The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) plans to review accounts of all companies with over Rs 2k crore loans

NEW DELHI: The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) on 22 Feb 2018 said that it has written to RBI seeking a list of corporate borrowers of public sector banks with over Rs 2,000 crore loan outstanding so that their accounts can be examined by Financial Reporting Review Board for any possible violation of accounting standards as well as auditing.

The Disciplinary Directorate of ICAI has issued show-cause notices to all central statutory auditors of PNB   as well as auditors of Gitanjali Gems, while asking Sebi, CBI. Similarly, central statutory auditors who have done a quarterly review of PNB have also been issued show cause notice. 

The enforcement directorate to share the findings of the investigations related to the supposed fraud committed by Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi.

In a statement, ICAI said that it had summoned the deputy general manager of PNB to produce a copy of FIR, all documents related to the alleged fraud and share details of the modus operandi. “ICAI has also written to its parent ministry i.e. the ministry of corporate affairs requesting to prevail upon SEBI, CBI, ED, and PNB to share their findings with ICAI to enable it to accelerate the action against any Chartered Accountant who has played any role in this fraud,” it added.

The reiteration of some of the move to seek information, taken a week ago, came days after finance minister Arun Jaitley went public with his criticism of auditors in the Rs 11,300 crore PNB fraud. In July, PM Narendra Modi too was critical of the ICAI’s disciplinary record. 

The institute has also set up a high-powered group to study the systemic issues in case of PNB and suggest corrective steps and improvement in the banking system operates.The first meeting of the group is scheduled on 23 February 2018.

Institute Of Chartered Accountant Of India: ICAI to carry study on Bitcoin Cryptocurrencies

News From Institute of Chartered Accountants of India

"Ministry of Corporate Affairs has sought our opinion on accounting standards and disclosures of cryptocurrency in financial statements of companies," Member of Digital Accounting and Assurance Standard Board of ICAI, Debashis Mitra said.

He said a detailed study would be carried out about virtual currencies, a new phenomenon but importance of which is catching up rapidly globally.

The study was expected to be submitted to the Ministry of Company Affairs (MCA) by March this year. He was speaking at a seminar on corporate governance and Companies (Amendment) Bill, 2017, organised by CII. He said, MCA would also take opinions from other expert agencies before taking a view on the subject.

Chartered accountants are the gatekeepers for Corporates

A senior government official said today:CA s are the gatekeepers for corporates and should keep away from being part of "murky things".

Corporate Affairs Secretary Injeti Srinivas also urged chartered accountants to work towards changing the perception that they help companies to convert "black (money) to white". 

"Your profession is like a pehredar (gatekeeper) and you have to ensure that you don't become part of murky things," he said at the convocation ceremony of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) here.

The ICAI, set up by an act of Parliament, is an endorsement that CAs perform a critical role in nation building, Srinivas said.

Bitcoins Income-Tax notices to 4-5 lakh HNIs across the country

New  Delhi,18th Dec.Widening its probe into bitcoin investments and trade, the Income Tax (IT) department is set to issue notices to 4 to 5 lakh high networth individuals (HNI) across the country who were trading on the exchanges of this unregulated virtual currency.

The taxman had conducted surveys at nine such exchanges last week to check instances of tax evasion.

The department, official sources said, found that out of the estimated 20 lakh entities registered on these exchanges,  ..

As the bitcoins or the virtual currencies (VCs) are illegal and unregulated in the country as of now, the IT department has taken action as per the existing provisions, they said.

The survey operations conducted last week, under section 133 A of the Income Tax Act, were undertaken for "gathering evidence for establishing the identity of investors and traders, the transaction undertaken by them, identity of counter-parties, related bank accounts used, among others," they said.

Sources told PTI that the Bengaluru investigation wing of the tax department, which supervised last weeks operations, has now dispatched the information of the individuals and entities found on these databases to eight other such wings across the country for a detailed probe.

A survey action under the IT law pertains to the tax officials making a surprise visit to the business premises of the party under action but not their residential ones.

The trigger for the action is understood to be the huge spike being registered in the value of bitcoins and other virtual currencies in the recent past.

Suspected black money being converted into white, post demonetisation, through the use of bitcoins was also under the departments scanner, officials said.

Earlier this month, there was a spurt in the value of a bitcoin. It rose from under USD 10,000 at the start of the year to close to USD 20,000, before a sharp 20 per cent plunge within hours.

Bitcoin, a virtual currency, is not regulated in the country and its circulation has been a cause for concern among central bankers the world over for quite a while now.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has also cautioned users, holders and traders of virtual currencies. The government has also said that it does not recognise crypto-currency as legal tender in India.

In March, the Union finance ministry constituted an Inter-Disciplinary Committee to take stock of the present status of virtual currencies both in India and globally and suggest measures for dealing with them.

The committee has submitted its report which is being examined.

Chartered Accountant (CA) of INDIA in great demand as UAE looks to implement VAT

Indian chartered accountants (CAs), who have gone through the rigour of interpreting and implementing the Goods and Services Tax (GST), dubbed the most complicated tax law, are in great demand in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and other Gulf countries these days. Their knowledge of Hindi has become an added advantage for Indian professionals, as many residents of the Gulf are comfortable with the language.

UAE will be introducing Value Added Tax (VAT) from January 1, 2018. This is similar to the GST, which came into force in India from July this year. After UAE, other Gulf countries will also be implementing the new tax. This has led to a demand for Indian experts to help businesses there understand the indirect tax system. In fact, Indian professionals find the tax in UAE much simpler than the Indian GST.

Chartered accountants from across the country, including Nagpur, are camping at UAE or making frequent trips there to help a host of clients understand the law. In Dubai alone, hundreds of Indian professionals have got assignments with demand for an equal number still there, said sources.

However, the VAT in UAE appears to be easier as compared to GST of India. There are no multiple schedules of rates. All taxable services or goods are charged at 5 per cent. There is a category of zero rate, besides exempt goods and services. Under zero rate category, the business need not pay tax but can claim input credit for the levy paid earlier. Schools are under zero rate, he said.

Source : Shweta