newsletter april 2021 - icsi

1 Message from Chairman, NIRC- The ICSI 02

1 Chairperson's Message 03

2 Details of Events 05

3. Interview of the Month 06

by CS Khushboo Upadhya

4. Article- One Person Company 10

by CS Monika Sinha

5. Article- Raising the Standards of 13

Audit through ICSI Auditing Standards

by CS Jatin Singal

6. Article- Final tax reforms due to 18

covid-19 by CS Lalit Rajput

7. Article- Save environment 23

by CS Shukla Bansal

8. Discussion- Attract positive and 27

positive will come your way

9. Glimpses of Activities in 29

last month

10. Important announcement 33

and City Updates

CONTENTS

MANAGING COMMITTEE

CS. Preeti Grover

CS. Manpreet Singh Vice Chairman

CS. Nikhil Verma Secretary

CS. Dhruv Khandelwal Treasurer

CS. Nand Lal Thakur Immediate Past-Chairman

CS Shivam Rastogi Member

CS. Pankaj Grover Member

Chairperson

CHAPTER TEAM

Rajesh Sharma

Lalit Kumar Bhati

Umesh Kumar

Executive Officer

Executive Admin

NEWSLETTERAPRIL 2021

NOIDA CHAPTER OF NIRC OF ICSI

Dear Professional Colleagues,

Greetings of the Day!

I hope to find you in the best of your health, spirits and professional endeavours.

The Entire Country is passing through a difficult time ever so as CS fraternity but we shall surely overcome.

As Central and State governments are implementing measures to contain this public health crisis, we as Citizens and Governance Professionals, have to act as extended arms of the Government to respond to the health crisis and I am confident that we are going to get through this, together.

Friends, despite all the hurdles and unfortunate happenings, I am looking at the positive side which is quite evident in the air we breathe, the river we live nearby and the opportunity to introspect ourselves. This is the time when we should do our SWOT analysis and work on our weaknesses.

Hope you have a joyful journey reading this newsletter that will enhance your knowledge!

Wishing all of you a good health! Stay Safe, Stay Healthy, and take care.

Thanks & Regards,

CS Vimal GuptaChairman - [email protected]

ICSI-NIRC NOIDA CHAPTER E-NEWSLETTER Page No. 02

Message from Chairman, NIRC- The ICSI

Dear Members and Students

As I write this message, I have many mixed emotions going on. I am not finding the strength to write this message amid all the news and happenings around us. While it's a pleasure to release the third issue of Newsletter of the Noida Chapter for the year 2021, but the news is weighing us all down. The coronavirus pandemic and its impacts in the second wave have been causing havoc, hitting too close, requiring all of us to rethink our priorities. The crisis around the COVID-19 pandemic has left no one untouched. The virus is not only claiming human lives, it is subjecting individual countries and the global political order to extraordinary stress rarely seen. We are living through a difficult time.

In this situation, let's fill our lives with gratitude for each day, for everything we have, our families, friends. Let us pray to Lord to put a shield around our loved ones today, lets us pray for healing of our families, community, our country and the mankind from this pandemic.

I completed 3 months of my tenure as the chairperson of Noida Chapter on 19th April, the aim remains to continue to work towards betterment of all members and students.We all need to stay updated in view of the ever-changing laws, and Noida Chapter is here to support in every way possible.

Noida chapter takes immediate steps on the call of the students, as per their needs. The Chapter successfully organized three Online Professional Development Programme, with a good strength of students in each batch, on 25.3.2021, 26.3.2021 and 31.3.2021. The students joined from all over India and I am happy to share that these 3 days trainings enabled many students to complete their requirements and register for the final step of MSOP to become members of ICSI.

Noida Chapter started its 2nd batch of 15 days EDP training in classroom mode under the new training structure of ICSI on 01st April, 2021. The training started in physical mode but as per orders of DM, Noida and witnessing the current scenario, it was made online halfway. The training was completed on time on 17th April 2021, without wasting a single day for the students. We are really thankful to all the faculty who gave their time for the students in the EDP and PDP programmes.


Chairperson’s Message

Dear Members and Students


Noida chapter successfully conducted 19th All India Moot Court Competition Chapter Level Round (online) held on 20th April, 2021. We are thankful to our Jury Members CS Saurabh Kalia and CS Amit Vinayak, for sharing their experience with the participants. The winning team of Vishal Jaiswal and Avinash Reddy was given appreciation certificates and they get a chance to participate in the Northern India Regional Round.

Noida chapter organized 3 webinars covering recent amendments and changes in the last month.The topic “Directors Remuneration including the recent changes” was taken up on 02nd April, 2021 with Chief Guest CS Onkarnath Banerjee, Senior Corporate Counsel and CS-Oracle Financial Services Software Limited and keynote speaker CS Amit Gupta, Practicing Company Secretary & Insolvency Professional.

A new topic “Integrated Reporting” was taken up with Guest Speakers CS Meenakshi Sharma (Technical Director- capital Markets, KPMG) and Mr. Saurabh Ambaselkar (Manager- Capital Markets, KPMG) in the webinar held on 10th April, 2021.

