Corporate and Professional Updates on 2nd August 2019

Indirect Tax Updates:

• The Maharashtra government would soon issue an order whereby GST refunds would be blocked if an industrial unit fails to submit proof that 80 per cent of its employees are ‘sons of the soil’ as required by rules, it said Thursday. Industries Minister Subhash Desai said a new Government Resolution (GR) would be brought in for this purpose. It would also apply to recruitment of contract employees, he said. If needed, Maharashtra may contemplate bringing a law, on the lines of Andhra Pradesh, to ensure that local people get certain proportion of jobs in industries, he said. Maharashtra was the first state to frame a rule in 1968 that all industrial establishments should hire at least 80 per cent local people, Desai, a Shiv Sena leader, said.  “The first GR was issued on November 18, 1968, and since then the GR has been revised (re-issued) five times till 2008.
• The government gives refund on Goods and Services Tax to industrial establishments based on their capital investment. In 2018-19, the total refund amounted to Rs 3,035 crore, Desai said. “If the refund is blocked, it will be a huge loss for industrial units and they will not dare violate the rule to hire 80 per cent locals,” he said. The refund would be released only after the industrial unit submits proof that it has complied with the rule. As per government records, overall 90 per cent of employees in industrial sector are locals, while 84 per cent of those occupying supervisor/managerial grade posts are Maharashtrians.

SEBI Updates:

• Capital markets regulator SEBI slapped Rs 94.5 lakh penalty on 17 entities for indulging in fraudulent trade practices in illiquid stock options segment on the BSE. The regulator, during the course of investigation between April 2015 and September 2015, found that 81.38 per cent of all the trades executed in the stock options segment involved reversal of buy and sell positions by the clients and counter-parties in a contract on the same day.
•  These entities were among those “whose reversal trades involved squaring off transactions with significant difference in sell value and buy value of the transactions,” SEBI said in similarly worded separate orders on Friday. It further said trades of the entities are non-genuine as they are not executed in normal course of trading, lack basic trading rationale, lead to misleading appearance of trading in terms of generation of artificial volumes, and are hence deceptive & manipulative. By indulging in such trades, the entities have violated provisions of the Prohibition of Fraudulent and Unfair Trade Practices (PFUTP) norms, SEBI said. Accordingly, a fine of Rs 9 lakh on Makers Casting, and Rs 8 lakh on Ashok Investors Trust has been levied by SEBI.
• The orders are in accordance with the Securities and Exchange Board of India’s announcement in April 2018 on taking action in a phased manner against 14,720 entities for fraudulent trade in the illiquid stock options segment. In a separate order, the regulator imposed a penalty of Rs 18 lakh on promoters of Man Industries for not making requisite disclosure to the company and exchanges after change in their shareholding in the firm. “Substantial Acquisition of Shares and Takeovers (SAST) Regulations requires every promoter of a target company to disclose details of any invocation or release of encumbrance of shares. Such disclosure of creation, release and invocation of disclosures required under…has to be made within 7 working days from creation, invocation and release of such encumbrance.

Other Updates:

