The Tripura Minimum Wages Notification (April 2020)

Government of Tripura vide notification number No.F.87 (30)-LAB/ENF/MW/SHOPS/2002(A)/1800-17, released minimum wage for the state of Tripura effective from 1st April 2020

 The Tripura Minimum Wages Notification 1st April 2020

Ahmedabad Profession Tax ( salary- Profession tax) can be paid Online

Ahmedabad Employer in this epidemic situation as arisen, many employers were not able to pay the regular dues of Profession tax as deducted from salary to the Municipal corporation.

Good News is that now Profession tax payment can be paid online necessary procedure is given below 

Procedure for Online Payment:- Ahmedabad Online_Prof_Tax_Payment_(PRC)_process

 Hope now other municipal corporation also start the online payment option in Gujarat.

EPF Reduction in Percentage from 12 % to 10 %

It is brought to your kind notice that the Ministry of Labour & Employment, Govt. of  India has published a Gazette Notification (attached) bearing no.: S.O. 1513(E ) dated 18th May 2020 to further, provide liquidity in the hands of employers and employees as financial support due to COVID -19.

The followings are the important notes/information for your kind reference and consideration before taking/initiating any steps by covered ‘establishment/company/organization’ under the EPF & MP Act, 1952 to further seek the monetary benefits under the present scheme/notification:

• That the said notification is not applicable on any establishment, other than Central Public Sector Enterprises and State Public Sector Enterprises and other establishments owned by, or under the control of the Central Government or the State Government, as the case may be, in respect of wages payable by it for the months of May, June, and July 2020
• That any establishment shall not be eligible in case any establishments eligible for relief under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana guidelines issued by the Employees’ Provident Fund Organization vide its Office Memorandum No.C-1/Misc./2020-21/Vol.II/Pt. dated 9th April 2020 ”.
• That the said monetary benefits scheme is presently applicable for limited wages period i.e. May paid in June, June paid in July and July paid in August 2020.

Account Head	Up to wage month April 2020	From wage months May 2020 to July 2020
Employee’s PF Contribution   – A/c .No: 1	12%	10%
Employer’s PF Contribution – A/c. No: 1	3.67% (12%-8.33%)	1.67% (10%-8.33%)
Employer’s EPS Contribution – A/c. No: 10	8.33%	8.33%
EDLI Contribution                   -   A/c. No: 21	0.50%	0.50%
Administrative Charges      –    A/c. No: 2	0.50% (Mini.Rs.500/-)	0.50% (Mini.Rs.500/-)
No change in inspection charges in A/c.No.22 in respect of EDLI exempted establishments

Keeping view of above and add to it, we have received many queries from employers and employees in respect on the followings in this regard EPFO has shared the respective Faq on the same 

In the respective FAQ, many points are clear as per the queries received.

Now it is option to the company/Service providers ( Contractors)  to change the contribution rate from 12 % to 10 % as per the Management decision & Principal Employer  but I would suggest that there is no need to change the rate of contribution for the following reason 

 

For example, if the monthly basic salary is Rs 30,000, the employee contribution towards his or her EPF would be Rs 3,600 a month (12 percent of basic pay), while the equal amount is contributed by the employer each month. If the contribution rate is reduced to 10 percent, Rs 3,000 a month becomes the PF contribution by the employee and the take-home pay will increase by Rs 600. 

1. Impact on CTC
The employer's contribution to EPF is a part of the CTC. As the employer is supposed to match the mandatory contribution rate, if it is reduced to 10 percent, the employer's contribution to reduces. Thus, CTC too will see a fall, unless adjusted by the employer under some other head. Once adjusted and the employer decides to pay the 2 percent differential under some head, the take-home pay will increase, and for three months the workload of changing of CTC will also increase 

2. Impact on taxes saved.
As per the above take-home increase, Your contribution towards PF qualifies for tax benefit section 80C of the Income-tax Act. If the proposals go through, lesser contributions will mean that much less of tax benefit. For example, if annual contribution towards PF falls by Rs 7,200, then for someone paying 31.2 percent tax (highest slab), then you will save nearly Rs 2,250 lesser tax. One can, however, invest in products like in ELSS to save tax up to Rs 1.5 lakh in a year

3. Cumulative Interest Loss.

As EPF is on every month is giving Cumulative rate of Interest on a monthly basis if the contribution reduce Employee will be losing the Interest of three months which will be at a reduced rate, on both Employee Share & Employer Share.