Webinar on the topic “Interactive Discussion on amendments in CSR” was organized on 17th April, 2021 with Guest speakers CS Pankaj Virmani, Rental Business of DLF Group and CS Divesh Goyal, Practicing Company Secretary, who patiently answered all the queries of the members, our sincere thanks to the speakers and all the members who joined in.

The Trainee Drive already announced for 20th April was made online keeping in mind the current situation of rising cases. We are happy to share that almost 90 students and 13 recruiters registered, while all of them could not take part because of the circumstances affecting them , it motivated us to continue the efforts in this tough time.

Last but not the least, special thanks to our Managing Committee members for their support and our Executive Officer Rajesh Sharma and team for all the efforts they make so that chapter activities for members and students go on smoothly.

May the almighty bless us all and protect the world. These are my wishes on this Earth Day, 2021.

Please, do look after yourselves and your families.

Stay indoors, stay safe!!

Best,CS Preeti GroverChairperson, Noida Chapter of NIRC of ICSI

“The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you'll go.” -Dr. Seuss


Details of Events

NAME OF THE PROGRAMMEDATE

Online Professional Development Programme



25.03.2021

26.03.2021

31.03.2021

01.04.2021

SL. NO.

01

02

03

04 Executive Development Programme (15 days in class room mode)

- Inaugural session. Shri A. K. Srivastava, Joint Secretary

ICSI joined us for motivating and guiding the students.

5th Webinar of the year 2021 on topic

“Directors Remuneration including the recent changes”

Chief Guest:

CS Onkarnath Banerjee, Senior Corporate Counsel and

CS-Oracle Financial Services Software Limited

keynote speaker:

CS Amit Gupta, Practicing Company Secretary &

Insolvency Professional

02.04.202105

6th Webinar of the year 2021 on topic “Integrated Reporting”

Guest Speakers:

CS Meenakshi Sharma (Technical Director- capital Markets,

KPMG)

Mr. Saurabh Ambaselkar (Manager- Capital Markets, KPMG)

10.04.202106

One Day Orientation Programme for students of Executive

Programme

11.04.202107

7th Webinar of the year 2021 on topic

“Interactive Discussion on amendments in CSR”

Guest speakers:

CS Pankaj Virmani, Rental Business of DLF Group

CS Divesh Goyal, Practicing Company Secretary

17.04.202108

Valedictory ceremony of Executive Development Programme

(15 days in class room mode started on 01.04.2021)

17.04.202109

First Online Trainee Drive of the year 2021 20.04.202110

19thAll India Moot Court Competition

Chapter Level Round

20.04.202111


Mr. Subhash Chandra, a Director – Life & Health Reinsurance APAC in a Singapore based multinational company, is an Actuary by profession. Prior to this, he has worked in a life insurance company, in a reinsurance company and in RBI, at high posts all based in Mumbai, India. Passed out from Indian Statistical Institute, Mr. Subhash has provided his teaching services to reputed management institutes like NMIMS, AMITY, BIMTECH covering actuarial science and financial statistics. A good public speaker, toastmaster Subhash likes to hold stage to interact with many on motivational topics. Spiritual Subhash is an international trainer for meditation since last 15 years under the banner of Vihangam Yoga Organization. A sportsperson Subhash loves to play badminton, cricket, football, chess, tennis, spend time with his 2 kids and occasionally writes Hindi poems

1. What are the key trends in data sciences and analytics that company secretaries and compliance professionals should be aware of?

First, we need to understand what is the meaning of data science and its analysis. Data science is the study of data, and data analytics is the process by which data is deconstructed and examined to identify useful patterns and trends into it.

There are many businesses that involve complex decisions. Data science also helps businesses to take appropriate decisions based on facts using advanced tools and technologies to automate complicated business processes. These activities may be in the form of extracting, analyzing and presenting raw data. The world is changing rapidly with advancements in technology, and hence the data is being generated at super speed. It is very important for companies to be up to date to understand the trend that helps business to gain a significant competitive advantage. The more this process is automated and the more granular it is, the more useful it can be for companies and organizations looking to save money, increase revenue, optimize efficiencies, and connect with customers.

Companies ultimately are concerned about future uncertainties. Predictive analytics play a major role by helping companies identify trends and predict what can happen in the future.

However, company secretaries and professionals must be careful about the utility of

Interview of the Month

Mr. Subhash Chandra


simultaneously. Some companies create inhouse development some outsource it. At the same time, the companies should be careful about the personal data protection and security. While on one side, the technological advancement has helped companies to make meaningful connections and deliver actionable insights, threat due to cybercrime has also popped up. The companies must arrange proper safety measure to protect their data system.

2. You've worked extensively in India and Singapore. How similar or different are the work cultures in both?

The work culture in every country is different, usually shaped by the culture, education system, leadership and policies of a country.

My work experience in India and Singapore is of same duration each for 8 years. However, I have observed significant differences in the work cultures between these two countries, at least in the industry I have been working.

The major difference is about freedom to work! As per my observation, in Singapore your 'boss' does not do micro-management irrespective of what level you are at. It is expected from everyone to be responsible knowing his/her own tasks to complete with his/her accountability. The self-respect is high here in Singapore, and to maintain the same you continuously must prove yourself, due to which you must act to compete.

