30 July 2015
CBDT extends due date of filing wealth-tax return
CBDT extends due date of filing wealth-tax return from July 31, 2015 to Aug. 31, 2015
July 27, 2015
SECTION 14 OF THE WEALTH-TAX ACT, 1957 - RETURN OF WEALTH - CLARIFICATION ON EXTENSION OF DUE DATE OF FILING RETURN OF WEALTH FOR A.Y. 2015-16
LETTER [F.NO.328/08/2015-WT], DATED 27-7-2015
In terms of Explanation to sub-section (1) of section 14 of the Wealth-tax Act, 1957, 'due date' of filing Return of wealth in relation to an assessee under the Wealth-tax Act shall be the same date as that applicable to an assessee under the Income-tax Act under the explanation to sub-section (1) of section 139 of the Income-tax Act.
2. Central Board of Direct Taxes vide order under section 119 of the Income-tax Act F.No.225/154/ 2015/ITA-II dated 10-6-2015 has 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 31-7-2015 to 31-8-2015. 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 31st July 2015 to 31st August 2015.
3. This issues with the approval of Chairperson, CBDT.
24 July 2015
Excise Notifications
Dear Professional Colleague,
Mystery of Confusing Notifications on applicability of Excise Duty on Textiles, Mobile phone, Note books, Spectacles, Calculators, Water filters, Sauces and ketchups, Bicycles, etc.
The Central Board of Excise and Customs ("the CBEC" or "the Board") has issued three Central Excise Notifications apparently to clarify when manufacturers can avail exemption or concessional rates of CE duty.
· Notification No.34/2015-Central Excise, Dated: July 17, 2015, amending Notification 30/2004-CE, which provides for an exemption for certain textile articles
· Notification No.35/2015-Central Excise, Dated: July 17, 2015, amending Notification 1/2011-CE, which prescribes an effective rate of 2% duty on certain goods
· Notification No.36/2015-Central Excise, Dated: July 17, 2015, amending Notification 12/2012-CE:
- Condition 16: Exemption for certain goods either wholly or partly – steel, Aluminium, Tablet Computer, Mobile handsets
- Condition 20 Clause (a): Exemption for certain goods – Copper
- Condition 25: Exemption for certain goods – fertilisers, goldsmith wares
- Condition 52A: Exemption for certain goods – bunker fuels, solar water heater
Objective of these amendments are that the Manufacturer seeking to claim Nil rate of duty or 2% duty or any other Concessional rate of duty under the amended notifications:
· Procure Inputs/capital goods which are used for manufacture of excisable goods, on which "appropriate duty has been paid", be it Central Excise duty or the Additional duty of Customs;
· Input services which are utilized for manufacture of excisable goods on which "appropriate service tax has been paid".
· Manufacturers claiming the exemption should not avail CENVAT credit of duty/tax paid on inputs, capital goods, input services.
Issues arise because of these amendments: Whether the Manufacturer cannot claim Nil rate of duty or 2% duty or any other Concessional rate of duty under the amended notifications if:
· Inputs/ capital goods is not liable to excise duty or where excise duty is nil, i.e. No excise duty is paid on Inputs/ capital goods which are used for manufacture of excisable goods.
· Input Services is not liable to service tax or where service tax is exempted.
Because of the said amendments, there is hue and cry among the diverse section of manufacturers, manufacturing – Readymade garments, Mobile phone, Note books, Spectacles, Calculators, Water filters, Sauces and ketchups, Bicycles, etc.
Mystery resolved by the Board:
Now, the Board has issued three Notifications No. 37/2015-CE, 38/2015-CE, 39/2015-CE, dated July 21, 2015, to correct the mystery created by the Notification Nos. 34/2015-CE, 35/2015-CE and 36/2015-CE dated July 17, 2015 and issued a Circular No. 1005/12/2015-CX dated July 21, 2015, clarifying apprehensions have been raised about the use of the phrase of "appropriate duty". In this regard, an Explanation has been inserted in the Notifications No. 30/2004-CE dated July 9, 2004, Notification No.1/2011-CE dated March 1, 2011 and Notification No. 12/2012-CE dated March 17, 2012 so as to clarify that the appropriate duty or appropriate additional duty or appropriate service tax for the purposes of the said notifications/entries includes NIL duty/ tax or Concessional duty/tax, whether or not read with any relevant exemption notification for the time being in force.
