Corporate and professional updates on 17th April 2019

Direct Tax Updates:

• The Income Tax department has revised Form 16 by adding various details, including income from house property and remuneration received from other employers, thereby making it more comprehensive to help check tax avoidance. It will also include segregated information regarding deductions under various tax saving schemes, investments in tax savings instruments, different allowances received by the employee as well as income from other sources. The revised Form will come into effect from May 12, 2019.

Indirect Tax Updates:

• Renewable power companies have moved the Delhi High Court, seeking to exempt the renewable energy certificates (RECs) from the goods and services tax (GST). The case will also have implications on priority sector lending certificates, used widely in the banking sector. These certificates current attract a GST rate of 12 per cent.The court on Tuesday issued notices to the Centre, the GST Council and the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs in this regard.
• RECs fall under the definition of securities, argued Rastogi. “These scrips are traded on IEX and PXIL and are electricity derivatives,” Rastogi said. RECs are widely used in the renewable purchase obligations by companies and states. Launched in 2010, RPOs make it obligatory for distribution companies, open-access consumers and captive power producers to meet part of their energy needs through green energy. Pre-defined RPO target for all states, currently ranges from 3 per cent to 10 per cent of the total energy requirement of the states. RPO is divided in two parts- solar RPO and non-solar RPO. The states or utilities that are unable to fulfil their RPO can buy RECs, which represents 1mw-hour of power produced from a renewable energy source. There are around 12,000 projects under REC mechanism with a total capacity of 5,383 MW.
• Central Electricity Regulatory Commission reduced the REC prices to a historic low to match with prevailing tariffs. It was earlier in the range of Rs 1.5-3.5/unit Harry Dhaul, director general of the Independent Power Producers Association of India (IPPAI), said the taxability of REC will prove to be fatal for the power consumers by further increasing the costs of electricity.

Other Updates:

• Infosys’ digital strategy to curb attrition.
• Samsung says it sold 2 milion A series smartphones in 40 days, clocks USD 500 million in sales.
• India’s trade deficit narrows to $10.89 bn in March, exports grow 11%.
• Trump asks Boeing to rebrand 737 Max in ‘what the hell do I know’ tweet.
• Wipro Q4FY19 preview: Analysts see dip in margins; modest rise in PAT.
• Net interest margin of NBFCs likely to come under pressure.
• India’s cotton output to decline to 343 lakh bales in FY19.
• Export of oilmeals rose 31% to Rs 6,222 cr in FY19.
• Lakshmi Vilas Bank to allot near 5% shares to India bulls Housing Finance.
• Gold falls by Rs 200 on muted demand, extends losses for 4th day.
• Metropolis Healthcare makes a strong stock market debut; lists up 9% from IPO price.
• Spice Jet shares surge more than 8% on launch of new international flights.
• NBFC-MFIs raise Rs 26,000 cr through securitisation in FY19.
• Rupee drops 25 paise to close at 69.42 vs USD.
• TCS shares jump nearly 5 pc after Q4 results; m-cap rises by Rs 36,136 cr.

Key Due Dates:

• 18-04-2019 – Quarterly return for taxpayers opting for Composition Scheme(GSTR-4)
• 20-04-2019 – GSTR-3B for the m/o March 2019.
• 30-04-2019 – GSTR-1 for the quarter ending March 2019 for taxpayers with Annual Aggregate turnover upto than 1.50 Crore.
• 14-04-2019 – Issue of TDS Certificate for tax deducted under section 194-IA/194-IB in m/o Feb’19.
• 30-04-2019 – Deposit of TDS/TCS for m/o March 2019.
• 30-04-2019 – Furnishing challan-cum-statement in respect of tax deducted u/s 194-IA/194IB in month of March’19
• 30-04-2019 – Due date for uploading declarations received from recipients in Form. 15G/15H during the quarter ending March, 2019.