Another interesting observation in Singapore is about doing mistakes. It is notexpected not to do mistakes. If you have not done a mistake means you are not learning. However, repetition of same mistake is not acceptable easily.

Singapore is a small but fully developed country where multinationalism is welcomed. Respecting each one's culture is utmost important here. Contrary to India, discussing politics and religion in offices is to be avoided.

There is a further interesting observation. Although it appears that most of the people in Singapore are having all necessary items available, which ideally should keep them happy and stress free. However, this is not completely true. People in Singapore are living quite a stressful and anxious life though the reasons of stress and anxiety are different from that in India. While in India, working people are struggling mostly to fulfil the basic needs and struggling to fight pollution & corruption, people in Singapore are having stress due to tourism, entertainment, value of life, work life balance, fear of losing freedom by having new born child.

Singapore is one of the cleanest countries in the world with multiple rules and fines for breaking the rules, working population of Singapore is relatively having less emotions compared to India.


3. What has been your experience as a teacher of meditation in South east Asia? How does meditation help de stress and promote health?

Well, to me association with meditation is a daily activity same as we eat, drink, sleep, etc. Since year 2006, I have been authorized to teach the 1st stage of Meditation under the banner of Vihangam Yoga Organization. That incident changed my life being more responsible not just towards myself but also for the society to contribute to uplift people making them more conscious towards their real objective of their lives.

When I shifted to Singapore in Dec 2012, there was one pious feeling I had to contribute to the international society by making them aware about the teachings of the principles of Sadguru Sadafaldeo ji Maharaj, the pioneer of Vihangam Yoga, who had proclaimed to help an eligible practitioner achieving the highest abode of life.

My journey so far as a trainer of Meditation has been amazing specially after shifting to Singapore. This is not because of the fact that I have been putting a lot of efforts to connect with people to help them learning the ancient most meditation technique, but rather by having multiple opportunities to learn by refining, rejuvenating, revitalizing myself through those interactions. It's all about Service to the Master and the society. I am glad to share here that all the activities I am involved in related with Meditation is of free of charges. I believe that every single human is having right to learn meditation and the process behind.

Everyone in this world if stressed, specially in cities, metropolitan cities. They themselves are responsible for this, but they are helpless as well. While physical health is important for everyone, Mental health is more important to function appropriately in this competitive world. To keep the work-life balanced, one must perform meditation routinely on a regular basis. No matter at what level of job you are, stress is always in top of the mind. To be efficient at work, one must have a controlled mind, a less stressed mind. There have been many methods which can help you being efficient at work, however in long run, in my opinion, only meditation can help to a sustainable level. How to remain calm, undisturbed in your most adverse situation is an art to be learnt and imbibed, which is only possible with the help of regular practice of meditation. There is no alternative to it.

4. How do you maintain work life balance and physical fitness?

My work-life balance is very much dependent on my practice of Meditation, which simply creates clarity in thoughts, empowers righteousness in decisions taken, and sharpens the wisdom. With all these tools, it is obvious to have a refined balanced life. Many times it has been observed that people carry their office to their home. This is not fair to the family members. Similarly, the reverse, which is not fair to the employer. A man gets pissed off between this unfairness caused by himself.


Clarity in mind allows you to live into the moment – a need for all of us. This helps to manage the time and identify how much time to be invested in which type of task in how much intensity. All these can be very easily achieved through simple 10-minutes meditation practice in the morning and evening.

Meditation should not be taken as a fashion. It does not have changing trend like data science or tolls advancement. Meditation is to more to know yourself, connect with yourself. The day, you connect with yourself, your life will be in your hand to manage it the way you want to.

Physical fitness is very important for all of us. If the body is not in right shape with right strength, the body is useless. This feeling itself can motivate anyone to keep it fit. I have been doing sports on a regular basis including some athlete activities. Time to time I challenge myself by putting myself in adverse physical conditions like participating in half-marathon as well as in spartan race, occasionally starving, doing yoga and exercises. However, on top of all these, I think being fit mentally, emotionally, spiritually helps me to be fit physically.

Author- Khushboo Upadhya


One Person Company

One person company means a company with onlyone person as a member. This unique concept has been introduced by the Companies Act 2013 and has provided the new avenue also a platformto many entrepreneurs of India to enter into the business or corporate world. This concept is the big opportunity for many entrepreneurs who wished to convert their business ideas into a business entity.

Definition as per Companies Act,2013

Section 2(62) "One Person Company" means a company which has only one person as a member.

Eligibility criteria to form an OPC:

Rule 3(1) of the Companies (Incorporation) Second Amendment Rules 2021, only a Natural Person who is an Indian Citizen whether resident in India or otherwise shall be eligible to Incorporate an OPC.

Ineligibility criteria to form an OPC:

lA minor cannot become a member or nominee of OPC.lAn OPC cannot be incorporated or converted into section 8 company lAn OPC cannot carry out Non-Banking Financial Investment activities including

investment in securities of anybody corporate.