Hence, the domestically manufactured goods covered under these Notifications/Entries continue to be exempt from Excise duty or subject to Concessional rate of excise duty, as the case may be as they were prior to July 17, 2015.
Hope the information will assist you in your Professional endeavours. In case of any query/ information, please do not hesitate to write back to us.
Thanks & Best Regards.
Bimal Jain
FCA, FCS, LLB, B.Com (Hons)
GST Report of Rajya Sabha Panel
Band for GST-rates
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The Bill empowered GST Council to make recommendations for the rates of goods and service tax including floor rates with bands. The Committee recommended that the word 'band' may be defined in GST laws as following:
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"Band": Range of GST rates over the floor rate within which Central Goods and Service Tax (CGST) or State Goods and Service Tax (SGST) may be levied on any specified goods or services or any specified class of gods or services by the Central or a particular State Government as the case may be.
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In its report, The Committee mentioned that it was aware that while discharging the functions conferred upon the GST Council, it would be guided by the need for a harmonized structure of goods and services tax and for the development of a harmonized national market for goods and services.
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It can be said that while construing above definition of 'Band' one has to ensure that harmonized structure of GST-rates must not be altered.
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Voting pattern
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The Committee found no merit in altering the voting pattern proposed in the Bill.
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Dispute Settlement Authority
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It also didn't recommend inclusion of provision for GST Dispute Settlement Authority having noted that GST Council shall decide only the 'modalities' to resolve disputes.
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Definition of 'Supply'
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The Bill proposed definition of 'goods and services tax' to mean any tax on supply of goods, or services or both. The Committee opined that the term 'supply' would be defined in the various GST laws relating to CGST and SGST, therefore, it would not be appropriate to define the term 'supply' in the Bill.
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Definition of 'services'
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The Bill proposed to define 'services' to mean anything other than goods. The Committee felt that term 'services' had been so defined in order to give it wide amplitude so that all supplies that are not goods can broadly be covered within the ambit of services and no activity remains outside the taxable net. It also opined that this would also minimize disputes. In view of the above, it proposed no change in the definition.
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Additional Goods and Services Tax
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The Bill proposed to levy non-Cenvatable additional tax at 1% on inter-State supply of goods. The Committee felt that the provision of 1% additional tax in its present form was likely to lead to cascading effect of taxes. Therefore, it strongly recommended that following Explanation should be added for word 'supply':
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Supply: "All forms of supply made for a consideration."
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Compensation to States
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The Bill proposed that the Parliament 'may' compensate States for loss of revenue for a period which may be extended to five years. The Committee felt that there was no justification for substitution of the word 'may' with 'shall'. It, however, recommended that compensation should be provided for whole period of five years.
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(Source: Taxmann)
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Cost inflation index for 2015-16 is 1081.
Cost inflation index for 2015-16 is 1081.
Notified on 24-07-2015.
Notified on 24-07-2015.
22 July 2015
MECHANISM TO MONITOR TENDERING
ICAI ANNOUNCEMENT - MECHANISM TO MONITOR TENDERING (22-07-2015)
With a view to contain the tendering system for attest functions, the Council at its special (338th) meeting considered the report of the Group constituted under the convenorship of CA. Tarun Jamnadas Ghia, Member, Central Council and decided as under:
1. Tendering has been prohibited in the exclusive areas of practice of chartered accountants like audit and attestation services. i.e. those areas where the assignments can be performed only by chartered accountants. In those areas, where alongwith chartered accountants, the other professionals can also apply for the tender, there is no restriction for the chartered accountants to respond to the tenders floated by authorities from time to time.
