Tax Audit Update

 Tax Audit Update;

       I.            Tax Audit Report Due on 30th September, Not 31st October - Delay Can Cost Rs 1.5 Lakh. The Two Separate Deadlines for AY 2026-27:

1.  Tax Audit Report (Form 3CA / 3CB - 3CD) - Due Date: 30th September 2026
2.  Income Tax Return for Audit Cases - Due Date: 31st October 2026

    II.            Who is Liable for Tax Audit Under Section 44AB:
1.  Business: Turnover exceeds Rs 1 crore in FY 2025-26
2.  Business with Higher Threshold: Limit rises to Rs 10 crore if cash receipts and cash payments each do not exceed 5% of total receipts and payments
3.  Profession: Gross receipts exceed Rs 50 lakh
4.  Presumptive Scheme Cases: Persons covered under Section 44AD, 44ADA, 44AE who do not comply with scheme conditions

 III.            Penalty for Missing Tax Audit Report:
As per Section 271B, failure to get accounts audited or furnish report on time attracts penalty of 0.5% of total sales / turnover / gross receipts or Rs 1,50,000 whichever is lower.

 IV.            ICAI Caps Tax Audits at 60 Per CA From FY 2026-27 - No Sharing of Limit Between Partners. From 1st April 2026, the limit of 60 tax audit assignments will be reckoned strictly on a financial year basis. This is as per the Chartered Accountants (Limit on Number of Tax Audits) Guidelines, 2025, notified on 25th July 2025 and effective from FY 2026-27.

1. Overall Ceiling Per Member: The limit of 60 is the aggregate ceiling for an individual member. It includes all audits signed as proprietor and / or as partner of a firm(s). An individual member cannot sign more than 60 tax audit reports in a financial year.

2. No Proxy Signing: A partner of a firm cannot sign any tax audit report on behalf of any other partner. The practice of using quota of junior partners by senior partners will be stopped.

3. Limit Cannot Be Shared: The limit per partner in a CA firm cannot be distributed or shared between partners. If a firm has 4 partners, the firm limit is 240, but no single partner can sign more than 60.

4. Applicable Forms: The ceiling applies only to specified sub-categories under GST and Tax Audit for UDIN generation - Form 3CA and Form 3CB under Section 44AB(a), 44AB(b) and Combined Form 3CB under Section 44AB.

5. Computation Basis: The limit is computed based on the date of signing of the Tax Audit Report, not the date of UDIN generation. The UDIN system will aggregate audits done in individual capacity and across firms.

    V.            What is Excluded From the 60 Limit:
1. Tax audits under Section 44AB(c), (d) and (e) - related to persons covered under presumptive schemes Section 44AE, 44ADA and 44AD.
2. Revised tax audit reports will not be counted as a separate assignment.
3. Head office and branch audits of the same assessee for the same assessment year will be treated as one assignment.

 VI.            Why This Change:
1. To ensure quality of tax audit and prevent overload
2. To curb concentration of work with few senior partners
3. To stop malpractices and forgery - ICAI stated UDIN gives full control
4. To promote equitable distribution of professional opportunities.

Source CA.(Dr.)Raj Chawla

EMPLOYEES PROVIDENT FUND-UPDATE

 EPFO Update;

1. The Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has approved the proposal of the Ministry of Labour & Employment to enhance the statutory wage ceiling for mandatory coverage under the Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) from Rs 15,000 to Rs 25,000 per month.

2. The decision was announced by Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on September 16, 2026. The revised ceiling will be effective from September 17, 2026, coinciding with Vishwakarma Jayanti.

3. This is the first revision in 12 years. The ceiling was last revised in September 2014 from Rs 6,500 to Rs 15,000.

4. Key Highlights of the Cabinet Decision

•  Threshold Revision:The mandatory wage threshold for EPF coverage moves from Rs 15,000 to Rs 25,000 per month. The average salary in private establishments is now approximately Rs 23,000 as per government survey.

