Author: firmway

Home » Archives for firmway

Promoting Timely Payments to MSMEs in India: A Look at Budget 2023-24

Promoting Timely Payments to MSMEs in India: A Look at Budget 2023-24

The Indian government has been taking various steps to promote the growth and development of the Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSME) sector as it plays a crucial role in the Indian economy by contributing significantly to employment, production, and exports
In the recent Budget 2023-24 speech, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman proposed to insert a new clause in section 43B to incentivize timely payments to MSMEs.

The proposed clause (h) in section 43B of the Income Tax Act provides that any sum payable by an assessee to a micro or small enterprise beyond the time limit specified in section 15 of the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development (MSMED) Act 2006, shall be allowed as a deduction only on actual payment.

The MSMED Act 2006 defines the time limit for payments as 45 days from the date of acceptance or the date of deemed acceptance of any goods or services.

The new clause in the Income Tax Act is expected to not only promote timely payments to MSMEs but also increase their bargaining power in negotiations with larger businesses.

However, identifying MSME vendors can be challenging due to the frequent changes in turnover limits and the migration to the UDYAM certificate.

To address this issue, the introduction of Firmway’s MSME confirmation software comes as a great relief for enterprises. The software helps enterprises identify the MSME status of their vendors, collect UDYAM certificates, and validate them using OCR technology.

By using Firmway’s software, enterprises can ensure that they are not only making timely payments to MSMEs but also saving them from incorrect information pass by MSME vendors.

The software streamlines the process of identifying MSMEs, eliminating the need for manual verification, and reducing the chances of making mistakes.

In conclusion, the Indian government’s initiative to promote timely payments to MSMEs and Firmway’s MSME confirmation software go hand in hand in promoting the growth and development of this vital sector. The software provides a simple and efficient solution to the challenge of identifying MSME vendors and helps enterprises take advantage of the tax benefits offered by the government.

  • Data collection with customized forms and follow-ups
  • MSME confirmations to help you know whether an entity is an MSME or not

It is time for all our readers to accelerate processes in their respective companies through efficient automation. Click here if you wish to take help.

Business Automation – Game Changer

What is Business Process Automation?

Business Process Automation (BPA) is the use of technology to automate business processes and reduce human intervention. It basically automates the workflows of the enterprise to make it faster and more efficient. Automated business is the key digital transformation strategy for today’s businesses. A BPA solution can help businesses as:

  • It automates repeatable tasks so that employees can focus on more productive tasks.
  • It replaces manual tasks that are prone to human errors. Thus, it increases the accuracy of the tasks.

Types of Business Process Automation

It is upon the organization to decide the level of automation it wants to achieve. Following are the four different types of Business Process Automation that organizations can implement:

  • Basic Automation: This involves automating simple and fundamental tasks using basic automation tools. It involves little to no coding and eliminates errors and accelerates the process. Automating file transfer, order entry etc. are examples of basic automation.
  • Process Automation: Process automation involves automating business processes for bringing transparency and uniformity. This is handled by dedicated software that enhances productivity and efficiency while also providing valuable insights into the business. Automating the hiring process, employee onboarding, logistics and supply chain management etc. are examples of process automation.
  • Advanced Automation: Advanced automation supports more complex processes within the organization. It further coordinates between humans and machines to handle complex tasks. ­­­­­­It relies on machine learning, natural language processing and analysis, etc. for automating business processes. Safety monitoring, error detection and recovery, and repair diagnostics are some examples of advanced automation.
  • Intelligent Automation: Powered by Artificial Intelligence, business intelligence automation enables the machine to learn and stimulate human intelligence and make decisions accordingly. Intelligent automation has use cases in several industries. It can pull data from the database, update records etc. Further, it can be used by insurance companies to extract data from claims form and port information to the CRM.

