BCAS President CA Anand Bathiya’s Message for the Month of January 2025

Adios 2024!

The landmark calendar year of 2024 has come to a close, marking the 75th anniversary of our esteemed Society. This year has been an opportunity to express gratitude and recognise the numerous contributions made by our Society over the past several decades. It also served to reinforce our commitment and dedication to our Society’s mission for our shared future. The year commenced with the landmark ReImagine mega-conference and concluded on a high note with India’s inaugural CAthon – a marathon run for Chartered Accountants, which attracted over 1600 participants in support of noble causes. On behalf of the entire BCAS team, I would like to extend my heartfelt thanks to all our members and well-wishers for their unwavering support for the various BCAS initiatives throughout the year.

The beginning of a brand-new year is always a good spot to pause and reflect on the year gone by, as well as expectations from the new year. Whilst 2024 gave us new governments at the centre and the state, closer home, the new council of our Institute of Chartered Accountants (‘ICAI’) is also set to get started soon. In this backdrop, we discuss some trends affecting our profession that can seemingly unfold (or accelerate) as we glide into the new year:

i. Evolving Assurance Regulatory Landscape: In 2024, India’s assurance regulatory landscape underwent significant changes, with the NFRA demonstrating its strong intent through various amendments and circulars despite opposing views from other stakeholders. With a new council leading ICAI and the recent opinion from the Solicitor General of India, the outcome of the proposed amendments will be closely observed. Additionally, as the NFRA team expands, it is expected that their monitoring and oversight functions will accelerate, resulting in an increase in Audit Quality Review Reports, inspections, and orders.

The Accounting and Auditing Committee at BCAS initiated a series of webinars in December 2024 focusing on significant auditing standards and recent NFRA orders analysis. Featuring speakers from NFRA, the objective of these webinars was to enhance our members’ understanding of the evolving assurance landscape.

ii. Simplification Effort for Income Tax Act: In 2025, it is anticipated that meaningful amendments will be made to the Income Tax Act, 1961, in an effort to simplify its provisions. As announced by the Honourable Finance Minister in her Budget Speech of 2024, there is considerable expectation regarding the changes that may be proposed in the upcoming 2025 budget. These modifications are likely to be refined over the coming months, with the budget document setting the groundwork for this initiative.

At BCAS, the Direct Tax Committee has established a sub-group to provide suggestions on simplification initiatives. This sub-group will also focus on training and knowledge dissemination for our members following the announcement of these changes. Additionally, in December 2024, BCAS had the honour of hosting Dr. Pushpinder S. Puniha and other members from the Consultative Group on Tax Policy at NITI Aayog, where suggestions were shared on tax policy-related matters.

iii. The fruition of legal challenges under GST: The GST law has travelled through the phases of awareness > implementation > assessments > dispute resolution. Since the dispute resolution process is time-consuming, many important matters, including certain constitutional challenges to GST law, might see conclusion in 2025. It would not be of surprise if legislative amendments are resorted to cover some of these judicial pronouncements, as is the expectation with the Safari Retreats judgment. The commencement of matters at the appellate tribunal level is also expected to gather steam in the coming year.

The Indirect Tax Committee at BCAS recently hosted a comprehensive full-day workshop on recent developments in GST, which included a Brain’s Trust session addressing issues arising from recent judgments. Additionally, the committee is preparing a representation to be submitted to the Union Finance Minister and the CBIC, focusing on specific provisions related to the legal and procedural aspects of GST.

iv. Embedded usage of AI across practice areas: The discussion on AI has transitioned from questioning its impact to examining the extent of its influence. As more AI tools become widely used, AI adoption is expected to increase across all professional practice areas by 2025. It is unlikely that AI will replace accountants entirely, but it is entirely probable that ‘accountants with AI’ will replace ‘accountants without AI’.

At BCAS, our AI mission is to enable members to harness the power of AI rather than perceiving it as an adversary. The Technology Initiatives Committee has embarked on a journey of organising subject-specific AI discussions. Having successfully concluded a session on ‘Transforming Tax Practice through AI’, the team is all set to host an upcoming session on ‘Revolutionizing CA Practice through AI’.

v. Acceleration in the trend towards audit-only firms and non-audit firms: The changing regulatory framework, increased stakeholder expectations, and the need for specialised domain knowledge are likely to accelerate the trend of firms focusing their efforts on either audit services or non-audit services. As this distinction becomes more pronounced, it may lead to the formation of audit-only firms that utilise their core assurance expertise to provide conflict-free services.

The forthcoming Members’ RRC in Lucknow-Ayodhya will feature insightful sessions on the topic of the future of firms, raising private equity for professional firms and developing non-conventional practice areas. While registration for the Members’ RRC is closed, individuals can join a waitlist to possibly secure a spot in the event of cancellations.

The BCAS membership extends across over 350 towns and cities in India. In December, the Vice President visited Coimbatore to conduct the first BCAS Townhall. These townhall sessions, which are held outside of Mumbai, provide an excellent opportunity for the BCAS office bearers to engage with our membership and exchange thoughts. Coupled with the Sherpa initiative, these BCAS Townhalls will help reaching out to the growing diverse membership at BCAS.

This month, we surpassed 25,000 subscribers on our BCAS YouTube channel. The BCAS YouTube channel is a treasure trove of professional knowledge and deep insight on various topics. Now, all videos from the ReImagine mega-conference have been added to the BCAS YouTube channel for the benefit of our community.

BCAS congratulates the newly elected council members of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India as they embark on leading and guiding our collective efforts towards the betterment of our profession.

Please also join me in congratulating the 11,500 newly qualified Chartered Accountants as they embark on their journey in this esteemed profession, with a promising future ahead of them.

As the new year begins, I hope you have obtained your copy of the BCAS Calendar and Diary. Best wishes for a healthy, happy and fruitful new year ahead. Bienvenue 2025!