The main attractions of a One Person Company are listed as under

lOne Shareholder– Every One Person Company is required to have only one shareholder.

lOne Director– Every One Person Company is required to have one director. The Company may have a maximum of 15 directors.

lNominee for the Shareholder– The shareholder of the One Person Company is required to nominate another person as his nominee who shall become the share holder in case of his death/incapacity.

lMemorandum of one person company -The memorandum of One Person Company shall indicate the name of the other Person, with his prior written consent in the prescribed form, who shall, in the event of the subscriber's death or his

Author :

CS Monika Sinha


incapacity to contract become the member of the company and the written consent of such person shall also be filed with the Registrar at the time of incorporation of the One Person Company along with its memorandum and articles:

Benefits of One Person Company

lSeparate Legal Entity– The one Person Company enjoys the benefits of separate legal entity and it can do everything related to the business in its own name.

lQuick Decision Making– In the one Person Company, decision may be taken quickly as there is no other shareholders so the consensus or majority opinions is not required for any matter.

lCorporate Status -The one Person Company is incorporated as the private limited entity. So, it also benefitted by the social recognition as a corporate. The Letter 'OPC' is suffixed with the name of OPCs.

lLimited Liability– The one Person Company provides the limited liability to the Entrepreneurship. The Liability will be limited to the unpaid subscription money

lPerpetual Succession- The one person company is a corporate entity with the special feature of nomination of one person as the nominee to the shareholder. The nominee would become the member of the company in the event of death or incapacity to contract of existing member. Hence the existence of an OPC will remain the same.

lMinimum Requirement -The OPC is to be registered with only one director, one shareholder and only one nominee.

Limitations of One Person Company

lRestricted Entry -Only an individual /Natural person can be a director and shareholder of an OPC and do business in this form of business. Other Business entities like Body Corporate,HUF or Partnership Firm cannot be allowed to become a director of an OPC.

lComplex process – The process of incorporation of an OPC involves lots of paperwork and consultation from professionals for drafting of the Memorandum and Article of association of the Company.

lFund arrangement- The borrowings of fund is little tough for OPC as compared to other corporates. Since this concept is new that's why the big investors are always cautious for investment in these company.

lHigher Taxation- The One Person Company is taxed on the prevailing tax rate


applicable to the companies and other type of taxes are also applicable on it such as minimum alternate tax etc.

Highlights of Companies (Specification of Definitions Details) Amendment Rules, 2021which came into effect from April 1, 2021

The limits of paid -up share capital of an OPC has increased upto 2 crores and the turnover limits also increased upto 20 Crores

Highlights of Companies (Incorporation) Second Amendment Rules, 2021 which came into effect from April 1, 2021

lA non-resident Indian citizen can become a member of OPC.

lTo avail the status of resident in India /come under the purview of resident in India a person should stay for 120 days in India during the immediately previous year.

lA person can incorporate more than one OPC though cannot continue as member or nominee of more than 1OPC at a time

lVoluntary conversion of OPC into a Pvt or Public Company (other than Sec8 Company) before2 years from incorporation.

Highlights of Companies (Management and Administration) Amendment Rules, 2021 which came into effect fromApril 1,2021

One Person Company shall file annual return in Form No. MGT-7A from the financial year 2020-2021 onwards.


Raising The Standards of Audit Through ICSI Auditing Standards

The Institute of Company Secretaries of India (hereinafter referred as 'ICSI') has been introducing several guidelines, guidance notes, standards etc. since its inception for their members. More particularly, after the enactment of the Companies Act, 2013 and its Rules as amended from time to time, first, the Secretarial Standards were introduced which got the legal recognition under section 118 of the Companies Act, 2013 mandatorily needs to be followed by every Company incorporated under the Companies Act, 1956 or the Companies Act, 2013.

After the Secretarial Standards, the ICSI introduced the Auditing Standards which were recommendatory to be adopted and accepted by the Auditors w.e.f. July 1, 2019 and was made mandatorily applicable w.e.f. April 1, 2020. But owning to the outbreak of Pandemic COVID-19, its applicability was extended and has now been mandatorily applicable w.e.f. April 1, 2021.

The basic difference between Secretarial Standards and Auditing Standards is their applicability. Whereas Secretarial Standards were made applicable to the Companies, on the other hand, the Auditing Standards were made applicable to the Auditors (the Practicing Members of ICSI).

The Auditing Standards are further divided into four standards as follows:

1. Auditing Standard on Audit Engagement2. Auditing Standard on Audit Process and Documentation3. Auditing Standard on Forming of Opinion4. Auditing Standard on Secretarial Audit

The first three standards shall be applicable to all kind of Audit Engagements such as Secretarial Audits, Secretarial Compliance Reports, Reconciliation of Share Capital Audit Report, Internal Audits as per Companies Act, 2013, Internal Audits under several SEBI Rules & Regulations, Diligence Reports for Banks etc. and the fourth one shall only be applicable for the SECRETARIAL AUDIT under Section 204 of the Companies Act, 2013.

