The Negotiable Instruments (Amendment) Act, 2015 notified

MINISTRY OF LAW AND JUSTICE

(Legislative Department)

New Delhi, the 29th December, 2015

The following Act of Parliament received the assent of the President on the 26th December, 2015, and is hereby published for general information:—

THE NEGOTIABLE INSTRUMENTS (AMENDMENT) ACT, 2015

NO. 26 OF 2015

[26th December, 2015.]

  An Act further to amend the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881.

BE it enacted by Parliament in the Sixty-sixth Year of the Republic of India as follows:—

Short title and commencement.

1.    (1) This Act may be called the Negotiable Instruments (Amendment) Act, 2015.

(2) It shall be deemed to have come into force on the 15th day of June, 2015.

Amendment of section 6.

2.   In the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881 (hereinafter referred to as the principal Act), in section 6,—

(i) in Explanation I, for clause (a), the following clause shall be substituted, namely:—

(a) “a cheque in the electronic form” means a cheque drawn in electronic form by using any computer resource and signed in a secure system with digital signature (with or without biometrics signature) and asymmetric crypto system or with electronic signature, as the case may be;’;

(ii) after Explanation II, the following Explanation shall be inserted, namely:—

‘Explanation III.—For the purposes of this section, the expressions “asymmetric crypto system”, “computer resource”, “digital signature”, “electronic form” and “electronic signature” shall have the same meanings respectively assigned to them in the Information Technology Act, 2000.’.    

Amendment of section 142.

3. In the principal Act, section 142 shall be numbered as sub-section (1) thereof and after sub-section (1) as so numbered, the following sub-section shall be inserted, namely:—

“(2) The offence under section 138 shall be inquired into and tried only by a court within whose local jurisdiction,

(a)    if the cheque is delivered for collection through an account, the branch of the bank where the payee or holder in due course, as the case may be, maintains the account, is situated; or

(b)   if the cheque is presented for payment by the payee or holder in due course, otherwise through an account, the branch of the drawee bank where the drawer maintains the account, is situated.

Explanation — For the purposes of clause (a), where a cheque is delivered for collection at any branch of the bank of the payee or holder in due course, then, the cheque shall be deemed to have been delivered to the branch of the bank in which the payee or holder in due course, as the case may be, maintains the account.”.

Insertion of new section 142A.

(Validation for transfer of pending cases.)

4. In the principal Act, after section 142, the following section shall be inserted, namely:—

“142A. (1) Notwithstanding anything contained in the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 or any judgment, decree, order or direction of any court, all cases transferred to the court having jurisdiction under sub-section (2) of section 142, as amended by the Negotiable Instruments (Amendment) Ordinance, 2015, shall be deemed to have been transferred under this Act, as if that sub-section had been in force at all material times.

(2) Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-section (2) of section 142 or sub-section (1), where the payee or the holder in due course, as the case may be, has filed a complaint against the drawer of a cheque in the court having jurisdiction under sub-section (2) of section 142 or the case has been transferred to that court under sub-section (1) and such complaint is pending in that court, all subsequent complaints arising out of section 138 against the same drawer shall be filed before the same court irrespective of whether those cheques were delivered for collection or presented for payment within the territorial jurisdiction of that court.

(3)   If, on the date of the commencement of the Negotiable Instruments (Amendment) Act, 2015, more than one prosecution filed by the same payee or holder in due course, as the case may be, against the same drawer of cheques is pending before different courts, upon the said fact having been brought to the notice of the court, such court shall transfer the case to the court having jurisdiction under sub-section (2) of section 142, as amended by the Negotiable Instruments (Amendment) Ordinance, 2015, before which the first case was filed and is pending, as if that sub-section had been in force at all material times.

Repeal and savings.

5. (1) The Negotiable Instruments (Amendment) Second Ordinance, 2015, is hereby repealed.

(2) Notwithstanding such repeal, anything done or any action taken under the principal Act, as amended by the said Ordinance, shall be deemed to have been done or taken under the corresponding provisions of the principal Act, as amended by this Act.

                                                           ** * ***

RBI ALLOWS FOREIGN INVESTORS TO BUY DEFAULTED BONDS

The Reserve Bank (“RBI”) allowed foreign investors to buy bonds that are either fully or partially under default in repayment and raised the maturity period of such NCDs/bonds to three years and more.

