Press Release

HostBooks Signs MoU with ICAI to promote technology automation

31 January 2020

As part of the MoU, HostBooks will be offering three users all-in-one accounting & compliance solutions to ICAI members for three years free of cost bundled with other benefits.

Gurgaon based FinTech Company HostBooks has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI), the national professional accounting body to encourage the use of technology and automation among chartered accountants, which will help them increase their efficiency and productivity in practice.

As part of the MoU, HostBooks will be offering three users all-in-one accounting & compliance solutions to ICAI members for three years free of cost bundled with other benefits. The initiative is aimed at promoting the use of cutting-edge technology among members and hence increasing efficiency in their practice. This MOU is signed in the event of ICAI and World Bank on “Training Program on Auditors engagement in Procurement post review for World Bank Funded projects" in New Delhi.

Speaking on the occasion, Kapil Rana, Founder & Chairman, HostBooks Limited, said, “chartered accountants play an integral role in reducing the compliance burden for businesses. To facilitate further simplification and enhance their efficiency, HostBooks will provide automated and cloud-based end-to-end solutions to practitioners."

Furthermore, the company will provide dedicated support and service center for ICAI members after the installation of the integrated accounting and compliance software. To ease the transition process, the accounting professionals will also get a dedicated team for implementation from time to time to provide training.

How digital transformation enables small businesses to deal with the pandemic?

September 24, 2020

The young, dynamic and visionary entrepreneur, Kapil is the proud owner of strong business acumen and holds a solid background in strategic management, finance, law and IT.

Apart from impacting the public health system, the ongoing pandemic situation has led to significant economic problems, forcing small and large business enterprises to rethink the way they operate. People across the country are limiting their movement, and with restrictions for public gathering to contain the spread of the coronavirus, the supply chains and cash flows have witnessed an extensive disruption. Many small businesses are getting closed permanently due to the irreparable damage caused by the pandemic outbreak.

During this crisis, we have seen businesses laying off their staff and allow employees to work remotely from home. Thanks to the latest technological innovations and the internet, organizations were able to transition smoothly into the remote work culture. Small businesses are also struggling with the burden of repayment of loans and interest payments. Some of the troubling issues that small and medium-sized enterprises are facing include liquidity crunch, decline in demand, lack of funding, and a general sense of uncertainty over when things would go back to normal.

In addition to the policies introduced by the government, businesses can adopt technology and tech-enabled services for the resources and opportunities they need to adapt to the new normal. Due to challenges posed by the novel coronavirus, companies started putting more focus on digital transformation and taking advantage of digital solutions to reach their customers. Even organizations like schools that require person-to-person interaction were quick to adopt remote or distance-learning.

Because of the always-on nature of the internet, businesses are prioritizing the needs of the customers andaccordingly planning their digital transformation strategies. Such transformation drastically changes the way, companies operate and deliver value to their customers, enabling them to integrate digital technologies into the entire business cycle. The successful adoption of digital solutions not only includes technological transformation within an organization but also of suppliers and other stakeholders.

Technology Adoption for Small Businesses in a post-COVID World: Due to the strict social distancing guidelines and state-wide lockdowns, small businesses, especially with the physical establishment, are struggling to reach their customers and are compelled to move their business online. They need to integrate digital solutions in all business processes, including inventory management, accounting, customer support, sales and marketing, and more, allowing them to optimize their performance, enhance operational efficiency, and steer the business towards growth.

Behavioral Investment Biases influencing your financial decisions

September 24, 2020

Investors’ investment decisions are subject to a variety of biases. A bias is considered an irrational belief or assumption that warps the power to recognizing facts and evidence.

The tendency to only invest in familiar investment instruments or sticking to losses within the belief that they’re going to get recovered can harm your budget.

Taking smart and comprehensive decisions involving money can be tricky these days. One of the most important challenges for investors is avoiding their own instinctive behavioral biases. Investors’ investment decisions are subject to a variety of biases. A bias is considered an irrational belief or assumption that warps the power to recognizing facts and evidence.

These biases can lead investors to form illogical or irrational decisions when it involves investments and wealth management as a full. If you don’t have a financial advisor to assist manage your investments, you ought to consider it.

Hindsight bias: Hindsight bias is also known as “Knew-it-all-along” bias, is based on your past financial decisions. The hindsight bias tends to administer investors a false sense of security therein they overestimate the accuracy of their past predictions. Investors may select investments in keeping with a hunch or gut reaction instead of the facts.

Avoid this bias by specializing in the info, not your predictions. Taking the assistance of a financial advisor can help you to make sound investments.

Confirmation Bias: Once you find more reasons to support your own belief, like consulting Google, you’re using confirmation bias to help your decisions. Investors will often search out information that supports (or confirms) their belief system, and ignore contrary information that threatens the validity of their beliefs.

GST Compensation Gap Can't Be Met From Consolidated Fund: AG

Aug 27, 2020

The Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman held 41st Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council meeting on August 27 were it was said that the GST collections got severely impacted due to Pandemic.

In the 41st Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council meeting held in the capital, the revenue secretary informed that the GST collections were severely impacted due to coronavirus pandemic this year. At the meeting, two options of compensating states were discussed, including borrowing from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

The meeting comes in the backdrop of certain guarantees provided in the GST laws to the State Governments under which the states get compensated for any loss of revenue in the first five years of GST implementation which came into effect from July 1, 2017. However, due to the Covid-19 outbreak, the compensation cess collection have jumped.

The finance minister made it clear that the options discussed for meeting GST shortfall are only for the current fiscal. The GST Council will look at the issue again in April next year, she said.

Kapil Rana, Founder and Chairman, HostBooks said: "The GST Council meeting brings out the clarity on the reimbursement of compensation periodicity which is June 2017 to July 2022 i.e. 5 years. Since the compensation gap cannot be met from the Consolidated Fund of India, the Government is working on various modalities and one of them is that compensation cess levy can be extended beyond 5 years, to meet the shortfall. This is a welcome move that the GST council has not proposed any increase in Tax Rates."

Divakar Vijayasarathy, Founder & Managing Partner, DVS Advisors LLP said: “The states would have had a fair idea of what is coming their way considering the opinion of Attorney General was clear that the centre is not liable to pay for the compensation. However, the bifurcation of the shortfall as due to GST and due to Covid would have not been expected. The decision making has again been postponed by another 7 working days.

GST Council extending cess levy beyond 5 years would worry business: Experts

Aug 27, 2020

Deloitte India Partner M S Mani said any decision to extend the cess beyond five years in order to fund the present compensation deficit could become a precedent. Hence, the period of extension of the cess should be minimal and predefined so that the cess does not become a permanent tax.

The GST Council not looking to increase tax rates to fund revenue shortfall of states is a positive move, but extending the period of levy of compensation cess beyond the originally envisaged five years would worry businesses, tax experts said. At the 41st GST Council meeting on Thursday, the Centre presented before the states options to meet the shortfall in GST revenue, saying the deficit can be made good by states borrowing using a special window. This loan can be repaid after five years from the collection of GST cess.

If the states agree, it would effectively mean that the cess would continue beyond five years of the GST rollout.

Deloitte India Partner M S Mani said any decision to extend the cess beyond five years in order to fund the present compensation deficit could become a precedent. Hence, the period of extension of the cess should be minimal and predefined so that the cess does not become a permanent tax.

"Not considering any rate increases to make up for the shortfall in cess is a welcome measure, however moving to a market borrowing mechanism which would extend the tenure of the cess beyond five years would worry businesses that are subject to the cess," Mani said.

Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co Partner Rajat Bose said the Centre has put the onus on the states to borrow funds with due facilitation from the central government at a reduced rate of interest, which can be paid back after five years from the collection of cess.

HostBooks Ltd founder and Chairman Kapil Rana said the government is working on various modalities and one of them is that the compensation cess levy can be extended beyond five years.

180 million PANs may be defunct without Aadhaar

Aug 21, 2020

The govt may track expenditure patterns of individuals who spend large sums on luxuries but underreport income

At least 180 million permanent account numbers (PANs) could become defunct unless linked with Aadhaar numbers by the March 31 deadline, as the income-tax (I-T) department, which is equipped with artificial intelligence (AI), is all set to nab tax evaders who use multiple PANs and conduct high-value transactions, two officials said, requesting anonymity.

The government may also track expenditure patterns of individuals who spend large sums on luxuries but underreport their income and evade tax, they said. The I-T law provides for a statement of financial transaction (SFT), earlier known as an Annual Information Return (AIR), to track prescribed high-value transactions undertaken by taxpayers.

The department gets such expenditure details through banks, financial institutions, mutual funds, credit card companies, and other entities.

“It is surprising that in a population of 1.3 billion only 15 million contribute to the I-T kitty. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had also pointed this out recently. Available data suggest that there is an urgent need to expand the tax base,” one of the officials said.

PM Modi unveiled India’s first charter of taxpayers’ rights and duties on August 13 and had appealed to the public to introspect on the fact that only 15 million people in a population of 1.3 billion pay income tax.

The official quoted above said there are 509.5 million (50.95 crore) PAN cardholders in the country as on June, but only 64.8 million (6.48 crore) of them file income-tax returns (ITR), and only 15 million actually pay tax.

“Around 49.8 million people file ITR. But they either show zero tax liability or claim the full amount of tax paid through ITR,” he added.

How many homes can you legally buy in India to stay clear of taxman?

Aug 20, 2020

Whether an Indian citizen can buy and own more than one house property in the country without inviting the wrath of the taxman? Find out

A key aspect while buying a second home is understanding the taxation component of the purchase.

