Society of Auditors
Chennai For Private Circulation Only
June-July 2015 • Vol 9 Issue 6-7
Inside this Issue... •
From the Edit Pad
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Finance Act 2015: Amendment to Section 288 of the Income Tax Act, 1961
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Service Tax
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Depreciation on JCB
8
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TDS Provisions under the VAT Act
10
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Old Madras Road
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Recent Judicial Decisions Reported
13
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HUMOUR CORNER
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AUDITOR
Editorial Board
A periodical from Society of Auditors, Chennai Society of Auditors “Platinum Chambers”, 33, TNHB Complex, 4, Luz Church Road, Mylapore, Chennai - 600 004. Phone : 044-2498 6979 E-mail : society.auditor@gmail.com editor@societyofauditors.in Website URL: www.societyofauditors.in
CA P S Prabhakar, Editor Adv B Ramana Kumar CA R Sivakumar, President, Ex-officio Member CA Karthik A Bhatt
FROM THE EDIT PAD With 2015’s ICAI elections are just a few months away, it’s carnival time again. The would be contestants and their cronies are already all out there in full steam. With some old faces out of the race (thankfully!), several new aspirants are jumping in to the fray. It is worthwhile recapitulating the Edit Pad that was written in Nov, 2012 issue – only for one reason. Things have hardly changed! Here we go: “The contestants, their supporters, friends, adversaries etc. are making their own calculations of how many votes would get polled, what would be the quota, how much first preference vote would each get, whose second and subsequent preferences would go to whom, who may get eliminated early, who would get benefitted by whose elimination etc. For the uninitiated (on the election process) all these would be Greek and Latin but for several people today for the next couple of weeks, these calculations only dominate their minds 24/7. The more focused questions that are being asked and answered by people according to their own perceptions are: (a) As the number of electorate has increased but the number of Council members to be elected are 1 less, who all can hit quota at the first count? (b) How will the caste / community / language / ethnic considerations affect or influence the voting pattern? (c) Who will get the vote banks or parts of them of those who contested last time but do not contest this time? (d) Are the voters bothered or concerned about the credentials or the contributions (to the profession) of the contestants? (e) Do they keep a database of unkept promises or will they simply keep voting only on factors like – he came to see me, he promised some professional assignments to me, he has a nice smile, he speaks so well, he knows so many VIPs, his brochures and pamphlets look very impressive etc. There are many who predict certain victory for some people, difficult win for some, definite doom
P.S. Prabhakar for some, tough fight for some etc. In fine, seen with a detached attachment, the whole thing looks fun………….. Technology is slowly taking over the campaign – both for the contestants and against them. Some mails are becoming viral…… People have begun to realize that there has been an active role in misgovernance of ICAI……....” Though the awareness and the realization among the general members have increased even compared to the last elections – as can be seen from the posts in social media and the plethora of whatsapp groups – and though there is a discernible decline in the levels of undeserved reverence the council members were getting from the ordinary members, still it is sad that the following factors continue to dominate the voting psyche of the members: a. He is my friend. b. He is familiar and I am able to put a face to the name. c. He belongs to my community. d. He speaks the same language as I do. e. He came and met me and shook my hands. f. He called me on phone and requested my vote for him. g. He has arranged so many free CPEs and has given samosas and coffees. h. He sends so many ‘informative’ mails to me. i. He has a nice smile and speaks even nonsense ‘nicely’. j. He dresses so smartly. k. He was my teacher. l. He has given me free CDs and free books. m. He has given many parties where we can dine, drink and dance. n. He calls me and wishes ‘happy birthday’ to my pet dog. o. He has arranged many programs in 5 star hotels at ICAI’s cost and hosted fabulous lunches. * The term ‘He’ includes ‘She’. (continued on next page)
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AUDITOR • June-July 2015
(continued from previous page)
Ve r y v e r y s a d l y, t h e m a j o r i t y i n t h e profession which we belong to, pawn their minds for such silly reasons and cast away their votes, without realizing that they are doing a great disservice not only to themselves but to the whole profession. In a self regulated profession like ours, quality of governance is of paramount importance. And to ensure good governance by those who govern, the constant vigil and alacrity of the ‘governed’ are also important. If the ‘governed’ are apathetic and indifferent, those who govern will become brazen and even unaccountable. If accountability cannot be ensured from accountants, then we lose the very moral right of 'questioning' issues of propriety in the financial statements of the corporate and business world. From Nagpur scam that was of a mind boggling figure of Rs. 100 crores to the Project Parivartan where the institute has lost over Rs. 10 crores and to the legal spend of over Rs. 1 crore in the unwarranted eagerness to defend the alleged culprits in the Nagpur scam - the issues that have clouded ICAI - are, to borrow the words of Hon'ble High Court of Madras, "disturbing". Even more disgusting is the stubborn refusal to conduct AGM of SIRC for the past several years. AUDITOR has been bringing all this and more to your attention repeatedly. Going by the minutes of the council meetings that we get through RTI and other channels, we find that there are indeed very few in the council who have even spoken with sincerity of purpose, courage and conviction. If change has to be driven in the functioning of the institute, the number of
people in the council, with sincerity of purpose has to swell. Election is a good opportunity to usher in such change. Members should not fritter away such an opportunity on flimsy excuses such as the ones listed above but should seriously ponder over questions like:Who can represent the profession's interest better? Who can speak in the council without fear or favour in the larger interest of the profession? Who will not use their council positions to further their selfish interests, which may include directorships in PSUs, banks, plum professional opportunities, furtherance of their private coaching academies, ‘grooming’ their children to get in to council by co-opting them in committees etc.? Those should be the issues weighing in the members' minds before deciding to give them any preference. Not who gave parties, not who gives freebies, not who took classes (and remember, not freely and not even at a reasonable costs), not who sweet talks, not who sends persistent mails containing ‘knowledge updates’ that one can anyway get in google anytime, not who promises free CPE credits etc. If we are able to rise above all these petty temptations, then only we even deserve good leaders. Remember only good members get good leadership. This was also articulated very well by Sri S . G u r u m u r t h y, w h e n h e a d d r e s s e d t h e members of the Society on 10th July, 2015. He said that there should be a self defined code of conduct for the electors first. Only such electors can evaluate those who come to seek votes on strict parameters of ethics, honesty, sincerity of purpose etc. Can we rise up to such levels ourselves first?
READERS / MEMBERS OF SOA ARE WELCOME to contribute articles of topical importance for consideration of publication in AUDITOR. The articles, which have to be original, may be opinionated, critical and analytical. In fact, the intention should be to share knowledge laced with opinions that could open up discussions and debates within the fraternity on subjects of professional significance.
AUDITOR • June-July 2015
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