As per the earlier rules, investments by Foreign Portfolio Investors (“FPI”) in NCDs/bonds were required to be made in securities with a minimum residual maturity of 3 years. The revised maturity period of such NCDs/bonds, restructured based on negotiations with the issuing Indian company, should be 3 years or more.  The proposed move is expected to provide relief into the country's distressed debt market.

Further, RBI Claried that the FPI which propose to acquire such NCDs/bonds under default should disclose to the Debenture Trustees the terms of their offer to the existing debenture holders/beneficial owners from whom they are acquiring.

Such investment should be within the overall limit prescribed for corporate debt from time to time, which is at Rs 2.44 lakh crore currently.

SEBI ISSUES TIMELINE FOR COMPLIANCE NORMS BY COMMODITY BOURSES

Capital markets regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (“SEBI”) announced detailed timeline for compliance to various regulations by the commodities derivatives exchanges.

The move comes following the merger of commodity markets regulator Forward Markets Commission (“FMC”) with Sebi in late September.  To ensure non-disruptive transition, Sebi has prescribed specific timeline for aligning different provisions of the Stock Exchanges and Clearing Corporations (“SECC”) Regulations.

In a circular, SEBI clarified corporatisation and demutualisation of regional commodity derivatives exchanges would need to be done within three years.  In this regard, regional commodity exchanges will have to submit a scheme for SEBI's approval within a period of two years. For availing services of a clearing corporation also, Sebi has set a timeline of three years. Till then, clearing may continue with the current arrangement.

For net-worth, Sebi Clarified that national commodity bourses will have to achieve a minimum net-worth of 100 crore by May 5, 2017, while the same is three years for regional ones. The commodity exchanges will have to submit audited net-worth certificate from the statutory auditor on an yearly basis by September 30 every year for the preceding financial year, while net-worth certificate for the financial year ended March 31, will be submitted by December 31.

For shareholding, the deadline of May 5, 2019, would be applicable for national exchanges, while three-year time period has been given to regional exchanges. The governing board norms would need to be complied within one year from the date of merger for national exchanges and within three years for regional exchanges.

Commodity exchanges will have to segregate their regulatory departments from other departments within 6 months.  The national commodity exchanges will credit all settlement related penalties to their settlement guarantee fund (“SGF”) and other fines to Investor Protection Fund (“IPF”), while regional bourses will credit all fines to their SGF and after the creation of IPF, regional ones will credit penalties other than settlement related to their IPF.

EXTENSION OF LAST DATE OF FILING OF ANNUAL FORMS TILL 30TH DECEMBER, 2015

Good news for all the Stakeholders,

Ministry of Corporate Affairs ("MCA") vide circular General Circular No. 15/2015 dated November 30, 2015 has again extended the last date of filing of Annual forms i.e., MGT-7 (Annual Return) and AOC-4 (Financial Statement) till December, 2015.

This is in continuation of the Ministry's General Circular 14/2015 dated October 28, 2015 where MCA extended the last date to November 30, 2015.

According to me, this decision is being taken due to the heavy traffic resulting crashing of payment gateways on the portal MCA.

e-Form includes AOC 4, AOC 4(CFS), AOC 4 XBRL and e-Form MGT-7.

Download Attachment

INCOME TAX DEPARTMENT LAUNCHES PAN-BASED LITIGATION MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

Now the Taxman can access case in their jurisdiction on a single click

Focusing on reducing lengthy proceedings and time taken in litigation, the Income Tax Department has activated a PAN-based online system which enables the taxman to access cases in their jurisdiction on a click, amongst a building database of over 5 lakh appeals and 1.50 lakh judgements.

The new facility is part of the National Judicial Reference System (“NJRS”), an electronic repository of cases under the direct taxes category or income tax pending in legal forums like the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (“ITAT”), Authority for Advanced Ruling (“AAR”), various High Courts and the Supreme Court.

“A new link has been activated recently in the NJRS which enables the Assessing Officer (“AO”) and his superiors to view appeals pertaining to their jurisdiction based on the Permanent Account Number (“PAN”). It is essential that the PAN number for each case is fed in the appeal to allow the system help the taxman.