If one were to observe the investment preferences of a majority of Indian investors across varied asset classes, real estate or property would emerge as a top investment destination. This brings us to a fundamental question on whether an Indian citizen can buy and own a second home or more than one home in the country.

Thankfully, the answer to the query is absolutely simple. The Constitution of India has guaranteed the Right to Property to all the citizens of India and the law does not specify any restrictions on the purchase of a second residential property in India.

“A second home can be viewed as a strategic investment as part of a diversified asset portfolio. It holds the potential for long-term capital value appreciation. While earning substantial income in the form of rentals, it can also take care of the maintenance cost of the property. A second property can be an income generation tool and create a substantial savings corpus for the owner over a period of time. Alternatively, it can also serve the purpose of a weekend getaway home for relaxation and recreation,” says Rajesh Narain Gupta, Managing Partner, SNG & Partners.

However, while taking the crucial decision of making a second home purchase, several key issues need to be taken into account.

Income Tax Benefits: A key aspect while buying a second home is understanding the taxation component of the purchase. A home buyer needs to be aware of the tax deductions he/she can avail.

In present times, people generally have more than one residential house. In some cases, all house property may remain self-occupied, while in other cases, one may remain self-occupied and the other one may be rented out. Let’s understand how we can claim tax benefits on the second house.

I-T crackdown against people holding multiple PANs after March 31

Aug 20, 2020

The government may also expand the list of high-value transactions to track expenditure patterns of those unscrupulous people, who spend large sums on luxuries but underreport their income and evade tax.

Over 180 million permanent account numbers (PANs) could become defunct unless linked with Aadhaar numbers by the March 31 deadline, as the income-tax (I-T) department, which is equipped with artificial intelligence (AI), is all set to nab tax evaders conducting high-value transactions by using multiple PANs, two officials said, requesting anonymity.

The government may also expand the list of high-value transactions to track expenditure patterns of those unscrupulous people, who spend large sums on luxuries but underreport their income and evade tax, they said.

The I-T law provides for a statement of financial transaction (SFT), earlier known as an Annual Information Return (AIR), to track prescribed high-value transactions undertaken by taxpayers.

The department gets such expenditure details through banks, financial institutions, mutual funds, credit card companies, and other entities.

“It is surprising that in a population of 130 crores only 1.5 crores contribute to the I-T kitty. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had also pointed this out recently. Available data suggest that there is an urgent need to expand the tax base,” one of the officials said.

PM Modi had unveiled India’s first charter of taxpayers’ rights and duties on August 13 and had appealed to the public to introspect that only 15 million people in a population of 1.3 billion pay I-T.

The official quoted above said there are 509.5 million (50.95 crore) PAN cardholders in the country as on June, but only 64.8 million (6.48 crore) of them file income-tax returns (ITR), and only 15 million actually pay I-T.

Faceless e-Assessment Scheme for Taxpayers: Challenges and impact on the Indian tax administration

Aug 19, 2020

Under the new system, taxpayers won’t have to visit territorial jurisdiction tax officers or the income tax department on receiving income tax scrutiny or assessment notices.

For the past few years, the government has been taking several measures to bring in transformation in both direct and indirect taxes. The objective has been to create a taxpayer-friendly ecosystem by introducing greater transparency, simplification, and ease of meeting tax compliance. The introduction of the Faceless e-Assessment process by the Central Board of Direct Tax (CBDT) for income tax returns is a remarkable step towards achieving the objective.

The faceless tax administration means taxpayer by himself or through any professional or through the representative, Assessee personally or physically need not to visit the tax office or face the tax authorities for any assessment, appeal or any other ancillary tax administrative work.

The pretext was rightly set during the budget speech on the 5th July 2019 and subsequently, on 7th October 2019, the e-assessment system was inaugurated by the Finance Minister. On 13th August 2020, the PM of India launched Transparent Taxation “Honouring the Honest” platform and by that lists out the rights of Assessees in a statute under the Income Tax law. The e-assessment scheme as announced by the FM will be known as the Faceless Assessment Scheme.

The outcome of this scheme is that the taxpayers will no longer be attached to a specific territory or jurisdiction or office for assessments as the Central Board of Direct Taxes has instead started a faceless, randomized and completely electronic assessment scheme, eliminating all human interfaces. The National e-Assessment Centre (NeAC) has been empowered as the main gateway for communication between the taxpayers and the tax authorities. The National e-Assessment Centre (NeAC) has been set up and shall have headquartered at New Delhi. Further, Regional e-Assessment Centers across 20 cities including Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai, under the faceless assessment scheme, notified on the 13th August 2020.

Taxpayer charter, faceless assessment may not always reduce torment: Expert

Aug 14, 2020

Unreasonable collection targets, mainly towards year end, often prompt tax official to make aggressive demands; in case of disputes, the official may favour the dept's view.

Taxpayers’ charter unveiled by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday is designed to build trust between the income tax department and taxpayers but the government needs to carry out reforms in administration to make it really work, say experts.

Faceless assessment, which was expanded to the entire country by Modi, is likely to reduce litigation in general, but it would work otherwise in complex cases.

The charter has several good points such as treating every taxpayer as honest unless there is a reason to believe otherwise, providing fair, courteous and reasonable treatment etc. However, these are statements of intent and unless reforms are taken to change the behaviour of the officials on the ground, not much will change. Also, these officials have been tasked with unreasonable collection targets, mainly towards the end of the year. And that is when the task of making aggressive demand begins.

One of the things which the charter talks about is that the department would be accountable to the taxpayers.

“However, we have seen on several occasions that high-pitched assessments are quashed by courts with absolutely no implication on the tax officer who made an unsustainable tax demand in the first place,” Amit Maheshwari, tax partner at AKM Global, said.

On the other hand, he said taxpayers lose precious time and money in litigation.

While there are many taxpayers’ rights in the charter, one thing missing is the taxpayers' right to negotiate a settlement with the tax office of pay the outstanding tax demands in easy installments. “Many a times, taxpayers face genuine liquidity issues and such enforcement of tax demands impacts their business activity,” Maheshwari said.

Experts explain: How new transparent taxation platform will help taxpayers and should you expect more?

Aug 13, 2020

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday launched a new the `transparent taxation` platform to further digitise the Income Tax Department’s functioning. It aims to bring into effect faceless assessment of taxpayers, faceless appeals and the Rights` Charter for the taxpayers.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday launched a new the `transparent taxation` platform to further digitise the Income Tax Department’s functioning. It aims to bring into effect faceless assessment of taxpayers, faceless appeals and the Rights` Charter for the taxpayers. With the `Transparent Taxation Honouring the Honest` that is aimed at carrying forward the journey of direct tax reforms, the taxpayers would not be harassed or treated with suspicion here on.

SR Patnaik, Partner & Head – Taxation, Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas believes that this is a significant announcement from the Indian taxation perspective and an overhauling of the tax department is also on the way.

"The PM has today announced Taxpayer's Charter and Faceless Assessment scheme, as promised by the FM at the time of budget. Even the appeals are going to be faceless from September 25. These are significant announcements from an Indian taxation perspective. However, having said this, it is expected that an overhauling of the tax department is also on the way and it is expected that the tax authorities would also ensure their deliveries within time,” he said.

The recent move will help taxpayers by providing them fair, courteous and rational behavior maintain taxpayer’s dignity and the valuable time and efforts, explained Kapil Rana, Founder & Chairman, HostBooks Limited.

India Inc, Experts Hail 'Transparent Taxation' Platform By PM Modi

Aug 13, 2020

India Inc., and tax experts have hailed the PM Modi's initiative of 'Transparent Taxation - Honoring The Honest' platform, a move aimed at easing the compliance for assessees and reward the "honest taxpayer". "The country's honest taxpayer plays a big role in nation building... The new facilities being launched today reinforce the government's commitment to honoring the honest," PM Modi said on August 13.

The Transparent Taxation platform is based on reforms such as faceless assessment, faceless appeal and taxpayers' charter... A 'faceless' tax system will give the taxpayer confidence on fairness and fearlessness," PM Modi said in a virtual address. "Transparent Taxation - Honoring the Honest" platform is a new milestone in the structural reforms initiated by the NDA Government. The basic aim is now to focus on making tax-paying seamless, painless, and faceless. 'Faceless as it shouldn't matter who is paying tax and who is tax officer', the PM explained.

Sudhir Kapadia, National Tax Leader, EY India said this initiative will go a long way in ensuring “ease of tax compliance’’ for honest and law abiding tax payers. "As an immediate relief, it would be highly desirable if CBDT instructs release of all pending refunds to companies ( without any monetary thresholds) as quite a few companies are left with no choice but to consider approaching Courts to expedite their refunds in these pandemic induced stressful business environment,” Kapadia said.

Sangita Reddy, President, FICCI said, “This is another milestone in our journey of structural reforms and will tremendously boost the confidence of the taxpayers in the country. Prime Minister Modi has clearly articulated that the government is committed to honour and respect the honest taxpayers and make them a part of the team that is working towards realising the vision of an ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’.”

Legal heirs not bound to inform I-T dept about assessee's death, rules HC

Aug 13, 2020

The court reasoned that there might be instances where the deceased assessee was estranged from legal representatives or the deceased assessee might have bequeathed their wealth to charity.

The Delhi High Court on Thursday ruled that there was no obligation on the legal heir to inform the tax department about the death of a taxpayer.

“This Court is of the view that in the absence of a statutory provision it is difficult to cast a duty upon the legal representatives to intimate the factum of death of an assessee to the income-tax department,” the court ruled.

It said there might after all be cases where legal representatives would be estranged from the deceased assessee or the deceased assessee might have bequeathed their entire wealth to a charity.