OBJECTIVES OF THE STANDARDS

lto promote best auditing practices, uniformity and consistencylto strengthen the audit process and corporate governance practiceslto harmonize the audit practices among the auditors

CSAS -1 AUDITING STANDARD ON AUDIT ENGAGEMENT

For any sort of Audit assignment, the first step for every Auditor is always to get an engagement or appointment. This being the first auditing standard which deals with the procedure related to the appointment of an Auditor inter-alia includes the eligibility and responsibilities of the Auditor while taking any audit assignments.

Author- CS Jatin Singal

(FCS, LLB)


Audit EngagementsFor getting the audit engagement process, the following steps need to be ensured by the Auditor:

1. The auditor appointment shall be made as per the applicable laws, acts, rules, regulations, standards and guidelines, if any. If nothing is prescribed, then the same can be done as the appointing authority deems fit.

2. Once the applicable provisions are determined, the auditor shall submit its eligibility certificate to the appointing authority.

3. The auditor than needs to obtain the engagement letter along with the copy of Board Resolution, if any passed by the auditee and shall also provide the acceptance of the same.

4. The Audit Engagement Letter shall inter alia include:

a. The objective and scope of the audit;

b. The responsibilities of the Auditor and the Auditee;

c. Written representations provided and/or to be provided by the Management to the Auditor, including particulars of the Predecessor or Previous Auditor;

d. The period within which the audit report shall be submitted by the Auditor, along with milestones, if any;

e. The commercial terms regarding audit fees and reimbursement of out-of-pocket expenses in connection with the audit; and

f. Limitations of audit, if any.

5. The Audit Engagement Letter shall give a reference to the provisions of the relevant law along with a statement that the Management acknowledges and understands its responsibilities for preparation and maintenance of records and for devising proper systems to ensure the compliance.

6. The auditor before accepting the audit shall intimate the previous auditor, if any.

7. The auditor further needs to ensure that the Audit is well within the limits as may be prescribed under any law or by ICSI from time to time.

Conflict of InterestThe Auditor shall not have any substantial conflict of interest with the Auditee. Any conflict of interest, other than substantial conflict of interest, must be disclosed by the Auditor before accepting the Audit Engagement or as soon as the Auditor becomes aware of the same, as the case may be.

(a) An Auditor shall not be holding more than 2% paid-up share capital or shares of nominal value of rupees fifty thousand, whichever is lower or more than 2% voting power either on his own or along with his partners, spouse, parent, sibling, and child of such person or of the spouse, any of whom is dependent financially on such person in the auditee company.


(b) Auditor shall not be indebted to the auditee company for an amount exceeding Rs. 5 lacs. This indebtedness doesn't cover the transactions in ordinary course of business of the auditee Company.

Example of Ordinary Course of Business:

An Auditor is having huge office setup with large number of employees and he has been availing services from his auditee (client) for managing the IT department of his office. For these services, if an auditor is liable to pay an amount exceeding Rs. 5 lacs then that shall not be considered as substantial conflict of interest.

(c) If an auditor was in employment of the auditee company, its holding or subsidiary company, if any, then 2 years must have lapsed from the date of his cessation from the employment otherwise it shall be considered as substantial conflict of interest.

Confidentiality

The Auditor shall maintain confidentiality of information obtained during the course of audit unless there is a legal obligation or duty to disclose suchinformation. The Auditor shall not use or share with any person any information obtained except for the purposes of audit. The auditor shall also take all reasonable steps that employees, staff and other team members also be bound by duty of confidentiality.

Change in Terms of Engagement

The auditor shall not agree to change in terms of engagement unless there isreasonable justification for doing so. If terms of appointment are changed resulting in lower level of assurance, it shall be accepted only after considering the appropriateness of the same. Further, any changes in terms of engagement must be agreed by way of supplementary or revised engagement letter or any other suitable form in writing.

CSAS -2AUDITING STANDARD ON AUDIT PROCESS AND DOCUMENTATION

After getting the audit engagement, the next step for an auditor is to plan the audit to be performed in a smooth process and documentation required for conducting of an Audit. The maintenance of proper audit records should be such that it provides sufficient and appropriate record to form the basis for the Auditor's Report; and reflects that the audit was planned and performed in accordance with the applicable Auditing Standards and statutory requirements.

Audit Planning:

Before planning an Audit, it is of utmost importance for an Auditor to understand the scope of the Audit as per engagement letter. Once the scope is clear, then the Auditor shall make audit plan as per the scope defined in the Engagement Letter.

Audit planning means establishing and developing an overall Audit process which should not be limited to:

a. Identification of broad audit areas;

b. Seeking previous audit findings and observations from the Management and the Predecessor or Previous Auditor, in case of change of Auditor;

c. Determination of subject matters and audit areas requiring special


attention, when considered necessary;

d. Risk Assessment and Materiality;

e. Audit technique;

f. Allocation of audit resources for the audit; and

g. Preparation of audit schedule.

The audit shall be planned in a manner which ensures that qualitative audit is carried out in an efficient, effective and timely manner. Audit planning shall ensure that appropriate attention is accorded to crucial areas of audit and significant issues are identified in a timely manner.

