Uncertainty about the future has always driven the concerns of the investors. In the recent past incidents like The Bank episode, PMC Co-operative hoax has not only crippled the confidence of the investors but also forced them to look for alternative sources of investment. Nevertheless, COVID-19 has further added significant muscle to the investors’ uncertainty.

Globally, when the investors saw economies were reeling under immense pressure and found that their savings were drying up, they were looking for safer investment and were trying to conserve cash. Talking about safe investment our young population has always undermined the ability of gold as an investment. Gold is a safe haven investment which not only generates descent returns in the long run but also hedges our portfolio against inflation and uncertainty, to a certain extent.

Equity markets are rated as more lucrative and a tempting option. But in the current scenario where markets have turned volatile and highly unpredictable, it has coerced the investors to go back to the drawing board and rebalance their portfolio.  Rebalancing should not only aim at hedging against the volatility but it ought to be focused at strengthening the portfolio for the turbulent times to come, for which gold would be an excellent choice. Further, the fact that governments all around the world hold gold as a foreign exchange reserve underscores the significance of the metal.  

While we plan to invest in the Gold, it is vital for us to determine the correct price level at which we ought to invest. The price level has a direct bearing on the gains you expect to reap from your investment. But here million dollar question is: What drives the price of the Gold? Which factors should be kept in mind?

There are number of factors that have bearing on the price of Gold, but certain factors are considered to be prime drivers. No single factor can influence the price of Gold hence each of the below mentioned factor should be understood in tandem with other factors to precisely determine the behavior of the Gold.

I hope that the following explanation will provide you an insight into the dynamics of Gold.                           

FACTORS WHICH DRIVE THE PRICES OF GOLD:                                              

GEOPOLITICAL UNCERTAINTY:

The term “GEOPOLITICAL” simply put means the study of; power distribution across the globe and the authorities    that have the power to enforce and maintain this distribution. Politics not only affects the economy of the concerned state but also has bearing on the economies worldwide since we operate in a globalized scenario.

The primary authorities in the world are Nation- States. Consequently they are referred to as containers of the power in the global international system. With Nation- States being sovereign actors having absolute power within their territories but they are not equal Geopolitical authorities. Amongst all, USA is the strongest that influences the investment and foreign policy of the others. Hence it becomes vital to keep a track of the events taking place in United States.      

Political disturbances in the USA, to begin with poor handling of the pandemic followed by Cold war with China and then certain untoward incidents taking place, all have created an ambience of uncertainty in the state. Moreover, upcoming presidential elections in USA have further accentuated the vagueness.    

 When such geopolitical turmoil pours into the economy, investors tend to shift their investments from risky equity markets to Gold, to hedge against the uncertainty. With vaccine showing no sign of hope until now, and with the tussle between USA and China deepening, it is probable that the Gold will remain in demand for next 4-5 months owing to its safe haven quality.          

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN GOLD AND US DOLLAR:

The US dollar is the benchmark pricing mechanism for the Gold, hence there is a special relationship between price of Gold and the value of the currency of United States. Trends in the past have highlighted that there exist an inverse relationship between Dollar index and the price of the Gold. Simply put, when dollar index is strong, gold prices in the US dollar terms falls, conversely when the dollar index is weak a bullish trend is witnessed in the prices of the gold.

This happens because when the dollar appreciates, Gold becomes expensive in terms of other currencies. And as the price of any commodity surges its demand recedes since people are discouraged to buy it. While the relationship between value of US dollar and Gold is of prominence but this is not the only factor that has bearing on the price of the Gold. This factor has to be scrutinized along with other factors.

DEBASEMENT OF THE CURRENCY AND INFLATION:

Debasement refers to devaluing the currency i:e lowering the value of money. In the times when gold and silver coins used to be the currency, debasement meant reducing the metal content in them, hence helping the regulators to mint more coins and thereby increasing the money supply.

In modern times, since most currencies are fiat currencies and are not based on precious metal so debasement only requires printing more money or since much money exist in digital accounts it requires creating more money electronically. 

How is debasement relevant to our topic? Debasement has negative effect on citizenry since it causes inflation. When economy is hit with inflation, people look at gold as an alternate currency, since inflation tends to erode the savings of people. Hence the demand for Gold increases in the inflation like situations   

So far, The Federal Reserve (US) has printed $2.2 trillion while extending another $5 trillion through loans to banks. Congress has already passed $2.2 trillion of stimulus and is working to add at least $1 trillion more. However according to some economists (US) the concern is altogether opposite as US economy is suffering form so low inflation that even printing of money will not prop up the economy which ostensibly is heading towards deflation.  