The tax Department is on a spree to ensure more and more number of people and taxpayers in the country use the PAN card. It has recently launched business application software which uses PAN to track all the transactions and financial records of an individual and entity across the country.

A Central Processing Centre (“CPC”) for the NJRS has been established at Nashik in Maharashtra by the Department. The system is the first of its kind in the country for comprehensive litigation management in any government Department. The facility will be maintained by the National Securities Depository Limited.

EPFO launches Online Registration of Establishments with Digital Signature

Union Minister for Labour and Employment, Shri Bandaru Dattatreya launches Digital Signature based Online Registration of Establishments 

Shri Bandaru Dattatreya, Union Minister for Labour & Employment (Independent Charge) today (24.11.15) launched the Digital Signatures based Online Registration of Establishments (OLRE) in a function held in Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation, Head Office.

Explaining the process in detail, Shri Bandaru Dattatreya informed that the online registration will be done once the applicant employer registers himself on the OLRE Portal. Subsequent to creation of User ID and password the employer will have to register his/her digital signature (class II or III). Thereafter, the PAN number of the employer would be verified online. On successful verification of PAN the employer will be able to apply online for code number which would require the employer to upload the relevant documents after digitally authenticating the same. On completion of this process the name of the applicant employer would be auto populated in the application in owner details field. All details related to the Code Number shall be available for the applicant employer on the login. The Code Number to the applicant employer shall be allotted immediately on successful submission of the application which would mean that the process is successfully completed.

Shri Bandaru Dattatreya further informed that this facility will not only reduce the workload of the employer, but will also reduce the paperwork for both employer as well as the EPFO. It will be a quick and hassle free process. The process of applying for a branch code by any employer already having the PF Code will remain unchanged and will be available through the ECR login. The validation of only one code number can be done through this facility for a given PAN number and for any subsequent code for any branch or establishments under same PAN number the application will be through the ECR Portal. As a result of this facility, the employer would have a digital signature at the time of application itself and this can be used by employer for other areas such as the Online Transfer Claim Portal and authentication of KYC details of members joining the establishment. The use of paperwork would be reduced significantly and the filing of documents would be as per the convenience of the employer.

Shri Shankar Aggarwal, Secretary, Labour & Employment also applauded the efforts made by EPFO in introducing user free services in recent past and stated that this software which is being launched today would especially be a big leap forward in fulfilling the mandate of the Government in ensuring the ease of doing business in the country which is one of the prime areas of concern for the administration today. He further encouraged EPFO to introduce more such ventures in the days to come.

Shri K.K. Jalan, Central PF Commissioner stated that EPFO is committed to strengthen the e-governance system and to provide better services to its stakeholders. EPFO has already launched a number of e-governance initiatives such as Electronic Challan-cum-Return, Member e-passbook SMS governance, payment through National Electronic Fund Transfer, electronic return to collect the missing details of members etc. This process is not going to stop and EPFO would continue its efforts to make the working more transparent and convenient for all stakeholders.

Shri Bandaru Dattatreya also honoured a few officers/officials of the Organisation for their efficiency and diligence.

The Minister of State for Labour and Employment (Independent Charge), Shri Bandaru Dattatreya at the 209th meeting of the Central Board, in New Delhi on November 24, 2015. The Secretary, Ministry of Labour and Employment, Shri Shankar Aggarwal and other dignitaries are also seen.

EXPORTERS OF SERVICES TO GET REFUND OF UNUTILISED CENVAT CREDIT WITHIN A WEEK: CBEC

Seeking to fast-track refund to exporters of services, the Central Board of Excise and Customs (“CBEC”) has fixed a scale of 80 per cent payment of the total amount claimed as refund.

CBEC vide Circular No. 187/6/2015-Service Tax dated November 10, 2015 clarified that once the refund application alongwith the necessary documents is received, the jurisdictional Deputy/Assistant Commissioner will make a provisional payment of 80% (eighty per cent) of the amount claimed as refund within 5 working days (Public holidays are excluded while calculating the days) from the date of receipt of the refund application along with all the necessary documents.

After making the provisional payment, the jurisdictional Deputy/Assistant Commissioner shall undertake checking the correctness of the refund claim in terms of the relevant notification and show cause notice (“SCN“) will be issued by him if in his view the amount is inadmissible.