From the above observation & referring to the Faq of the EPFO, I would suggest not to reduce the contribution rate as reducing the rate is not going to benefit either employee nor employer 

  

Reduce rate Notification:- EPFO Reduces The Contribution Rate To Ten Per Cent From Existing Rate Of Twelve Per Cent

Faq on reduce rate:- FAQ_Reduced_rate_of_contribution

ESIC extend the date of filing the return of Feb-2020 & Mar-2020

One more good news from ESIC as due to this epidemic many employers were not able to file the return or make the payment of Feb-2020 & Mar 2020, as per earlier circular  wherein ESIC had extended the date pf payment of ESIC dues for Feb-2020 & Mar-2020 till 15th May 2020

Then also many Employers were not able to file the return or pay the dues of Feb-2020 & Mar-2020 till the extended date of payment i.e. 15th May 2020.  

The employers are now allowed to file the return of Contribution up to 11.06.2020 for the contribution period from October 2019 to March 2020

Circular:- 👉ESIC Extension of Feb-2020 Mar 2020

The Andhra Pradesh Minimum Wages Notification (April 2020)

As per Government Notification NO.J / 3432179 / 2020, CPI points for minimum wage calculation has been released for the state of Andhra Pradesh with effect from 1st April 2020


Govt Notification:-The Andhra Pradesh Minimum Wages Notification 1st April 2020
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Shop &Establishment:-Andhra - Minimum wages - Shops and Estb - Apr-2020 to Sep-2020

Hotel &Restaurant:-Andhra - Minimum wages - Hotels - 1st Apr 2020 to 30th Sep 2020

Security Agencies:- Andhra - Minimum wages - Security - 1st Apr 2020 to 30th Sep 2020

Telengana Minimum wages 1st Apr 2020 to 30th Sep 2020

As per the press note released, Commissioner of Labour Telangana, Hyderabad and the Competent Authority under the Minimum Wages Act, 1948 has declared the CPI points for calculation of variable dearness allowance for the state of Telangana with effect from 1st April 2020

VDA Notification:-The Telangana Minimum Wages Notification 1st Apr 2020

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Shop & Establishment :-Telangana MW calculations - Shops & Estb - Apr-2020 to 30th Sep-2020

Hotel & Restaurant:-Telangana MW calculations - Hotels - 1st Apr 2020 to 30th Sep 2020

Security Agencies:- Telangana MW calculations - Security - 01.04.2020 to 30.09.2020

Punjab Minimum Wages W.E.F from 1st Mar 2020

Punjab Minimum Wages has been hiked from 1st Mar 2020

Notification:- Punjab Minimum Wages Mar-2020

Maharashtra Profession Tax returns submission date extended up to 31st May 2020

Kindly refer to Trade Circular no. 4T of 2020 dated 19/03/2020. By this circular the whole of the late fee payable by the registered employer in respect of monthly or annual returns pertaining to periods up to March 2020 was exempted due to technical difficulties faced by the taxpayers subject to fulfillment of eligibility conditions. 

As these technical difficulties are still continuing, it is proposed to extend the date of filing returns without payment of the late fees.

Eligibility Conditions:- 
i) Any amount payable (tax+ interest) as per return should have been/shall be paid on or before the filing of returns. 

ii) The aforesaid employers should submit the returns pertaining to any periods up to March 2020 on or before 31 May 2020. 

Needless to mention that no refund or adjustment against any tax liability shall be allowed where the late fee has already been paid. 

Revocation of Late fee exemption: 
If it is found that the employer has not fulfilled the conditions or has submitted false information to avail the benefit of exemption then, his exemption of late fee shall be revoked and action will be taken against him as per the provisions of law. 

Circular:- 👉 Extension for PT returns-Maharashtra

Gujarat Minimum Wages 1st Apr 2020 to 30th Sep 2020

As per the notification on Dt. 22-04-2020 regarding. The State Government declared the fresh basic rates of Salary/Wages for the period from Dt. 01-04-2020 to 30-09-2020 for 46 business in Zone - I & Zone - II. The same may please be paid during the above period.

English Detail Notification:- 👉Gujarat Minimum Wages 1st Apr-2020 to 30th Sep-2020

Karnataka Tax On Professions, Trades, Callings And Employments (Removal Of Difficulties) Order, 2020

Gazette notification relating to the removal of difficulties order under the Karnataka Tax on Professions, Trades, callings and Employments Act, 1976.