Audit plan should be based on professional skepticism, so that it is possible to exercise professional judgment in an objective manner. Audit plan needs to be adhered. It may be modified if circumstances so warrant. Example: Outbreak of Pandemic COVID-19 has changed the style of working and we Auditors are also no exception. In place of traditional physical audits being done earlier, we all have now adopted the new way of Audit by accessing the documents in soft copies after modifying our Audit Plans as per the prevailing circumstances.

Risk Assessment

1. The auditor should conduct risk assessment with respect to the Audit Engagement of auditee considering the nature of business, environmental and organisational structure and compliance requirements.

2. The auditor needs to evaluate high-risk areas relating to(a) internal control systems,(b) transparency, prudence and probity(c) changes in compliance team etc.

Information about the Auditee and Checklist

1. The Auditor shall obtain sufficient information of the auditee for conduct of audit based upon which he shall make use of systematic and comprehensive checklists for carrying out the audit.

Audit Evidence

1. The auditor shall obtain necessary evidence and evaluate the same so as to support the opinion. The process of gathering and evaluating evidence shall continue until the

Auditor is satisfied that sufficient and appropriate evidence exists to provide a basis for formation of the Audit Opinion.

Third Party Confirmation

The Auditor shall obtain third-party confirmations wherever required.

Evaluate Audit Evidence

The Auditor shall evaluate the Audit Evidence to arrive at the conclusion. If the Auditor finds that Audit


Evidence is conflicting, the Auditor shall assess the extent and credibility of conflicting evidence in order to reach a conclusion or collect more evidence to resolve the conflict.

Documentation

Audit Documents shall take place throughout the audit process. Working papers shall be complete and appropriately detailed to provide a clear trail of the audit. The Auditor shall document discussions with management of the auditee in significant matters.

Record Keeping

The auditor shall collate the documentation for records within 45 days of date of signing of auditor's report and also maintain documentation in physical or electronic form for a period of 8 years from date of signing of auditor's report.

"The second part of the article contains Auditing Standard 3 and 4 to be carried in the next issue."


TAX RELAXATIONS BY GOVT.:For Industries Affected by Covid-19

“Bold reforms taken by Govt. will drive the country's push towards self-reliance.”

Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a Pandemic disease as declared by World Health Organization (WHO) and was identified in Wuhan, China, and is now being spread throughout the world.

Finance Minister via issued guidelines and relaxation in Corporate Filings and also stated various reforms under various Laws.

In view of the challenges faced by taxpayers due to the outbreak of Novel Corona Virus (COVID-19),the Government of India has taken several taxation measures to extend tax exemptions received by theindustries.

Let's have a quick overview of the relaxations provided by the government to support badly affected Corporate Sector due to Covid-19 Pandemic.

1. Extension of various time limits for compliances and statutory actions under the taxation laws, vide the Taxation and Other Laws (Relaxation and Amendment of Certain Provisions) Act, 2020 (as amended from time to time);

2. Reduction of the TDS rates for specified non-salaries payments to residents and specified TCS rates by 25% (per cent) of the specified rates from 14.05.2020 to 31.03.2021;

3. Interest for delay in payment of income-tax (e.g. advance tax, TDS, TCS), Equalization Levy, Securities Transaction Tax (STT), Commodities Transaction Tax (CTT) due for payment from 20.03.2020 to 29.06.2020 to be charged at reduced rate of 9% per annum (0.75% per month), if the payment is paid by 30.06.2020;

4. Issuance of corporate tax refunds of Rs. 1,27,534 crore in 2,19,050 cases between 1stApril 2020 to 28thFebruary 2021;

5. Extension of Period of Vivad se Vishwas Scheme for making payment without additional amount to30.04.2021;

Author :

CS Lalit Rajput


6. Extension of date of commencement of operation for the SEZ units for claiming deduction under section10AA of the Income Tax Act to 30th Sept. 2020 for the units which have received necessary approval by 31stMarch, 2020;

7. The date for making investment/construction /purchase/deduction for F.Y. 2019-20 in respect of capitalgains under sections 54 to 54GB of the Act was extended to 30th September, 2020.

8. The date for making various investment/payment for claiming deduction under Chapter VIA-B of theAct was extended to 31st July, 2020

9. Vide the Finance Bill 2021, it has been proposed tointroduce inter-alia the following measures such as:-

?To boost demand in the real-estate sector, the safe harbour limit has been proposed to be increased from10% to 20% under section 43CA of the Act for the period from 12th November, 2020 to 30th June, 2021in respect of only primary sale of residential units of value up to Rs. 2 crore. Consequentially, to providerelief to home buyers, the safe harbour limit under the provisions of Section 56 has been proposed to beincreased from 10 to 20%;

?The benefit of deduction under section 80-IBA for the business of developing and building affordable housing project, has been extended for the affordable housing project approved upto 31st March 2022. Also, the benefit of deduction under this section have also been proposed to be extended to rental housing project approved upto 31st March 2022 subject to notified conditions;

?To provide for extension of the date of incorporation of eligible start up for claiming deduction under the provisions of section 80-IAC of the Act and for claiming deduction under the provisions of section54GB of the Act on making investment in eligible start-up to 31st March 2022;

?To reduce compliance burden on small and medium enterprises and carrying 95% or more transactions in digital mode the threshold limit for a person carrying on business is required to get his accounts audited under the provisions of section 44AB has been proposed to be increased to ten crores.