“Consequently, whether the PAN record was updated or not or whether the department was made aware by the legal representatives or not is irrelevant,” the court said.

The court passed an order in a case related to the tax department issuing a notice to a person in March, 2019, regarding some unexplained income not mentioned in the return. The person in question had died in December 2018. Subsequently, a showcause notice was also served on the deceased as to why penalty should not be levied on him.

Upon finding that the assessee was dead, the assessing officer passed an order in November 2019, imposing a penalty upon the deceased-assessee through his legal heir for non-compliance of notices issued to the assessee.

Kapil Rana, founder and chairman, HostBooks Ltd, said: “The legal heirs can be a party to the assessment process where the assessment has already started or the legal heir by his own accord agrees to become a party to the assessment.”

Accounts should be maintained by software, not manually: HostBooks founder and chairman Kapil Rana

August 06, 2020

Growing up on a farm, Kapil Rana – founder and chairman, HostBooks – learnt the value of teamwork, the importance of working hard and smart, and how to manage when short of funds. These lessons have come in handy while Rana, a chartered accountant, has built his fintech enterprise, which has been pushing its cloud ever since India introduced GST.

“Covid-19 has forced people who were hesitant to adopt the new technology and put their data on the cloud, to switch their accounts to the cloud,” he says. HostBooks has swelled its customer base by 30 per cent in the last four months, and Rana expects that increase to continue – and not just for his startup. “Because people can work from anywhere and anytime, and access resources online, fintech will at least double, maybe even triple, in the next two years,” he predicts.

Ready, steady, GST: I was facing a lot of challenges during my articleship, and in my practice – problems like multiple software, manual data punching, same inputs for multiple requirements (like TDS returns), income tax compliance, etc. So, when the government started implementing GST, that’s when I decided to launch our application in India, initially with GST and TDS. We had started our research at the time when the government was researching on GST. We ran some Google campaigns to find out the exact problems users were facing, took more than a million calls from customers who were facing these issues, and we built our application according to the requirements. It was a new tax regime, so even the government was not sure what it was going to do, and even the businesses were not sure.

Ease of doing business: A lot of people want to start a business but there are too many procedures to follow. Prior to GST, it was not easy, but after GST it has become easier. Still, if you compare it with Western countries, it’s painful, but it’s improving day by day. Earlier, it would take a month to form a company, including income-tax and GST registration. Now, you can form a company within two-three days – you can get your back account up and running, your income tax registered with the company, and you can get your GST registered online.

Now you can regularise your past I-T returns till this date

August 5, 2020

The CBDT circular extending the timeline for verification of all previous years' ITRs is a well-structured move by the government as it is doing its every bit to ease the cash flow for citizens.

If any ITR for the past 5 years (AY 2015-16 to 2019-20 ) remains unverified after September 30, 2020, such a return shall be treated as an invalid one.

In India, each taxpayer needs to file their income-tax return (ITR) for every financial year. Section 139 of the Income Tax Act 1961 has laid down procedures and processes for filing the returns. Wherein, an individual needs to verify their ITR through e-filing generated confirmation called ITR-V within 120 days from the date of filing.

If the ITR is not verified through any mode as mentioned below within the given time, then it will be treated as an Invalid ITR and it will be construed as if the return is not filed at all. Hence, taxpayers need to file it again and all consequences of non-filing of ITR are applicable to taxpayers.

Centre may extend deadline for emergency capital loans

August 3, 2020

The Union government may extend the October 31 deadline to avail the emergency working capital loan facility -- worth a total of Rs 3 lakh crore -- for small enterprises and individual professionals to help them tide over the crisis triggered by the Covid-19 pandemic, according to two officials with direct knowledge of the matter.

The government has already extended the scope of the provision by enhancing eligibility criteria to include larger units and individual professionals such as doctors and chartered accountants. The proposal to continue the scheme beyond October is also under active consideration, the officials said on condition of anonymity.

The Union Cabinet on May 20, 2020 approved an Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS) for about five months ending October 31.The scheme provides for an easy additional working capital loan at a concessional rate of interest to an existing borrower who is not a defaulter.

Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday expanded its scope at the request of industry in line with the revised definition of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and the cap on funding under the scheme doubled from Rs 5 crore to Rs 10 crore. Apart from industrial units with turnover up to Rs 250 crore (earlier cap was Rs 100 crore), the finance minister extended the facility to individual professionals.

HT reported the development on Sunday.

StartUp Circle: How HostBooks has changed the way online bookkeeping is done?

July 31, 2020

Small and medium businesses are the backbone of the economy. There is also a massive push from the government to favour this segment. Over the period the scale of business and the dynamics have changed a lot and hence the operational complexities. These business owners have to deal with various challenges in their day-to-day operations. These challenges are resulting from lack of optimum manpower, technical knowhow, lengthy time consuming manual process required to keep a track of their inventory, sales, profit and loss.

Hypothetically, a Kirana owner would find it cumbersome to sell his products, maintain records of the transaction, sales, inventory, file regulatory compliances etc all at the same time. So, to record every single transaction, he would require enormous books of account. This will lead to hefty bookkeeping cost and also operational mistakes. The process is even more hectic for e-commerce companies. Thus, all of these companies need an easy-to-go PoS system.

Today, the Point of Sale system is a solution that helps retailers to centralize all the business operations. Thus, we took an opportunity, to talk to Mr Kapil Rana of HostBooks, who is one such FinTech that eases bookkeeping needs.

How does the platform work?: HostBooks is Gurugram-based an all-in-one accounting application. As a comprehensive platform for all accounting needs, it minimizes time and manual requirements. It thereby reduces the propensity of human errors. Running on the cloud, it is available to customers on-the-go anytime, anywhere, curbing IT infrastructure costs significantly. Our focus is always to deliver simple but efficient products with a vision to be the leading automated business solution for every small and medium enterprise by significantly saving their cost and time in accounting, reporting, and compliances.

HostBooks accounting software functions via a simple, single-entry window used for record-keeping that can process accounts receivable, accounts payable, payroll and inventory, among others. It manages all compliance needs and filing of GST, TDS, e-way bills, POS and Income Tax. HostBooks has also integrated almost all banks within its platform, making the bank recompilation process seamless and with built-in intelligence. It has also helped in reducing the e-way bill generation burden. It simplifies GST billing as well as returns and TDS filings with a single-click filing solution.

States can borrow to fund GST compensation, Centre not obliged to pay: AG

July 30, 2020

There is already a 100-150 basis points difference between the yields on Central and state government bonds, he said. Attorney general K K Venugopal has given a way out to the Centre to wriggle out of the compensation mess under the goods and services tax (GST) system, even as he did not recommend borrowings by the GST Council.

He suggested that the Council can recommend to the Centre to allow the states to borrow on the strength of the future receipts from the compensation fund, sources said.

He also said that there is no obligation on the Centre to pay the GST compensation shortfall, according to sources. Experts, however, did not like the idea of burdening the states with further debts.

Pronab Sen, country director at International Growth Centre (IGC), said at the end of the day, the responsibility is not of the states to compensate themselves.

“If The GST Council says that the states can borrow over and above what the Centre permits, you will be pushing the states into further indebtedness,” the former chief statistician said.

More importantly, there will be an excessive supply of state government bonds, which effectively means the yields on these papers will rise, he said, adding this will leave a permanent effect on the states expenditure because interest burden in the future will go up.

He suggested that the Council recommend to the Centre that the latter could borrow and transfer the funds to the states as grants.

Waiting for your tax refund? Know the reasons for delay and check the status

July 24, 2020

Income tax refunds could be delayed in case the income tax department raises any clarification or query.

You can check the status of your income tax refund on the websites of the I-T department or NSDL

The income tax department stated in a notification, dated 17 July, that it has issued refunds worth ₹24,603 crore to 19.79 lakh taxpayers between 8 April and 11 July. The department has expedited the refund issuance process with an aim to provide liquidity to taxpayers given the ongoing financial crisis due to covid-19, but there could still be many of you waiting for your refund.

If you haven’t got your tax refund yet despite filing your income tax return (ITR) within the specified timeline, read on to know what could be the possible reasons for the delay. We also tell you how to check the status of your tax refund.

Reasons for delay: Tax refunds are generally issued in around a month’s time after the processing of ITR. “Normally, refunds are processed within 20 to 45 days from the completion of processing of ITR by the Centralized Processing Centre. The taxpayer eligible for a refund claim up to ₹5 lakh gets direct bank credit within five to seven business days from the issuance of refund," said Kapil Rana, founder and chairman, HostBooks Ltd, a tax return filing service provider.

But there could be a couple of reasons for delay in receiving tax refund.

One, refunds could be delayed in case the tax department raises any clarification or query. “Refunds are usually withheld by the department on account of ongoing assessments for the relevant assessment year or on account of a mismatch in the ITR filed and the details available with the department," said Shilpa Bhatia, director, direct taxes, AKM Global, a tax consulting firm.

HostBooks to invest Rs 35 cr, eyes 2 lakh customers this year

July 22, 2020

Cloud-based business solution provider HostBooks on Wednesday said it will invest Rs 35 crore in product development and business growth this year to increase customer base by four times to 2 lakh.

HostBooks, which provides services through automated accounting software, has a customer base of 51,000 and plans to take the numbers to 2 lakh by the end of 2020, it said in a release.

Kapil Rana, founder and chairman of HostBooks, said the company's engineering and AI are focused towards understanding data and make the software interactive to help users drive their business effortlessly without any third-party assistance.

"Most of our clients are MSMEs, Chartered Accountants, Lawyers and tax professionals," he said.

