GST UpdatesJune 2026
Reverse Charge Mechanism Under GST: Where Businesses Still Make Errors
Under GST, the supplier ordinarily collects and deposits the tax. The Reverse Charge Mechanism, governed by Sections 9(3) and 9(4) of the CGST Act, reverses that principle and makes the recipient liable. The errors are usually procedural: paying RCM through Input Tax Credit rather than the electronic cash ledger, overlooking legal, director, and imported digital services, or treating purchases from unregistered suppliers as automatically covered under Section 9(4). Missed RCM liability rarely surfaces once; it compounds through unpaid tax and interest under Section 50, usually at audit.
TaxationMay 2026
Annual Information Statement: Check This Before Filing Your ITR for FY 2025-26
ITR filing for FY 2025-26 is now open, but the Annual Information Statement on the Income Tax portal is only complete once reporting entities file their Statement of Financial Transactions by 31 May 2026. The department already holds transaction data from banks, employers, brokers, and registrars, and any ITR that does not match it is flagged automatically under Section 143(1). Allow two to three weeks to review and reconcile the AIS before submitting.
TaxationMay 2026
Advance Tax 2026-27: First Instalment Due 15 June 2026
Advance tax is a statutory obligation under the Income-tax Act, 2025. Under Section 404, any taxpayer whose estimated liability for Tax Year 2026-27 exceeds Rs 10,000 after TDS must pay in instalments, the first falling on 15 June 2026. Interest under Sections 424 and 425, the successors to Sections 234B and 234C, runs at 1 percent per month and cannot be waived by the assessing officer.
GST UpdatesMay 2026
GSTR-1 and GSTR-3B: Why Mismatch Between These Returns Triggers GST Scrutiny
GSTR-1 reports outward supplies. GSTR-3B declares tax liability and payment. The two are not independent returns. The GST Network runs automated matching algorithms that cross-verify both returns every filing period, and where material differences arise, scrutiny follows under Section 61, with consequences cascading into Section 73, Section 74, and Rule 88C restrictions on subsequent GSTR-1 filing.
GST UpdatesMay 2026
Input Tax Credit Under GST: What Section 17(5) Blocks
GST promised seamless credit flow. Section 17(5) of the CGST Act is the statutory exception, a negative list of expenses on which ITC is permanently denied regardless of business use or a valid tax invoice. Wrongly availed and utilised ITC may attract interest at 24 percent per annum under Section 50(3), in addition to full reversal. This is not merely a filing issue; it is a direct cash exposure.
Labour LawMay 2026
Gratuity Under the Payment of Gratuity Act, 1972: What Employers Often Misunderstand
The Payment of Gratuity Act applies once an establishment employs ten or more persons, and coverage generally continues even if strength later falls below ten. The five-year service threshold, the Section 4(6) forfeiture conditions, the Rs 20 lakh ceiling, and the Section 10(10) tax treatment are routinely misapplied. Liability accrues from the first year of service, so unreviewed provisioning translates directly into understated payroll and reporting exposure.
Corporate LawMay 2026
Form DPT-3: The 30 June 2026 Deadline is Six Weeks Away
Every company registered in India, other than a government company, must file Form DPT-3 with the MCA by 30 June 2026. Director loans, shareholder loans, and customer advances outstanding beyond 365 days all trigger the filing. Provisional auditor-certified figures are permissible. The deadline does not wait for the statutory audit to close.
TaxationMay 2026
TDS Under the Income-tax Act, 2025: What Every Deductor Must Update
From 1 April 2026, all TDS deductions, returns, and certificates are governed by the Income-tax Act, 2025. The rates are unchanged, but the 194-series, return forms, certificates, and the 15G/15H declaration framework have all been replaced. Finance teams and payroll systems that have not been remapped are already filing incorrectly.
TaxationMay 2026
Presumptive Taxation Has Moved to Section 58 Under the Income-tax Act, 2025
From Tax Year 2026-27, Sections 44AD, 44ADA, and 44AE have been consolidated into a single provision: Section 58. The five-year lock-in, the treatment of non-account payee instruments as cash, and deemed depreciation each carry practical implications worth modelling before opting in.
Audit & AssuranceMay 2026
The 60 Tax Audit Cap: A Per-Partner Ceiling, Not a Per-Firm One
From 1st April 2026, no chartered accountant in practice can sign more than 60 tax audits in a financial year. The limit applies to the individual signatory, not the firm, and is now enforced through UDIN-level field validation.
TaxationMay 2026
Finance Act 2026: What Actually Changed for Corporates
The Finance Act, 2026 received Presidential assent on 30 March 2026. Five provisions, including buyback taxation, the startup turnover threshold, reassessment timelines, recovery powers, and retrospective approval validity, evolved between Bill and Act and warrant a fresh corporate review.
International TaxMay 2026
India-France DTAA Amending Protocol: What Cross-Border Groups Should Reassess
The Amending Protocol signed on 23 February 2026 removes the contested Most-Favoured-Nation clause, restructures dividend rates into a 5/15 percent tier, shifts capital gains taxation fully to the source country, narrows the FTS definition, and introduces a Service PE clause.
International TaxApril 2026
Transfer Pricing Under the Income-tax Rules 2026: What Multinational Groups Should Reassess
The new safe harbour regime raises the IT services threshold from Rs 300 crore to Rs 2,000 crore and applies a uniform 15.5 percent margin. A three-year block under Section 92CA and hard timelines for unilateral APAs reshape the assessment cycle. The mechanisms are opt-in.
TaxationApril 2026
Section 43B(h): Why Large Enterprises Can No Longer Delay MSME Payments
Payments to registered Micro and Small Enterprises must now be settled within 45 days (with a written agreement) or 15 days (without one). Delayed payments face automatic disallowance as business expenditure, plus compound interest at three times the RBI bank rate.
Corporate LawApril 2026
Companies Compliance Facilitation Scheme 2026: A Three-Month Window to Clean Up
The MCA offers a rare amnesty from 15 April to 15 July 2026. File delayed annual returns and financial statements at just 10% of additional fees, with immunity from prosecution for covered delays. A strategic reset before enforcement tightens further.
Corporate LawApril 2026
Corporate Laws (Amendment) Bill 2026: 107 Amendments Your Board Should Track
The Bill proposes sweeping decriminalisation across the Companies Act and LLP Act, replacing criminal penalties with monetary fines. Other changes include a raised CSR threshold (Rs 10 crore), formal recognition of RSUs and SARs, and new auditor restrictions.
Tax ReformApril 2026
The Income Tax Act 2025: What Enterprise Leaders Must Know
The most significant structural overhaul of the Indian direct tax regime in over sixty years. Key changes include a unified tax year, abolition of the equalisation levy, and updated return deadlines extended to 48 months.
GST UpdatesMarch 2026
GST Changes You Must Act On Before the Financial Year Closes
GSTR-3B auto-population of liability breakups, the March 31 deadline for Composition Scheme and LUT filings, portal consolidation, and new GSTAT guidelines on appeals and provisional refunds.
Labour LawMarch 2026
New Labour Codes: How Indian Payroll and CTC Structures Must Change
The four new Labour Codes bring a 50% basic pay rule, faster gratuity for fixed-term workers, flexible 4-day work weeks, gig worker social security coverage, and tax relief on delayed PF and ESI deposits.