2. Members are advised to adhere to the recommended scale of fees prescribed by ICAI in the context of various professional assignments. To ensure such adherence, a member responding to a tender should be required to furnish to ICAI at the designated e-mail address pdc.tender@icai.in with estimated hours to be devoted by the partner/proprietor, paid CAs, other staff and the fees quoted in the tender. Such details will be furnished by the member within a period of fifteen days of his responding to the tender. If the member is successful in securing the tendered assignment, then the member will also furnish the actual hours devoted by the partner/proprietor, paid CAs and the staff within two months of completion of the assignment.
3. Members are required to maintain cost sheet in the given format while submitting any tender/bid. The format of the same can be viewed at http://220.227.161.86/38366pdc28039.pdf
4. Members are required to maintain the cost sheet compulsorily and submit a soft copy of the bid submitted by them in response to any tender within 15 days to ICAI. The office can check whether recommended scale of fees has been followed or not in those bids, to ensure adherence to quality standards.
With a view to contain the tendering system for attest functions, the Council at its special (338th) meeting considered the report of the Group constituted under the convenorship of CA. Tarun Jamnadas Ghia, Member, Central Council and decided as under:
1. Tendering has been prohibited in the exclusive areas of practice of chartered accountants like audit and attestation services. i.e. those areas where the assignments can be performed only by chartered accountants. In those areas, where alongwith chartered accountants, the other professionals can also apply for the tender, there is no restriction for the chartered accountants to respond to the tenders floated by authorities from time to time.
2. Members are advised to adhere to the recommended scale of fees prescribed by ICAI in the context of various professional assignments. To ensure such adherence, a member responding to a tender should be required to furnish to ICAI at the designated e-mail address pdc.tender@icai.in with estimated hours to be devoted by the partner/proprietor, paid CAs, other staff and the fees quoted in the tender. Such details will be furnished by the member within a period of fifteen days of his responding to the tender. If the member is successful in securing the tendered assignment, then the member will also furnish the actual hours devoted by the partner/proprietor, paid CAs and the staff within two months of completion of the assignment.
3. Members are required to maintain cost sheet in the given format while submitting any tender/bid. The format of the same can be viewed at http://220.227.161.86/38366pdc28039.pdf
4. Members are required to maintain the cost sheet compulsorily and submit a soft copy of the bid submitted by them in response to any tender within 15 days to ICAI. The office can check whether recommended scale of fees has been followed or not in those bids, to ensure adherence to quality standards.
- CBDT releases Java Utility for e-filing Form 6 to declare black money
FYI - CBDT releases Java Utility for e-filing Form 6 to declare black money
The Black Money (Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets) and Imposition of Tax Act, 2015 ('Black Money Act') has been enforced from July 1, 2015.
The Black Money Act provides for 30% tax on the value of undisclosed foreign income or assets and a penalty of three times of tax so computed. It further provides for prosecution up to 10 years in case of willful attempt to evade tax on foreign income or assets held outside India.
However, the Black Money Act allows one-time compliance window for the taxpayers to voluntarily disclose undisclosed foreign income or assets. The declaration can be made by September 30, 2015. Any person availing of benefit of compliance window is required to pay tax at the rate of 30% of value of undisclosed foreign income or asset and a penalty of 100% of tax. Such taxes and penalty are required to be paid by the declarant on or before December 31, 2015.
The Government has notified Form 6 to make declaration of undisclosed foreign income or asset under the compliance window. The taxpayer has an option to file the declaration either manually to CIT, Delhi or e-file it using the digital signature.
Therefore, for the purposes of e-filing of Form 6, the Board has released the Java utility. The taxpayer can now fill up Form 6 by downloading the Java utility from e-filing website.
After filling the relevant information in Form 6 through Java Utility, the taxpayer needs to generate the .xml file and submit it under e-filing option available after login at https://incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in. Declarant needs to attach relevant scanned documents (i.e., scanned copy of valuation report or FMV computation) in PDF or ZIP format along with XML file. The size of PDF/ZIP documents should not exceed 50MB.
