Guidance Note on Clause 17A- Form 3CD

Guidance on clause 17A in the Form No.3CD 38A. Clause 17A- Amount inadmissible under section 23 of the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Act, 2006 This is a new clause inserted by the Central Board of Direct Taxes through its Notification No. 36/2009 dated 13-4-2009, in the Form No.3CD in Appendix II of the Income-tax Rules, 1962 . The tax auditor is required to state the amount of interest inadmissible under section 23 of the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Act, 2006. The Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Act, 2006 (MSME Act) is an Act to provide for facilitating the promotion and development and enhancing the competitiveness of micro, small and medium enterprises and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto. Section 23 of the MSME Act lays down that an interest payable or paid by the buyer, under or in accordance with the provisions of this Act, shall not for the purposes of the computation of income under the Income-tax Act,1961 be allowed as a deduction. The inadmissible interest has to be determined on the basis of the provisions of the MSME Act. Section 16 of the MSME Act provides for the date from which and the rate at which the interest is payable. Accordingly, where a buyer fails to make payment of the amount to the supplier, as required under section 15, the buyer shall , notwithstanding anything contained in any agreement between the buyer and the supplier or any law for the time being in force, be liable to pay compound interest with monthly rests to the supplier on that amount from the appointed date or, as the case may be, from the date immediately following the date agreed upon, at three times of the bank rate notified by the Reserve Bank. Section 15 of the MSME Act, requires the buyer to make payment on or before the date agreed upon in writing, or where there is no agreement in this behalf, before the appointed day. It also provides that the period agreed upon in writing shall not exceed forty five days from the day of acceptance or the day of deemed acceptance. Section 22 of the MSME Act provides that where any buyer is required to get his annual accounts audited under any law for the time being in force, such buyer shall furnish the following additional information in his annual statement of accounts, namely:- i. The principal amount and interest due thereon (to be shown separately) remaining unpaid to any supplier as at the end of each accounting year. ii. The amount of interest paid by the buyer in terms of Section 16, along with the amount of payment made to supplier beyond the appointed date during each accounting year. iii. The amount of interest due and payable for the delay in making payment (which have been paid but beyond the appointed day during the year) but without adding the interest specified under this Act. iv. The amount of interest accrued and remaining unpaid at the end of each accounting year; and v. The amount of further interest remaining due and payable even in the succeeding years, until such date when the interest dues as above are actually paid to the small enterprise, for the purpose of disallowance as a deductible expenditure under section 23. Where the tax auditor is issuing his report in Form No.3CB, he should verify that the financial statements audited by him contain the information as prescribed under section 22 of the MSME Act. If no disclosure is made by the auditee in the financial statements he should give an appropriate qualification in Form No.3CB, in addition to the reporting requirement in clause 17A of Form No. 3CD. The tax auditor while reporting in respect of clause 17A should take the following steps: (a) The auditor should seek information regarding status of the enterprise i.e. whether the same is covered under the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Act, 2006. Where the information is available and has been disclosed the same should be reported as such in Form No. 3CD. Where the information is not available the auditor should also mention the same in the Form No.3CD. (b) Since Schedule VI and Section 22 of the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Act, 2006 requires disclosure of information, the tax auditor should cross check the disclosure made in the financial statements. (c) Obtain a full list of suppliers of the assessee which fall within the purview of the definition of "Supplier" under section 2(n) of the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Act, 2006. It is the responsibility of the auditee to classify and identify those suppliers who are covered by this Act. (d) Review the list so obtained. (e) Verify from the books of account whether any interest payable or paid to the buyer in terms of section 16 of the MSME Act has been debited or provided for in the books of account. (f) Verify the interest payable or paid as mentioned above on test check basis. (g) Verify the additional information provided by the auditee relating to interest under section 16 in his financial statement. (h) If on test check basis, the auditor is satisfied, then the amount so debited to the profit and loss account should be reported under clause 17A. Where the tax auditor, upon due verification, finds that the auditee has neither provided for nor paid any interest payable under the MSME Act, the no amount is inadmissible under section 23 of MSME Act. In such a case 'Nil' can be reported against clause 17A. A question may come up, as to what would be disallowance, in case the auditee is liable to pay any interest under MSME Act, but he has not provided the interest in his accounts. In such a case, there can be no disallowance, as he has not claimed the same in his accounts. But whenever he pays and claim such interest, the same will be disallowable in year of payment. In case the auditee has adopted mercantile system of accounting, the non-provision may affect true and fair view and the auditor should give suitable qualification. The relevant extracts of the MSME Act are as follows: "appointed day" means the day following immediately after the expiry of the period of 15 days from the day of acceptance or the day of deemed acceptance. "day of acceptance" means the day of actual delivery of the goods or the rendering of service or where any objection is made in writing by the buyer regarding the acceptance of goods or services within 15 days from the day of delivery of goods or rendering of services, the day on which the objection is removed by the supplier. "day of deemed acceptance" means , where no objection is made in writing by the buyer regarding acceptance of goods or services within fifteen days from the day of deliver of the goods or rendering of services, the day of the actual delivery of goods or the rendering of services. "Buyer" means who so ever buys any goods or receives any services from the supplier for a consideration. "Supplier" means a micro or small enterprise, which has filed a memorandum with the authority referred to in section 7(1)(a). "Micro Enterprise" means: a) In case of enterprises engaged in the manufacture or production of goods pertaining to any industry specified in the first schedule to the Industries(Development and Regulation) Act, 1951 an enterprise, where the investment in plant and machinery does not exceed twenty five lakh rupees; b) In case of enterprises engaged in providing or rendering services, an enterprise, where the investment in equipment does not exceed ten lakh rupees. "small enterprise" means: a) In case of enterprises engaged in the manufacture or production of goods pertaining to any industry specified in the first schedule to the Industries(Development and Regulation) Act, 1951 an enterprise, where the investment in plant and machinery is more than twenty five lakh rupees but does not exceed five crore rupees. b) In case of enterprises engaged in providing or rendering services, an enterprise, where the investment in equipment is more than ten lakh rupees but does not exceed two crore rupees; "Medium enterprise" means a) In case of enterprises engaged in the manufacture or production of goods pertaining to any industry specified in the first schedule to the Industries(Development and Regulation) Act, 1951 an enterprise, where the investment in plant and machinery is more than five crore rupees but does not exceed ten crore rupees. b) In case of enterprises engaged in providing or rendering services, an enterprise, where the investment in equipment is more than two crore rupees but does not exceed five crore rupees;