• Eight core sectors’ output rises 0.2 per cent YoY: Govt
• US Fed lowers interest rates for first time since 2008, signals more cuts
• HDFC lowers lending rates by 10 basis points
• Auto makers cut production by 11% in Q1: Report
• Govt receipts only 14% of full year target in 1st qtr
• Government raises subsidy for non-urea fertilisers
• Vedanta contributes 0.40% to India GDP, says study
• Core sector growth at 50-month low in June; 4 out of 8 sectors contract
• Jewellery exporters may be covered under credit insurance benefit
• Fiscal deficit touches Rs 4.32 trillion in Q1, 61.4% of budget estimate
• RBI allows domestic banks to sell NPAs abroad as one-time settlement
• FPIs pull out over Rs 11,000 crore in July, highest in nine months
• In 3 months, fiscal deficit exceeds 61% of full-year target
• Govt, exporters discuss strategy to increase exports to US, China
• Tamilnadu Petroproducts profit rises 90% in Q1
• Ashok Leyland’s Q1 profit plunges 45% to ₹230 cr
• Blue Dart April-June quarter profit drops 73%
• ICRA’s rating cut stifles Yes Bank’s ability to raise fresh capital
• Government gives more time to direct tax code panel to finalise report
• Cabinet approves bill to regulate chit funds industry
• Eicher Motors Q1 net dips 22% to ₹452 crore
• Tata Global Beverages Q1 net profit rises 10% to ₹141.68 crore
• Cabinet approves bill to prohibit all unregulated deposit schemes
• India’s exports need to contribute $1 trillion in economy: Piyush Goyal
• US ‘working hard’ with India to help grow its economy: Mike Pompeo
• Trade war: China blames US’ flip-flop as talks end without breakthrough
• Cafe Coffee Day term loans put on watch by Icra
• Rupee settles 6 paise higher against dollar ahead of Fed meet outcome
• IOC net drops 47 per cent on lower refinery margins
• Allahabad Bank okays raising Rs 2,000 cr equity capital via QIP
• India 10-yr bond yield drops as FPIs shift from equities to debt.

Key Due Dates:

• STATUTORY COMPLIANCE CALENDAR FOR AUGUST 2019: 07 August: TDS/TCS LIABILITY DEPOSIT – Due date of depositing TDS/TCS liabilities for previous month.
• 7 August: EQUALIZATION LEVY DEPOSIT- Equalization Levy is a direct tax, which is withheld at the time of payment by the service recipient where the annual payment made to one service provider (Non  Residents only) exceeds Rs. 1,00,000 in one financial year for the specified and notified services.
• 10 August: GSTR-7 RETURN FILLING DUE DATE – Due Date for filing GSTR-7 by person liable to deduct TDS under GST for previous   quarter.
• 10 August: GSTR-8 RETURN FILLING DUE DATE – GSTR-8 is a return to be filed by e-commerce operators who are required to deduct TCS (Tax collected at source) under GST.
• 11 August: GSTR-1 RETURN FILLING DUE DATE – GST Filing of returns by registered person with aggregate turnover more than 1.50 crores.
• 13 August:  GSTR-6 RETURN FILLING DUE DATE- Due Date for filing return by Input Service Distributors for previous month.
• 15 August:  PROVIDEND FUND / ESI DUE DATES- Due date for payment of Provident fund and ESI contribution for the previous month.
• 20 August: GSTR-5 RETURN FILLING DUE DATE- Due date of GSTR-5 (for Non-resident Taxable person) for the Previous month.
• 20 August: GSTR-5A RETURN FILLING DUE DATE- Return by person providing online information and database access or retrieval services by a person located outside India made to Non-Taxable persons in India for the previous month.
• 20 August: GSTR-3B RETURN FILLING DUE DATE – Due date for filling GSTR – 3B return for Previous month.
•  31 August: INCOME TAX RETURN EXTENDED- Filing income tax for individual and non-corporates [who are not subject to tax audit].
• 31 August: GSTR-9 RETURN FILLING DUE DATE – Annual Return to be filed by Regular Taxpayers filing GSTR 1, GSTR 2, and GSTR 3. It needs to be filed electronically on the GST portal directly or through a facilitation center.
• 31 August: GSTR-9A RETURN FILLING DUE DATE – Taxable Persons paying tax under Section 10 of CGST Act, the composition scheme, are required to submit their annual returns in Form GSTR 9A.
• 31 August: GSTR-9B RETURN FILLING DUE DATE- Annual Return to be filed by e-commerce operators who have filed GSTR 8 during the financial year.
• 31 August: GSTR-9C RETURN FILLING DUE DATE- Taxpayers whose annual turnover exceeds INR 2 crores in a Financial Year are required to get their accounts audited by a practicing Chartered Accountant or Cost Accountant before filing returns in Form GSTR 9C.