Notification regarding GST rate for branded cereal, pulses and flour

The GST Council, in its 21st meeting held on 9th September, 2017 at Hyderabad has, interalia, recommended that for 5% GST rate on cereals, pulses and flours etc. put up in unit container and bearing a registered brand name: 

• A brand registered as on 15.05.2017 shall be deemed to be a registered brand for the purposes of levy of 5% GST, irrespective of whether or not such brand is subsequently deregistered. 
• A brand registered as on 15.05.2017 under the Copyright Act, 1957 shall also be treated as a registered brand for the purposes of levy of 5% GST. 
• A brand registered as on 15.05.2017 under any law for the time being in force in any other country shall also be deemed to be a registered brand for the purposes of levy of 5% GST. d) A mark or name in respect of which actionable claim is available shall be deemed to be a registered brand name for the purposes of levy of 5% GST. 

Notifications giving effect to the Council’s recommendations relating to changes in GST rates on goods and conditions appended thereto are proposed to be issued on 22nd September, 2017. 

Regarding aforesaid recommendations of the Council, these notifications, interalia, provide that 5% GST will apply if on brand name [as defined in the notification] an actionable claim or enforceable right in court of law is available. In this context, these notifications also provide that this 5% GST will, however, not apply if the person concerned voluntarily foregoes any actionable claim or enforceable right on such brand name, subject to the conditions that he: 

• files an affidavit to the effect that he is voluntarily foregoing his actionable claim or enforceable right on such brand name with the jurisdictional Commissioner of Central Tax or State Tax, or the jurisdictional officer of Union Territory Tax, as the case may be, and
• prints in indelible ink, both in English and local language on each such unit container, that in respect of brand name printed on the unit containers he has voluntarily foregone his actionable claim or enforceable right.

Voluntary Reporting of Estimated Current Income and Advance Tax Liability

A taxpayer who is liable to discharge part of its tax liability by way of advance tax has to bear additional burden of interest for default of advance tax, in case total advance tax paid for the year falls short of the assessed tax by ten percent or more. This interest is levied as per the provisions of section 234B of the Income-tax Act, 1961 (“the Act”). Such taxpayers are further liable to pay interest for deferment of advance tax, in case any quarterly instalment of advance tax paid falls short of the prescribed percentage of total advance tax paid. This interest is levied in accordance with the provisions of section 234C of the Act.

It is of utmost importance for such taxpayers to arrive at a reasonably accurate estimate of their current income and advance tax liability, so that the additional burden on account of interest for default/deferment of advance tax can be avoided.

Needless to say, a continuous flow of tax revenues throughout the year is critical for the Government so as to meet various budgetary allocations such as welfare schemes, infrastructure development, defence expenditure etc. A reliable and advance estimate of tax revenues for the year would also provide much needed perspective for planning and prioritizing the Government expenditure.

In order to address these concerns, it is proposed to create a mechanism for self-reporting of estimates of current income, tax payments and advance tax liability by certain taxpayers (companies and tax audit cases) on voluntary compliance basis. The proposed reporting mechanism is sought to be created by way of inserting a new Rule 39A and Form No. 28AA in the Income-tax Rules, 1962. The proposed draft notification has been placed in public domain on the website of Income Tax Department (www.incometaxindia.gov.in) for inviting comments from stakeholders and general public.The comments and suggestions on the draft Rule and Form may be sent electronically at the email address dirtpl4@nic.in by 29th September, 2017.

Clarification about Transition Credit

There are lot of speculations in the media about the credit of Rs. 65,000 crore claimed by taxpayers in respect of Central Excise and Service Tax in the pre-GST period. Some people are under the impression that because of Rs. 65,000 crore claimed as transition credit, the income of Government this month has plummeted.

Firstly, Rs. 65,000 crore is the credit claimed by the taxpayers in the TRANS 1 form as their balance of credit. It does not mean that they would have used all of this credit for payment of their output tax liability for the month of July 2017.

It may be clarified that this is far from the truth. Secondly, it may be clarified that an amount of Rs. 95,000 crore, which was received in the month of August 2017 for GST, is the amount actually paid in cash other than availing credit.