However, prior to the issuance of such a SCN, the claimant may be intimated about the inadmissible amount so that he has an opportunity to avail of the provisions of section 73(3) of the Finance Act, 1994.

The move will speed up sanction of the refund accumulated CENVAT credit to exporters of the services. It is also clarified that the decision to grant provisional payment is an administrative order and not a quasi-judicial order and should not be subjected to review.

Further, this payment of 80 per cent of the refund shall be purely provisional based on the relevant documents submitted by the claimant and without prejudice to the department's right to check the correctness of the claim in terms of the relevant notification.

It is pertinent to mention here that this is only applicable to service tax refund claims filed under Rule 5 of the CENVAT Credit Rules, 2004 (CENVAT Rules) on or before March 31, 2015 and which have not been disposed of as on date of the issue of this circular.

DOWNLOAD A COPY OF THIS CIRCULAR 

WISH YOU ALL A VERY HAPPY DIWALI 2015 FROM PRAVEEN SINGH

Diwali ek khusiyon ka taivhaar hai,
Andhere se ujaale ki aur barkaraar hai,
Har koi andhere ko ujaala karne ke liye taiyaar hai,
Lekin jo saavdhani rakhe, wahi samajhdaar hai.
Koi waqt ka toh koi khusiyon kaa talabgaar hai.
Nazre bhicha kar baitha hai, bas aane ka intezaar hai
Aa jaaye toh paalo isse,

Govt. issues common form for registering under ESIC, EPFO and other Labour Laws

Very good news for all employers of various industries as from now, only a single form is required to be filed for registration under different Labour Laws. Govt. issues a common form for 'ESIC, EPFO, BOCW, CLA, and ISMW' services and the same is then routed to the respective department for processing

While applying for these services, eBiz reference number is generated which is used by the applicant for further tracking of his application.

Once Common application form is sent to Chief Labour Commission of respective Department. Department reviews the same and approves/rejects the application or asks for resubmission. If application gets approved, Department issues a 'Registration Letter' and sends to Business user via eBiz portal. Department also shares 'Registration Letter' physical copy with the Applicant.

Further, Data from common application form for EPFO and ESIC registration is extracted and sent to respective Department. Thereafter, the Department scrutinizes the application to check correctness of PAN. If PAN details are found to be correct then department issues an 'Establishment Registration number', Acknowledgement letter/ Registration Certificate, TIC numbers in case of EPFO registration and communicates the same to Business user via eBiz portal. Business user can download it for future reference.

Following are the necessary documents required for registration under respective Department:-

• Details of the Factory/Establishment
• Identifiers provided by other Government agencies where applicable
• Power connection details
• Proof of address
• Details of licenses obtained.
• Details about Principal Employer.
• Office location details
• Ownership details
• Details of manager / occupier
• Details of work / location of work
• Particulars of contractors
• Details of lease if any
• Brief abstract of workers' data
• Wage details for ESIC
• Insured persons' particulars for ESIC
• Bank details of employees
• Bank details for unit
• Copy of PAN of the factory / establishment if applying for EPFO
• Copy of agreement if applying for EPFO
• Copy of disability certificate if applying for ESIC
• Scanned image of cheque if applying for EPFO

DETAILS REGARDING PAYMENT OF FEES:-

The payments collected through the eBiz Portal will include the Department fee as applicable and ebiz service charge. The departmental fees against number of workmen are shown as below:

FEES TO BE PAID FOR REGISTRATION UNDER CONTRACT LABOUR ACT-

If the number of workmen proposed to be employed on contract on any day-

1              is 20(should not be less than 20)            Rs.60

2              exceeds 20 but does not exceed 50        Rs.150

3              exceeds 50 but does not exceed 100      Rs.300

4              exceeds 100 but does not exceed 200    Rs.600

5              exceeds 200 but does not exceed 400    Rs.1200

6              exceeds 400                                           Rs.1500

FEES TO BE PAID UNDER BUILDING & OTHER CONSTRUCTION, RULES, 1998

If the number of workers proposed to be employed as building workers, for a building or other construction work on any day-

