Introduction: 

At present, cross border services received by any individual or by Government or local authorities which are not in relation to business or commerce are exempt from service tax. Online database, access or retrieval services (hereinafter referred to as ‘OIDAR services’) provided by entities located outside India are not subject to service tax as the law with respect to place of provision of these services envisages that location of service provider is the place of provision of service which will be outside India. Further, these services are defined in a confined manner limiting to activities of providing data or information which is retrievable or otherwise to any person through a computer network. This legal position has now undergone sizable change with effect from 01.12.2016 as discussed hereunder 

Read more: Service Tax Applicability On Online Data Base ,Access Or Retrival Services -The Changed Legal...

The movement from existing regime to GST regime is gaining certainty with passing of each day. The recent council meetings give a sense of hope that the law shall be made effective from April, 2017. With GST around the corner, we would like to dwell upon on one of the transitional provisions under the revised model GST law made available in November, 2016. Among the set of transitional provisions, the section which is the subject matter of this article assumes highest significance since it is applicable to majority of the assessees and deals with the transition of credit from existing regimes to the GST regime. 

Section 167 of the revised model GST law deals with ‘Amount of Cenvat Credit carried forward in a return to be allowed as input tax credit’. The salient features of Section 167 are discussed as under. 

As per Section 167, every person other than who has opted for composition under GST, shall be entitled to take the credit in his electronic credit ledger, the amount of cenvat credit/VAT/Entry Tax carried forward in the returns relating to the period ending with the day immediately preceding the appointed day, furnished, by him under the earlier laws in such manner as may be prescribed. The section has a proviso which states that the credit shall be allowed only if such credit which is being carried forward is eligible also under GST laws.

Read more: Movement Of Credits To GST - Section 167- Certain Issues

The Bill was introduced to amend the Income-tax Act, 1961 and the Finance Act, 2016. The below are the changes proposed vide the amendment bill:

1. Amendment to provisions of Section 115BBE (W E F 01-04-2017); 

2. Proposed to amend the applicable tax rate in relation to income referred to in section 68/69/69A,B,C,D(Undisclosed Income-UI); 

3. Voluntary disclosure and Income determined by the AO of UI shall be subject to tax @60%.( Existing position- No Voluntary Disclosure). Surcharge @25%. Effective Rate 77.25% including cess. The payment of tax has to be made before 31st March of the relevant previous year. 

4. Amendment to Provisions of Section 271AAB¹ :- by insertion of (1A) to the section

Read more: Highlights Of Taxation Laws (second Amendment ) Bill 2016

Today the scope of compliance is much broader and its impact on business far greater than ever before. Despite greater regulation and the risk of noncompliance, some companies may not be taking their responsibility for identifying and managing compliance risk particularly seriously. Organisations should Identify, prioritize, and assign accountability for managing existing or potential threats related to legal or policy noncompliance—or ethical misconduct—that could lead to fines or penalties, reputational damage, or the inability to operate in key markets. 

A survey conducted in 2014 by Compliance week indicates 40 percent of companies did not perform an annual compliance risk assessment. Further a study conducted by IIA indicates 38 percent of chief audit executives (CAEs) did not use compliance or regulatory requirements as a resource to establish the audit plan. 

Read more: Managing Compliance Risk