Service Tax Date Extended

ST 3 Return due date extended upto 10th Sept 13

The Central Board of Excise & Customs has extended the date of submission of the Form ST-3 for the period from 1st October 2012 to 31st March 2013, from 31st August, 2013 to 10th September, 2013. Due to difficulties have been faced by assessees in uploading the offline utilities.

F.No.137/99/2011-Service Tax

NEW COMPANIES BILL 2013

New Companies Bill 2013 now Passed by both Houses .A historic moment …        

The New Companies Bill has been  passed in Rajya Sabha this evening on 08.08.2013. The bill will now go for presidential assent. The Lok Sabha cleared the bill on Dec 18,2012 last year. It will go to President Pranab Mukherjee for his assent before it becomes law, following which the Ministry of Corporate Affairs will issue a notification. The Companies Act of 1956 will be replaced now by a new Companies Act of 2013 therefore  this is a historic moment for the country.

SALIENT CHANGES OF NEW LAW:

·         Around 193 recommendations have been included in the Companies Bill by the Parliamentary Standing Committee and with passing of this Bill,.

·         would ensure setting up of special courts for speedy trial and stronger steps for transparent corporate governance practices and curb corporate misdoings.

·         would require companies that meet certain set of criteria, to spend at least 2%  of their average profits in the last 3 years towards Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activities. But only companies reporting Rs 5 crore or more profits in the last three years have to make the CSR spend. Cos. to give preference to the local areas of their operation for such spending. Otherwise, they would face action, including penalty.

·         allows companies the freedom to choose areas of work for CSR . It aims to encourage firms to undertake social welfare voluntarily instead of imposing that through "inspector raj".

·         The rotation of auditors will take place every five years

·         Financial year of any company can end only on March 31 and the only exception is for companies which are holding/subsidiary of a foreign entity requiring consolidation outside India

·         The term for independent directors have been fixed for five years too. Independent directors shall be excluded for the purpose of computing "one-third of retiring directors".

·         Mandatory for companies that 1/3rd of their board comprises independent directors to ensure transparency.

·         At least one woman on the Board .

·          The maximum No. of directors in a private company has been increased from 12 to 15, which can be increased further by special resolution.

·         Cap on number of persons in a private company raised to 200.

·          Speedy amalgamations and mergers process.

·          Class action suits provided, as a key weapon for individual shareholders for collective action against errant companies

·         Cos. must disclose the difference in salaries of the directors and that of the average employee

·         Mandates  2 years’ salary to employees in companies which winds up /shuts operations.

·         More statutory powers to the government’s investigative arm Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) to tackle corporate fraud.

·         Punishment for falsely inducing  any agreement with bank or financial institution,  to obtain credit facilities.

·         The Bill prescribes 33 new definitions. Some of these are:

Associate Company
Small Company
Employee Stock Option
Promoter
Related Party
Turnover
Chief Executive Officer
Chief Financial Officer
Global Depository Receipt

·         It provides for prohibition on forward dealings in securities of company by key managerial personnel, insider trading rules and restriction on non-cash transactions involving directors.

·         It also helps ease of doing business as It provides for new concepts such as a single person company.

·         E-voting has been recognized…….and many more ..

Compliance Calendar: August 2013

Date	Statutory Act	Applicable Form	Obligation
05/08/2013	Income Tax	Form 1 to 5	Last date for filing of Income Tax Return Extended till 05/08/13 for Individuals, HUFs and Firms not subject to Tax Audit
05/08/2013	Service Tax	Challan No.GAR-7	Last date for payment of Service Tax in case of companies for the month of July
06/08/2013	Service Tax	Challan No.GAR-7	Last date for e-payment of Service Tax in case of companies for the month of July.
07/08/2013	D-VAT	DVAT -16 and Form -1	Last date for filing of DVAT return for June Quarter Extended till 07/08/13 Hard copy 10/08/2013
07/08/2013	Income Tax	Challan No.ITNS-281/17	Payment of TDS/TCS deducted/collected in July
07/08/2013	Income Tax	Form No.15G,15H, 27C	Submission of Forms received in July to IT Commissioner.
10/08/2013	Excise	ER-1	Return for Non SSI assessees for July
10/08/2013	Excise	ER-2	Return for EOUs for July
10/08/2013	Excise	ER-6	Return by units paying duty > 1 crore (CENVAT + PLA) for July
14/08/2013	D-VAT	D-VAT-16/Form 1	Last Date for Quarterly DVAT return for dealers whose turnover is below 5 crores in preceding year.
16/08/2013	Provident Fund	Electronic Challan Cum Return(ECR)	E-Payment of PF for July (Cheques to be cleared by 20th)
16/08/2013	ESI	ESI Challan	Payment of ESI of July
16/08/2013	D-VAT	DVAT- 20	Deposit of DVAT TDS for July
16/08/2013	D-VAT	DVAT – 43	Issue of DVAT certificate for deduction made in July
21/08/2013	D-VAT	D-VAT-20 & Central Sales Tax Challan	Deposit of VAT & CST for July
25/08/2013	D-VAT	Form 16 and CST 1	E- Return of VAT for July for dealers having monthly Tax Period.
26/08/2013	D-VAT	DP-1	Online Submission of Delhi dealers
28/08/2013	D-VAT	DVAT-16/Form-1 & Ack	Last date for Monthly Return (Hard Copy of e-Filing ) of VAT & CST for the month of July