The Bengal Chamber of Commerce & Industry, Kolkata, India

Interactive Session with Ms. Beth A Payne, Consul General, Consulate General of the United States of America in Kolkata, 17th April 2009, Chamber premises

Ms. Beth A. Payne, Consul General of USA in Kolkata talked about the US Economic Policy under President Obama. She reviewed what the US Government saw as the cause of the crisis and the actions the Obama Administration was taking to stabilize the financial system, restore confidence and minimize the impact on the economy as well as trade partners. She observed that one of the greatest strengths of the American people was their ability to recognize their mistakes and take immediate corrective actions. She spoke about the various initiatives undertaken by the U.S. Government to combat this crisis. Efforts to jump-start job creation for economic growth according to the new American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, energy conservation, modernization of the healthcare system, ensuring world class education in order to retain America as a preferred destination for foreign students and expanding broadband access across America for the small businesses in order to connect and compete with their counterparts anywhere in the world, were some of the initiatives.

The Consul General also spoke about the G20 Summit, where the world leaders agreed to continue fiscal stimulus measures to promote growth and address the shortcomings in supervision and regulation of the banking and shadow-banking sector. She also highlighted the point that the Administration’s main objective was to create a new era of responsibility both in the private sector and in the Government. She said that America would always remain open to the world for a free exchange of ideas, goods and services. The session was essentially an exercise in the economics of change and was attended by senior members of the Chamber, academia and students. The media was present in large numbers and Ms. Payne also interacted with members of the media following the event.

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Workshop on Service Tax, 24th April 2009, Chamber premises

Shri. V. K. Goel, Commissioner of Service Tax, inaugurated the programme. Shri Goel mentioned that there were 106 services, which were entitled to ‘Service Tax’ and each service was unique in its own way. He admitted that there were problems in this space but he was quite optimistic that the situation would improve. Shri Goel requested the Chamber to send a feedback, based on the discussions at the workshop, to the Department of Service Tax. During his theme address, Mr. T. B. Chatterjee, Chairman, Indirect Taxes Sub-Committee, stated that since Service Tax contributed to 56% of the country’s GDP, it was necessary that knowledge of the same was as broad-based as possible.

The workshop focused on the various aspects in the realm of service tax. Mr. T.B. Chatterjee addressed 'Goods and Service Tax- The Road Ahead'. He discussed 'GST' and its international backdrop. His address covered issues like 'Federal GST', 'State GST' and 'Dual GST'. The challenges and likely models of GST were also discussed.

Mr. Pulak Saha, Managing Partner, P K Saha and Associates addressed ‘Cenvat Credit in Service Tax with latest case laws'. 'Works Contract (Composition Scheme under Service Tax)’ was addressed by Mr. Arun Agarwal, Chartered Accountant, K N Jain & Co. Mr. M. S. Mani, Senior Director, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu India Private Limited, spoke on ‘Import and Export of Services'. Mr. Debasis Ghosh, Director, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu India Private Limited addressed 'Important issues related to Business Auxiliary Services, Business Support Services and Renting of Immovable Properties’. Last but not the least, Mr. Bhaskar Thakkar, Associate Director of Ernst and Young Private Limited, articulated ‘Refund of Service Tax'.

The programme was attended by around 70 delegates and was very interactive in nature.

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