Five lessons we learned about India from Shashi Tharoor's Oxford speech

Not only do India and the British
have a past, they have a very
gory past as Shashi Tharoor
reminded us with his speech at
the Oxford Union. We share with
Britain a history of being oppressed for centuries, of
bloody massacres, mass arrests,
the suppression of democratic
rights and the supplanting of our
own culture to serve the British
interests. Remember Jallianwala
Bagh and the Bengal famine?

Here are five important
takeaways.

Fact: India was governed for
the benefit of the British.

This as we know it from our
history books is exactly spot on.
Not only was India looted of all
it's precious gems and riches, our
booming industries were
ruthlessly destroyed all for
Britain's own advancement
during Europe's"Industrial
Revolution." For example, our
handloom weavers were out of
jobs once the British decided they
wanted to promote their "finished
products" that were far inferior
to our handloom spun cloth.

Their exploitation of our
handloom industry was so famed
that even Marx wrote about it
in 1853 titling his paper 'The
British intruder who broke up
the Indian handloom' . A much
lesser known fact- the master
weavers were tortured and
their thumbs were cut off , so
that British-made cotton cloth
from their mills in England would
find a good market in India.
India's contribution in World
Wars
India contributed more soldiers
to the wars than Australia,
Canada, New Zealand and South
Africa put together. It has been
reported that one sixth of the
soldiers fighting for the British
Empire was from the Indian
subcontinent. Putting things in
perspective: almost 800,000
soldiers took part in the war,
around 53,000 Indian soldiers
lost their lives, 64,000 were
wounded and nearly 4000 went
missing or were imprisoned. And
this is just World War 2.

Not only that but troops from
India fought in all the major
centres of the war, from the
Western Front in Europe to
Africa and China. In 1945 India's
war contribution amounted to
about 8 billion pounds in 2015
money, 1.25 billion pounds was
owed to India and was never
actually paid.

Indian industries suffered the
most
The economic situation of the
colonies was worsened because
the British rule in India holds
true. India's share of the world
economy was 23% when the
British arrived, less than four
percent when they left. Not only
that, but India's share of world
trade went down from 27 percent
to less than two percent.
Acknowledging a debt is more
important than putting a
number to it
Though Tharoor in his speech
says, "I, for one, would be happy
to accept a symbolic pound a
year for the next two hundred
years, as a token of apology"
their debt is more than just a
number. All these years after the
British rule has ended, it's safe to
say it's impossible to put an exact
number to the 150 years of
exploitation. What would be
better however is them accepting
that yes, Britain f*****d up. We
shouldn't have invaded you
(India), nor should we have
oppressed your people, or killed
your industries, or starved your
citizens but hey, the British built
your railways and roads so
maybe it was for the best. Umm,
no. Many countries have built
railways and roads without any
overlord issuing the order like
Britain and USA. Despite
everything, currently, British
aide to India is only about 0.4
percent of the Indian economy.
Churchill and Bengal famine
Between 15 to 29 million Indians
died in British-induced famines
during their rule. The worst
however was the Bengal famine
of 1943. Then PM Churchill, as
part of his Western war effort,
ordered the diversion of food
from starving Indians to already
well-supplied British soldiers and
stockpiles in Britain and
elsewhere in Europe, including
Greece and Yugoslavia. According
to Madhusree Mukerjee's
book, Churchill's Secret War,
when asked about the famine he
wrote asking why Gandhi hadn't
died yet.
"Winston may be right in saying
that the starvation of anyhow
under-fed Bengalis is less serious
than sturdy Greeks, but he makes
no sufficient allowance for the
sense of Empire responsibility in
this country," wrote Sir Wavell
in his account of the meetings
between him and the PM.

Narendra Modi government Eases incorporation of buisness, process to take just 1 form starting today 1st May 2015

Entrepreneurs keen on setting up new enterprises will be able to incorporate one by filing Just one form starting Friday against eight separate forms earlier, as part of the government's drive to make it easier to do business in the country. The corporate affairs ministry will From May 1 have an integrated company incorporation form to make compliance and reporting easier and convenient for corporates. "Name availability, allotment of Director Identification Number (DIN), company incorporation and commencement of business will now be possible through a single form," said a senior ministry official who sought anonymity. The new form, called INC-29, will be available on the MCA website. This is part of the government's drive to improve India's ranking on the globally tracked parameter of ease of doing business. This is a priority area for PM Narendra Modi, who has made it a personal mission to improve India's scores on this parameter. The government wants to reduce the time taken to register a company in India to one day. Currently, businessmen seeking to register a new company are required to fill eight forms to complete the incorporation, a process which, besides being cumbersome, also takes a lot of time. Even if it's a single-person company, the range of forms required to be billed included separate applications for obtaining DIN, obtaining a DSC (digital signature certificate) ,form INC-1 for approves of the name of the company, form INC-7 for registration of the company along with memorandum of association and articles of association, form INC-22 for intimation of registered office and form DIR12 for each director.