The Order may be called the Karnataka Tax on Professions, Trades, Callings, and Employments (Removal of Difficulties) Order, 2020.

The change in remittance dates are as follows,

The PT Contribution for March 2020 payable by April 20, 2020, has got extended to May 20, 2020.

The PT Enrolment fees for 2020-21 payable by April 30, 2020, have got extended to May 30, 2020.


Circular :- 👉PT ORDER GAZETTE COPY.

EPF Due Date extended for the Contribution Period Mar-2020

Dear all


1. Considering the unprecedented situation created by COVID-19 and lockdown announced by the Central Government from 24.03.2020 midnight onwards to prevent the spread of COVID-19, the due date for filing of Electronic Challan cum Return (ECR) for wage month March 2020 is extended up to 15.05.2020 for employers who have paid wages to their employees for March 2020.

2. The due date for March 2020 is ordinarily 15.04.2020, so grace period of thirty days has been allowed to the establishments covered under EPF & MP Act, 1952 to remit the contributions and administrative charges due for March 2020

3. The above decision of Ministry of Labour, GOI, is to support and provide relief to Employers of establishments which have disbursed wages for March 2020 to its employees and an incentive to employers for the wage paid to employees during COVID-19 pandemic. The move is in keeping with the objective of the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana to prevent disruption in employment and ensure earning to employees to help them fight the pandemic.

4. The employers have to declare the date of disbursement of the wage for March 2020 in the Electronic Challan cum returns (ECR) for March 2020.

5. The ECR, with the said declaration, and contributions and administrative charges for March 2020 are now due on or before 15.05.2020.

6. The employers disbursing the wages for March 2020 not only get relief of extension of due date for payment of EPF dues for March 2020 but also avoid liability of interest and penalty, if they remit on or before 15.05.2020.
  
(This benefit can be avail if u have paid Mar-2020 salary in time as while uploading the ECR we have to mention the Salary disbursement date if found any error i.e. while if any inspection comes up or any order issued by the Dept to produce some confirmation of salary disbursement if any error found then Interest & damages will be charged by the dept)

As the above is in my view in regards to damage & Interest hope as per the direction of Each state you all must have paid the salary to the employee in time 

Circular:- 👉EPF Grace period March 2020 Payment

Covid 19 Relief Exemption From Penalty For Delay In Payment Of Profession Tax And Filing Of Return In Madhya Pradesh

One more relief to the employer in this epidemic of COVID 19. Government of Madhya Pradesh vide notification no. F A 3-07/2020/1/V(22), exempts the private sector employers who are required to make payment of tax of Mar-2020 by 10th April 2020 and file the relevant return by 15th April 2020, from the penalty under section 13, if Mar-2020  tax is paid on or before 30th April 2020 and from the penalty under sub-section (3) of section 9 if the return of Mar-2020 can be filed before 5th May 2020. Please refer the Order for more details

Circular👉👉 Exemption From Penalty For Delay In Payment Of Profession Tax And Filing Of Return In Madhya Pradesh

Circular on Date of Birth Proof Submission as per Aadhar in EPFO -Covid 19

In a move to extend the availability and reach of online services in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, EPFO has issued revised instructions to its field offices to facilitate PF members to rectify their date of birth in EPFO records, thus ensuring that their UAN is KYC compliant.

The date of birth recorded in 'Aadhaar'  will now be accepted as valid proof of date of birth for the purpose of rectification, provided that the difference in the two dates is less than 3 years.

The PF subscribers can submit the correction requests online.

This will enable EPFO to validate the date of birth of members online with UIDAI instantaneously, thus authenticating and reducing the processing time of change requests.

EPFO has instructed field offices to expedite disposal of online requests, enabling PF members in financial distress, to apply online for availing non-refundable advance from their PF accumulations to tide over the COVID-19 pandemic.

Circular:- 👉👉Circular_on_date_of_Birth_Covid_19

You can withdraw 75% of Employees Provident Fund in this pandemic Covid-19

 At a press conference on Thursday to unveil the ‘PM Garib Kalyan Package’ to help the poor face the novel coronavirus crisis, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced, 

“Employees’ Provident Fund Regulations will be amended to include Pandemic as the reason to allow the non-refundable advance of 75 percent of the amount or three months of the wages, whichever is lower, from their accounts.” This decision will likely benefit families of four crore workers registered under the EPF, she said.