Benefits of Business Automation

Achieving automation with the best automation software for business can unlock the following benefits:

  • Lower Operating Costs: As business automation automates manual and redundant tasks, it directly reduces the operating costs of businesses.
  • Faster ROI: Automated business improves the speed of operations and processes. This provides a better and faster return on initial  investment in automation.
  • Being More Competitive: To remain competitive, it is important that businesses improve operational efficiency and focus on their core competencies and what’s important for meeting the objectives. For this, automation is the key.
  • Reduced errors and increase in speed: Business process automation reduces errors due to reduced manual intervention. This further helps in speeding up the reconciliation exercise.
  • Increased Profits: Profits tend to increase as the business moves from manual redundant tasks towards more productive tasks.

Business Automation with Firmway

Business automation software that allows you to automate accounting functions. This includes:

  • Automating sending manual emails and documenting the response for balance confirmations
  • Integrating with ERP for ledger reconciliations
  • Unique algorithm enabling businesses to achieve 95% GST reconciliation between the purchase register and GSTR-2B
  • Collection management by sending weekly outstanding and automating reminders
  • Data collection with customized forms and follow-ups
  • MSME confirmations to help you know whether an entity is an MSME or not

It is time for all our readers to accelerate processes in their respective companies through efficient automation. Click here if you wish to take help.

All you need to know about Struck Off companies and how to identify them

What is the Meaning of Struck Off Companies?

Struck-off meaning implies that the Registrar of Companies (ROC) has removed the name of a company from the register of companies for certain reasons. Once the company’s name is removed from the register, the company loses its legal existence and cannot continue its operations until it restores its name in the register.

The striking of a company’s name can happen either voluntarily or due to a compulsory strike-off by the ROC.

  • Voluntary Striking Off: Here, the company decides to shut down its operations and liquidate the company. The company shall file an application with the ROC for dissolution and consequent striking off the name of the company.
  • Compulsory Striking Off: If the company fails to comply with the requirements of the law or any rules or regulations made thereunder, the ROC may strike off the name of the company from the register considering the intensity of the contravention. 

Disclosure Requirements for Struck-Off Companies

While we understood the struck-off meaning, it is important to understand the associated disclosure requirements. As per the requirements of the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA), the companies undertaking transactions with struck-off companies are required to disclose their transactions with such struck-off companies beginning from FY 2021-22. Further, they shall disclose their relationships with the company as part of additional regulatory information. The following are the disclosures required:

  • Name of the company being struck off
  • Nature of transactions. This can include:
  1. Receivables
  2. Investment in securities
  3. Payables
  4. Shares held by the struck-off company
  5. Any outstanding balance
  • Balance outstanding
  • Relationship with the company being struck off

Steps to Identify Struck-Off Company on MCA

If you want to identify companies whose name has been struck off from the register, then you can do so by visiting the Ministry of Corporate Affairs website. Follow the below steps to identify the struck-off companies:

  1. Visit the MCA portal
  2. Navigate as follows: MCA Services >> Master Data >> View Company / LLP Master Data
  3. Add a company name or CIN number and enter the captcha
  4. Check the status of the company.

How Firmway Identifies Struck-Off Companies?

Finding the struck-off companies from the MCA website can be cumbersome and time taking if you transact with multiple companies. The solution is to identify such companies with Firmway!

Firmway allows you to conduct a bulk search using the list of struck-off companies to help you determine whether the name has been struck off or not. Following are the steps to identify struck-off companies using Firmway:

  1. Download the template, Input & upload the party list with the Name or PAN
  2. Automate Matching the Name with the list shared by MCA
  3. Highlight the risk associated in the percentage
  4. Automate scrutinize the data highlighted with the MCA list for 100% verification

Firmway has a data repository storing 1-year data. Its software checks and share the probability % and helps you identify how many companies are there in the list of struck-off companies. Ease your search with Firmway and ensure accurate disclosures!

All you need to know about External Confirmations

All you need to know about External Confirmations

While discharging the attestation function, a member of The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) is obliged to conduct financial audits as per Standards on Auditing (SAs). These standards represent generally accepted audit procedures. If a member deviates from SAs, the member is responsible for making a formal declaration. Otherwise, he(she) will be liable for disciplinary proceedings under The Chartered Accountants Act, 1949.