1              exceeds 9 but does not exceed 100        Rs. 100

2              exceeds 100 but does not exceed 500    Rs. 500

3              exceeds 500       Rs. 1000

INTER-STATE MIGRANT WORKERS ACT

The fees to be paid for the grant of certificate of registration of an establishment under Section 7, shall be as specified below:-

If the Number of migrant workmen proposed to be employed in the establishment on any day-

1              exceeds 4 but does not exceed 20          Rs.60 

2              exceeds 20 but does not exceed 50        Rs.150

3              exceeds 50 but does not exceed 100      Rs.300

4              exceeds 100 but does not exceed 200    Rs.600

5              exceeds 200 but does not exceed 400    Rs.1200

6              exceeds 400                                           Rs.1500

No fee is to be charged for ESIC and EPFO services. Applicant is asked to pay only nominal eBiz transaction fee while submitting application form on eBiz portal.

(Source: www.ebiz.gov.in)

Information provide above is subject to change in case of any amendment/Notification/circular/order issued by the respective department.

Law Ministry notifies Delhi HC Amendment Act, 2015

The Ministry of Law & Justice has notified the Delhi High Court Amendment Act, 2015 which received the assent of the president on August 10, 2015, has brought into force with effect from October 26, 2015.

Key Highlights of the enacted Act:

• Enhancement of pecuniary jurisdiction of Delhi High Courts pertaining to suits valuing Rs. 2 crore and above, which earlier was limited to Rs. 20 lakh;
• The aforementioned amendment was much needed and will result in reducing the burden on Delhi High Court, which would further lead to substantive improvement in disposal of cases in subordinate Courts;
• This will facilitate access of the general public to 11 District Courts located in 6 District Court Complexes within the vicinity of their location, ensuring speedy justice to the litigants at their door steps.
• The last revision of pecuniary jurisdiction of District Courts in Delhi was done in 2003, when it was raised from Rs. 5 lakh to Rs. 20 lakh.
• It empowers Chief Justice of the High Court of Delhi to transfer any suit or other proceedings pending before the High Court of Delhi to appropriate subordinate court.

*Pecuniary jurisdiction refers to the jurisdiction of a court to entertain a suit based on the amount or value of its subject matter*.

Click here to download the amendment.

Check your restaurant bill before you pay | Business Standard News

Check your restaurant bill before you pay | Business Standard News

NO SPECIAL SITTING ON GST; PRESIDENT TO PROROGUE MONSOON SESSION OF PARLIAMENT

The government on Wednesday(Sept. 9, 2015) decided not to hold special session of Parliament to pass the Constitution amendment bill for rolling out Goods and Services Tax (”GST”) bill and will recommend to the President to prorogue the Monsoon Session. 

According to Finance minister Arun Jaitley. Government was keen on special session to obtain Parliament's nod for the GST bill but opted against it "for the time being" as talks with the Congress did not yield results. Efforts to reach an agreement on the bill, which it had proposed to roll out from April 1, 2016, would continue. 

The GST bill, which has been passed by Lok Sabha, got stuck in political logjam in the Rajya Sabha where the ruling NDA does not have a majority. As per the procedure, after approval by the Rajya Sabha the bill will have to be approved by 50 per cent of the state legislatures.

HIKE OF 6% IN DA FOR EMPLOYEES, PENSIONERS

The Centre on Wednesday increased dearness allowance (“DA”) for its employees by 6 per cent of their basic pay with effect from July, a move that will hit the exchequer by Rs 4,436.76 crore in the remaining months of the current financial year and Rs 6,655.14 in a year. The Cabinet decision to increase dearness allowance for central government to 119 per cent from 113 per cent is a move that will benefit five million employees and 5.6 million pensioners.

Every six months, the government reviews dearness allowance. This time, Govt. has decided to increase DA by six per cent over existing 113 per cent rate. The DA rate increase is based on an average of 12-month Consumer Price Index-Industrial workers (“CPI-IW”) from July 1, 2014 to June 30, 2015. This is in line with the 6th Pay Commission. The DA rate increase is based on an average of 12-month Consumer Price Index-Industrial workers (“CPI-IW”) from July 1, 2014 to June 30, 2015. This is in line with the 6th Pay Commission.

Earlier in April, the government had hiked DA by six per cent to 113 per cent of their basic pay with effect from January.