5.  Massive Coverage Expansion: Over 51 lakh additional employees earning between Rs 15,000 and Rs 25,000 will now be brought under mandatory statutory coverage.

6.  Three-Fold Social Security Benefits: Newly covered employees will be entitled to:

•      EPF – Mandatory retirement savings with interest
•     EPS – Pension protection under Employees' Pension Scheme
•      EDLI – Life insurance protection up to applicable limits linked to PF membership

7.  Financial Implication: The annual Government outgo is estimated at Rs 11,339 crore against the existing Rs 10,250 crore. The total estimated expenditure over five years is Rs 56,696 crore.

8. Impact on Employers and HR Compliance

•  Mandatory Enrolment: Employees joining with wages up to Rs 25,000 can no longer be classified as excluded employees. Statutory enrolment will be mandatory once EPFO notifies.
  
  
• Cost Impact: Employer contribution will increase by approximately Rs 600 per employee per month in the Rs 15,000-25,000 bracket. This includes employer PF share, EDLI and admin charges. EPS contribution will also increase proportionally.
  
  
•  Payroll and CTC Restructuring: Employers will need to update salary structures, CTC breakdowns, payroll software and compliance checklists. The government has clarified that employer PF contribution cannot be deducted from employee salary to offset costs.
  
  
• Voluntary Coverage: Employees earning above Rs 25,000 can continue to contribute voluntarily.

9. The Ministry of Labour & Employment and EPFO will shortly issue the detailed notification and operational guidelines regarding implementation and administrative procedures.

IDFC FIRST Bank has mobilised approximately $3.57 billion (around ₹33,975 crore) from Non-Resident Indian (NRI) customers through the Reserve Bank of India's FCNR(B) swap window.

 

Key Deposit Details

• Deposit Share: The mobilised funds account for nearly 11% of the bank's overall deposit base.
• FCNR(B) Window: This growth was driven by special foreign currency non-resident swap facilities that offer competitive returns.
• Tax Benefits: Interest earned on FCNR and NRE deposits remains tax-free in India.

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WhatsApp launches bill payments in India to tap into country's UPI craze ;-The Economic Times

 WhatsApp launched bill payments in India on September 3, 2026. This feature allows users to pay household and utility bills directly within the app. The service is powered by the Bharat Bill Payment System network. Users can access over 22,000 billers across 30 categories for payments. Meta India aims to make bill payments as effortless as sending a message.

Whatsapp on Sep 3, 2026 launched Bill payments in India, a move that positions the messaging platform to capture a larger share of the country's booming digital payments ecosystem.The launch comes days after data released by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) showed UPI processing hit a record high in August 2026, with transactions rising to 24.51 billion, up 3.6 per cent from July, while transaction value stood at Rs 29.82 lakh crore.

India’s $100-billion GCC boom runs into an engineer talent puzzle :-The Economic Times

 

Synopsis

India's Global Capability Centres sector is rapidly expanding and generating significant revenue. However, a substantial gap exists between engineering graduates and job-ready talent. Companies are investing heavily in upskilling and reskilling existing employees to meet demand. Apprenticeship programs and exploring tier-two cities are also key strategies. Closer industry-academia collaboration is vital for future talent pipeline development.

India is home to more than half of the world's Global Capability Centres (GCCs)—a sector generating $100 billion in annual revenue, with over 2,100 centres employing 23 lakh professionals directly. Speaking in July, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said India's ambition of building an ecosystem capable of supporting around 5,000 GCCs by 2030 was “realistic and achievable.”

But sustaining that expansion will depend on whether India can build an engineering talent pipeline with the specialised, industry-ready skills GCCs increasingly need.

On paper, the talent pool looks large. India produces 1.5 million engineering graduates every year, but only 25% to 30% are considered job-ready for GCCs and capable of contributing from day one, according to data shared with ET Online by TeamLease Digital.