Currently, subscribers of the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) can withdraw a non-refundable advance from their PF accounts under various terms and conditions, including for issues like illness, marriage, education, and purchase of a house, etc. Here, “non-refundable” means the subscriber doesn’t have to return the deposit after withdrawing the advance.

Further, in order to avail this benefit, the EPF subscriber can apply through Umang app  or by Member Portal 

Gazette Notification:- EPF Covid Gazzete Partial Withdrawal

Covid -19 India Relaxes Income Tax deadlines & penalties

Following are the decisions with respect to statutory and regulatory compliance matters related to various sectors:

Income Tax

1.     Extend last date for income tax returns for (FY 18-19) from 31st March 2020  to  30th June 2020.

2.     Aadhaar-PAN linking date to be extended from 31st March 2020 to 30th June 2020.

3.     Vivad se Vishwas scheme – no additional 10% amount, if payment made by June 30, 2020.

4.      Due dates for issue  of notice, intimation, notification, approval order, sanction order, filing of appeal, furnishing of return, statements, applications, reports, any other documents and time limit for completion of proceedings by the authority and any compliance by the taxpayer including investment in saving instruments or investments for roll over benefit of capital gains under Income Tax Act,  Wealth Tax Act, Prohibition of Benami Property Transaction Act, Black Money Act,  STT law, CTT Law, Equalization Levy law, Vivad Se Vishwas law where the time limit is expiring between 20th March 2020  to 29th June 2020 shall be extended to 30th June 2020.  

5.     For delayed payments of advanced tax, self-assessment tax,  regular tax, TDS, TCS, equalization levy,  STT, CTT  made between 20th March 2020  and  30th June 2020, reduced interest rate at 9%   instead of 12 %/18 % per annum ( i.e. 0.75% per month instead of 1/1.5 percent per month) will be charged  for this period.  No late fee/penalty shall be charged for delay relating to this period.

6.     Necessary legal circulars and legislative amendments for giving effect to the aforesaid relief shall be issued in due course.

GST/Indirect Tax

1.     Those having aggregate annual turnover less than Rs. 5 Crore Last date can file  GSTR-3B due in March, April and May 2020  by the last week of  June, 2020. No interest, late fee, and penalty to be charged.

2.     Others can file returns due in March, April and May 2020 by last week of June 2020  but the same would attract reduced rate of interest @9 % per annum from  15 days after due date (current interest rate is  18 % per annum). No late fee and penalty to be charged, if complied before till 30th June 2020.

3.     Date for opting for composition scheme is extended till the last week of   June, 2020.  Further, the last date for making payments for the quarter ending 31st March, 2020 and filing of  return for 2019-20 by the composition dealers  will be extended  till the last week of June, 2020. 

4.     Date for filing GST annual returns of FY 18-19, which is due on 31st March, 2020 is extended till the last week of  June 2020.

5.     Due date for issue of notice, notification, approval order, sanction order, filing of appeal, furnishing of return, statements, applications, reports, any other documents, time limit for any compliance under the GST laws where the time limit is expiring between 20th March 2020  to 29th June 2020 shall be extended to 30th June 2020. 

6.     Necessary legal circulars and legislative amendments to give effect  to the aforesaid GST relief shall follow with the approval of GST Council.

7.     Payment date under Sabka Vishwas Scheme shall be extended to30th June, 2020. No interest for this period shall be charged if paid by 30th June, 2020.

Customs

1.     24X7 Custom clearance till end of 30th June, 2020

2.     Due date for issue of notice, notification, approval order, sanction order, filing of appeal, furnishing applications, reports, any other documents etc., time limit for any compliance under the Customs Act and other allied Laws where the time limit is expiring between 20th March 2020  to 29th June 2020 shall be extended to 30th June 2020. 

Financial Services

1.     Relaxations for 3 months

o   Debit cardholders to withdraw cash for free from any other banks’ ATM for 3 months

o   Waiver of minimum balance fee

o   Reduced bank charges for digital trade transactions for all trade finance consumers

Corporate Affairs

1.     No additional fees shall be charged for late filing during a moratorium period from 01st April to 30th September 2020, in respect of any document, return, statement etc., required to be filed in the MCA-21 Registry, irrespective of its due date, which will not only reduce the compliance burden, including financial burden of companies/ LLPs at large, but also enable long-standing non-compliant companies/ LLPs to make a ‘fresh start’;

2.     The mandatory requirement of holding meetings of the Board of the companies within prescribed interval provided in the Companies Act (120 days), 2013, shall be extended by a period of 60 days till next two quarters i.e., till 30th September;

3.     Applicability of Companies (Auditor’s Report) Order, 2020 shall be made applicable from the financial year 2020-2021 instead of from 2019-2020 notified earlier. This will significantly ease the burden on companies & their auditors for the year 2019-20.

