A PEAK INTO RECENT AMENDMENTS TO EXTERNAL COMMERCIAL BORROWINGS REGULATIONS

External Commercial Borrowings (ECB) are governed by Foreign Exchange Management (Borrowing or Lending in Foreign Currency) Regulations, 2000 issued by Reserve Bank of India (RBI), and these regulations have been amended from time to time considering changes in India’s macro-economic scenario.  Apart from issuing Regulations, RBI has been issuing Master Directions on various aspects connected with foreign exchange management by consolidating related Notifications and AP (DIR Series) Circulars.   Master Direction No. 5 on External Commercial Borrowings, Trade Credits, Borrowing and Lending in Foreign Currency by Authorized Dealers / Persons other than Authorized Dealers was issued on January 1, 2016, and RBI has been amending the same in line with amendments to related Regulations, Notifications and new AP (DIR Series) Circulars.  

Read more: A Peak Into Recent Amendments in ECB Regualtions - FEMA

INTRODUCTION:

With the requirement to get the records audited annually under GST Laws, the auditor is required to come up with reconciliation of turnover, input tax credit availed, taxes paid between Financial Statements and GST Records maintained. The said reconciliation statement is required to be prepared in the format as prescribed under Part A of Form GSTR-9C as notified under Notification 49/2018-Central Tax dated 13.09.2018.

Upon careful consideration of this reconciliation statement, the information sought therein for reconciliation cannot be readily extracted from books of accounts or from GST records. It is required to draw certain other reconciliation statements before we proceed to work on the reconciliation required under GSTR-9C. This article focusses on such other reconciliation statements to be prepared for smooth preparation of the reconciliation statement as prescribed in GSTR-9C. These statements are indicative and are not exhaustive and would vary from one tax payer to another tax payer depending on their business structure, manner of record maintenance etc.

Read more: Importance of Other Reconciliations in GST Audit - GST

The recent judgment of the Honourable Appellate Tribunal[1] of New Delhi in the case of 28 appellants who are the professors of a college, who has received salary advances in cash and the initiating officer (IO) treating such salary advances in cash are benami transactions under the Prohibition of Benami Properties Transactions Act, 1988 (PBPT) and quashing such actions of IO by the Honourable Appellate Tribunal is welcome move as it clears certain vital aspects pertaining to the PBPT Act laying more clarity.

Read more: Cash Transactions Not Necissarily A Benami Transaction - Benami Act

Key Topics

AUDIT

• SA-250 – CONSIDERATION OF LAWS AND REGULATIONS IN AN AUDIT OF FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

DIRECT TAX

• ICDS II – VALUATION OF INVENTORIES

FEMA

• DOWNSTREAM INVESTMENT UNDER FEMA

Updates

FEMA

• FEMA UPDATES FOR THE MONTH OF OCTOBER 2018

GST

• GST UPDATES FOR THE MONTH OF OCTOBER 2018

COMPANIES ACT, 2013

• RULES, CIRCULARS, NOTIFICATIONS AND ORDERS ISSUED DURING THE MONTH OF OCTOBER, 2018