"There are many things that seem impossible only so long as one does not attempt them." - André Gide, Autumn Laeaves
Friends, as I sit across in my study, wondering as to when we all, will get rid of this unthinkable & unkind misery of corona pandemic, my reflections are penning down themselves and my memories are taking me back to 10 years ago when I appeared before the Hon'ble Authority for Advance Rulings (AAR) for the first time.
We were representing a big & reputed power distribution government discom, a CPSE, on the issue of MAT additions before the Hon’ble Authority for Advance Rulings (AAR). Our appointed Senior Counsel, has already taken 3 adjournments before & for this 4th time also he has informed us to take the adjournment.
As a coercive recovery measure, the bank a/c of the discom with substantial funds was already seized by the Revenue Authorities. I was entrusted with the responsibility of seeking adjournment for this fourth time. Actually, I myself have prepared all the written submissions & the supporting paper book so was fully conversant & comfortable with the facts of the case & the legal jurisprudence. Still my job was to simply take an adjournment on that day, so I appeared before the Hon'ble Chairman of AAR, who happens to be a retired Supreme Court judge.
When the hearing started, I furnished our adjournment application & politely requested for the adjournment. The hon'ble Chairman Judge Sir, cursorily went through the case file & within a flash of seconds thundered that already 3 adjournments were being granted earlier so no more adjournments will be granted. The only option given was to either argue the case or let it be adjudicated & decided upon based on the available records.
God knows, what prompted me at that moment, but I confidently answered that I will argue the case. To this, the hon'ble Chairman Judge Sir, glanced at me & asked me, "Are You Sure Young Boy?" To this I confidently replied with a Yes, and went ahead with the arguements of the case. As I have myself prepared the Paper Book Submissions, I was comfortable & confident about the facts & legal propositions of the case, so I argued quite naturally & smoothly.
My primary arguement was concerning the non-applicability of MAT provisions u/s 115JB to a power sector company, because the power sector companies are required to prepare their financial statements including the profit & loss a/c in a specified manner & format as stipulated by their Governing Act, The Electricity Regulation Act, and not in accordance with Schedule VI of the Companies Act. Also their Profit & Loss account is to be prepared in the manner as stipulated in the Electricity Regulation Act and not in accordance with Schedule VI of the Companies Act. But as per section 115JB(2), the book profits for the purpose of Computation of MAT are to be arrived at as per the P&L a/c prepared in accordance with the Companies Act. So I argued that as the Computation provisions i.e. the calculation of Book profit for MAT purpose was not possible for a Power Sector company, so the charging section will also fail to apply. I also contested the additions to Book Profits for MAT.
The Hon'ble Chairman Judge Sir listened to all my arguements very patiently & carefully. The DR of the Income Tax Dept put forth his arguments from the department side.
To my pleasant surprise, the Ruling came in our favour and also lead to an amendment in the Income-tax Act itself thereby allowing the Power Sector Companies to compute their Book Profits for the purpose of MAT either on the basis of the Electricity Regulatory Act or as per the Companies Act.
The encouraging result in the AAR Representation has done wonders to my confidence level and now there was no looking back. I started representing our big and reputed clients in ITAT and AAR more often and with the Almighty’s blessings the success ratio has almost been 100%.
Journey as an Author
My journey as an Author started when our application for reconsideration of a prosecution action u/s 276B of the Income Tax Act, in one of our client’s case, was rejected by the Revenue Authorities.
In this case, the prosecution action u/s 276B was launched even for a minor default of a little delay in deposition of TDS and it was this injustice, which inspired me to pen down my first article on the need for review of the draconian provisions of prosecution u/s 276B and this first article of mine got published in all the reputed Tax Websites like CAClubindia.com, Taxmann.com, Taxguru.in, & Itatonline.org and the number of views and likes crossed 20,000.
This encouraging response to my first article made me realize the power of my writing ability. So, I started penning down my real-life experiences and representations in my tax practice, in the form of articles and blogs and all of these articles and blogs (now more than 60 in number) have been published in the above-mentioned reputed Tax Websites and journals.
It was perhaps this encouraging response to my published articles by the readers, that made the concerned authorities/editors in the reputed and established Taxmann Publications, to approach me for writing down a professional book on any topic of my liking.
Our Hon’ble PM Sh. Narendra Modi have launched a new platform for transparent taxation and the major thrust of this platform is on three pioneering tax reforms viz. Faceless Assessments, Faceless Appeals & the Taxpayer’s Charter.
So, these two new tax reforms of faceless assessments & faceless appeals were a natural choice for me to pen down a Book. Though my friends and colleagues have warned me about the choice of my topic and the fact that there was not enough material available in the public domain to write a full-fledged book on this topic, but nonetheless I sticked to my conviction and immersed myself fully in doing justice to the Book.
It took me full three months of toiling and numerous sleepless nights to bring out a good, informative and practically useful Book on this new topic, and with God’s grace and blessings, this first professional Book of mine titled “Faceless Assessment & Appeals Ready Reckoner with Real-time Case Studies”, with Taxmann Publications has become a best-seller in Tax Laws.
My journey as an Author is still continuing with more than 60 published articles and blogs on Income Tax, GST, IBC, PF, ESI, FEMA & Corporate Laws, and 4 widely acknowledged and critically acclaimed Professional Books, with Taxmann Publications.
I have always believed that,
"व्यये कृते वर्धते नित्यं | विद्या धनं सर्वे धनं प्रधानम् ||”
Knowledge multiplies manifold by sharing. It is a supreme form of wealth.
It is this underlying belief that inspires me to work continuously & tirelessly towards the collective wisdom of all of us and to pen down authentic, informative & practically useful articles/taxalogues on tax & corporate laws.
My passion in the form of my start-up TaxAaram.com is also towards furtherance of my penultimate objective of sharing knowledge & empowering young professionals. I am proud of my sincere & committed efforts so far, and with the blessings of the Almighty & love of you all, I will continue to work tirelessly and selflessly towards this end.
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