Thirdly, this figure of transition credit claimed is also not incredibly high, since Rs.1.27 lakh crore of credit of Central Excise and Service Tax was lying as closing balance as on 30th June, 2017 as per department’s record. This includes credit in Central Excise as well as Service Tax. Of course, some of these credits may not be admissible under GST regime, for example the credits, which are blocked under Section 17 (5) of CGST Act or which are not covered under the definition of GST. Also, some of the credits, which are claimed in TRANS 1 form may be under litigation and, therefore, it may not be available to the assesse to carry forward or utilisation. It is from this angle that CBEC is examining the transition credits, which are claimed by the assessees in TRANS I form in certain cases.

It is possible that some assessees would have committed mistake in filing TRANS 1 form of admissible credit. It has, therefore, been decided to provide facility for revision of TRANS 1 by the GST Council. This facility would be available by middle of October 2017 and assessees are requested to revise their TRANS 1 form before 31st October, 2017, so that they themselves can remove the error.

MOU between the Ministry of Corporate Affairs and Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) for Automatic and Regular Exchange of Information

Taking forward the initiative launched by the Government of India to curb the menace of shell companies, money laundering and black money in the country and prevent misuse of corporate structure by shell companies for various illegal purposes, the Ministry of Corporate Affairs and Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) have now concluded a formal Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for data exchange, on 6th September, 2017.

The MoU will facilitate the sharing of data and information between CBDT and MCA on an automatic and regular basis. It will enable sharing of specific information such as Permanent Account Number (PAN) data in respect of corporates, Income Tax returns (ITRs) of corporates, financial statements filed with the Registrar by corporates, returns of allotment of shares, audit reports and statements of financial transactions (SFT) received from banks relating to corporates. The MoU will ensure that both MCA and CBDT have seamless PAN-CIN (Corporate Identity Number) and PAN-DIN (Director Identity Number) linkage for regulatory purposes. The information shared will pertain to both Indian corporates as well as foreign corporates operating in India. In addition to regular exchange of data, CBDT and MCA will also exchange with each other, on request, any information available in their respective databases, for the purpose of carrying out scrutiny, inspection, investigation and prosecution.

The MoU comes into force from the date it was signed and is an ongoing initiative of MCA and CBDT, which are already collaborating for near real time allotment of PAN and TAN also at the time of Incorporation of companies itself. A Data Exchange Steering Group also has been constituted for the initiative, which will meet periodically to review the data exchange status and take steps to further improve the effectiveness of the two agencies.

Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MOCA) identifies more than one lakh directors of shell companies for disqualification

Pursuant to the action of the Ministry of Corporate Affairs of cancellation of registration of around 2.10 lakh (2,09,032) defaulting companies and subsequent direction of the Ministry of Finance to banks to restrict operations of bank accounts of such companies by the directors of such companies or their authorized representatives, the Ministry of Corporate Affairs has identified 1,06,578 Directors for disqualification under Section 164(2)(a) of the Companies Act, 2013 as on September 12, 2017.

Ministry of Corporate Affairs is further analyzing the data of these companies available with the Registrar of Companies to identify the Directors and the significant beneficial interests behind these companies. Profiles of Directors such as their background, antecedents and their role in the operations/functioning of these companies are also being compiled in collaboration with the enforcement agencies. The money laundering activities performed under the aegis of these companies are also under the scanner. The Professionals, Chartered Accountants/Company Secretaries/Cost Accountants associated with such defaulting Companies and involved in illegal activities have been identified in certain cases and the action by Professional Institutes such as ICAI, ICSI and ICoAI is also being monitored.

The above exercise is part of the strategy formulated by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs and presented to the Union Finance Minister, Shri Arun Jaitley and the Minister of State for Corporate Affairs Shri P.P. Chaudhary. The Minister of State Shri Chaudhary is closely monitoring the situation emerging-out of cancellation of registration of such companies under the Companies Act, 2013. He is holding regular meetings with the officials of the Ministry of Corporate Affairs and its subordinate organizations such as Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO), Registrars of Companies (ROCs), Department of Financial Services, Indian Banks Association and other Departments involved in the crackdown against such companies.

MOS (CA) Shri Chaudhary said that all the concerned agencies are handling this issue on priority. He said “The present Government has vowed to fight Black Money and fighting the menace of Shell Companies is an imperative element of such fight. The fight against black money shall be incomplete without breaking the network of shell companies. Possibility of using the Shell companies for laundering the black money cannot be undermined.