10. Considering the immediaterequirement of ventilators and other items, the Central Government vide notification No. 20/2020-Custom dated 9th April, 2020 had granted exemption from Basic Customs Duty and Health cess, on theimport of the following goods, with immediate effect and up to 30th September, 2020, namely –Ventilators, Face masks, Surgical Masks, Personal Protection Equipment (PPE), COVID-19 test kits andinputs for manufacture of the above items.


11. Government of India has taken several measures inter-aliapertaining to direct taxes to support industries which includes the following:-Corporate Tax: It has been the stated policy of the Government to simplify the Income-tax Act, 1961 byremoving exemptions and incentives while at the same time reducing the rates of taxes. Starting from the Finance Act, 2016, the corporate tax rates have been gradually reduced while phasing out the exemptionsand incentives available to the corporates.

In furtherance of this policy, through Taxation Laws(Amendment) Act, 2019, an option has been provided to the corporates to pay tax at concessional rate of22% (plus applicable surcharge and cess) if they do not avail any exemption or incentive.

Further, newdomestic manufacturing companies (set up after 1st October, 2019 and starting manufacture on or before31st March, 2023) has been provided an option for paying tax at 15% (plus applicable surcharge andcess) without claiming specified exemption and incentive. Further, such companies are not required topay MAT as well.

?Personal Income Tax: In order to reform personal income tax, Finance Act, 2020 has provided an optionto individual taxpayers for paying income-tax at lower slab rates if they do not avail specified exemptionand incentive.

Apart from the above, Finance Act, 2020 has also provided an option to the co-operativesto pay taxes at concessional rates without claiming any specified deduction or incentive.

?Abolition of Dividend Distribution Tax (DDT):

In order to increase the attractiveness of the Indian Equity Market and to provide relief to a large class ofinvestors in whose case dividend income is taxable at the rate lower than the rate of DDT, the FinanceAct, 2020 removed the Dividend Distribution Tax under which the companies shall not be required topay DDTwith effect from 01.04.2020. The dividend income shall be taxed only in the hands of therecipients at their applicable rate.”

12. In order to reduce the difficulties faced by the taxpayers due to COVID-19 and also to make them more compliant in taxation system, the CBIC has launched GST amnesty scheme, 2020. The details of notifications issued and their summary is as under:

13. The tax exemption vide notification No. 20/2020-Custom dated 9th April, 2020 as mentioned in point no. 10 was granted in view of Corona virus pandemic and not in view of any recession in the industries.


If there is a tax payable in the return, then the late fee above INR 250 stands waived, i.e., the maximum late fee payable for a taxpayer shall be INR 250 (CGST) and INR 250 (SGST) which is a total of INR 500.

67/2020- Central Tax 21st Sep, 2020Late fee payable stands waived off for registered persons who had failed to file GSTR-4 for quarters from July 2017 to March 2020 by the due date, Provided they file the return between the period from 22nd September 2020 and 31st October 2020

If the tax payable in the return is Nil, then the late fee stands entirely waived off.

If there is a tax payable in the return, then the late fee above INR 250 stands waived, i.e., the maximum late fee payable for a taxpayer shall be INR 250 (CGST) and INR 250 (SGST) which is a total of INR 500.

68/2020- Central Tax 21st Sep, 2020Late fee payable above INR 250 stands waived, i.e., the maximum late fee payable for a taxpayer shall be INR 250 (CGST) and INR 250 (SGST) which is a total of INR 500, for registered persons who had failed to file GSTR-10 by the due date,

Provided they file the return between the period from 22nd September 2020 and 31st December 2020.

Notification No. Date of Issuance Summary

52/2020- Central Tax

&

57/2020- Central Tax

24th June, 2020

30th June, 2020

With effect from 25th June 2020, late fee payable stands waived off for registered persons who had failed to file GSTR-3B from July 2017 to July 2020 by the due date, Provided they file the return between the period from 1st July 2020 and 30th September 2020

If the tax payable in the return is Nil, then the late fee stands entirely waived off.


Thisexemption has expired on 30th September, 2020.

14. The Ministry of Labour and Employment set up 20 region-wise Control Rooms under the Supervision ofthe Chief Labour Commissioner (Central) to address the grievances of workers employed in CentralSphere regarding less/non-payment of wages/ retrenchment/lay off/termination of employment.

Ministry has come out with various Tax Laws Reforms to support industries affected by Coronavirus Pandemic (Covid-19) and provided Compliance Relaxation / Tax Reliefs under Taxation Laws and all these measures will help in Improvement in rankings in 'starting a business' and further contributed to the overall improvement in India's ranking on Ease of Doing Business (EoDB).


Save the EnvironmentSave Ourselves

Author :

CS Shukla Bansal

FCS, FCMA, MCOM


Stay informed—but don't obsessively check the news

It's vital to stay informed, particularly about what's happening in the community, so one can follow advised safety precautions and do one's part to slow the spread of coronavirus. But there's a lot of misinformation going around, as well as sensationalistic coverage that only feeds into fear. It's important to be discerning about what one read and watch.