Forwarded from whatsapp as received !!
21 July 2015
Multipurpose Empanelment Form 2015-16 hosted
Multipurpose Empanelment Form for the year 2015-16 is an on line application. Members can fill up the application form directly on the site itself and Submit it.
Members can view the Application and can Edit the Application in different stages.
However after submission of the application form members will not be able to edit the application. They would be able to view the details submitted through the Application Form and take print out of declaration/ acknowledgement and of the whole application form.
Last date for submission of applications on the website www.meficai.org is 31st August, 2015
Members can view the Application and can Edit the Application in different stages.
However after submission of the application form members will not be able to edit the application. They would be able to view the details submitted through the Application Form and take print out of declaration/ acknowledgement and of the whole application form.
Last date for submission of applications on the website www.meficai.org is 31st August, 2015
20 July 2015
Validity of Sec 234E
G. Indhirani vs. DCIT (ITAT Chennai)
S. 234E: Prior to the amendment to s. 200A w.e.f. 01.06.2015, the fee for default in filing TDS statements cannot be recovered from the assessee-deductor while processing the s. 200A statement. However, the AO is entitled to pass a separate order u/s 234E to levy the fee within the limitation periodThe Assessing Officer has exceeded his jurisdiction in levying fee under Section 234E while processing the statement and make adjustment under Section 200A of the Act. Therefore, the impugned intimation of the lower authorities levying fee under Section 234E of the Act cannot be sustained in law. However, it is made clear that it is open to the Assessing Officer to pass a separate order under Section 234E of the Act levying fee provided the limitation for such a levy has not expired
17 July 2015
New Guidelines on Concurrent Audit of Banks
RBI Issues New Guidelines on Concurrent Auditing at Branches
The Reserve Bank on Thursday said the concurrent audit at bank branches should cover at least half of their advances and deposits.
The concurrent audit system is regarded as part of a bank's early warning system to ensure timely detection of irregularities and lapses.
"Concurrent audit at branches should cover at least 50 per cent of the advances and 50 per cent of deposits of a bank," RBI said in a notification.
It said branches rated as high risk or above in the last risk-based internal audit (RBIA) or serious deficiencies found in internal audit are subject to concurrent audit.
The audit will also be applicable on all specialized branches like large corporate, mid corporate, exceptionally large/very large branches, SMEs and all centralised processing units like loan processing units (LPUs).
Besides, it would include service branches, centralized account opening divisions, wealth and portfolio management services, card products divisions, data centres and treasury/ foreign exchange business, investment banking, among others.
The concurrent audit also helps in preventing fraudulent transactions at branches.
The main role of concurrent audit is to supplement the efforts of the bank in carrying out simultaneous internal check of the transactions and other verifications and compliance with the procedures laid down, the RBI said.
The scope of concurrent audit should be wide enough or focused to cover certain fraud-prone areas such as handling of cash, deposits, advances, foreign exchange business, off-balance sheet items, credit-card business, Internet banking, it added.
The regulator said appointment of an external audit firm for concurrent audit may be initially for one year and extended up to three years, after which an auditor could be shifted to another branch, subject to satisfactory performance.
14 July 2015
CBDT introduces Electronic Verification Code (EVC) system
CBDT introduces Electronic Verification Code (EVC) system as an alternate mode of verification to manually signed ITR-V (acknowledgment).
CBDT Notification No. 2/2015 Dated 13-July-2015 regarding
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EVC, a ten digit alpha-numeric code, to be provided using any of the 4 methods, namely –
a) internet banking ,
b) AADHAR authentication ,
c) Bank ATM card and
d) combination of registered email and mobile number (where income is below Rs 5 lakhs).
EVC to be generated from E-filing website, generation process may vary based on risk category of taxpayer.
EVC unique to an assessee's PAN, one EVC can be used to validate one return of the assessee irrespective of the AY or return types.