As far as India is concerned, RBI is not looking at printing of money as an option to finance their deficit since the inflation levels in India are already as high as around 7{551c903f756d5bf12b7d58e2eb1e8b74af35058efa7a05d3e7b41e9147979503}.     

INTEREST RATE:

 Well, the relationship between Interest rate and Gold is opaque and perplexed. This is so because some events hint at the fact that there exists an inverse relationship on one hand, certain incidents indicate a positive relation too.   

One school of thought suggests that, as the interest rate rises it makes the interest bearing securities and bonds attractive, consequently Gold witnesses’ outflow of investment and hence its price tends to fall.     

The other school of thought that prevails is, in real sense it is the stock market that bears the brunt of increase in the interest rate. This is so because increase in the interest rate has negative effect on the bottom line of the companies (Bringing down the net profit margins) hence lowering their valuations and making equities a bit less striking. It is due to this reason that with increase in the interest rate people tend to shift their investments either in the Bonds or Gold. So if not direct, the gold is indirectly affected with the increase in the rate of interest.     

Relation between Interest rate and US Dollar also merits our attention. A higher interest rate (say in US) offers lenders a better return thereby attracting foreign ingress of funds and hence leading to raise in exchange rate. So the rising interest rate leads to increase in the value of U.S. dollar, pushing gold prices lower (because gold is denominated in U.S. dollars and as already discussed there exists an inverse relationship between US dollar and price of Gold). However the impact of higher interest rate is somewhat mitigated if the country has a higher inflation rate.    

CONCLUSION:

To sum up, if you are looking forward to include gold in your portfolio, the above mentioned factors will help you determine the behavior and movement of gold. The equity markets and the globalized economy we operate in are quite dynamic. Consequently any price level suggested today may lose its relevance tomorrow. Instead a better course of action would be that, the investors gauge their objectives of the investment against the aforementioned factors. This will enable them to determine the correct price level for taking a position. In the next article we shall discuss about the alternatives of investing in gold, their merits and demerits.  

To be just, with such a frenetic and hectic lifestyle especially when it comes to the new normal, where working stretches to wee hours, some sort of entertainment is a must. In this day and age, conventional sources of entertainment that could dissipate stress, infuse vitality and add meaning to our life have taken back seat. Ever since corona has thrown life under the norms of social distancing and lockdown, people have been forced to fetch for alternative sources of entertainment indoor. Fortunately!!! Internet has always come to our rescue by crafting newer ways of amusement, that is music streaming apps, gaming apps, social media to list a few.

Albeit thousands of sources of entertainment are available over the internet, web series has arrested the attention of the viewers more than before. People used to binge watch web series even in pre corona times, but the present situation has taken their popularity to a new high. Off late OTA media platforms such as Netflix, Amazon prime, Zee5, MX Player, Hotstar etc have altogether transformed the entertainment industry and viewer’s experience. Embracing them with open arms, most of us find web series a better source to sap the stress from our daily routine. The fad of web series is such that people are tempted to watch these again and again.  

What it is, that is driving youth so crazy about the web series??? To be honest, a lot of credit goes to the content writers. Generally the content is written and exhibited in the form of a series of episodes in which the first episode is deliberately caused to end in suspense so as to generate curiosity among the viewers for the next one. Similar is the case with the seasons of the same series. People going gaga over these series fail to realize that eventually they are becoming addicted to them.

There is a saying in the entertainment industry that, “You display an 8 hour movie and no one will watch it. Break it down into 8 episodes of an hour each, everybody will watch it”. To exemplify, web series such as Mirzapur, GOT have clocked records for being the highest viewed and loved web series. 

So, is it wrong to watch them?? No, Not really. It is the difference between “Watching” and “Binge Watching” that has to be understood. Incessant streaming of episodes day and night gradually leads to what we call “Addiction”. There is an age old saying that, “Excess of everything is bad” and this is true with web series too. Starting with one or two episodes a day, in no time we end up watching the entire season, which might stretch upto 7-8 hours, in a single day.

 What is more astonishing is that once we are addicted, no matter what time it is, how busy bee we are, even if the new episode is being premiered overnight we stay up late to watch it. It is quite ironical that one side, we complain about shortage of time for productive activities (like exercise) but we have sufficient time to binge watch web series.