With advanced data security, the software used by HostBooks meets the security need of businesses, he added.

Rana further said the company acquired 30 per cent of its customers during the lockdown imposed in the country.

"Our point-of-sale (POS) systems are becoming the preferred technology for retailers to improve the efficiency of their business accounting. The POS systems devices help customers save time spent on paperwork, scheduling employees, accounting and inventories, among other important features," he added.

HostBooks enables businesses to add and assign work to users based on their expertise while also allowing them to restrict access to their company's sensitive data

HostBooks to invest Rs 35 cr, eyes 2 lakh customers this year

22 July 2020

New Delhi, Jul 22 (PTI) Cloud-based business solution provider HostBooks on Wednesday said it will invest Rs 35 crore in product development and business growth this year to increase customer base by four times to 2 lakh.

HostBooks, which provides services through automated accounting software, has a customer base of 51,000 and plans to take the numbers to 2 lakh by the end of 2020, it said in a release.

Kapil Rana, founder and chairman of HostBooks, said the company's engineering and AI are focused towards understanding data and make the software interactive to help users drive their business effortlessly without any third-party assistance.

'Most of our clients are MSMEs, Chartered Accountants, Lawyers and tax professionals,' he said.

With advanced data security, the software used by HostBooks meets the security need of businesses, he added.

Rana further said the company acquired 30 per cent of its customers during the lockdown imposed in the country.

'Our point-of-sale (POS) systems are becoming the preferred technology for retailers to improve the efficiency of their business accounting. The POS systems devices help customers save time spent on paperwork, scheduling employees, accounting and inventories, among other important features,' he added.

HostBooks enables businesses to add and assign work to users based on their expertise while also allowing them to restrict access to their company's sensitive data.

Here's why you should continue investing in FDs despite falling rates

July 20, 2020

A fixed deposit (FD), also known as term deposit, gives a fixed rate of interest until maturity. While conventional investors consider it as one of the best investment options because of its risk-free nature, the falling rates in the current scenario have become a point of concern for them.

Afixed deposit (FD), also known as term deposit, gives a fixed rate of interest until maturity. While conventional investors consider it as one of the best investment options because of its risk-free nature, the falling rates in the current scenario have become a point of concern for them.

A majority of lenders have recently reduced their FD rates in tandem with the RBI's decision to cut the repo rate on multiple occasions.

Considering that, investors may have doubts as to whether they should still invest in FDs.

Experts say that investing in FDs should still be continued seeing its risk-free nature.

The need to have emergency funds has come to the forefront in recent times. Thus, experts say, it is advisable to set aside an amount that could be sufficient to survive for at least three to six months in case of emergency.

"Investment options that offer ample safety and liquidity should only be chosen as an emergency fund," experts say. FD, being a secure investment, can hence be used as an emergency fund investment.

CBDT’s new Form 26AS will remind taxpayers to file major financial transactions

July 18, 2020

The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has introduced a new auto-generated ‘Form 26AS’ which will handhold taxpayers while filing their ITRs in a faceless manner from the current assessment year.

The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has introduced a new auto-generated ‘Form 26AS’ which will handhold taxpayers while filing their ITRs in a faceless manner from the current assessment year , an official statement said.

The new form has been introduced to ensure that taxpayers will no longer forget to mention major financial transactions such as cash deposits and withdrawals, investments in shares and mutual funds, and property transactions in their annual income-tax returns (ITRs).

Form 26AS is an auto-generated financial statement that includes taxation-related information, including details of high-value transactions. The form earlier used to give limited information related to tax deducted at source (TDS) and tax collected at source (TCS) besides certain additional information including details of other taxes paid, refunds and TDS defaults.

The CBDT explained that the income tax department already receives information such as cash deposit and withdrawal from saving bank accounts, sale and purchase of immovable property, time deposits, credit card payments, purchase of shares, debentures, foreign currency, mutual funds, buy back of shares, cash payment for goods and services as per the Income-Tax Act since 2016.

“Now all such information under different SFTs [Statement of Financial Transactions] will be shown in the Form 26AS,” the statement said.

New Form is faceless hand-holding of taxpayers, says CBDT; will help file returns accurately

July 18, 2020

Taxpayers will be able to file their income tax returns electronically, with faceless hand-holding through the new Form 26AS, which will carry additional details on taxpayers’ financial transactions.

The improved Form 26AS will specify all financial transactions in the Statement of Financial Transactions (SFTs) in Part E of the new form that will be implemented from assessment year 2020-21, which is the ongoing financial year.

The new form will facilitate voluntary compliance, tax accountability and ease of e-filing of returns for taxpayers, the Central Board of Direct Taxes said in a statement Saturday.

“The same can be used by the taxpayer to file her or his income tax return (ITR) by calculating the correct tax liability in a feel-good environment,” the Board said, adding that it would also bring in further transparency and accountability in the tax administration.

“This would help the honest taxpayers with updated financial transactions while filing their returns, whereas it will desist those taxpayers who inadvertently conceal financial transactions in their returns,” the Board added.

The earlier Form 26AS used to give information regarding tax deducted at source (TDS) and tax collected at source relating to a PAN, besides certain additional information including details of other taxes paid, refunds and TDS defaults.

The department used to receive information like cash deposit/withdrawal from saving bank accounts, sale/purchase of immovable property, time deposits, credit card payments, purchase of shares, debentures, foreign currency, mutual funds, buy back of shares, cash payment for goods and services, etc. under Section 285BA of Income-tax Act, 1961 from “specified persons” like banks, mutual funds, institutions issuing bonds and registrars or sub-registrars etc., with regard to individuals having high-value financial transactions from FY 2015-16 onwards.

How POS Is Improving the Efficiency Of Business Accounting

July 15, 2020

It doesn't matter what kind of retailer you are, adopting a POS gadget can turn your enterprise around by imparting an all-in-one technique to solve the mess of everyday issues.

Point-of-sale (POS) systems are increasingly becoming the preferred technology for most retailers to improve the efficiency of their business accounting.

It doesn’t matter what kind of retailer you are, adopting a POS gadget can turn your enterprise around by imparting an all-in-one technique to solve the mess of everyday issues. Inventories that fail to shape tallies, unrecorded sales, human mistakes and the time wasted on correcting them are all fairly commonplace troubles confronted by shops on a daily basis.

These can be easily prevented through the usage of a POS machine as it collects data, permitting you to truly see how your business is functioning and the way to continually improve it.

Here are some reasons why POS is the perfect tool for retailers to manage their business accounting.

Enhance Efficiency: The moment you install a POS device in your retail store, it will save you the time spent on paperwork, scheduling employees, accounting and inventories, among other important features in your enterprise. That means you'll have more time to serve customers. A reliable POS system will make your business efficient and your customers would be highly satisfied with your store than before.

Reliable Data: Accountants normally need to log in to the client’s factor of sale software, pull numerous reports to get the records they need, manually vet each report, and finally, enter one’s numbers into an accounting programme.

This SaaS startup is making financial management easy for over 45,000 businesses

July 7, 2020

India’s SaaS success story is being led by unicorns like Freshworks and bootstrapped icon Zoho. Be it enterprise Saas or SMB SaaS, or others, the sector is growing in leaps and bounds.

In fact, the Indian SaaS market is forecast to grow from $6 billion in 2019 to more than $20 billion by 2022, according to the India Private Equity Report 2020 by Bain and Co. In this brouhaha of growth forecasts, HostBooks, founded by chartered accountant Kapil Rana, has been quietly and steadily gathering steam.

A chartered accountant by training, Kapil set up HostBooks to enable small businesses to use accounting tools without worrying about proprietary hardware.

An all-in-one accounting application, HostBooks is a comprehensive platform for all accounting needs, says Kapil.

"IT MINIMISES TIME AND RESOURCE REQUIREMENTS AS WELL AS CHANCES OF HUMAN ERRORS. RUNNING ON THE CLOUD, IT IS AVAILABLE TO CUSTOMERS ON-THE-GO ANYTIME, ANYWHERE, CURBING IT INFRASTRUCTURE COSTS SIGNIFICANTLY.".

Conventional accounting processes revolve around book-keeping, banking, MIS, reporting, compliances, internal and external audits, all of which required repetitive work that ties down entrepreneurs. Modern enterprises need on-the-go accessibility of data, secured tools or applications, and data protection.

To fill this gap between conventional methods of accounting and modern needs, Kapil got the idea of HostBooks in 2015, but launched in 2018 after a year of testing in 2017.

Digital account keeping saves time and money: HostBooks

July 6, 2020

Gurugram-based fintech startup HostBooks has seen a significant growth in its financial management services during the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.

NEW DELHI: Gurugram-based fintech startup HostBooks has seen a significant growth in its financial management services during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The introduction of GST has made easy, simplified account-keeping a critical must for most entrepreneurs, observes Kapil Rana, founder and chairman, HostBooks in an interview with The New Indian Express. Digital account-keeping and storage are crucial tools in this new system and SMEs have to take advantage of that, he adds.

What are the problems faced by small businesses with regards to filings. Especially GST returns?

With the introduction of GST, the taxation system has evolved significantly, everything has now moved to online system including return filing, reconciliation and assessment. The billing and invoicing system has changed with the concept of e-invoice and digitally backtracking of transactions. The mapping & matching concept and online GST regime made it impossible to be compliant in old paper filing and here the role comes for an efficient all-in-one solution like HostBooks.