NEVER LET YOU DECIDE THE EASIEST WAY TO YOUR DESTINATION, BECAUSE IT’S ONLY THE TOUGH MOMENTS WHICH YOU KEEP REMEMBER

SBI wins over Rs. 1,000 cr income tax case

The Income Tax Appellate Tribunal has held that
State Bank of India was not required to deduct
any tax at source (TDS) on over Rs. 11,000 crore
in the Site Restoration Fund (SRF) account
maintained by Oil and Natural Gas Corporation
(ONGC) from 2002.
Total stakes involved in his case including tax,
interest and penalty in all the assessment years
from 2003 could well exceed Rs.1, 000 crores.
As a sequel to this verdict, SBI would be entitled
to receive refund of whatever amount had been
coercively recovered by the Income Tax
Department.
SRF account was opened by ONGC with SBI
Dehradun branch in 2002. SBI did not deduct
any tax at source on interest credited on these
deposits from 2002 and the corpus of the SRF
account swelled into thousands of crores
including interest.
In February 2013 Income Tax Department
initiated proceedings against SBI on account of
TDS default for several assessment years. While
some assessments were completed,
assessments for several years were still pending.
The assessing officer observed that the
assessee/ deductor had not deducted TDS on
the above payments under Section 194A of the
I.T. Act. The dispute whether TDS should be
deducted or not for the deposits maintained in
the SRF account was taken to the ITAT by way of
appeals by both the SBI and the department.
The ITAT comprising C.M. Garg, Judicial Member
and S.V. Mehrotra, Accountant Member, in its
order said “it is evident that there is no fixed
period prescribed in regard to these deposits in
SRF account and that an assessee has to give
notice to the bank for making withdrawal from
this deposit account. The withdrawal is to be
made as per requirement of subsection (3) to
section 33ABA. Therefore, it cannot be said to be
for a fixed period.”
Agreeing with the submissions of senior counsel
Bishwajit Bhattacharya, appearing for the SBI,
the ITAT pointed out that there was no maturity
period and, therefore, it was not ‘time deposit’.
Therefore, if a deposit was not in the nature of
time deposit, then it was not amenable to the
provisions of section 194A of the IT Act. Further
not even a single paisa had been withdrawn for
the last 12 years from the corpus of the fund that
had now swelled approximately to Rs. 11,000
crores. This was assessable as income from
other sources and not as business income and
hence not liable for TDS, the Tribunal held. It
dismissed the department’s appeal and allowed
the one filed by SBI.