Prolonged watching of web series adversely affects our health; both physical and mental. In an effort to create a theatre like ambience we prefer watching it in a dark room. This comes at a great cost of our physical health especially our eyes.  The radiations emitted from the screen, strain the eyes resulting in dryness, irritation or watery eyes, headache, blurred vision, sensitivity to light and sometimes our eyes can even feel tired and overloaded. Not only this, sleepless nights distort our eating appetite. Late night munching of chips, sipping drinks and what not, all these add to the problems of obesity and indigestion.

More than anything else, psychological concerns demand an added attention. The content displayed by the web series is so beautifully fabricated that it mesmerizes the viewers, so much that they give credence to all what they watch without realizing that more often what is being shown is just a fiction!!! Subsequently, they try to imitate the same in their life expecting things to come true as it did in the web series. This is particularly true with web series that try to touch upon social topics such as parenting, relationship issues, etc where the life is mostly shown as bed of roses. Trying to imitate those scenes is nothing but a hopeless venture where failure is imminent.  Consequently people, end up getting frustrated owing to the failure of not being able to mirror the life as it was shown. This might sometimes lead to the problem of depression and in certain cases may also force suicidal attempts.

Also, agreeing to the fact that “Freedom of speech and expression” is a constitutional right conferred upon us but the right must be exercised responsibly. In the absence of regulatory body to regulate the content being shown and the disclaimers being run only for eyewash, all this permits the aggregators and directors to host explicit content without being checked. This to a great extent affects children who are immature to watch such plots. Consequently, they might be incited to indulge in what they see without being aware of the consequences of the same. 

Well!! Not all the web series that are being shown deserve criticism. Series such as, “Taskent Files”, “Apocalypse Now” which are based on true events, F.R.I.E.N.D.S” a comedy web series; offers us with a great deal of knowledge and entertainment. Neither watching of the web series is being discouraged nor is its creation. What is being sought after is the requirement to exercise caution against excessive binge watching.  As far as addiction is concerned, medical cure is not what is needed here, rather persistence and disciplined approach while watching is required. All other problems addendum to addiction will automatically get resolved.

There is a dire need of reality check. To start with, the plot presented is purely an imagination of the writer and has nothing to do with reality (in most of the cases). Thoughts of one person or a group cannot be generalized. We all have different situations to face, a different attitude and demeanor towards life; hence our reactions towards events happening around us are bound to be altogether different. Blindly imitating something which is not more or less true for all is imbecile and is not expected from a rational human being.                           

It has to be acknowledged that no one on this planet can sum up their entire life in a span of 7-8 hours. So the solution is to watch the web series as only “web series” rather than as way of living life. At a stretch what can be done is that we can appreciate the idea behind the series and try to learn from that idea.

For explicit content being hosted, a body akin to Censor Board is required to be formed which can regulate the storyline in terms of sexuality and violence. Further streaming platforms such as ALT Balalji and Ullu should draft policies that are more focused to age restrict the content on the basis of user’s age.

Parents also have a key role to play here. It is their duty to check what sort of content their child is accessing. Educating their child about what is being hosted, its relevance, meaning and what harm it can cause, is significant. As of now, since all the schools are shut due to pandemic there is a high probability that children might get tempted to spend most of their time watching these web series, so parents are advised to keep a close check on them.  

To conclude, just as every coin has two sides web series also have a lot to offer for our entertainment. On the other hand excessive indulgence can harm our physical and mental health. It is for us to decide that how we can utilize them for our benefit. While watching these web series let us assure that we don’t end up weaving a “web” for ourselves in which we get trapped. Rather than making web series our purpose of existence, it should remain only as a source of entertainment.    

Author

CA Rachit Jain

From “ Hindu-Chini Bhai Bhai” to “Hindu –Chini Bye Bye” , the shift in slogan speaks volumes about the patchy relationship that India and China have shared since it’s (India) independence. Panchsheel Treaty of 1954 was the first step by India to establish a peaceful accord with China. Sadly, expiry of the agreement was marked by Sino-Indo war of 1962 which dented the relationship between the two. The war was followed by sabotage in 1975 by Chinese army which claimed lives of our 4 solders. This further weakened the relations with our Asian neighbor. And now, Doklam standoff in 2017 and the recent Galwan valley skirmish that witnessed martyring of 20 soldiers has stirred anguish in citizens of India.  These face offs and wars apart from raising tensions at border have strained our economic relations too.

 People holding placard reading “Boycott Chinese Goods and Apps” is the new scenario that the country is witnessing recently. This also comes amidst of announcement by our honorable Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi envisioning to transform India into “Atamanirbhar Bharat”.  However the current situation demands a pragmatic answer rather than a knee-jerk and jingoistic retort if we really want to realize our dream of becoming Atamanirbhar.