DEARNESS RELIEF 

• Allowance to central government employees and dearness relief to pensioners will be effective from July 1, 2015. This represents an increase of 6% over the existing rate of 113% of the basic pay/pension, to compensate for price rise. The decision will benefit about 5 million government employees and 5.6 million pensioners. 
• The DA rate increase is an average of 12-month consumer price index-industrial workers from July 1, 2014 to June 30, 2015.

2 CHILD POLICY

YESTERDAY, WHEN I WAS TRAVELLING IN THE METRO I SAW THIS AND THOUGHT WHAT WILL BE HAPPENED AFTER 20 OR 30 YEARS

  

PARLIAMENT PASSES DELHI HIGH COURT (AMENDMENT) BILL

 A bill to reduce the workload of the Delhi High Court by enhancing the pecuniary jurisdiction of civil suits from the existing Rs 20 lakh to Rs 2 crore was passed by Parliament.

The Delhi High Court (Amendment) Bill, 2015, earlier passed by Rajya Sabha, was adopted by a voice vote by the Lower House in the absence of most of the opposition members who are boycotting proceedings to protest the suspension of 25 Congress members for five days by the Speaker.

Once implemented, the measure would allow transferring of civil suits, valued up to Rs 2 crore, to the nine district courts in Delhi from the high court. The bill was introduced by the UPA government in Rajya Sabha in February 2014 and referred to the Standing Committee on Law and Personnel, which cleared it.

The NDA government approved the measure without any changes and the measure was passed by the Upper House in the Budget Session.

Sebi Releases Faq’s on Delisting Of Securities

                                  

1. What is meant by delisting of securities?

Ø         The term “delisting” of securities means permanent removal of securities of a listed company from a stock exchange. As a consequence of delisting, the securities of that company would no longer be traded at that stock exchange.

2. What is the difference between Voluntary delisting and Compulsory delisting?

Ø         Compulsory delisting refers to permanent removal of securities of a listed company from a stock exchange as a penalizing measure at the behest of the stock exchange for not making submissions/comply with various requirements set out in the Listing agreement within the time frames prescribed. In voluntary delisting, a listed company decides on its own to permanently remove its securities from a stock exchange.

3. What is the exit opportunity available for investors in case a company gets delisted?

Ø         SEBI (Delisting of Securities) Guidelines, 2003 provide an exit mechanism, whereby the exit price for voluntary delisting of securities is determined by the promoter of the concerned company which desires to get delisted, in accordance to book building process. The offer price has a floor price, which is average of 26 weeks average of traded price quoted on the stock exchange where the shares of the company are most frequently traded preceding 26 weeks from the date public announcement is made. There is no ceiling on the maximum price.

In case of infrequently traded securities, the offer price is as per Regulation 20 (5) of SEBI (Substantial Acquisition and Takeover) Regulations. For this purpose, in frequently traded securities is determined in the manner as provided in Regulation 20 (5) of SEBI (Substantial Acquisition and Takeover) Regulations.

4.    Does a company listed at BSE/NSE have to provide exit offer to shareholders in case it delists from stock exchanges other than BSE and NSE?

Ø         No, the company does not have to provide exit offer to shareholders because it continues to be listed on the BSE / NSE which have nationwide reach and shareholders can exit any time they decide to so by way of selling shares in NSE/ BSE.

RATE OF LUXURY TAX INCREASES FROM 10 TO 15 PER CENT IN DELHI

Going to spa, gymnasium and living in expensive rooms in hotels will become costlier, as the Government of Delhi hikes luxury tax.

The Delhi Govt. has notifies Vide NOTIFICATION No. F. 12(2)/Fin(Rev- I)/2015-16/ds-vi/594 Dated July 30, 2015, the rate of luxury tax from 10 per cent to 15 per cent w.e.f. August 1, 2015. The rate of tax shall be levied on the turnover of receipt of a proprietor of hotels. 

NEW ITR FORMS 3, 4 5, 6 & 7 NOTIFIED BY CBDT

The Central Board of Direct Taxes (“CBDT”) has notified the New ITR Forms i.e., ITR-3, ITR-4, ITR-5, ITR-6 & ITR-7 vide Notification No. 61/2015, F.No.142/1/2015-TPL dated 29th July, 2015. E-filing of these ITRs form will be enabled shortly.