Key Changes in New / Revised Tax Audit Report Form 3CD

The CBDT has notified Income-tax (7th
amendment) Rules, 2014 which substitutes the
existing Form No. 3CD with a new form. The new
Form 3CD prescribes certain new reporting
clauses and substitutes some existing clauses
with new ones. The new form requires tax
auditor to furnish more and detailed information
in the new form for tax audit report.
Unlike old form 3CD which required auditor to
report only those inadmissible payments which
were debited to Profit and loss account, the new
Form 3CD requires reporting of all disallowable
payments even if they are not debited to profit
and loss account.
With the substitution of Form No. 3CD, reporting
in the new form would be a time taking job for
the Chartered Accountants. Here is the list of
additional reporting requirements as prescribed
in the new Form No. 3CD:
(1) Registration number in case of indirect
tax liability:
Assessees liable to pay indirect taxes (like excise
duty, service tax, sales tax, customs duty, etc.)
shall furnish their registration number or any
other identification number allotted to them
[clause 4 of Part A] .
(2) Relevant clauses of section 44AB:
The relevant clauses of section 44AB shall be
reported under which audit has been conducted
[clause 8 of Part A] .
(3) Location at which books of account are
kept:
New Form seeks details of the address at which
books of account of assessee have been kept
[clause 11(b) of Part B] .
(4) Nature of documents examined by the
auditor:
The auditor is required to specify the nature of
documents examined by him in the course of tax
audit [clause 11(c) of Part B] .
(5) Change in method of accounting/stock
valuation:
A tabular format is specified for reporting of
financial impact of changes in method of
accounting and method of stock valuation [clause
13 and clause 14 of Part B] .
(6) Transfer of land/building for less than
stamp duty value:
Details of land or building transferred by
assessee for less than stamp duty value (under
section 43CA or under section 50C) shall be
reported in new Form 3CD [clause 17 of Part B] .
(7) Deduction allowable under Sections
32AC/35AD/35CCC/35D:
Deductions allowable under sections 32AC,
35AD, 35CCC and 35DDD are also required to
be reported in revised Form No. 3CD [clause 19
of Part B] .
(8) Disallowances:
Old Form3CD required reporting of inadmissible
payments only when they were debited to Profit
and loss account. However, the new Form 3CD
requires reporting of following disallowable
payments, even if they are not debited to profit
and loss account[clause 21 of Part B] :
(i) Disallowance for TDS default under Section 40(a)
(ii) Disallowance for cash payments under section
40A(3)
(iii) Disallowance for provision for gratuity under
section 40A(7)
(iv) Disallowance under Section 40A(9)
(v) Particulars of any liability of a contingent nature
(vi) Amount of deduction inadmissible under section
14A
(vii) Interest inadmissible under the proviso to section
36(1)(iii)
(9) Deemed income under Section 32AC:
Section 32AC of the Act provides for investment
allowance of 15% for investment in plant and
machinery. New form provides for reporting of
deemed income which results from sale or
transfer of new asset, (if asset was acquired and
installed by the assessee for the purpose of
claiming deductions under Section 32AC) within
a period of five years from the date of its
installation [clause 24 of Part B] .
(10) Receipt of unlisted shares:
A new clause is inserted in the Form 3CD which
requires reporting of all unlisted shares which
were received by assessee either for inadequate
consideration or without consideration in view of
section 56(2)(viia) [clause 28 of Part B] .
(11) Issue of shares above fair market value:
A new clause is inserted in the Form 3CD which
requires reporting of all transactions of issue of
shares where consideration received by
assessee exceeds its fair market value in view of
section 56(2)(viib) [clause 29 of Part B] .
(12) Speculation losses:
New Form No. 3CD provides for reporting of
losses from speculation business as referred to in
Section 73[clause 32(c) of Part B] .
(13) Losses from business specified under
section 35AD:
Assessee shall furnish details of losses incurred
as referred to in Section 73A in respect of
specified businesses mentioned in Section 35AD
[clause 32(d) of Part B] .
(14) Reporting of deductions claimed under
Sections 10A and 10AA:
If any deduction has been claimed by assessee
under Sections 10A and 10AA then it shall be
reported in new Form No. 3CD [clause 33 of Part
B] .
(15) Compliance with TCS provisions:
Old Form 3CD required reporting on compliance
with TDS provisions only. However, New Form
No. 3CD requires reporting on compliance with
TCS provisions as well [clause 34(a) of Part B] .
(16) Filing of TDS/TCS statements:
The tax auditor shall report on the compliance by
the assessee with the provision of furnishing of
TDS or TCS statement within prescribed time
[clause 34(b) of Part B] .
(17) Assessee-in-default:
If assessee is deemed as an assessee-in-default
and he is liable to pay interest under Section
201(1A) or 206C(7), the tax auditor shall furnish
the TAN of assessee, interest payable and
interest actually paid[clause 34(c) of Part B] .
(18) Dividend Distribution Tax:
Revised Form No. 3CD requires reporting of
following reductions as referred to in clause (i)
and clause (ii) of Section 115-O(1A) [clause 36 of
Part B] :
i) Dividend received by domestic company from its
subsidiary, and
ii) The amount of dividend paid to any person for or
on behalf of the New Pension System Trust
referred to in Section 10(44).
(19) Audits:
(i) Cost audit: Old Form No. 3CD required
reporting only when statutory cost audit was
carried out under Section 233A of the Companies
Act, 1956. However, the revised Form No. 3CD
specifies reporting requirement even when cost
audit has been carried out voluntarily. The
requirement of attachment of copy of cost audit
report along with Form has been substituted with
reporting of qualifications in cost audit report
[clause 37 of Part B] .
(ii) Cost Audit under Central Excise Act: The
requirement of attachment of copy of cost audit
report along with Form has been substituted with
reporting of qualifications in cost audit
report [clause 38 of Part B] .
(iii) Special Audit under Service Tax: If any
service-tax audit is carried out in relation to
valuation of taxable services, the tax auditor shall
report any qualifications made in relation to
valuation of taxable services[clause 39 of Part
B] .
(20) Ratios:
Unlike old form which required reporting of
certain ratios pertaining to current year only, the
new Form requires reporting of ratios of
preceding financial year as well. Further, total
turnover is to be reported for the previous year
as well as for preceding financial year [clause 40
of Part B] .
(21) Demand raised or refund issued:
The new Form seeks details of demand raised or
refund issued under any tax laws (other than
Income Tax Act, 1961 and Wealth Tax Act, 1957)
along with details of relevant proceedings[clause
41 of Part B] .

New Curriculum for Chartered Accountants to be Modern, Global - ICAI

The new curriculum for chartered accountants will be modern and globally accepted as per the expectations of the industry and regulators, President of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India, K Raghu said. A committee set up to discuss and prepare the new curriculum was holding discussions to ensure that the ICAI curriculum to be introduced from 2016 is best in the world. "We held special council meets to discuss curriculum in Delhi, Chennai, Mumbai, Kolkata and in Jaipur.

We are taking into account expectations of the industry as well as regulators and needs for the future to make it globally acceptable," he told reporters here after attending a convocation function. "Large number of Indian CAs are working in Gulf countries and there is huge scope and demand for our CA professionals in other countries also like Singapore, Australia and we want to empower our youths in making a global career ," he said.

Raghu also welcomed the Union government's budget announcement for adoption of Indian accounting standards converged with International Financial Reporting Standards. "We are ready to enter into the new regime of accounting reforms," he said.

The ICAI President also highlighted the initiatives of the institute to improve the education quality, campus placements of students and other activities. (PTI - Economic Times)