 Before blatantly ostracizing the Chinese goods it is imperative to understand the present India-China trade structure. It is very important to look at our dependence on China and its goods so that a well thought plan can be put in place. Let’s have a look at the figures!!!

Trade figures suggest that India is the 4th largest importer of Chinese goods amongst other importers. Also, India clocked trade deficit of $56.8 billion in 2019 with its imports from China increasing by 2.1{551c903f756d5bf12b7d58e2eb1e8b74af35058efa7a05d3e7b41e9147979503} and exports falling by 0.2{551c903f756d5bf12b7d58e2eb1e8b74af35058efa7a05d3e7b41e9147979503}, an official from China’s General Administration of Custom (GAC) said. Further a sectored breakup shows that out of respective imports; 20{551c903f756d5bf12b7d58e2eb1e8b74af35058efa7a05d3e7b41e9147979503} of auto components, 70{551c903f756d5bf12b7d58e2eb1e8b74af35058efa7a05d3e7b41e9147979503} of electronic components come from china. Similarly 40{551c903f756d5bf12b7d58e2eb1e8b74af35058efa7a05d3e7b41e9147979503} of consumer durables, 70{551c903f756d5bf12b7d58e2eb1e8b74af35058efa7a05d3e7b41e9147979503} of API and 40{551c903f756d5bf12b7d58e2eb1e8b74af35058efa7a05d3e7b41e9147979503} of leather Goods are imported from china.  India’s trade statistics with china underscore that it’s import dependency for raw materials and critical components (Auto, Durables, Capital Goods) is skewed.    

As far as Chinese investments are concerned the figures are even more discouraging. Chinese investors have pumped in over $5 billion in Indian startup ecosystem so far. Some of the top investors includes names such as Ant Financial, Tencent , Shunwei Capital amongst others. Ant Financial alone has invested about $2.7 billion in India across seven companies including Paytm. On one hand Tencent has been backing unicorns such as Flipkart, Shunwei capital has been doing rounds of capital in food delivery giant Zomato amongst others. So it will not be wrong to assert that Indian startups are puffed up with Chinese money which itself is not good sign for our economy.

Acknowledging our dependence on China, if abrupt blanket ban on imports is announced Indian economy might have to face a trade war like situation. Further, it will result in disruption in supply chain since we have yet not developed in house manufacturing capability nor do we have an alternative cheap source to cater our present needs. As most of our industries depend on the imports for raw material, intermediate or finished products, from china they will suffer delay in their production.

Not only this, since Chinese goods are well-known for their cheap prices and due to lack of in house capacity to substitute them, a ban on them will append cost of production. This will heave the price of final product which will ultimately damp the demand for indigenously produced goods, since people are habitual of buying cheap Chinese goods. This might also make our exports uncompetitive and hence hitting our foreign exchange reserves. Consequently, our economy which is already starving of demand will face brunt of an impulsive decision rather than gaining from it.

So should we give up our mission of becoming ‘Atamanirbhar ’?? Certainly not. An assay to draft a sound and comprehensive policy will serve our purpose.

Firstly, instead of outrighlty banning Chinese goods, measures such as anti dumping duty should be enforced with more aggression. As highlighted by 145th report of Parliamentary Standing Committee on Commerce, anti dumping duty framework suffers lax in implementation. It also suggested that certain unscrupulous elements are able to circumvent the goods put under anti dumping duty framework by misclassification of goods. So solidifying our legal framework will be the first step towards realization of our dream.

Secondly, to cultivate innovation in any country and in any sector R&D is vital. Despite of the fact that India’s expenditure on R&D has tripled in the period 2004-05 to 2014-15, its size as a percentage of GDP remained at 0.7{551c903f756d5bf12b7d58e2eb1e8b74af35058efa7a05d3e7b41e9147979503}. This is very low as compared to the countries such as Israel that spends 4.3{551c903f756d5bf12b7d58e2eb1e8b74af35058efa7a05d3e7b41e9147979503} of its GDP in R&D. Hence to equip our industries with requisite modern technology and skill set we have to increase our expenditure in R&D.

Let us look at one of the sectors where owing to lack of investment, Indian Corporates have been losing out to Chinese brands.   

India ostensibly as a market for smart phone has great potential which is yet to be explored. This as a matter of fact can be substantiated by existence of Chinese brands such as Xiomi, Redmi, Oppo and Vivo that are reaping the benefits of ever growing Indian smartphone user base. With recent data providing that India had 502.2 million users of smartphone as of December 2019, the arena has thrown open, competition for Indian players.  