One such standard is SA 505: External Confirmations. It discusses the use of external confirmations and procedures to obtain direct evidence from third parties as required in SA 330: The Auditor’s Responses to Assessed Risks and SA 500: Audit Evidence

External Confirmation is required to give a true and fair view of the financials of a company. It serves as an extremely crucial piece of the puzzle when determining whether such financials are free from material misstatements or not.

External confirmation is a substantive procedure used to obtain audit evidence as a direct written response from a third party (customer/ vendor/bank) to the auditor in a paper, electronic, or any other form.  Generally, auditors use it to determine account balances, status, or terms of agreements. There are primarily three types of confirmation requests:

Positive Confirmation Request: It requires the confirming party to directly respond to the auditor whether it agrees or disagrees with the information provided in the request. Positive confirmations provide reliable audit evidence.

Negative Confirmation Request: It asks the confirming party to respond directly to the auditor only if the confirming party disagrees with the information provided in the request. They provide less persuasive audit evidence than positive confirmations.

Blank Confirmation Request: It is a type of positive confirmation request where the third party (confirming party) is asked to fill in the amount or provide certain information. It provides persuasive audit evidence since the confirming party must verify the information before responding.

Why is it needed?

For instance, in Mahavir Jain Vs Disciplinary Committee (Appellate Authority), the auditor formed his opinion without obtaining and examining external confirmations of all bank balances as required by SA 505. He was held guilty under Part 1 of the Second Schedule of the Chartered Accountant Act, 1949 for not exercising the due diligence expected of him and not obtaining sufficient information to form an opinion.

Further, SA 505 is the 3rd most non-compliant standard as per Quality Review Board in Financial Year (FY) 2020-21.

Process of external confirmation

As we know, obtaining confirmations manually via letters or even e-mails is a cumbersome procedure. One needs to maintain records and follow up continuously. External confirmations involve the repetition of the following steps for every account:

  1. Determine the information to be confirmed;
  2. Choose the appropriate parties;
  3.  Design the confirmation requests, properly addressed with a request to send responses directly to the auditor;
  4.     Send follow-up requests.

To simplify and streamline this process, big firms are shifting to an automated confirmation process as it allows audit teams to focus on analyzing results and identifying exceptions instead of spending time gathering the evidence.

Firmway is one such web-based SaaS software company that was started by a team of Chartered Accountants to help auditors automate the confirmation process. The entire confirmation process is digitized as per auditing standards. Auditors benefit from automating the time-consuming external confirmation process in the following way:

  • Save 90 % man-days by automating the process of sending, receiving, and tracking confirmations using our portal
  • Complete audit documentation as highlighted in the peer review process
  • Increase response rate by 2x
  • Send 1000+ confirmation requests in compliance with standards on auditing

Automation of 26AS Reconciliation

On every sale of Goods and Services above a certain limit, TDS is deducted by the Customers. Companies need to reconcile TDS periodically by extracting transaction data from Accounting Software & 26AS form from the government portal to ensure that the client has given proper credit, and avoids penalties and audit risk.

The TDS and TCS that are eligible for the credit are reflected in the statement while reconciling with the ledgers. The amount stated in the statement is like advance tax paid by the deductee and eligible for credit. Hence it is of utmost importance that the amount matches the TDS/TCS receivable ledgers of the deductee.

While this process is crucial, it is done manually by the majority of organizations today. A survey found that Tax managers spend at least 8 hours a week on average on manual data tasks. In fact, 25 percent reported spending over 20 hours a week on manual data tasks.

In another survey of over 280 companies, 62 percent of respondents reported that a large part of inefficiencies could be eliminated by using automated tools. Just like the other financial functions, TDS reconciliation is faced with a similar fate. Accurate reconciliation of TDS credit reduces the tax burden and ensures no loss of TDS credit. However, due to manual intervention, faces the following challenges:

Challenges spelled out 

  • The possibility of manual errors in inputting amounts while filing returns can result in a mismatch.
  • For deductees having a large number of customers, matching amounts is a herculean task.
  • The frequent updates to 26 AS make it time-consuming to reconcile and track on excel worksheets.
  • Adopting manual work involves different people and their different ways of working. This lacks standardization and discipline. Communication usually happens over email and is easy to falsify or spread misinformation.
  • Proactive tracking of discussions with tax deductor/collector for corrections due to identified mismatches. Finance teams are needed to manually communicate over endless emails and calls.
  • In many instances, issues can be caused due to version control of excel sheets and other documentation
  • The reports might be kept in disparate places while working in a manual model.
  • The booking of TDS in the books of the deductor and deductee can be in different periods. Time differences spill over from one quarter to another quarter in the form of 26AS causing further discrepancies.