Income Tax return Forms as stated above are as follows:

• ITR 3- (For Individuals/HUFs being partners in firms and not carrying out business or profession under any proprietorship under rule 12 of the Income-tax Rules, 1962)
• ITR 4- (For individuals and HUFs having income from a proprietary business or profession under rule 12 of the Income-tax Rules, 1962)
• ITR 5- (For persons other than,- (i) individual, (ii) HUF, (iii) company and (iv) person filing Form ITR-7)
• ITR 6- (For Companies other than companies claiming exemption under section 11) 
•  ITR 7- (For persons including companies required to furnish return under sections 139(4A) or 139(4B) or 139(4C) or 139(4D) or 139(4E) under rule 12 of the Income-tax Rules, 1962)

(Source: http://www.incometaxindia.gov.in/Pages/communications/notifications.aspx)

MCA modified New version of various Forms, w.e.f 1st August, 2015

MCA modified Version of Forms Form 20B, Form 23AC, Form 21A, Form 23ACA, Form 66, Form 23ACA (XBRL), Form 4 LLP, Form FC-4, Form 23B and Form FC-1, w.e.f 1st August, 2015.

EXTENSION OF DUE DATE OF FILING RETURN OF WEALTH FOR A.Y. 2015-16

The Central Board of Direct Taxes (“CBDT”) vide Notification F. No. 328/08/2015-WT dated July 27th, 2015 has extended the due date of filing return of wealth for assessment year 2015-16.

Earlier, CBDT vide order F.No.225/154/ 2015/ETA-II dated June 10th, 2015 under section 119 of the Income-tax Act  had extended the “due date” for filing Return of Income for assessment year 2015-16 in respect of assessees falling under clause (c) of explanation 2 to sub-section (1) of section 139 of the Income-tax Act from July 31st, 2015 to August 31st, 2015.

In view of the same, the “due date” for filing Return of wealth by such assessees for assessment year 2015-16 also stands extended from July 31st, 2015 to August 31st, 2015.

BIG RELIEF TO INDIAN COMPANIES WITH OVERSEAS SUBSIDIARIES

MINISTRY ALLOWS FILING OF ‘UNAUDITED’ ACCOUNTS OF FOREIGN SUBSIDIARIES WITH REGISTRAR OF COMPANIES

The Ministry of Corporate Affairs (“MCA”) has relaxed the norms requiring Indian companies with overseas subsidiaries to file ‘audited’ financial statements of such foreign subsidiaries with the Registrar of Companies (“RoC”) in India. This is after consulting with The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India ("ICAI"), the Ministry has clarified that even ‘unaudited’ financial statements of foreign subsidiaries can be filed with the RoC and will be treated as due compliance of Indian company law.

This exemption will be allowed in case of a foreign subsidiary which is not required to get its financial statements audited as per legal requirements prevalent in the country of its incorporation, and which does not get its financial statements audited. Moreover, Ministry has also clarified that format of financial statements of foreign subsidiaries should be, as far as possible, in accordance with the Companies Act 2013 (No. 18 of 2013) and should need to be translated in English, if the original accounts are not in English. In case this is not possible, a statement indicating the reasons for deviation may be placed/ filed along with such financial statements. 

Further, the Ministry has also clarified that a company holding a general meeting after giving a shorter notice (as provided under Section 101 of Companies Act, 2013) may also circulate financial statements (to be laid/considered in the same general meeting) at such shorter notice.

                                                                    •••••

BLACKMONEY: E-FILING LINK TO DECLARE ILLEGAL ASSETS LAUNCHED

The Income Tax department has launched a link for e-filling on its official website for declaring illegal foreign assets and black money using the one-time compliance window notified recently by government. The link has been provided on the official e-filing portal of the department- https://incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in. The relevant 'FORM 6' can be used to declare undisclosed assets under the compliance window of the new anti-black money law. According to the scheme, such a declaration filed online by an individual or entity will have to mandatory bear a "digital signature" for validation. The new two-page form brought out for this purpose has been categorized as 'FORM 6' and has a three-page annexure for the "statement of undisclosed assets located outside India". Those availing the one-time 'compliance window' would be required to pay a tax of 30% and a penalty of a similar amount. 

                                                                •••••