For SME business, HostBooks automates everything like billing, purchases recording, matching, filing single click GST returns, pooling all bank accounts, handles books of accounts, reports inventory, income tax, TDS, point-of-sale so on and so forth. The Inbuilt document management system, the Business intelligence tool and its ability to process & manage data on the fly anywhere anytime empowers a business to be self- driven. It automates banked business processes, reduces compliance burdens hence saves time and money for the business.

Govt may need to extend ITR deadline if COVID-19 cases rise: Experts

July 6, 2020

Govt extends the due date for making investment in tax saving instruments for the financial year 2019-20 from July 31, 2020.

Taxpayers will not have to pay interest if self-assessment tax liability remains within ₹1 lakh, return is filed within the due date of November 30.

Amid rising number of coronavirus cases, the tax department may have to come out with more measures and further extend the timelines to help the taxpayers comply with the statutory norms, according to experts.

Although tax experts have welcomed the host of initiatives taken by the Finance Ministry to help the taxpayers in times of unprecedented crisis created by coronavirus pandemic, they feel that something more may have to be done till the normalcy returns.

Among other measures, the Income Tax Department has extended various timelines to help the taxpayers remain on the right side of the law even during the times of pandemic and repeated extensions of lockdowns to prevent spread of coronavirus.

Observing that major relief measures in terms of extension of timelines and interest waivers were undertaken by the government through an Ordinance on March 31, Gaurav Mohan, CEO AMRG & Associates said, "Considering the current situation, more and more relief measures are needed for the taxpayers to keep the economy rolling which are being introduced with time".

The coronavirus cases in the country have exceeded 6.5 lakhs and it may take months before the vaccine is developed or the normalcy is restored.

Experts expect further extension of tax return deadline as COVID-19 cases continue to rise

July 6, 2020

Among other measures, the Income Tax Department has extended various timelines to help the taxpayers remain on the right side of the law even during the times of pandemic and repeated extensions of lockdowns to prevent spread of coronavirus.

Amid rising number of coronavirus cases, the tax department may have to come out with more measures and further extend the timelines to help the taxpayers comply with the statutory norms, according to experts. Although tax experts have welcomed the host of initiatives taken by the Finance Ministry to help the taxpayers in times of unprecedented crisis created by coronavirus pandemic, they feel that something more may have to be done till the normalcy returns.

Among other measures, the Income Tax Department has extended various timelines to help the taxpayers remain on the right side of the law even during the times of pandemic and repeated extensions of lockdowns to prevent spread of coronavirus.

Observing that major relief measures in terms of extension of timelines and interest waivers were undertaken by the government through an Ordinance on March 31, Gaurav Mohan, CEO AMRG & Associates said, "Considering the current situation, more and more relief measures are needed for the taxpayers to keep the economy rolling which are being introduced with time".

The coronavirus cases in the country have exceeded 6.5 lakhs and it may take months before the vaccine is developed or the normalcy is restored.

Commenting on the government's decision extend the date of filing of income tax return in view of the pandemic, Naveen Wadhwa, DGM, Taxmann said, "The due date of furnishing return of income for all assessee for the financial year 2019-20 has been extended to November 30, 2020 in place of July 31 and October 31, 2020. Hence, all the assessee who are required to file ITR by July 31, 2020, or October 31, 2020 can file their return of income till November 30, 2020, without paying any late fee charges".

Planning to file ITR early? You may have to wait longer for your Form 16

July 6, 2020

The deadline for filing the TDS return by the employers has been extended till 31 July and the date for issuance of Form 16 by the employers has been extended till August 15.

The government in its 24 June notification had announced relaxations in various tax-related deadlines, including the extension of the date of filing of the TDS (tax deducted at source) return by the employer and subsequent issuance of Form 16.

The government had also extended the last date of filing of the income tax return for FY20 till 30 November 2020.

The deadline for filing of TDS returns by the employers has been extended till 31 July and the date for issuance of Form 16 by the employers has been extended till August 15 due to the ongoing covid-19 crisis. Therefore, some of the employers who haven’t filed the TDS return yet may delay the issuance of Form 16, which is needed by the employees to file their income tax returns.

“As per the notification issued by the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) due date for filing TDS returns for the quarter ending 31 March 2020 has been extended till 15 July, for government offices and 31 July for other deductors. Employees may have to wait till 15 August 2020 for their Form 16 for the financial year 2019-20," said Kapil Rana, founder and chairman, HostBooks Ltd, a cloud-based accounting and finance solutions providing firm.

Form 16 is needed by the employees to file income tax return, as it contains details of the salary received by the employee, the tax deducted by the employer and deduction availed by the employee.

Form 16 contains two parts—part A and part B. Part A comprises basic details of the employee such as name and address, PAN and TAN details, period of employment, details of TDS deducted and deposited with the government. Part B contains details of salary paid, any other income of the employee, deductions availed under chapter VI-A including section 80C details and tax payable by the employee, among others.

Govt may need to further extend tax return deadline if COVID cases continue to rise: Experts

July 5, 2020

Amid rising number of coronavirus cases, the tax department may have to come out with more measures and further extend the timelines to help the taxpayers comply with the statutory norms, according to experts.

Although tax experts have welcomed the host of initiatives taken by the Finance Ministry to help the taxpayers in times of unprecedented crisis created by coronavirus pandemic, they feel that something more may have to be done till the normalcy returns.

Among other measures, the Income Tax Department has extended various timelines to help the taxpayers remain on the right side of the law even during the times of pandemic and repeated extensions of lockdowns to prevent spread of coronavirus.

Observing that major relief measures in terms of extension of timelines and interest waivers were undertaken by the government through an Ordinance on March 31, Gaurav Mohan, CEO AMRG & Associates said, "Considering the current situation, more and more relief measures are needed for the taxpayers to keep the economy rolling which are being introduced with time".

The coronavirus cases in the country have exceeded 6.5 lakhs and it may take months before the vaccine is developed or the normalcy is restored.

Commenting on the government''s decision extend the date of filing of income tax return in view of the pandemic, Naveen Wadhwa, DGM, Taxmann said, "The due date of furnishing return of income for all assessee for the financial year 2019-20 has been extended to November 30, 2020 in place of July 31 and October 31, 2020. Hence, all the assessee who are required to file ITR by July 31, 2020, or October 31, 2020 can file their return of income till November 30, 2020, without paying any late fee charges".

How much gold can you keep at home as per income tax rules?

July 3, 2020

The Income Tax Department will not seize jewelry and ornaments to the extent to these limits, even if the same does not seem to be matching with the income record of the assessee.

India’s infatuation with gold has been there for a long time and over the years it has only grown stronger. No wonder, Indians consume the most gold globally. Real estate and gold make up almost two-thirds of Indian household savings. For Indians, gold is considered more than an investment. Hence, it has found a significant place in their homes.

However, according to the Income Tax rules, there is a limit on how much gold one can keep at home. Kapil Rana, Founder, and Chairman, HostBooks Ltd, says, “For storage of household gold no justification is needed on one’s income status if the parameters mentioned for different categories of people such as individuals like married women, unmarried women, and a male member of the family are fulfilled.” A married woman can hold up to 500 grams of gold, whereas, an unmarried woman can hold up to 250 grams of gold, even if they fail to produce their income proof. Male members are allowed to hold only 100 grams of gold without justifying their income status.

Hence, the Income Tax Department will not seize jewelry and ornaments to the extent of 500 gms for married lady, 250 gms for unmarried lady, and 100 gm for the male member, even if the same does not seem to be matching with the income record of the assessee.

In a Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) press release dated December 1, 2016, it was clarified that there is no limit on holding of gold jewelry or ornaments by anybody provided it is acquired from explained sources of income, including inheritance. Hence, the Income Tax Act does not prescribe any limit for holding gold and ornament by any person, given you are able to show/explain valid sources of the gold acquired.

GST mop-up bounces back in June; crosses ₹90,000 cr

July 01, 2020

The Finance Ministry on Wednesday released the GST collection data for the first three months of the current fiscal. The June collection exceeded ₹90,000 crore, but it was 9 per cent less than the mop-up in the same month last year. This is the first GST data after the pandemic crippled the economy.

The collection was ₹90,917 crore in June, ₹62,009 crore in May and ₹32,294 crore in April. “The GST (Goods and Services Tax) collection for the first quarter of the year is 41 per cent less than the revenue collected during the same quarter last year. However, a large number of taxpayers still have time to file their return for May, ” the statement said.

The collection in June this year is 91 per cent of the GST revenue in the same month last year. The revenue collected from import of goods was 71 per cent of the revenue from the same source in June last year. Revenue from domestic transactions in June 2020 (including import of services) is 97 per cent of the revenue collected under this source during the same month last year.

In June, returns of February 2019, March 2019, and April 2020 have been filed in addition to some returns of May 2020 as the government has allowed a relaxed time schedule for filing of GST returns. Some returns of May, which would have otherwise got filed in June, will get filed during the first few days of July . Commenting on the numbers, Rajat Bose, Partner, Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co, said the increase in GST collection in June is a positive sign and it is an indication that the economy is slowly recovering.

However, it is important to note that many companies paid GST for March, April and May also, in June due to the partial moratorium extended by the government.

BT Insight: Have you filed form 15H,G yet? Do it now to save TDS on FDs

June 29, 2020

If you do not take timely action to save this TDS deduction you will have to wait for more than a year to file your ITR next year and then wait for few more months to get the refund.