Automating this process will enhance accuracy for 26 AS and significantly reduce time in processing low-value-adding activities. It also enables us to manage TDS and TCS credits as per Form 26AS and books of accounts and almost nullify leakages.

What are the benefits of automating the reconciliation process? 

Running a tax department equates to having a plethora of responsibilities, especially concerning compliance and regulations like TDS. However, using reconciliation automation tools helps expedite the reconciliation process and closure while also improving compliance, enhancing accuracy, and promoting transparency.

  • Firmways’ 26 AS Reconciliation Software is also one such software that makes the reconciliation process seamless for the organization.
  • Maps the TAN number with the PAN number for reconciling
  • It can reconcile large volumes in 60 seconds.
  • With the flexibility, it offers in quarterly, half-yearly, and annual reconciliations, it highlights mismatches and classifies entries into different buckets for ease of operations.
  • Efficiently manages communication with parties and generates actionable reports as and when required

Automation of the reconciliation process is truly the need of the hour for any business. With manual processes, it’s difficult to scale in response to the reconciliation when there is an increase in transactions. However, automation of the process makes the entire process effortless.

Is Audit a dying profession?

Is Audit a dying profession?

The audit industry is at a crossroads: as market expectations are shifting, technology is empowering auditors and improving quality, the case for audit’s evolution is growing, and more and more businesses are realizing the importance of the audit and assurance industry. In fact, many businesses that previously did not conduct audits now see the value in doing so.

People feel auditing is a dying industry, but it is not. As per research by Deloitte, the audit industry will grow rapidly in the coming 10 years. Times are challenging and auditing is evolving with the help of AI, which helps auditors to automate time-consuming manual activities and focus on higher-value activities. They are realizing the importance of returning to basic management principles in order to identify and correct problematic management practices; auditing plays an important role in this regard because only a genuine and effective audit can drive effective fraud detection and risk management procedures within a company.

AI helps auditors optimize their time by allowing them to perform better and smarter, allowing them to use their human judgment to assess a broader and deeper range of data and documents. The incorporation of modern technologies such as machine learning (ML), cloud computing, and artificial intelligence (AI) with audit software will drive market expansion. These products are used to improve organizations’ risk management skills.

As new standards enable Artificial Intelligence to create new chances for evidence generation, there is also an opportunity to rethink the skills that auditors can gain on the job. As data-driven methodologies grow more common in today’s audits, auditors may now claim to be learning key business skills as well as AI skills. The knowledge that auditors gain through these automation tools equips them to do their job better and deliver better quality reports and results to their clients.

Some people assume that when a part of a profession becomes automated, the human element of the same is devalued. I see the opposite happening with audit automation. As auditors are freed from the more tedious and manual aspects of auditing that are spreadsheet-driven and tick-and-tie tasks — there is more room for strategic insights and critical thinking. This only expands the significance of the work auditors carry out, the influence they have, and their relevance to the capital markets and the global economy.

 

About the Author:

Prashant Gupta is a Chartered Accountant by qualification but an Entrepreneur by passion. He comes with 5 years of experience as a Statutory Auditor before starting his own company Firmway Services, with a vision to Automate Audit Confirmation & Reconciliation for Auditors & Corporates.

A tech enabled approach for auditors to safeguard themselves from increased surveillance risk

A tech enabled approach for auditors to safeguard themselves from increased surveillance risk

Background

In the recent past, the audit profession has been the subject matter of public commentary and scrutiny thanks to the searing probe it is facing.