I am happy that all the concerned agencies are handling this issue on priority. The disqualification under Section 164 of the Act is by operation of law. We are identifying the defaulting Directors of these shell companies. My officers have assured me that by the end of this month, we would be ready with the relevant details of all defaulting Directors of these shell companies.

This whole exercise shall go a long way in creating an atmosphere of confidence and faith in the system paving the way for ease of doing business in India. The interest of stakeholders would be protected and the image of the country in the global business arena and fora would substantially improve.”

It may be recalled that as per Section 164 of the Companies Act, 2013, any person who is or has been a director in a company which has not filed financial statements or annual returns for any continuous period of three financial years shall not be eligible for re-appointment as a director in that company or appointed in other company for a period of five years from the date on which the said company fails to do so. Also, Section 248 of the Act provides that, the liability, if any, of every director, manager or other officer who was exercising any powers of management and of every member of the de-registered/dissolved company, shall continue and may be enforced as if the company had not been de-registered/dissolved. Further, Section 167 of the Act provides that on suffering the aforesaid disqualification, the Director shall vacate the office.

It may be noted that prior to action against defaulting companies, there were about 13 Lakh companies in the Registry. However, after closing of around 2.10 Lakh Companies, there are about 11 Lakh companies having Active status in the Registry.

Department of Financial Services advises all Banks to take immediate steps to put restrictions on bank accounts of over two lakh 'struck off' companies

Government has stepped up decisive action against companies falling within the ambit of Section 248 of the Companies Act. The names of 2,09,032 companies have been struck off from the Register of Companies under Section 248 (5) of the Act. The existing Directors and Authorized Signatories of such struck off companies will now become ex Directors or ex Authorized Signatories. These individuals will therefore not be able to operate bank accounts of such companies till such companies are legally restored under Section 252 of the Companies Act by an order of the National Company Law Tribunal. The restoration, as and when it happens shall be reflected by change in the status of the company from ‘Struck off’ to ‘Active’. 

Since such ‘Struck off`’ companies have ceased to exist, action has been initiated to restrict the operation of Bank accounts of such companies. The Department of Financial Services has, through the Indian Banks Association, advised all Banks that they should take immediate steps to put restrictions on bank accounts of such struck off companies. A list of such companies, Registrar of Companies wise, has been published on the website of the Ministry of Corporate Affairs. 

In addition to such struck off companies, Banks have also been advised to go in for enhanced diligence while dealing with companies in general. A company even having an active status on the website of the Ministry of Corporate Affairs but defaulting in filing of its due Financial Statement (s) or Annual Return (s) of Particular of Charges on its assets on the secured loan should be seen with suspicion as, prima facie, the company is not complying with its mandatory statutory obligations to file this vital information for availability to its stakeholders

Late fee waived for all tax-payers who could not file the GSTR 3B for the month of July 2017

The Goods and Services Tax (GST) tax was introduced on 1st of July 2017. The last date for payment of GST for the month of July 2017 was 25th August 2017. Payment of GST is complete only when amount of tax payable is debited from electronic cash / credit ledger.

Now late fee for all taxpayers who could not file GSTR 3B for the month of July 2017 has been waived, but not the interest on late payment of Tax liability.

GSTR 1 is to be filed by all taxpayers by 5th of September 2017 and GSTR 2 and GSTR 3 to be filed by all taxpayers by 10th and 15th of September 2017 respectively.

Taxpayers who have committed errors in GSTR 3B will be able to put the correct details in GSTR 1-2-3. However, interest will be leviable from all taxpayers who have not discharged their complete Tax liability for July 2017 by 25-08-2017.

Furthermore, vide Circular dated 01-09-2017, procedure for systems based reconciliation of GSTR 1-2 with GSTR 3B has been clarified.

Click here for Circular dated 01-09-2017

CBDT extends date for (a) Linking of Aadhaar with PAN and (b) Due date for filing Income Tax Returns and Tax Audit Reports.

To facilitate ease of compliance by the taxpayers, CBDT has extended the date in the following cases:-

• Aadhaar was to be linked with PAN by 31st August, 2017. The date for linking Aadhaar with PAN has been extended till 31st December, 2017
• The ‘due-date’ for filing Income Tax Returns and various reports of audit prescribed under the Income-tax Act,1961 has been extended from 30th September, 2017 to 31st October, 2017 for all taxpayers who were liable to file their Income Tax Returns by 30th September, 2017.