CAS chaos returns: Sensex puts explode up to 400% as fag-end slide jolts traders :-The Economic Times

 

Sensex put options shot up sharply on Thursday as another late-session swing during the closing auction session rattled expiry-day traders, bringing back concerns over volatility in the cash market close. The Sensex was around 76,510 at 3:17 pm, but slipped to nearly 74,373 by 3:20 pm, a fall of more than 2,100 points in just three minutes. The move came during expiry day, when option prices are highly sensitive to sudden changes in the underlying index.

The sharp drop triggered a massive spike in out-of-the-money put options. The 76,600 put option jumped from Rs 102 to Rs 446, a gain of nearly 335%. The 76,500 put rose from Rs 71 to Rs 346, up about 350%, while the 76,400 put moved from Rs 45 to Rs 246, a surge of around 446%. The 76,300 put climbed from Rs 31 to Rs 146, gaining nearly 370%.

Read more at:
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/markets/stocks/news/cas-chaos-returns-sensex-puts-explode-up-to-400-as-fag-end-slide-jolts-traders/articleshow/133735783.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst

CORPORATE COMEDY OF ERRORS-CASE OF SUBHASH CHANDRA

 Three-Way Judicial Split (Procedural Farce)

The NCLT’s internal handling of this case played out like a corporate comedy of errors. The tribunal failed to perform basic math on its own benches, resulting in zero legal consensus: 

1.    Member 1 (Judicial): Approved the ₹6.25 crore repayment plan but ruled that dissenting creditors (like LIC Housing Finance and HDFC) could still independently go after Chandra outside the IBC. 

2.    Member 2 (Technical): Completely rejected the plan, calling out the absurdity of the recovery rate. 

3.    Member 3 (The Tie-Breaker): Because of the split, a third member (Nilesh Sharma) was brought in on August 25, 2026. He approved the plan but ruled that under Section 115, it extinguished the rights of all creditors completely, forcing a 99% loss on everyone.

The Administrative Failure: When the case went back to the original bench to finalize the order, they realized that because Member 3 wrote a completely new independent opinion instead of simply breaking the tie between Member 1 and Member 2, no legal majority existed. Three judges had written three entirely conflicting interpretations of the law. 

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🔍 The Voting Share Loophole: The Real Scandal

The IBC requires a 75% voting approval from creditors to pass a personal repayment plan.

·         The Related-Party Mirage: Lenders went to the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) alleging that five shadow entities linked directly to Chandra's own associates held 61.78% of the total voting share. 

·        The Manipulation: By using these allegedly friendly corporate layers, the promoter group effectively controlled the creditor committee, outvoted the public financial institutions (like LIC Housing Finance, which held 6.09%), and voted to accept their own microscopic ₹6.25 crore settlement.

Public sector banks and institutions stood to recover virtually nothing—for instance, LIC Housing Finance's ₹1,322 crore claim was set to be settled for just ₹38.09 lakh (a 0.028% recovery). 

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📊 Systemic Breakdown: Personal Guarantees Devalued

This case completely breaks the foundational promise of why personal guarantees were brought under the IBC framework in the first place:

Intended Legal Form (What IBC Promised)	Economic Substance (The Chandra Reality)
Promoter Accountability: If a corporate empire defaults, the promoter's personal global wealth is on the line to deter reckless borrowing.	Asset Insulation: The promoter claims a personal estate worth only a few crores, while the vast wealth sits insulated in multi-layered family trusts and offshore structures.
Democratic Creditor Control: True commercial lenders decide whether to accept a haircut or liquidate the promoter.	Committee Sabotage: Associated entities infiltrate the voting pool, creating a circular loop where the debtor approves his own exit plan.

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🚨 The Current Status: A Complete Freeze

Because the public backlash and the institutional panic were so severe, the NCLT President stepped in to stop the bleeding.

A newly formed five-member Special Bench issued a major intervention: 

·         They stayed the operation of the controversial August 25 settlement order.