The end of the first quarter of a financial year, which is on June 30, is the time when most depositors get first quarterly interest credited for their fixed deposits. However, this is also the time when TDS is deducted if your interest amount is above the TDS limit. If you do not take timely action to save this TDS deduction you will have to wait for more than a year to file your ITR next year and then wait for few more months to get the refund. Here is what you need to do save this TDS deduction:

The threshold interest for TDS deduction Before going to the savings part let us understand how TDS is charged. Usually a commercial or a co-operative bank or a post office deduct 10 per cent TDS on interest from fixed deposit after interest amount goes above Rs 40,000 in a given financial year for people below 60 years of age. For senior citizens, the limit for TDS deduction goes up to Rs 50,000.

"Tax is required to be deducted under this provision only if the aggregate amount of interest credited or paid to the payee in respect of time deposit during the financial year exceeds the limit," says Naveen Wadhwa, DGM, Taxmann. So, till the time total interest amount crosses the threshold limit no TDS is deducted but once it goes above the threshold the TDS is deducted not on the amount just above the threshold but on the entire interest amount.

Reduced TDS rate of 7.5% for FY21 Due to coronavirus-led economic action there has been relaxation on the TDS amount. "The government through its "Atmanirbhar Bharat" scheme dated May 13, 2020, reduced the TDS rate under Section 194A to 7.5 per cent from 10 per cent for any payment made or accrued between May 14, 2020 and March 31, 2021," says Kapil Rana, Founder and Chairman, HostBooks. So, this year the TDS amount will be charged at a reduced rate of 7.5 per cent.

Significance of POS for small retailers to overcome COVID-19 challenges

June 24, 2020

SME’s have been the most affected by this COVID pandemic and as specific segment retail is the worst one. Profitability, liquidity, inefficiencies and visibility are the pain points of SMEs through its business journey and, the single answer to these issues is a strong, agile, sophisticated and automated digital backbone. What is meant by a complete digital back-end is that digitization and automation of all core functions like billing, banking, accounting, tax, payments, expenses, and cash management – over a single application.

Business dynamics and complexities have changed to a significant extent, and small business is dealing with much larger product categories than it was dealing earlier, larger & different types of customers and platforms, accepts 5-6 different kinds of payments i.e. cash, credit cards, UPI payments, IMPS receipts and even the age-old ‘Udhari’, make payments through multiple modes the list goes on. Managing all these without a single app is next to impossible. Here is the role that comes for as efficient POS. Now, POS is the face of the retails business and it captures the whole business data.

Here are the benefits of the POS and how it can be a special help to the business during this pandemic and in the future.

Data is the king – POS captures a list of data in terms of sales, purchase, customer details, payment terms, payment modes, product list sold and purchase, customer experience ratings to the business and staff, agent sales data, and many more. All these data acquired or captured though out the business can give a great scope for cognitive data analysis. Results of the data analysis can help the business to think on the product line, the customer segment, the behavior pattern of the customer and supplier, the favorable receipt/payment modes and many more and in a nutshell benefit the business in terms of its profitability.

Help in sourcing liquidity – Liquidly is one of the 4 pain pillars and now has become more difficult to source. The informal and secondary sources of capital and lending are significantly drying-of forcing businesses to approach institutional capital and lending for capital and lending needs. To avail funds from institutional one have to maintain proper business data for their business and POS helps in this to a great extent.

HostBooks Transforming SMEs Ecosystem in India

June, 2020

Even though SMEs form a vital part of the economy, they stumble upon various challenges, managing accounting and tax compliance is one of them. Being technologically less advanced, the SMEs face difficulties maintaining their accounts or filing tax returns like GST. These have become the core issues that are hampering the growth and development of SMEs in India.

All-in-One Accounting Application: An Optimal Solution In India, accounting and statutory compliance have become more complicated with the changes in the economy and tax regime. SMEs need to invest their valuable resources, time, and money to keep up with these changes, making it difficult for them to focus on their core business.

As technology is evolving, accounting is making a shift to process automation, cloud computing, digital document management, and business intelligence reporting tools.

We at HostBooks are continually working to make the entire accounting and compliance space automated yet simple. With the vision to be a leading automated business solution for every small and medium enterprise by significantly saving their cost and time in accounting, reporting, and compliances; we have put accounting expertise and cutting-edge technology together to integrate all accounting compliance solutions in one platter, empowering SMEs to overcome key accounting challenges.

HostBooks is a cloud accounting application that allows its users to manage compliance seamlessly on the go. Whether preparing accounts or filing GST returns, businesses can do it effortlessly. The best part is you don't need to be an expert or need a manual to understand the process; it's that easy to use! Our application enables SMEs in India to become self-reliant and efficient.

HostBooks founder calls books his mentors, and an indispensable part of life

JUN 19, 2020

Kapil Rana says that books have helped me take wise decisions for business and life.

Kapil Rana, Chairman and Founder of HostBooks, feels reading has always been an intellectual and mental rejuvenation for him.

He told ET Panache, "I try to read atleast for 15- 20 minutes daily. I have been reading multiple books like 'Blitzscaling: The Lightning-Fast Path to Building Massively Valuable Companies' by Reid Hoffman, Chris Yeh, 'Venture Deals', 'Chocolates On The Pillow Aren't Enough: Reinventing The Customer Experience' by Jonathan Tisch, 'Elon Musk: How The Billionaire CEO Of SpaceX And Tesla Is Shaping Our Future' by Ashlee Vance and Measure What Matters."

Books are Rana's mentors and are an indispensable part of his life. "There are many books that have helped me take wise decisions, be it for business or life. Books like Though time never last but tough people do, How to win friends and influence people, Rich dad poor dad and even biographies of highly successful people have inspired me. More than 60 per cent of my learnings are derived from these good books which I have applied in my real life and have got great results," he said.

Books are the HostBooks founder's all-time favourite partners, as they can immensely help amass knowledge, increase creative and innovative faculty in our mind, widen our thought perspective and much more

"I also believe that this time can be utilised to inculcate the habit of reading. Not just for pleasure but to gain experience, form perceptions, and equip ourselves with solutions to the obstacles we face in life. During these days I’ve been able to give focused time in reading and explore other genres of books," he shared.

Rana tries to read at least once a day as it helps him learn about new things and how new challenges can be solved in life and business.

Effective marketing: an anchor for a business in tough times

JUN 04, 2020

By Kapil Rana, Founder & Chairman, HostBooks Limited

Being declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization, there is still a lot we don't know about the coronavirus outbreak. It is not only affecting the health of the general population, but it's also hurting the economy. Here, we will share some helpful tips for small businesses and marketers who are undergoing a dramatic change in their daily operations. Among internet users, there is a growing interest to get the latest information about coronavirus. Consequently, there has also been an increase in traffic for related products and topics.

In this moment of crisis, businesses are working remotely to provide uninterrupted service to their customers. We will explore steps that can help you to continue your business processes with as little issues as possible.

Adjusting your marketing strategy during the crisis: Google has made it easier for people about symptoms, prevention, and other information related to the coronavirus. It is also removing content on YouTube that spreads misinformation and claims to provide treatment in place of seeking medical attention. Both Google and Facebook are blocking ads that try to exploit and capitalize on the current situation.

However, as long as your ad copy is not claiming to provide a cure, prevent, or treat COVID-19, this will have minimal effect on your ad accounts. Even if these platform policies don't impact your account, the pandemic and the resulting changes on the market will. Let's explore measures that you can take to prepare and adjust your accounts to minimize such impact.

Examine the changes in ad reports: You need to stay updated on how the change in market and trends is affecting the performance of your paid search and paid social accounts, such as the change in the number of impressions & clicks, and total costs. You should look for drops in traffic in Google Analytics and Google Ads. It might reflect the market changes and help you make changes accordingly to meet your conversion targets. Also, monitor comments made on your social media profiles as people can spread misinformation by making comments and diver your potential customers.

New ITR forms notified: Tax dept seeks more details of expenditures, gives relief for those with income up to Rs 5 lakh

01 June 2020

The central board of direct taxes under the aegis of finance ministry late on Saturday notified ITR forms for financial year 2019-20 (assessment year 2020-21), bringing in some key changes.

In the notification, the finance ministry issued ITR 1 (Sahaj), ITR 2, ITR 3, ITR 4 (Sugam), ITR 5, ITR 6, ITR 7 and ITR V forms, as per the rule changes in the Income Tax Rules 2020.

The Central Board of Direct Taxation (CBDT) had earlier notified ITR1 & ITR4 forms but they were withdrawn.

This time some of the key changes notified in the forms includes declaration from taxpayers in detail if they have paid over Rs 1 lakh in electricity bills in a year, deposited Rs 1 crore in bank account and if incurred Rs 2 lakh expense on foreign travel, in forms Sahaj ITR-1, Form ITR-2, Form ITR-3 and Form Sugam (ITR-4).

Taxpayers have also been given a dedicated column to declare their expenditures/income/ investments/donations made between April 2020 till June 2020, for which they can claim I-T benefits.

However, these benefits or declarations can be claimed only once, thus, I-T department has left it open for the taxpayers to either claim/declare this for FY20 or for FY21.

"This column was a much needed clarity, which was awaited from the income tax department. The move comes after government had announced that taxpayers can claim their investments/donations and other such expenditures made between April 2020 till June 2020 while filing their income tax returns for last financial year,” said Mukesh Patel, independent tax expert and member of task force on simplification of direct tax legislation formed by the finance ministry.

Income tax return forms for FY 2020-21 notified

31 May 2020

Taxpayers including individuals, Hindu undivided family, professionals and businesses, will be able to avail benefits of savings or investments made between April 1 and June 30, following the extension timelines provided by the finance ministry owing to Covid 19 pandemic.

The government has notified income tax return (ITR) forms for taxpayers for filing returns for assessment year FY 2020-21.