EVC to be stored against assessee’s PAN and shall be valid for 72 hours (except in case of Aadhaar authentication)
The Notification is available at
https://incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in/eFiling/Portal/StaticPDF/EVC_notification.pdf.
Further EVC would verify the identity of the person furnishing the return of income. The mode and process for generation and validation of EVC, a user manual was prepared which is available at
https://incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in/eFiling/Portal/StaticPDF/e-Verification_User_Manual.pdf. CA RAJIV SHUKLA
13 July 2015
Notification No. 2/2015 regarding Electronic Verification Code (EVC)
Notification No. 2/2015 regarding Electronic Verification Code (EVC) for electronically filed Income Tax Return as an alternative mode of verification released. [Refer Notification No. 2/2015 dated 13/07/2015] https://incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in/eFiling/Portal/StaticPDF/EVC_notification.pdf
EVC would verify the identity of the person furnishing the return of income .To know more about the modes and process for generation and validation of EVC https://incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in/eFiling/Portal/StaticPDF/e-Verification_User_Manual.pdf
11 July 2015
FATCA-USA
Press Information Bureau
Government of India
Ministry of Finance
09-July-2015 16:55 IST
Government of India
Ministry of Finance
09-July-2015 16:55 IST
India and United States Signs Inter Governmental Agreement (IGA) to Implement the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) to Promote Transparency on Tax Matters
Mr. Shaktikanta Das, Revenue Secretary of India and Mr. Richard Verma, U.S. Ambassador to India signed here today , an Inter Governmental Agreement (IGA) to implement the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) to promote transparency between the two nations on tax matters. The agreement underscores growing international co-operation to end tax evasion everywhere. The text of the signed agreement will be available on the website of the Indian Income Tax Department (www.incometaxindia.gov.in) and the website of U.S. Treasury (www.treasury.gov).
The United States (U.S.) and India have a long standing and close relationship. This friendship extends to mutual assistance in tax matters and includes a desire to improve international tax compliance. The signing of IGA is a re-affirmation of the shared commitment of India and USA towards tax transparency and the fight against offshore tax evasion and avoidance.
Revenue Secretary, Shaktikanta Das stated, "Signing the IGA with U.S. to implement FATCA today, is a very important step for the Government of India, to tackle offshore tax evasion. It reaffirms the Government of India's commitment to fight the menace of black money. It is hoped that the exchange of information on automatic basis, regarding offshore accounts under FATCA would deter tax offenders, would enhance tax transparency and eventually bring in higher equity in to the direct tax regime which necessary for a healthy economy."
Ambassador Verma, who signed on behalf of the United States, stated, "The signing of this agreement is an important step forward in the collaboration between the United States and India to combat tax evasion. FATCA is an important part of the U.S. Government's effort to address that issue."
FATCA is rapidly becoming the global standard in the effort to curtail offshore tax evasion. To date, the United States has IGAs with more than 110 jurisdictions and is engaged in related discussions with many other jurisdictions.
The United States enacted FATCA in 2010 to obtain information on accounts held by U.S. taxpayers in other countries. It requires U.S. financial institutions to withhold a portion of payments made to foreign financial institutions (FFIs) who do not agree to identify and report information on U.S. account holders. As per the IGA, FFIs in India will be required to report tax information about U.S. account holders directly to the Indian Government which will, in turn, relay that information to the IRS. The IRS will provide similar information about Indian account holders in the United States. This automatic exchange of information is scheduled to begin on 30th September, 2015.
Both the signing of the IGA with U.S. as well as India's decision to join the Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement (MCAA) on 3rd June, 2015 are two important milestones in India's fight against the menace of black money as it would enable the Indian tax authorities to receive financial account information of Indians from foreign countries on an automatic basis.
*****
MAM/
07 July 2015
Electronic Records-DSC
Dear All,
The CBEC has issued Notification for maintenance of electronic records and issuing invoices with Digital Signature.
