AmCham was invited for a hearing on MAT issues by the Committee on Direct Taxes headed by Justice A.P. Shah on 30th June 2015. AmCham was represented by Mr. Young Lee, Executive Director, Morgan Stanley | Finance; Mr. Anjani Sharma, Partner, B S R & Co. LLP; Mr. Keyur Shah, Partner, E&Y; and Ms. Madhvi Kataria, Deputy Executive Director, AmCham.
AmCham representatives highlighted the adverse impact of levy of MAT on FIIs and how FIIs were treated worldwide. The impact this move had on foreign investment was also discussed. A note on MAT was presented to the Committee. A power point presentation was also submitted highlighting the main issues relating to MAT. These can be viewed on AmCham’s website under “Advocacy: Communication to Government”..

AmCham Eastern Region Partnered with Hyatt Regency Kolkata a member organization in a Blood donation initiative on June 23rd. This was done in coordination with the Lions Club International Thakurpukur. Lions Club International is world’s largest service organization at present with more than one million members at 211 countries. Lions Club of Thakurpukur being a branch under them. They are involved in several social service activities for underprivileged people and children like free health camps and dental camps, diabetic and thalassemia awareness, plantations, free book/ cloths distribution among old aged/orphanages, puja parikrama for street children, etc.

Several member companies of AmCham Eastern Region took part in this humanitarian cause. These were associates from Pepci Co, Joy Global (India) Limited, Ixia Technologies, Ernst &Young LLP and Acclaris who took part in this very noble CSR initiative of Hyatt Regency Kolkata.

American Chamber of Commerce in India, AmCham Eastern India organized a breakfast session in association with Deloitte on the Goods and Services Tax (GST) at Hyatt Regency on Friday, 19 June 2015. The members and guests of AmCham and Deloitte participated in the event and it turned out to be an interactive and educative session. The Regional Director of AmCham Eastern Region, Amada Kidwai opened up the session and introduced the speakers, followed up with welcome remarks by Mr. Dinesh Agarwal, Chairman, AmCham, Eastern Region and opening remarks by Mr. Joydeep Datta Gupta, Regional Practice Leader, Deloitte.

The first presentation was taken by Mr. Muralidharan, Senior Director – GST Lead Partner, Deloitte. He covered the “Operational Impact of GST” on businesses. In relation to GST, he highlighted the current state of play, key features of proposed GST including taxes to be subsumed, credit mechanism and additional tax for inter-state trade in goods. He also gave an overview of impact of GST on business and stakeholder challenges. The second part of the session was taken by Mr. P.S. Easwaran, Senior Director – Supply Chain Strategy Partner, Deloitte on “Transformational Opportunities”. He explained the opportunity to relook supply chain network from various dimensions using center of gravity methodology.

The third part of the session was taken by Mr. Joydeep Ghosh, Senior Director – SAP Partner, Deloitte on “Technology Alignment”. He highlighted the impact of GST on ERP systems with emphasis on processes such as record to report, procure to pay, order to cash and plan to stock. He also gave a synopsis of migration considerations for IT systems in order to transition to GST regime.The three presentations were followed by an interactive Q&A session where the speakers addressed questions from the members.

The event ended with a vote of thanks by Mrs. Leick-Milde, Vice Chairperson, AmCham, Eastern Chapter

American Chamber of Commerce in India, AmCham Eastern India organized a breakfast session in association with Deloitte on the Goods and Services Tax (GST) at Hyatt Regency on Friday, 19 June 2015. The members and guests of AmCham and Deloitte participated in the event and it turned out to be an interactive and educative session. The Regional Director of AMCHAM Eastern Region, Amada Kidwai opened up the session and introduced the speakers, followed up with welcome remarks by Mr. Dinesh Agarwal, Chairman, AmCham, Eastern Region and opening remarks by Mr. Joydeep Datta Gupta, Regional Practice Leader, Deloitte…..

Benchmarking and Disseminating Best Practices- Monthly Conference Call

Topic: “Seven Controls Companies Can Implement for an Effective Anti-Corruption Program”

Speaker: Ms. Wendy Hallgren, Vice President, Corporate Compliance, Fluor Corporation

Ms. Hallgren gave a very powerful insight to the Seven Controls for an Effective
Anti-Corruption Program. They were:

Assess Risk
Adopt Policies Addressing Identified Risk
Implement Due Diligence Process
Conduct Training for Impacted Employees
Conduct Anti-Corruption Audits
Implement Reporting Mechanisms
Three Key Things to Remember

The Tax and Tariff Committee represented by Mr. Vivek Mishra, Partner – Indirect Tax, PricewaterhouseCoopers Private Limited; Mr. Pratik Jain, Partner, KPMG in India; Mr. R. Sridhar, Vice President – Taxation, Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages Pvt. Ltd.; and Mr. Ajay Singha, Executive Director, AmCham; met with the Chairman and members of the Rajya Sabha Select Committee on GST Bill on 16th June 2015. Besides, the Chairman, Mr. Bhupender Yadav, 14 members of the Select Committee were present.

While submitting the concerns and suggestions of U.S. companies on the provisions of the GST Bill, AmCham representatives briefed the Committee that some of the proposed provisions would not be in the best interest of the industry or the economy and needed a review. AmCham representatives were assured that their suggestions would be given due consideration.

Our representation (prepared in consultation with members) is posted on AmCham website under section ‘Tax, Tariff and Regulatory Affairs Committee’.