The increased weightage placed on statutory duties of auditors has exceptionally increased the risks associated with the audit profession. It is safe to say that scrutiny on auditors has substantially increased due to the constitution of the National Financial Reporting Authority under Section 132 of the Companies Act 2013. Now, auditors are looking at possible penalization for failure to detect fraud or non-compliance with statutory provisions. The penalization includes the power to debar the auditor or audit firm from undertaking an audit for up to 10 years. Even Big4s are not spared.

The shift in the spotlight can be clearly noticed in some recent case laws. For instance, in ICAI v. Mukesh Gang, the Hyderabad High Court held the auditors guilty of gross negligence and violation of auditing standards. The level of strictness with which auditors are penalized for such wrongs- is in contrast with decisions in cases such as Union of India v. M.N. Basu where the Calcutta High Court had stated that non-reporting of extending loan without passing a resolution under Section 370 of the Companies Act, 1956, was not due to gross negligence but due to an erroneous interpretation of the law.

The proposition of an auditor being a ‘watchdog and not a bloodhound’ in Re Kingston Cotton Mills is now seeming outdated. In the past, auditors have failed to pay too much heed to nuanced expectations like receiving independent external confirmations. However, with the paradigm shift in the way the profession is being viewed, auditors agree that the risk – rewards relationship is heavily skewed and while the risks of audit have disproportionately increased, the revenue is subpar.

This is driving auditors to become more innovative within the audit practice and use forward-looking and proactive tech enabled audit tools. Technology has started to make inroads in most audit firms, and this directly and positively impacts the quality of each audit. The use of sophisticated technology solutions like practice management, audit confirmation, sampling, and data analytics is fast becoming standard operating practice as firms are embracing the digital-first approach to engagements. Not only are these tools enabling auditors to improve accuracy and analyze anomalies, trends, and areas of risk, but they are also proving to be much more cost effective for auditors.

One such tool that is helping auditors optimize the quality of processes and mitigate potential risks related to audit confirmation is Firmway. Firmway provides web-based SaaS platform that digitize the entire audit confirmation process. In cases like the Satyam fraud case, it was found that auditors’ failure to properly execute third-party confirmation procedures resulted in the fraud going undetected. It was held that the auditor relinquished control of cash confirmations entirely to their client and failed to question the integrity of the confirmation responses they received from the client by following up with the banks.

The entire fraud would have been nipped in the bud if there had been a platform where auditors could independently confirm all balances from third-parties. In Arrangement with The ICAI, Firmway is one such platform that helps auditors automize the independent audit confirmation process in compliance with SA 505. Firmway intends to show a clear picture of the company’s financials and curtail any potential fraud and misinformation. It thus provides auditors and authorities a higher level of assurance and smoothens the overall audit process.

To know more about the Audit Confirmation tool – Click here

What, Why & How for the New TDS Rules That Will Be In Effect From July 1, 2021

What, Why & How for the New TDS Rules That Will Be In Effect From July 1, 2021

Background

The Assessment Year (AY) 2020-21 accumulated 6.83 crores Income Tax Returns (ITR) out of a working population of about 66.22 crores. And these are only individuals. With 10.07 lac active companies in India, the number of ITRs filed is alarmingly low.

In order to bring an end to this menace, the Government of India in its Union Budget 2021 has proposed to levy a higher rate of tax deducted at source (‘TDS’) and tax collected at source (‘TCS’) on non-filers of the income tax return.

According to the Finance Minister’s Budget, this new TDS rule will take effect from July 2021.

TO WHOM DO THE NEW PROVISIONS APPLY

-All Companies who are liable to deduct TDS on Vendors

-Companies with a turnover of more than 10 crores who are liable to collect TCS from customers

 

WHAT DO THE PROVISIONS SAY?

