Skip to main content

Cos Report Better CSR Compliance in FY16


Corporate social responsibility (CSR ) compliance improved in India in 2015-16 with companies managing to effectively spend almost 92% of their budgeted CSR expenditure, according to the CII's Annual CSR Tracker survey.
Section 135 of the Companies Act of 2013 requires companies need to spend at least 2% of their average net profit for the immediately preceding three financial years on CSR activities.
The survey report said 1,270 BSE-listed companies collectively spent Rs 8,185 crore for FY16 with a cut-off date of December 2016. Interestingly, as per replies filed in the parliament by the minister of state for corporate affa irs Arjun Ram Meghwal, the total CSR expenditure for 5,097 companies in FY16 amounted to Rs 9,822 crore.
The survey noted that the CSR performance of companies with respect to requirements of the Companies Act substantially improved over the last year.
The results were based on company disclosures and reports filed with the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE).
The survey incorporated voluntary disclosures by 166 companies of their `output data', which showed that an estimated 1.5 crore people benefited from Rs 3,748 crore spent by them, averaging to about Rs 2,500 being spent per person.
“The fact that companies are budgeting and spending more than the minimum legislative requirement suggests that companies want to do more,“ said Chandrajit Banerjee, director general of CII. “There is always room for improvement.“
According to the report, the main reasons for under-spending or lack of CSR spend were planning and implementation, with almost 44% of the companies falling in that category. This is significantly less than 62% in FY15, where 35% companies “required more time to plan“. “Finding the right project“ continued to be a challenge for 14% of the companies.
The report further observed that the number of companies spending CSR budgets exclusively through corporate foundations increased to 72 from 60 last year, reflecting an increasing trend towards companies building their own capacities for implementation.
Health and sanitation, education and skill development, and rural development were the top three developmental areas for spends. Out of the 32 industry categories, absolute spends decreased in just two industries--commercial services & supplies and oil & gas.
The Economic Times New Delhi, 17th April 2017

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

New income tax slab and rates for new tax regime FY 2023-24 (AY 2024-25) announced in Budget 2023

  Basic exemption limit has been hiked to Rs.3 lakh from Rs 2.5 currently under the new income tax regime in Budget 2023. Further, the income tax slabs in the new tax regime has been changed. According to the announcement, 5 income tax slabs will be there in FY 2023-24, from 6 income tax slabs currently. A rebate under Section 87A has been enhanced under the new tax regime; from the current income level of Rs.5 lakh to Rs.7 lakh. Thus, individuals opting for the new income tax regime and having an income up to Rs.7 lakh will not pay any taxes   The income tax slabs under the new income tax regime will now be as follows: Rs 0 to Rs 3 lakh - 0% tax rate Rs 3 lakh to 6 lakh - 5% Rs 6 lakh to 9 lakh - 10% Rs 9 lakh to Rs 12 lakh - 15% Rs 12 lakh to Rs 15 lakh - 20% Above Rs 15 lakh - 30%   The revised Income tax slabs under new tax regime for FY 2023-24 (AY 2024-25)   Income tax slabs under new tax regime Income tax rates under new tax regime O to Rs 3 lakh 0 Rs 3 lakh to Rs 6 lakh 5% Rs 6

Jaitley plans to cut MSME tax rate to 25%

Income tax for companies with annual turnover up to ?50 crore has been reduced to 25% from 30% in order to make Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) companies more viable and also to encourage firms to migrate to a company format. This move will benefit 96% or 6.67 lakh of the 6.94 lakh companies filing returns of lower taxation and make MSME sector more competitive as compared with large companies. However, bigger firms have shown their disappointment since the proposal for reducing tax rates was to make Indian firms competitive globally and it is the large firms that are competing globally. The Finance Minister foregone revenue estimate of Rs 7,200 crore per annum for this for this measure. Besides, the Finance Minister refrained from removing or reducing Minimum Alternate Tax (MAT), a popular demand from India Inc., but provided a higher period of 15 years for carry forward of future credit claims, instead of the existing 10-year period. “It is not practical to rem

Don't forget to verify your income tax return in August: Here's the process

  An ITR return needs to be verified within 120 days of filing of tax return. Now that you have filed your income tax return, remember to verify it because your return filing process is not complete unless you do so. The CBDT has reduced the time limit of ITR verification to 30 days (from 120 days) from the date of return submission. The new rule is applicable for the returns filed online on or after 1st August 2022. E-verification is the most convenient and instant method for verifying your ITR. However, if you prefer not to e-verify, you have the option to verify it by sending a physical copy of the ITR-V. Taxpayers who filed returns by July 31, 2023 but forget to verify their tax returns, will get the following email from the tax department, as per ClearTax. If your ITR is not verified within 30 days of e-filing, it will be considered invalid, and may be liable to pay a Late Fee. Aadhaar OTP | EVC through bank account | EVC through Demat account | Sending duly signed ITR-V through s