Taxpayers including individuals, Hindu undivided family, professionals and businesses, will be able to avail benefits of savings or investments made between April 1 and June 30, following the extension timelines provided by the finance ministry owing to Covid 19 pandemic.

Taxpayers will have dedicated space in each of the ITR forms - Sahaj (ITR-1), Form ITR-2, Form ITR-3, Form Sugam (ITR-4), Form ITR-5, Form ITR-6, Form ITR-7 and Form ITR-V – to describe investments of expenditures made during the quarter ended June 30, which will get counted in deductions or exemptions.

The government has extended several timelines under income tax by a quarter from March 31, to allow taxpayers to make investments, payments or donations for claiming exemptions and deductions, besides the roll over benefit of capital gains.

The forms also seek details from taxpayers that have paid over Rs 1 lakh in electricity bills in a year, deposited Rs 1 crore in bank account and if incurred Rs 2 lakh expense on foreign travel, in forms Sahaj ITR-1, Form ITR-2, Form ITR-3 and Form Sugam (ITR-4).

Experts pointed to changes incorporated in the ITR forms. For instance, in ITR-1, government employees have been bifurcated in State, Central Government and a new type as “NA” added to the list.

SMEs must move their compliance and accounting to cloud: Kapil Rana, Chairman, HostBooks Limited

29 May 2020

Novel Coronavirus is impacting people and businesses around the world and its impact on SMEs is the worst. Most of the SMEs are dependent on desktop-based traditional manual accounting system for their accounting and compliance needs. HostBooks can help the SMEs in this regard with its all-in-one cloud-based business solution, says Kapil Rana, Founder and Chairman, HostBooks Limited, in conversation with Elets News Network (ENN).

The outbreak of Covid-19 has brought-in several challenges for the MSME and SME sector in India. How are your tax-related solutions helping these sectors during this pandemic situation?

Novel Coronavirus is impacting people and businesses around the world and its impact on SMEs is the worst. Organizations are navigating through a broad range of interrelated issues that span from safekeeping of their employees and customer safety, managing cash and liquidity, reorienting operations and navigating through complicated government support programs and also to be tax compliant.

Most of the SMEs are dependent on desktop-based traditional manual accounting system for their accounting and compliance needs. It was never a focused area for them and they are somehow managing their business accounting and compliance needs. The lockdown due to Covid-19 has raised many questions about their preparedness for required IT infrastructure, IT capabilities and above all their mentalities towards business in such peculiar and uncertain situations. GST implementation has brought tremendous evolution in accounting, compliance, reporting and data management and most of the compliances have now moved or are planning to move to the online system. Reforms in the taxation system and this lockdown has created a thrust for SMEs to move their compliance and accounting needs to cloud.

How automation is disrupting finance and accounting industry

27 May 2020

Automation technologies have helped to transform the finance and accounting industry, such as banks, insurance firms, and accounting service providers around the world. Businesses are adopting digital transformation as their core strategy to augment revenues and overall profit margins. According to Statista, the overall transaction value in the Indian FinTech market is estimated to reach USD 137.8 billion in 2023. When looking through a global perspective, as per the data published by Statista, the overall transaction value in the global FinTech market is predicted to reach USD 9.82 trillion in 2023. There are several benefits, such as gaining useful insights from existing data and improving financial risk management, for companies that employ automation in their daily operations.

After adopting digital transformation, companies report an increase in speed, accuracy, and reduction in operational cost. Additionally, automation has also improved the efficiency of business processes that previously require manual interaction and has enhanced customer experience. In today’s competitive world, the roles of people involved in finance and accounting are evolving and require significant investment in technology adoption to stay profitable in the long run. Moreover, the changing needs of consumers and their rising expectations can force any organization to rethink their business models and to start offering their services through digital platforms.

Automation: A solution to put valuable resources into better tasks: Most finance and accounting professionals are tied up with the tedious operational tasks and rarely get time to focus on value-adding activities. There is an increasing necessity for organizations to automate such time-consuming processes, giving finance personnel adequate time to provide analytical insights. Automation, along with cutting-edge predictive algorithms, allows professionals to look into the future and put businesses into the path to success.

It has been shown that leading world-class companies are employing automation in finance and accounting departments, putting their workforce to value-adding activities. In their journey of digitization, they’re starting with finance and accounting processes to get things done faster and more accurately. Automation, in combination with other new technologies like artificial intelligence/machine learning (AI/ML), robotic process automation (RPA), and data analytics, opens more possibilities for businesses to explore.

How Can Small Businesses Reduce the Impact Of Coronavirus On Their Cash Flow

21 May 2020

Small businesses have been severely hit and are struggling to get through the difficulties posed by the coronavirus outbreak. Although the government has taken various measures to provide relief for small businesses facing economic disruption, many are already witnessing a rough impact on their operations and decline in cash flows.

Due to the panic among consumers to stock up on essential supplies, many businesses find themselves hurrying to restock. The smaller businesses are, the greater their problems relating to cash flow.

To maintain a stable supply of goods and services, small businesses need to manage their cash flow effectively. They need to maintain liquidity at surplus levels, especially due to the large demand shock caused by panic-buying among consumers. The lack of effective cash flow management means businesses being unable to pay their suppliers, incapable of meeting their immediate needs, and even going bankrupt.

During these uncertain times, predicting cash flow is more important than ever and also more difficult. When you have exhausted all your credit limits through loans and cards, you might have to face the inevitable of closing down your business. Accounting software can help small businesses to efficiently manage their finances and take control of expenses. Moreover, it allows you to stay updated on your stock levels and get better visibility on where your money is going.

Apart from sending invoices to your customers, for effective cash flow management, you need to maintain an accurate record of all the transactions. This allows you to stay updated on how your business is doing in near real-time. Also, maintain a healthy balance when chasing invoices so as not to stifle the incoming of new clients while also not being overly easygoing.

TDS, TCS rates cut by 25% – What does it mean for taxpayers?

13 May 2020

While there was an expectation of a higher rate of reduction, the longer period of reduction till 31st March 2021 balances the slightly lower rate. The extension of due dates of various compliances provides additional relief given the practical difficulty in undertaking compliances.

The Finance Minister announced various tax-related measures in her press conference today. She said that the rates of TCS for specified receipts and TDS for non-salaried specified payments made to residents will be reduced by 25 per cent, which will provide more funds at the disposal of individuals and companies.

The reduced TDS and TCS rates will be valid until 31st March 2021. The government said Rs 50,000 crore of liquidity will be introduced by reducing the TDS and TCS rates for certain payments by non-individuals.

Experts believe the reduction in TDS and TCS rates will have a massive positive impact in cash flow for deductor and deductee for the specific payments.

Kapil Rana, Founder and Chairman, HostBooks Ltd, says, “During lockdown business activities are not happening, cash flow is the biggest issue and taxpayers were well aware that they will default in time-bound tax compliances and would end-up up paying huge tax penalties and interests. Extending the due dates for various time-bound activities will allow them to be tax compliant and saving huge penalties and interest burden.”

Vikram Doshi, Partner Tax and Regulatory, PwC India, says, “The immediate reduction of TDS rate by 25 per cent is a direct and practical measure to increase liquidity in the system. While there was an expectation of a higher rate of reduction, the longer period of reduction till 31st March 2021 balances the slightly lower rate. The extension of due dates of various compliances provides additional relief given the practical difficulty in undertaking compliances.”

Major change in Provident Fund rule! EPF contribution rate cut from 12 pct to 10 pct

13 May 2020

The government has announced several measures for employees on Wednesday evening giving them some relief during the coronavirus crisis. Probably, the most important announcement came in the form of benefits announced for members of Employees' Provident Fund (EPF).

The government has announced several measures for employees on Wednesday evening giving them some relief during the coronavirus crisis. Probably, the most important announcement came in the form of benefits announced for members of Employees' Provident Fund (EPF). The finance minister informed that those earning a basic salary of more than Rs 15,000 a month can opt to pay 10 per cent instead of the mandatory 12 per cent contribution towards PF for the next 3 months.

Currently, all the employees are required to pay 12 per cent of the monthly pay towards provident fund, with an option to enhance it to up to 100 per cent of the basic pay. The contribution above the designated 12 per cent is called voluntary provident fund (VPF).

"Provident contribution is calculated at 12% of basic wages + dearness allowance + retaining allowance. The announcement on provident fund reliefs is a positive one. The percentage of PF contribution has been reduced to 10%,” Pooja Ramchandani, Partner, Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co said, while explaining that prior to this, the 10 per cent rate was applicable to establishments with less than 20 employees, sick industries, establishments where losses exceed net worth, jute, beedi, brick, coir and gum industries.

“This change will be beneficial for both employer and employees. The decrease in the rate of contribution will reduce employer's financial outlay and conserve cash flow to some extent. For the employees it will increase their take home salary enabling liquidity in their hands - however, this could be coupled with a tax impact for the employees as this additional take home will be deemed to be income. Further the additional 3 months extension of contribution by the government for small industries is an added bolster to weather the storm,” she said.

Covid-19 Crisis: Will your tax liability go up with no reimbursement or salary getting deferred?

13 May 2020

Many components of tax optimized pay structure might not be suitable or justifiable, because of which people have to move to the liner and simple structures, which will obviously impact the tax liability.

Lots of people are facing salary cuts, salary delays, retrenchment, layoffs, leave without pay, and partial deferred payout, etc. amidst the COVID-19 crisis. Abhishek Rastogi, Partner, Khaitan & Co, says, “Companies that are most affected belong to the MSME sector or those companies with heavy bank loans with no incoming funds. Hence, these salary cuts are inevitable.” Additionally, there are people who have the element of reimbursements in their salary structure but, since they are not going out, they can’t claim entertainment or transport allowances.

