GJM & Co.

What is Tax Audit? – Untangling the Mystery   A lot of new age businessmen or entrepreneurs have this curiosity often as to what is tax audit.   It’s a term that often worries young start-ups and they are concerned about its applicability when growing a business.   The fact is that the income tax rules in India circling tax audit are complex indeed and that is the reason even some seasoned business owners fail to till date to understand its applicability.   In this article however we shall try to untangle and simplify the answer to today’s question.   We shall also discuss about its objectives, its applicability and consequence to failure in completing the same, if applicable. Before we go into – What is tax audit? Let’s understand what an audit is in general with respect to business finances and financials.   Dictionary wise an audit is an official inspection of an organization’s accounts which is summarized, commented and opined upon through a report,...

How to form a Private Limited Company in India? As new ideas to do business keep emerging, the importance of having the right form of business entity becomes a crucial element prior to initiating any commercial activity.  Indian laws offer a wide and complex variety of vehicles to do business like Sole-proprietorships, Hindu undivided families (HUF), Partnerships, Limited liability partnerships, Private limited companies and Public limited companies.  The choice of your business entity form depends on the volume, scale, complexities and parties involved and one must do a thorough analysis beforehand to determine the choice to be opted for as changing business entity form of an ongoing business at later stages, although doable, can be cumbersome.  It is best to consult a Chartered Accountant firm and discuss your business plans to help arrive at the right decision. In today’s article, we shall deal briefly with the formational aspects of a Private limited company in India...

  GST on Rental Property – A Quick guide!   Goods & Service Tax implementation in India has crafted a new way to collect indirect taxes from various industries.   The rental industry, is a common income source for many individuals, families or business houses for decades.   In this article, we shall try to simplify the implication of GST on commercial and residential properties. Pre-GST Era: So before GST came into picture, India had the Service tax regime and accordingly Commercial properties would attract 15% Service tax if the landlord’s total receipts from all his let out properties exceeded Rs 10 Lakhs (Rs 1 Million). Service tax was not applicable to residential properties let out for residential purpose.   If a residential property was let out for commercial purposes (wholly or partly) or to any business entity (irrespective of how it was used) service tax would be applicable. Post GST: Well the rules haven’t changed much with GST implementati...

  Significance of Cyber Security for CPA/CA Firms With the sudden evolution of the Covid-19 virus across the globe, we have been hearing the Covid-19 era giving rise to a new normal of doing things.   As the virus continues to fan in and out, our work environment is moving towards a digital transformation.   With this, cybercrimes and vulnerabilities of cyber scenery are and will increase in times to come.   Security lapses in video conferencing tools alongside malware and ransomware attacks on digital systems have grown.   The sudden thrust towards this digitization has increased the risk for the non-seasoned computer user drastically as well.   Statistics reflect that global cost of cybercrime will be in trillions in times to come.   It is perceived as a great threat to humanity than nuclear or virus attacks.   It is imperative that CPA or CA firms should be better equipped for such cybercrimes more now than ever as its prevention is a busines...

  Are you seeking a Virtual CFO? Management of finance includes one’s business accounting, expense management, financial forecasting, budgeting, strategy, process improvements, internal controls and a lot more.   All these can be a huge challenge for a company that has prospects or is growing fast and if these are areas not addressed diligently, it can result into consequences that could derail a fortune making business. A Chief Financial Officer (CFO) for any organization is the best placed to keep strings on your business wallet than anybody else.   As a business owner, founder, director, president of your company, you would believe you have a tight grip on the finances, but it’s equally crucial to know that without the relevant financial expertise, allotting dedicated time and assuring a financial vision, you could land into a soup at some point. So the golden question arises, how do you hire a full-time CFO, when you cannot afford one?   Gaurav J Mehta , Fo...

India Tax Reforms – Transparent Taxation The Indian government since 2014 has been focussing on reforming India’s tax structure by introducing new forms of direct and indirect taxes and alleviating the way of tax filing compliances from the 70+ year old age ridden ways post-independence.   The government claims to follow its vision of minimum government and maximum governance.   This means it intends to take all steps to reduce the interference of the government in the lives and business affairs of its citizens.   For this, the government aims to make optimal utilization of technology and inject efficiency, integrity and consideration in the bureaucracy.   The thinking and approach of the entire tax system is hereby envisioned for overhaul and innovation. Today, India clocks 63 rd globally in the World Bank ranking for Ease of doing Business.   India is seeing foreign investors pouring investment as the government has boosted confidence and welcomed global ...