 The story is similar for other sectors too, such as Pharma (API), Solar Power, Textile, Consumer (Bicycle) etc. To become self reliant there is dire need of fortifying our domestic industries, especially those which are subject to cheap imports from china. On one hand these sectors demand huge investments but at the same time there is exponential increase in the risk appetite of companies venturing into them. Hence expecting the private sector to solely assume the responsibility will not be a practical proposition. So for making them (sectors) conducive for investment measures such as; Capital Subsidies, Tax benefits, PPP arrangements, Flagship schemes akin to “Make in India”, single window clearance system etc. needs to be undertaken.

Recent development that has taken place is indeed very encouraging. Imposing ban on the Chinese app “Tik-Tok”, which is the most downloaded app in India amongst 58 other applications, has demonstrated that the executive is determined to take every single step that is pertinent to our mission.    

The vision of becoming Atamanirbhar will only materialize if concrete steps in this direction are taken. It is to be understood that without developing a strong in house manufacturing capabilities first, this dream is nothing but a mirage. The mission will take years of incessant and persistent efforts by the regulator and our industries but yet it can be turned into reality. A baby step in this direction is the need of the hour as there is a long way to go. At last, sensing the emotional turmoil in the country and for the long term benefit of our economy it will be correct to say    “Hindu-Chini Bye Bye”. 

The entire world today is grappled by the novel corona virus to which vaccine looks a far cry. The situation has become so dreadful that even the superpowers with most destructive weapons in their arsenal have surrendered to this virus. For humankind pandemics is not a new conception (strategically) given we have battled out SARS, MERS, Zika and Ebola successfully.

However what is remorseful is that even with narratives in the past we have not been proactive with our strategy for pandemic like this. It is worth noting that regulators have consistently downplayed the preeminence of “DIGITAL SCIENCE”, while encountering the given situation.

 Motive behind this article is not to be critic of how the executives have addressed the situation but only to apprehend the waning significance of digital science. How efficiently and effectively we could have used the digital science while fighting with the corona is the lone purpose of this entire article.

According to Hindu mythology BRAHAMASTRA (Panacea) is the strongest and the ultimate weapon having capacity to destroy everything that comes its way. So as it was used to win over the evil, is there any Brahamastra to eliminate corona?

Answer to that is yes of course, Brahamastra for corona is its vaccine coupled with Data and Tools encompassing Artificial intelligence together referred to as Digital science. It is to be understood that where a medical response to the situation is vital it is equally important to encounter the circumstance with well planned strategy. To substantiate this, let us have a look at the events that have unfolded in last 3-4 months.

Newspapers flooded with clippings, each of them exhibited the gravest migrant crisis that India has ever faced. With lacs of migrants trudging back to their villages, it has thrown India 15 years back in terms of development. Surprisingly corona not being the sole reason for this!!! .Workers faced double whammy; one that corona stripped off them with their work and second that they ran out of funds to pay for their livelihood. To accentuate their plight coming days saw workers being mown by the trains while travelling back to their villages.

Our national capital along with other states was struggling to match the health infrastructure with growing number of COVID-19 patients. Stadiums and Trains being turned into quarantine centers and lately hotels being roped in for the same purpose shows how important it was to correctly estimate the number of infected people.

 Could have such a frenzy response be substituted with a timely and a comprehensive action plan?  The answer is a firm yes!!        

Firstly, ramping up the infrastructure becomes critical to deal with pandemics; however before doing this it is significant to estimate the number of infected people. This again stresses upon the importance of data which forms the basis of such estimation along with the tools to analyze the collected data. However the way we have encountered events it can be said that benefits of available data and the tools could not be reaped to full.

 Secondly, think tanks those are equipped with AI and the other tools, could have easily mined the data that is collected from our traditional exercise CENSUS (2011). Even arriving at a rough estimate could have come handy to the Government for providing these poor people with timely food and shelter thereby avoiding a chaos in the entire country. In the absence of requisite action, panic stricken workers thronged roads, bus stands and railway stations to ensure that anyhow they reach their native villages. This further added to the risk of transmission of corona and triggering community spread.

Even initiatives such as “Shramik Trains” and buses arranged for ferrying the people could not serve the purpose as the data pertaining to number of people to be plied was either incorrect or not available.           The above incidents exemplify how digital science could be used as weapon to strategically win over corona

With India transforming into ‘Digital India’, under the vision of our honorable Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi there is dire need of exploring the potential of digital science. This can be ensured by wider and exhaustive application of digital science in different fields and not limiting it to merely a start up concept.

