Direct Taxes Code 2013 - New Definition of 'ACCOUNTANT' - CAs not happy
THE Chartered Accountants are a worried lot - with the recently released "Direct Taxes Code" expanding the definition of 'accountant' to include other professionals.
As per Section 314(2) of the Direct Taxes Code 2010:-
"Accountant" means a chartered accountant within the meaning of the Chartered Accountants Act, 1949 and includes any person who is entitled to act as an auditor of Companies under sub-section(2) of Section 226 of the Companies Act, 1956.
Some of the Functions of the Accountant under the Code are:
(1) Audit of accounts of certain persons.
(2) Furnishing a report of Audit of a non-profit organisation.
(3) Certifying book profit.
(4) Special Audit of an assessee as directed by Assessing Officer.
(5) Appearing before Tribunal and other authorities.
Now, what worries the CAs is that the proposed Direct Taxes Code 2013 has a new definition for 'accountant'. As per Section 320(2) of the New Code;-
"Accountant" means a chartered accountant within the meaning of the Chartered Accountants Act, 1949 and who holds a valid certificate of practice under sub-section (1) of section 6 of that Act, and shall include-
(i) a company secretary within the meaning of the Company Secretaries Act, 1980;
(ii) a cost accountant within the meaning of the Cost and Works Accountants Act, 1959; or
(iii) any person having such qualifications as the Board may prescribe, for the purposes specified in this behalf.
Now, not only Company Secretaries and Cost Accountants, but also any person nominated by the Board can perform the functions of the 'accountant'. So if the Bill gets through (most unlikely), even Cost Accountants and Company Secretaries can do tax audit and representation work before Income Tax Authorities and Tribunal.
What irks the CAs is that when they don't enter the domain of costing or Secretarial Audit, then why should other professionals enter their domain and are the ICWAs and CSs competent enough to handle income tax matters?