Section 194Q (TDS) & Section 206C(1H) (TCS)

– Section 206C(1H) – w.e.f 01st July 2021, a seller with a turnover of more than Rs. 10 Cr in the previous financial year needs to collect 0.1% TCS on sale made to a resident buyer over and above 50 Lakhs

– Section 194Q – w.e.f 01st July 2021, a buyer having a turnover of over Rs. 10 Crore in a previous financial year need to deduct 0.1% TDS on purchase made from a resident seller over and above 50 Lakhs

Exemptions

Section 194Q shall not apply to a transaction on which:

(a) tax is deductible under any of the provisions of this Act; and

(b) tax is collectable under the provisions of section 206C other than a transaction to which section 206C(1H) applies.

Section 206AB – Escalated TDS & Section 206CCA – Escalated TCS

TDS is to be deducted and TCS is to be collected at twice the rate specified, or twice the rate in force or 5%, whichever is higher, if

– The person to whom payment is being made (Section 206AB) OR to whom the sale is being made (Section 206CCA) has not filed ITR for the last two FY for which the ITR filing deadline has expired, and

– In these two FY’s, TDS deducted and/or TCS collected of that person was Rs 50 thousand or more in each FY.

Exemptions

– Section 206AB shall not apply where the tax is required to be deducted under the following sections of the Act:

CHECKLIST FOR COMPLIANCE

*The above requirement (Pt 1 & 2) is not applicable to vendors.

Further, with ITR acknowledgements and PAN Number, you can search the ITR filing status on the Income-tax website – https://www1.incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in/e-FilingGS/Services/ITRStatusLink.html?lang=eng

As evident from the above checklist, fulfilling compliance with these provisions is no mean task. The most cumbersome part of it would involve reaching out to all customers and vendors, endless follow-ups, validating the data, which is imperative to the compliance process. For large organizations, this could easily take weeks, putting their finance team under undue pressure.

With Firmway, you can save significant time and efforts by automating the entire process of collection of ITR acknowledgements and declarations. It will reach out to all your party, follow up with them, collect and validate the data through smart forms and give you a dashboard to track the response. This will ensure your compliance procedure is complete well within the deadline.

To get started, simply fill out this form and our representative will get back to you within 24 hours. In case of any specific questions, you can reach out to us at [email protected] or give us a call at 9769599848.

Budget 2021 On Corporate Finance

Budget 2021 On Corporate Finance

Budget measures: Direct and Indirect Tax changes

  1. Relief granted on dividend income earned by shareholders:
    1. Advance tax liability will now be computed on dividends only after declaration or receipt whichever is earlier;
    2. TDS exemption on dividends paid by SPVs to REITs and InvITs;
  2. TDS related provisions have been made more stringent:
    1. TDS at 0.1% to levied on the purchase of goods above INR 5 mn a year, where the turnover of the buyer exceeds INR 100 mn
    2. The rate of TDS/ TCS shall be higher than 2x actual rate, or 5%, in case of non-filing of ITR for the last 2 years
  3. Late deposit of employee contribution to labor welfare funds would not be allowed as a deduction to the employer.
  4. Tax Audit applicability based on turnover limit has been increased from INR 50 mn to INR 100 mn, with 95% of receipts and payments being digital;
  5. GST minor compliance changes – Form 9 substituted with self-reconciliation and Form 9C being scrapped.

Has the Budget made managing Corporate Finance somewhat easier?

  1. Relief on dividend income is a welcome move since this helps CFOs to pay dividends more tax-efficiently, making future investments in their companies more lucrative;
  2. Additionally, dividend relief to REITs and InvITs shows the government’s commitment to continue providing support to the conglomerates operating in real estate and infrastructure space (eg. Logistics);
  3. However, the government seems to be more and more unforgiving to defaults in TDS/ TCs norms. Companies/ CFOs ought to take note and ensure compliances accordingly;
  4. With easing of tax audit norms (both income and GST), it has reduced the compliance burden for smaller and subsidiary companies of larger MNC groups, whose turnover is within the limits, helping the CFOs to focus on running financing operations of the group.

Conclusion

CFOs ought to take note of the changes in the Budget and plan their next financial year accordingly. The budget may come off as somewhat bittersweet, however, relief in dividend provisions, including for REITs and InvITs, is an indicator for the government’s push to bring more investment into India. TDS provision becoming more stringent comes as no surprise given the current risk of non-compliance (monetary penalties in addition to the risk of prosecution of managerial personnel of the defaulting companies).

Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhayan – Benefits for MSME

BENEFITS FOR MSME
DEFINITION OF MSME CHANGED (EXISTING AND REVISED DEFINITION OF MSMES)

Existing MSME Classification

Criteria: Investment in Plant & Machinery or Equipment

Classification Micro Small Medium
Mfg. Enterprises Inv. < Rs. 25 lac Inv. < Rs. 5 cr. Inv. < Rs.10 cr.
Services Enterprise Inv. < Rs. 10 lac Inv. < Rs. 2 cr. Inv. < Rs. 5 cr.

Revised MSME Classification

Composite Criteria : Investment And Annual Turnover

Classification Micro Small Medium
Manufacturing & Services Inv. < Rs. 1 cr.
and
Turnover < Rs.5 cr.		 Inv. < Rs. 10 cr.
and
Turnover < Rs.50 cr.		 Inv. < Rs. 20 cr.
And
Turnover < Rs.100 cr.

Major Benefits for MSME

  • Collateral Free automatic loan to MSME up to 20% of entire outstanding credit as on 29th February 2020. Borrowers up to Rs 25 crore outstanding & turnover up to Rs. 100 crore are eligible. Loans for 4 years with a moratorium of 1 year of principal repayment. No guarantees required. Scheme can be availed till 31st October 2020.
  • CGTMSE with the support of 4000 Cr from Govt, will give partial credit guarantee to bank to allow them to give debt to promoters of MSME, who then will infuse the fund as equity.
  • 50,000 crore equity infusion for expansion of MSME through Funds of Funds.
  • Government will facilitate provision of Rs 20,000 crore subordinate debts for Stressed MSME which are NPA or stressed.
  • Receivables from Govt and CPSEs to be released in 45 days.
  • Global tenders will be disallowed in Government procurement tender upto Rs 200cr.
  • E market linkage for MSME to be promoted.

Tax Changes

  • All TDS and TCS rates reduced by 25% for Non-Salaried Resident Payments. Reduction is applicable from 14th May 2020 to 31st March 2021.
  • All refunds to non-corporate business & profession to be issued immediately.
  • All Income tax returns due date extended to 30th November 2020.
  • Tax audit due date extended to 31st October 2020.
  • All assessment getting barred on 30th September 2020 extended to 31st December 2020
  • All assessment getting barred on 31st March 2021 extended to 30th September 2021
  • Vivid Se Vishwas Scheme extended to 31st December 2020 without any additional payments.

EPF Benefits

Establishment Under Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Package (PMGKP):

  • EPF relief extended for the month of June, July & August and will be paid by Government.

Other Establishment covered by EPFO

  • Statutory PF contribution of both employer and employee will be reduced to 10% from 12% for next 3 months (except CPSEs & PSU’s employer’s contribution).

NBFCs

  • Government will launch a Rs 30,000 crore Special Liquidity Scheme for NBFCs/HFCs/MFIs. Under this scheme investment will be made in both primary and secondary market transactions in investment grade debt paper of NBFCs/HFCs/MFIs. Securities will be fully guaranteed by Government.
  • Rs 45,000 crore Partial Credit Guarantee Scheme 2.0 for NBFCs/HFCs/MFIs. First 20% of loss will be borne by Government. AA paper & below will be eligible for investment.
  • PFC/REC to infuse liquidity of Rs 90,000 cr to DISCOMs against receivables
  • Central Public Sector Generation Companies shall give rebate to Discoms which shall be passed on to the final consumers (industries).

RERA

  • Treat COVID-19 as an event of ‘Force Majeure’under  RERA.
  • Extend the registration and completion date suo-moto by 6 months.
  • Regulatory Authorities may extend this for another period of upto 3 months, if needed.
  • Issue fresh ‘Project Registration Certificates’ automatically with revised timelines.
  • Extend timelines for various statuary compliances under RERA.

Contractors

  • PSU contracts to be extended for upto 6 months so that contract may be completed including for PPP contracts.

Want to know more about Firmway