Rule 10
The assessee can now maintain the records on daily basis in respect of goods produced or manufactured, opening balance, quantity removed etc. In the electronic format and can also be preserved in electronic format provided every page of the records maintained has digital signature.
Rule 11(8)
Invoice issued under this rule may be authenticated by means of digital signature provided the duplicate copy of the invoice meant for transporter is digitally signed and a hard copy of such transporter copy of the invoice duly self attested by the manufacturer is used for transport of goods.
05 July 2015
Black Money Rules Notified
Black money: rules for valuation of foreign assets notified
Anyone having an undisclosed bank account abroad will now have to pay tax and a penalty on the sum of deposits made since opening the account, according to the rules notified for implementation of a one-time compliance window under the Black Money (Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets) and Imposition of Tax Act, 2015.
The rules also prescribe valuation norms for bullion and jewellery (including precious stones), immovable property, archaeological collections and paintings, shares (both listed and unlisted), as well as bank accounts.
The compliance window gives the account holder an opportunity to declare undisclosed assets abroad by September 30 and a further three months to pay the tax and penalty. The rate of tax will be 30 per cent, with an equal amount payable as penalty.
Once the window closes, the rate of tax will remain at 30 per cent but the penalty will be three times the tax — or 90 per cent — besides possible criminal prosecution and jail term.
For valuation of bank accounts, some safeguards have been provided to avoid double counting. It has been made clear that only fresh deposits since the date of opening will be taken into account and not the "proceed of withdrawal". For bullion, jewellery and precious stones, the value will be higher than the cost of acquisition. It will be the price that the said article would fetch if sold in the open market on the valuation date. The assessee can get the valuation done by a recognised government agency abroad or in India.
The same principles will be followed for valuing immovable property as well as archaeological collections, drawings, paintings and sculptures or work of art.
Shares & securities
For valuing shares and securities of listed entities, the rules envisage that the fair market value will be the higher of the cost of acquisition or average of the lowest and highest price on the date of valuation. The rules also provide a formula for calculating the fair market value of unquoted equity shares and provided a methodology for calculating the interest of a person in a partnership firm, association of persons or limited liability partnership.
The Reserve Bank's reference rate on the date of valuation will be used for converting the value of foreign assets and income into rupees. The rules also prescribe the format of notices to be sent to persons holding undisclosed assets and the format of appeals to the Commissioner (Appeals) and the Appellate Tribunal.
New rules of the game
1 Declaration to be sent to Commissioner of Income Tax (International Tax)-2, New Delhi
2 Assessee to be intimated by October 31 if I-T Department has any information in respect of the asset(s) declared
3 Revision of declaration permissible within 15 days of intimation sent by I-T Department
4 Tax and penalty to be paid by Dec 31, followed by acknowledgement to declarant
FLA Return by 15th July,2015
ANNUAL RETURN ON FOREIGN LIABILITIES AND ASSETS
- Act: Annual return on Foreign Liabilities and Assets has been notified under FEMA 1999. Return to be filed under A.P. (DIR Series) Circular No.145 dated June 18, 2014 and submitted to the Department of Statistics and Information Management, RBI, Mumbai
- Applicability: It is required to be submitted directly by all the Indian companies which have received FDI (foreign direct investment) and/or made FDI abroad (i.e. overseas investment) in the previous year(s) including the current year i.e. who hold foreign Assets or Liabilities in their balance sheets
- Due Date: FLA Return is mandatory under FEMA 1999 and companies are required to submit the same based on audited/ unaudited account by July 15 every year through official email id of any authorized person of company like CFO, Director, Company Secretary at fla@rbi.org.in
- Format: The FLA Return has to be submitted in excel based format, which has inbuilt checks and validations. The latest format of FLA Return is available on RBI's web site at the following link:
For detailed FAQs on FLA Return you may please read more on the following link:
- Non-compliance: Non-filing of FLA Return before due date will be treated as a violation of FEMA and penalty clause may be invoked for violation of FEMA.
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