4.     As per Schedule 4 to the Companies Act, 2013, Independent Directors are required to hold at least one meeting without the attendance of Non-independent directors and members of management. For the year 2019-20, if the IDs of a company have not been able to hold even one meeting, the same shall not be viewed as a violation.

5.     Requirement to create a Deposit reserve of 20% of deposits maturing during the financial year 2020-21 before 30th April 2020 shall be allowed to be complied with till 30th June 2020.

6.     The requirement to invest 15% of debentures maturing during a particular year in specified instruments before 30th April 2020, maybe done so before 30th June 2020.

7.     Newly incorporated companies are required to file a declaration for Commencement of Business within 6 months of incorporation. An additional time of 6 more months shall be allowed.

8.     Non-compliance of minimum residency in India for a period of at least 182 days by at least one director of every company, under Section 149 of the Companies Act, shall not be treated as a violation.

9.     Due to the emerging financial distress faced by most companies on account of the large-scale economic distress caused by COVID 19, it has been decided to raise the threshold of default under section 4 of the IBC 2016 to Rs 1 crore (from the existing threshold of Rs 1 lakh). This will by and large prevent triggering of insolvency proceedings against MSMEs. If the current situation continues beyond 30th of April 2020, we may consider suspending section 7, 9 and 10 of the IBC 2016 for a period of 6 months so as to stop companies at large from being forced into insolvency proceedings in such force major causes of default.

10. Detailed notifications/circulars in this regard shall be issued by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs separately.

Department of Fisheries

1.     All Sanitary Permits (SIPs) for import of SPF Shrimp Broodstock and other Agriculture inputs expiring between 01.03.2020 to     15.04.2020 extended by 3 months

2.     Delay up to 1 month in the arrival of consignments to be condoned.

3.     Rebooking of quarantine cubicles for canceled consignments in Aquatic Quarantine Facility (AQF) Chennai without additional booking charges

4.     The verification of documents and grant of NOC for Quarantine would be relaxed from 7 days to 3 days

Department of Commerce

Extension of timelines for various compliance and procedures will be given. Detailed notifications will be issued by Ministry of Commerce.

Due date of ESIC payment changed for Feb 2020 & Mar-2020

Great Move by the ESIC Dept ESIC vide notification no p-11/14/Misc/1/2019-Rev has extended the ESI contribution for the month of February 2020 and March 2020 to 15th April 2020 and 15th May 2020 respectively on account of the pandemic in the form of coronavirus. Therefore time limit for payment of contribution has been extended to forty-five days instead of fifteen days for the month of February and March 2020 only

Circular:- ESIC Payment Due Date Extension Feb-2020 Mar-2020

Karnataka Minimum Wages 01.04.2020 to 31.03.2021

Karnataka  Minimum wages have been revised from 01.04.2020 to 31.03.2021

Industries/Category	Notification
Shop & Establishment 👉	Shops and Establishment Notification
Hotel & Restaurant 👉	Hotel and Restaurant-Notification
Security 👉	Security-Notification

The Maharashtra Maternity Benefit (Amendments) Draft Rules, 2020-Proposed

Maha. Govt proposes an amendment in MB Rules regarding Creche facility to be within 500 meters from the entrance gate of the establishment 



The following draft of rules further to amend the Maharashtra Maternity Benefit Rules, 1965 which the Government of Maharashtra,  proposes to make in exercise of the powers conferred by Section 28 of the Maternity Benefit Act, 1961 (53 of 1961) and of all other powers enabling it in that behalf, is hereby published as required by subsection (1) of section 28 of the said Act, for the information of all persons likely to be affected thereby; and notice is hereby given that the said draft will be taken into consideration by the Government of Maharashtra after the expiry of sixty days from the date of publication of this notification in the Maharashtra Government Gazette.

 Any objections or suggestions, which may be received by the Commissioner of Labour, Maharashtra State, E-Block, C-20, Kamgar Bhavan, Bandra-Kurla Complex, Mumbai-400051 from any person with  respect to the said draft, before the expiry of the above mentioned period will be considered by the Government

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Draft Notification:- The Maharashtra Maternity Benefit (Amendments) Draft Rules, 2020