that depreciation not to be deducted while computing exempt income from operating warehouses under erstwhile Sec. 10(29); HC had rejected Revenue’s stand that depreciation partakes the character of expenditure and hence should be reduced from gross receipts while computing exempt income u/s. 10(29); [TS-420-SC-2018]
• Mumbai ITAT Special Bench (‘SB’) confirms penalty levy u/s. u/s 271D on assessee-company for sreceiving cash loans from one of its directors during AY 2008-09 as assessee failed to demonstrate bonafide reasons for not accepting them by account payee cheque/bank draft; Clarifies that bonafide nature of transactions alone not sufficient to claim immunity u/s. 273B and “it is required to be established that there was some bonafide reasons for the assessee for not taking or accepting loan or deposit by account payee cheque or account payee bank draft”, cites SC ruling in Kum. A.B. Shanthi; [TS-387-ITAT-2018(Mum )]
• The onus of proving a tax exemption where the guidelines aren’t clear would be on the assessee, and he cannot claim the benefit of any such ambiguity in provisions – Supreme Court (Economics Times).
• CBDT has directed the Income Tax Department to ensure filing all its petitions before the NCLT by next month to recover due taxes worth crores of rupees from a number of de-registered shell or dummy companies.

INDIRECT TAX

• Valuation under GST – Reduction on account of Discount – Section 15(3)(b) of the CGST Act – Whether the amount paid to authorized dealers towards “rate difference” after effecting the supply of goods by the applicant to aforesaid dealers can be considered for the purpose of arriving at the ‘transaction value’ in terms of Section 15 of the CGST Act? – Held NO– AAR, Maharashtra in Ultratech Cement Ltd. (2018 (7) TMI 1761).
• The CBIC has amended Reverse Charge Applicability on the Direct Selling Agents (DSAs) and definition of Renting of Immovable Property – Notification No.15/2018- Central Tax (Rate), dt.26.07.2018.
• GST regime has seen a significant change in the assessee segmentation compared to the pre-GST era when VAT and Central excise were in place. As on July 25, a total of 63.7 lakh taxpayers migrated from the old system, while 49.53 lakh new taxpayers total number of taxpayers under GST 1.13 crore.

FAQ on GST Audit:

• Query: What action the tax authorities may take after the special audit?
• Answer: Based on the findings / observations of the special audit, action can be initiated under Section 73 or Section 74 of the CGST/SGST Act.

MCA UPDATES

• MCA data shows that Nearly 66% of 17.79 lakh companies registered in the country were active at the end of June, official data showed amid the government continuing its clampdown on shell entities.
• MCAhas notified the Companies (Incorporation) Third Amendment Rules, 2018 which has into force w.e.f. 27-07-2018.
• MCA has amend the Companies (Incorporation) Rules, 2014,These rules may be called the Companies (Incorporation) Third Amendment Rules,2018 which shall come into force on the date of their publication in the official Gazette

RBI UPDATES

• RBI may raise the benchmark reference rate by a quarter percentage point for the second time in two months, citing upside risks to inflation, an ET survey ahead of this week’s bi-monthly policy meeting on setting broader financing costs showed.
• The Reserve Bank of India released data on the composition and ownership pattern of deposits with scheduled commercial banks (SCBs) as on March 31, 2018. Four small finance banks (SFBs) and two foreign banks, which were added to the Second Schedule of the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934 during 2017-18, have also been covered in this data release.

Read more about: What is core Business Activity GST

Read more about: All about GST Offenses, Penalties, and Appeals

OTHER UPDATES

• ICAI in the run up of theelection to the 24^thCouncil and 23^rd Regional Councils scheduled to be held in December, 2018, request to members for updation of their mobile number and email-id to send bio-data of candidates, important election related announcements, etc. to members. Link at: https://sdb.icai.org/member/updemX.aspx.
• ICAI has released an E-Handbook for guidance on HSN classification under GST, to facilitate correct determination of applicable classification/ GST rate for respective goods and services, by considering relevant classification issues.
• Parliament passed a bill aiming at allowing a court to try offences related to cheque bounce expeditiously and direct the drawee to pay a minimum of 20 per cent of the cheque amount as interim compensation.
• National Textile Corporation Limited, New Delhi invites Application of CA Firms and Cost Accountant firms for the FY 2018-19 for Internal Auditor. send the details of your work experience before 16/08/2018 up till 3:00 P.M. on ntcltd.org