During this lockdown, most organizations have been non-functional or are working from remote places. Experts believe post lockdown, organizations will have to operate with the limited on-premises workforce and the rest will continue working from home or remote places. Therefore, people will not be able to claim reimbursements, which are part of their pay structure, and will have to look case to case basis on how to manage this. Kapil Rana, Founder, and Chairman, HostBooks, says, “We all have adopted, implemented, or have kept it as an option of tax optimized payment structure to save on tax liabilities.”

Will tax liability go up due to no claim on reimbursements? : Experts say many components of tax optimized pay structure might not be suitable or justifiable, because of which people have to move to the liner and simple structures, which will obviously impact the tax liability. Rana says, “Keep in mind the whole calculation will depend on how much gross salary is paid to the employee. Moreover, there are 8 months yet to go for this financial year, hence, people will have ample time to do their tax planning.”

Chartered accountants shifting to cloud tech for tax, GST filing due to lockdown

12 May 2020

The coronavirus-induced lockdown is changing the way chartered accountants (CAs) do their business of filing income tax returns, GST returns and fulfilling other compliances. Tax filing and investment portal ClearTax has recorded a 30% jump in adoption of its cloud-based platforms for CA firms.

"In the current situation, neither chartered accountants are able to go to their offices nor can they get documents collected from their clients. This has led to a change in trend. CAs can from anywhere and at anytime using cloud-based fintech softwares," Archit Gupta, Founder and CEO, ClearTax, said.

Even the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) has recommended its members to use cloud-based compliance tools. Earlier this year, another fintech operator HostBooks signed an agreement with ICAI to encourage the use of technology and automation among CAs.

"Covid-19 has changed the way of doing business and professionals like CA’s are not out of that zone. Prior to this pandemic, most of the small and medium CA firms were not putting efforts to make their office digitized or adopt new emerging technology solutions. They were reliant on traditional locational & device-dependent desktop-based manual accounting system and the data was always lying on their premises as they were used to it for a long time," Kapil Rana, Founder and Chairman, HostBooks Limited, said.

HostBooks has also observed a significant increase in users for their cloud-based all-in-one accounting and compliance system.

Pre-packaged resolution plan to help expedite insolvency process: Experts

10 May 2020

As part of efforts to fast-track processing of cases, the government has been mulling introduction of the provision for pre-packaged (pre-pack) corporate insolvency resolution plan wherein a restructuring plan would be agreed upon in advance between the company and its creditors.

Pre-packaged corporate insolvency resolution plan will help expedite resolution process for stressed assets as well as reduce the number of insolvency-related cases before the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), according to experts. The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) provides for a time-bound and market-linked resolution framework. An insolvency resolution has to be approved by NCLT.

As part of efforts to fast-track processing of cases, the government has been mulling introduction of the provision for pre-packaged (pre-pack) corporate insolvency resolution plan wherein a restructuring plan would be agreed upon in advance between the company and its creditors.

Last year, the corporate affairs ministry sought comments on pre-packaged resolution plans but a final decision on the provision is awaited.

"Pre-pack process will cut short time spent at the NCLT, and the consequent delay in implementation of a workable resolution plan.

"If a pre-pack is properly implemented and the court intervention is reduced, it is likely to bring efficiency in the resolution process and in turn have a positive effect on the value maximisation for the creditors," Punit Dutt Tyagi, Executive Partner at Lakshmikumaran & Sridharan Attorneys said.

Under the pre-packaged process, he said main stakeholders like creditors, shareholders and the existing management/ promoter can come together to identify a prospective buyer and negotiate terms of a resolution plan, before submitting it to NCLT for formal approval.

Coronavirus impact: Chartered accountants, small business houses shift to cloud accounting softwares

30 Apr 2020

Lockdown was announced at a very tricky time for businesses, chartered accountants, small and medium enterprises of the country.

Coming into effect from March 25, just 6 days before the end of the financial year and with the beginning of the new year, from April, it meant closing all the books, filing of various returns, be it the income tax compliances or the goods and services tax compliances, all needed to be done. Thus, leading to a huge pressure for them.

Though the government has given various deadline extensions, but prolonged lockdown has made it necessary for the businesses, chartered accountants, small and medium enterprises to shift to advanced accounting softwares that help them connect with their clients, buyers, sellers to collate the data, transaction details and a lot more to meet these needs to the best.

These businesses, chartered accountants, small and medium enterprises are now slowly shifting to new tools to comply with their clients and collaborate with their teams effectively.

Thus, making this need to be addressed at the earliest through best possible solutions to be secure and easy to manage.

To help them strengthen their understanding and knowledge of taxes and compliance several new tools are making entry replacing the traditional accounting methods like Bhaikhatas, age old -data entry systems.

Many start-ups and existing accounting tool providers are innovating new software products to cater to this urgent need.

Covid-19 update: Customs hearings to be held via video conference

29 Apr 2020

According to the guidelines, the new system would also facilitate importers, exporters, passengers, advocates, tax practitioners and authorised representatives to maintain social distancing while performing their work at ease, from a place of their choice.

The Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) has issued detailed guidelines for its offices to conduct hearings on customs related matters via video conference (VC) with the consent of the appellant or respondent to ensure speedy disposal of cases while observing social distancing norms to check the spread of Covid-19.

“With an aim to create a virtual Customs working environment, ensuring #SocialDistancing, reduce physical presence & usage of ICT systems, CBIC issues guidelines for conduct of personal hearings in virtual mode under Customs Act, 1962,” CBIC tweeted on Tuesday.

According to the guidelines, the new system would also facilitate importers, exporters, passengers, advocates, tax practitioners and authorised representatives to maintain social distancing while performing their work at ease, from a place of their choice.

Persons participating in video conference should also be appropriately dressed and maintain the required decorum, the guidelines said.

The guidelines are part of the government’s ongoing reforms -- ‘turant’ (instant) customs -- such as online query module, eSanchit, web based goods registration, electronic processing of licenses, machine release of imported goods based on customs compliance verification and electronic transmission of PDF-based first copy of bill of entry (BoE) to customs brokers and registered importers, a finance ministry official said requesting anonymity.

Government tightens rights issue pricing norms for non-resident Indians

29 Apr 2020

The government has tightened the rights issue pricing norms for non-resident Indians (NRIs) by disallowing acquisition of renounced shares below the fair market value.

In a notification issued under the Foreign Exchange Management Act (Fema) regulations, the Centre said: “A person resident outside India who has acquired a right from a person resident in India who has renounced it may acquire equity instruments (other than share warrants) against the said rights as per pricing guidelines.”

Experts said the notification provides much-needed clarity on the “acquisition after renunciation of rights” by NRIs. They said the rules will help curb market manipulation and money laundering, which could take place during the transfer of shares between residents and NRIs.

“The government has clarified that NRIs acquiring renounced shares cannot take the benefit of the free-pricing regime applicable to rights issue. While this is an important fix, Sebi should consider relaxing the floor-pricing regime for all companies and only in distress situations. It should move away from a 26-week look back and keep it only a 2-week look back test,” said Atul Pandey, partner, Khiatan & Co.

Central Board of Indirect Taxes allows video conferencing for personal hearings under Customs Act

28 Apr 2020

Experts said that the move would help the department transition into the new work culture while also helping in clearing a number of pending cases and also the cases like countervailing duty refund, custom duty refund and other refunds.

Central Board of Indirect Taxes has allowed video conferencing for personal hearings under Customs Act, besides allowing submission of documents through emails, adopting a digital way of working amid the Covid 19 outbreak.

The Board’s judicial cell issued an instruction on April 27, which laid out guidelines to be used by parties and officials for conducting the virtual hearings, including requirement of secure computer network and applications like VIDYO, exchanging e-mail records of personal hearings and admitting submissions of scanned self-attested documents.

Experts said that the move would help the department transition into the new work culture while also helping in clearing a number of pending cases and also the cases like countervailing duty refund, custom duty refund and other refunds.

“Transitioning from traditional personal hearing to technology driven digital hearings by embracing new communication channels shows the Government’s nimble footed approach during these challenging times.” said Harpreet Singh, Partner, KPMG India.

How to successfully manage cash flow in business?

18 Apr 2020

For long-term sustainability, businesses need to manage cash flow effectively by monitoring their cash flow statements on a monthly or even weekly basis. In case of a small or mid-sized business, cash flow is an important factor to determine whether it will succeed or not. In general, more than half of SMEs don't survive longer than five years and poor cash flow is one of the major contributing factors in that.

Cash flow management helps you to stay updated about the money coming in and going out of your business. Put simply, if you are spending more than what you earn; you will probably have to borrow money to keep your business running.

The cash flow problem is not just limited to businesses starting up; well-established one can also be hit if they are not prepared. Even if you are edging into such an issue, during the current crisis, it is always better to spend time to improve your cash flow. This might also improve the chances of survival and the overall efficiency of your business. If the amount of cash coming in is not somewhat similar or greater than the cash going out, businesses can end up being bankrupted, even a profitable one. Without good cash management practice, profits are meaningless and continuity can be challenging, especially in this competitive market. Now, let's dive into some of the steps that you can take as a business owner to improve your cash flow.

Regularly monitor your cash flow: If you are only focused on growing your business, you may eventually run into the cash-flow problem. Hence, along with your plan for growth, you should also stay on top of your cash flow. Several online accounting software makes it easier to generate reports, reconcile accounts, and more from wherever you are. Apart from helping you to plan for cash outlays in advance, it can also help you to be prepared for new expenses as you grow.