We want to stay informed, and it's important to know what we can do to help prevent the spread of the infection.Now the question is how can one do that without feeling overwhelmed? Is there a better way to consume the news?

Here are some points one must take into consideration-

Intake of constant bad news is unhealthy-

A diet of bad news hurts our ability to make good decisions—especially under circumstances where the future seems uncertain or ambiguous.

Media coverage tends toward sensationalism, showing repeated images designed to grab your attention, and repeated exposure to that is not good for our mental health. This can become a distress cycle, where people have a lot of fears about what the future looks like, and it just gets worse and worse as people continue to pay too much attention to the media.

Thankfully, there are ways to get factual information without gorging ourselves on negative news. The World Health Organization websites for information about the virus is less alarmist and also non-partisan.

Reading the facts about the disease and what we can do to prevent its spread, maybe once a day, is infinitely better for us than scrolling through our newsfeeds on social media every hour. Don't forget things are changing fast, but we already know what we need to do.

Brain processing towards news-

Still, it is hard to pull our attention away from fear-inducing news. Our brains have a negativity bias that's designed to root out danger so that we can stay safe. We can't help

Attract Positive and Positive will come your way


but be hijacked by bad news stories, and news sources want to capitalize on that by publishing the most sensational stories designed to invoke fear.

Getting your news from news outlets in social media is problematic, because we're still having a hard time distinguishing between reputable sources online and non-reputable ones. To avoid being taken for an emotional ride by these “highly emotional, clickbait, misinformation-type stories,” it is better to avoid them altogether and read only news stories written by reputable journalists or looking to science experts to provide accurate information about the pandemic.

We also need to be careful about how a constant diet of negative news might affect our rational response to the pandemic. Being aware of these biases can help you prevent yourself from falling prey to them.

What can we do instead?

Share uplifting and solution-based news-

Be more selective about media consumption and use it to promote more kindness, connection, and inspiration.If you are going to use social media, use it to see how the people you care about are doing, how you can keep calm, or how to help others in need especially your nearby neighbors and communities. Fear leaves people feeling helpless and exhausted, seeing that we are in it together helps ease the emotional burden we feel and encourages more agency the sense that we can do something constructive to fight the pandemic. One can encourage more coming together by reading what's called “solutions-based journalism”stories that go into depth around a problem, but also let one know what's being done to solve the problem effectively.

It's important that we do try to read the news thoroughly and listen to all the facts, making sure that you're checking your sources, that you're going to reliable sources to get information, and that you get a mix of sources, incorporating some constructive news into your mixall of these things help.

Last but not the least, staying informed without alarming yourself is not just important for you, but for everyone. If we can all do our part to put ourselves on what calls a “low bad news” diet, no doubt we will get through this pandemic together better and help preserve our own mental health in the process.

Stay Healthy, Stay Safe, Stay Informed!!


Glimpses of Activities in last month

Valedictory ceremony for “One Day Orientation Programme” for Executive Students. CS Hitesh Jhamb and Chairperson CS Preeti Grover handed over the certificates to the participants

Noida Chapter organized Online Professional Development Programme on 25th and 26 th March, 2021.

Noida Chapter organized Online Professional Development Programme on 31st March, 2021.


Inaugural session of 2nd batch of 15 days EDP training in classroom mode under the new Training Structure of ICSI, on 01st April 2021.

Webinar Screenshots from 2.4.2021, Topic “Directors Remuneration including the recent changes”

Online One day Orientation Programme for Executive Students on 11 th April, 2021.


Valedictory session of Executive Development Programmestarted on 1.4.2021.CS Vimal Gupta, Chairman NIRC and CS Hitender Mehta, Central Council Member, ICSI addressed the students

First online Trainee Driveof the year, 2021 held on, 20th April, 2021

Webinar screenshots from 17.4.2021, Topic “Interactive Discussion on amendments in CSR”

Webinar screenshots from 10.4.2021 , Topic “Integrated Reporting”


19th All India Moot Court Competition Chapter Level Round(online mode) held on 20th April, 2021, with Jury Members CS Saurabh Kalia and CS Amit Vinayak.

Noida Chapter of NIRC of ICSI is going to organize 9th webinar of

the year 2021 on Saturday, 01st may, 2021 at 04.00 p.m. to 5.30

p.m.on the topic “Pre-Packaged Insolvency Resolution Process.”


Important Announcements

?

have started as Sh. Praveen Mishra, ACEO and Sh. Avinash Tripathi, OSD

inaugurated the 'Inter-Sector Football Tournament' on 04th April, 2021. 24 teams

will be participating in this tournament.

?Noida Authority made a significant contribution in making the “Safaigiri program” a

success & report the shortcomings in the efforts of the Authority as a vigilant citizen.

Under the “Safaigiri Program” Noida Authority run campaign on 10th April, 2021 at

sector12, 105 and 135.

It is Noida foundation Month. Noida will turn 40 years old on 17th April. Celebration

City Updates

Compiled and edited by CS Shikha Gupta