 To strengthen the digital base and reap its benefits the need of the hour is legislation of a data protection bill that comprehensively lays down the guidelines for using the data and provides measures that are required to prevent unethical hacks. Not only this is a structured and a dedicated organization besides cyber cell required to be put in place to encourage safe use of digital science.

Appreciating the way India has dealt with pandemic it is high time that we start using tools such as AI more aggressively than ever. Flagship schemes such as ‘Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojna’ that aims to equip the youth with excellent set of skills, should comprehensively include training in this field. Seminars and online campaigns emphasizing the significance of digital and caution that has to be exercised while going digital are required.     

To conclude, the aim is to sensitize people that, the era in which we are living it is imperative to equip ourselves with skills required for using digital science. Even though certain untoward incidents have unfolded recently we cannot undercut the importance of digitalization. The judicial use of the available resources could have resolved our most of the existing problems on one hand but the absence of which may land us into deep trouble. So it’s high time to become more adapting to this dynamic digital environment else we will soon fade out…… 

HURRY  LAST DATE IS APPROACHING

  • COMPOSITION SCHEME: the scheme introduced with the perspective of easing the business for small traders and manufacturers and for providers of certain services, it has been subject to contentions and amendments since its inception. A new issue that has recently popped up is regarding the time line constraints in filing of forms required for opting the scheme.
  • WHAT IS THE ISSUE?

Intimation for composition levy – Rule 3(3) of CGST Rules 2017 requires that for opting the scheme, a registered person is required to file Form GST-CMP 02 prior to commencement of the financial year for which the scheme is sought after. However looking at the prevailing circumstances it appears that procedural and filing requirements cannot be complied with. So it was requested to the government to grant certain reprieve in this respect.

  • Pandemic Relief :

Owing to the present scenario and acknowledging the problems that are being faced by business persons across all the sectors Government videNotification 30/2020 CT, dated 03.04.2020  along with Circular No. 136/06/2020-GST dated 03.04.2020 has provided for the following relaxations:

  1. Normal Taxpayers who wish to opt for the scheme for financial year 2020-21 can do so by filing GST-CMP 02 by 30th of June 2020.
  2. Taxpayers who have already opted for the scheme in the previous financial year need not re-opt for the scheme for FY 20-21.
  3. GST –ITC 03 for reversal of ITC in respect of inputs held in stock, inputs contained in semi-finished goods and finished goods and capital goods held in stock at the time of transition to the scheme can be filed till 31st of July 2020.
  1. IMPLICATIONS IF THE FORM IS FILED BELATEDLY: It is construed from the reading of notification that the intent of issuing is to address the difficulties that were being faced in complying with provision of Rule3 and nothing else. So here are certain things to be taken note of:  

Effective date for composition levy– Perusal of Rule 4 of CGST Rules 2017, provides that where intimation in the required form is filed under sub rule (3) of Rule3, composition scheme shall be effective from the commencement of financial year.

 Applying the same analogy, a person who is filing the requisite form by 30th of June 2020, the scheme shall be considered to be  operative  from the beginning of the financial year.

Return and Invoice related issues– A care has to be exercised by the willing taxpayer that, if he is filing GST-CMP 02 tardily no return i.e GSTR1 and GSTR 3B for the corresponding period has been/should be filed else he shall  not be eligible to opt  the scheme.

This can be attributed to the intention of the Government that is primarily and predominantly concerned with procedural relaxations in the wake of COVID 2019.

 Further, provisions of section 31(3), requires a registered person paying tax under section 10 to issue    bill of supply instead of tax invoice against any supply made him. This means that a composition supplier legally cannot issue tax invoice for any supply made by him.

So person who is already registered as a normal supplier in the previous financial year (2019-20)  and is planning to switch to the scheme should ensure that in respect of supplies made by him during the period beginning from 1St of April,2020 till he files the Form (CMP 02)  for exercising the option, he issues Bill of supply instead of tax invoice. Issuing Tax invoice will outrighlty disqualify him to opt for this scheme.  

Final Takeaway- It is again reiterated that taxpayer should exercise immense caution where he is filing the form belatedly. He is advised to check if he is still eligible for the scheme. An erred exercise will make him subject to provisions of sub-section (5) of Section 10 which empowers proper officer to determine along with tax actually payable, amount of penalty applying the provisions of section 73 or 74 as the case may be.

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