·         They barred Subhash Chandra from selling, transferring, or alienating any of his properties directly or indirectly.

·         The entire personal insolvency case is now being re-examined completely afresh.

It shows that when the legal form (the literal text of the IBC voting thresholds) is strictly followed without checking the economic substance (who actually controls those voting creditors), the law becomes a weapon to wipe out public wealth.

Gemini

India’s Q1 GDP growth quickens to 7.8% as consumption, capex offset US-Iran war shock :-The Economic Times Aug 31,2026

 

India's gross domestic product (GDP) quickened to 7.8% in the first quarter of FY27, up from revised 6.9% in the same quarter last year, as resilient consumption and exports coupled with robust government capex defied supply chain disruptions and inflated commodity prices triggered by the US-Iran war.

India’s April-June quarter GDP number was slower than the revised 8.6% growth in the previous three months.

Gross value added, a measure of economic activity that excludes taxes and subsidies, grew at 8.2% in real terms, up from 7.1% in the corresponding period last fiscal. Meanwhile, Nominal GVA growth stood at 11.5% for Q1 in real terms.

VALIDITY OF NON JUDICIAL STAMP PAPER IN INDIA

 

Non-judicial stamp papers in India have perpetual validity and do not expire under the Indian Stamp Act, 1899, meaning an old or unused stamp paper can legally be used years after purchase.

Key Rules on Validity

• No Expiry Date: The Supreme Court of India confirmed in Thiruvengadam Pillai v. Navaneethammal that the law prescribes no expiration period for using a purchased stamp paper. 
• The 6-Month Refund Rule: Section 54 of the Act allows you to return unused stamp paper to the Collector within six months for a refund (minus a small fee), but this timeline applies only to refunds, not to the actual use or execution of a document. 
• Adequate Stamp Duty: The value of the stamp paper must match the current state-mandated stamp duty requirements for your specific agreement or transaction. 
• Genuineness Matters: While old stamp papers remain legal, courts may closely examine older documents for authenticity if a dispute arises. 

Haryana State

In Haryana, non-judicial stamp papers follow the standard provisions of the Indian Stamp Act, 1899, meaning they have perpetual validity and do not expire for the purpose of executing a document. 

However, Haryana has shifted heavily toward digital systems and has specific rules you must follow to ensure your transaction is legally valid:

1. Mandatory e-Stamping System

• Digital Transition: The Haryana government has made e-Stamping mandatory for all denominations of non-judicial stamp papers across the entire state. 
• Physical Stamp Limit: Traditional, pre-printed physical stamp papers are phased out for high-value transactions. Registered stamp vendors are only allowed to generate or sell physical stamp papers or Special Adhesive Stamps (SAS) for small denominations up to ₹100. [
• How to Buy: For any values above ₹100, you must buy an e-Stamp online via the state's official e-GRAS Portal or through authorized platforms like eStamper or eDrafter. 

2. Legal Validity Rules in Haryana

• The 6-Month Rule: The 6-month window defined under Section 54 is strictly a refund limitation. If you buy an e-Stamp in Haryana and your deal falls through, you must return it to the Collector of Stamps within 6 months to claim a monetary refund. 
• Delayed Execution Risk: If you hold onto an unused e-Stamp or physical stamp paper for more than 6 months or a year before executing an agreement, Haryana courts and sub-registrars may heavily scrutinize the document to check for backdating or fraud. It is legally safest to execute your document shortly after purchasing the stamp. 
• Old Stamp Paper Policy: The Haryana government permits the use of older physical stamp papers (even those purchased before 2014) provided they are completely valid, blank, un-spoilt, and pass the Revenue Department's official Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) verification. 

Common Stamp Duty Values in Haryana

To ensure your document is legally valid, the stamp paper must be of the correct state-mandated value: 

• Affidavit: ₹10
• General Power of Attorney (GPA): ₹300
• General Agreement / Loan Agreement: ₹100
• Property Sale Deed (Urban): 7% for men, 5% for women