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AbhishekBatabyal
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  2. GautamSaxena Curious .
    This answer was edited.

    The land is a fixed asset and is treated as a long-term asset account.  Explanation The land is a fixed asset which is also referred to as a long-term asset. The fixed assets are those assets that are not expected to be cashed, consumed, last, sold, or written off within one accounting year and areRead more

    The land is a fixed asset and is treated as a long-term asset account. 

    Explanation

    The land is a fixed asset which is also referred to as a long-term asset.

    The fixed assets are those assets that are not expected to be cashed, consumed, last, sold, or written off within one accounting year and are purchased for long-term use. The fixed assets are also called non-current assets and the reason behind it is that current assets are easily converted into cash within one year and they are not.

    Fixed assets are planned by the company to be used for the long term in order to generate income.

    Example- Land, building, furniture, plants & equipment, etc.

     

    Why is land an asset?

    Although the land is not depreciated, it is still considered to be an asset because just like other assets the business spends its own money to acquire it.

    It can also be used by the business for different operations and it doesn’t create any liability for the business. Instead, reselling the land after a few years can help the company earn a huge margin of profit.

     

    Land in the balance sheet

    On the asset side of the balance sheet, the land is stated under the heading long-term assets.

    Balance Sheet (for the year…)

     

    Therefore, the land is a fixed asset and is treated as a long-term asset account.

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AbhishekBatabyal
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  2. ShreyaSharma none
    This answer was edited.

    Land in the balance sheet The land is an asset and hence it is shown on the asset side of the balance sheet. On the asset side of the balance sheet, the land is stated under the heading long-term assets. Balance Sheet (for the year…) Explanation The land is a fixed asset and is supposed not to be caRead more

    Land in the balance sheet

    The land is an asset and hence it is shown on the asset side of the balance sheet.

    On the asset side of the balance sheet, the land is stated under the heading long-term assets.

    Balance Sheet (for the year…)

    Explanation

    The land is a fixed asset and is supposed not to be cashed, consumed, last, sold, or written off within one accounting year and is purchased for long-term use. The fixed assets are also called non-current assets and the reason behind it is that current assets are easily converted into cash within one year and they are not.

    • The sole purpose of buying fixed assets like the land is that they are planned to be used for the long term in order to generate income.
    • Examples of fixed assets – Land, buildings, furniture, plants & equipment, etc.
    • Also called non-current assets and capital assets.

     

    Why is it shown on the asset side?

    The land is an asset, although it is not depreciable it is still considered to be an asset because just like other assets the business spends its own money to acquire it, and it gives them a long-term benefit while reselling it.

    Therefore, the land is shown on the asset side under the fixed asset heading.

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AbhishekBatabyal
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  2. Ayushi Curious Pursuing CA
    This answer was edited.

    Meaning of lease A lease is an agreement or a contract in which the right to use an asset like land, building, or machinery is given by one party to the other party for a fixed period of time against the consideration of a single payment or a series of payments. There are two parties in a lease agreRead more

    Meaning of lease

    A lease is an agreement or a contract in which the right to use an asset like land, building, or machinery is given by one party to the other party for a fixed period of time against the consideration of a single payment or a series of payments.

    There are two parties in a lease agreement:

    • Lessor: The party who gives the right to use its asset in return for a series of payments or a single payment.
    • Lessee: The party who receives the right to use the asset from the Lessor.

    This is similar to a rent agreement or contract. The only difference between lease and rent is duration. A rent agreement is generally for less than 12 months while a lease agreement is for more than 12 months like 5 years or 10 years, sometimes even for like 99years.

     

    Type of lease

    There are two types of lease:

    • Operating lease
    • Finance Lease

     

    Operating lease

    • An operating lease is a type of lease in which the possession of the leased asset is transferred back from the lessee to the lessor at the end of the lease period.
    • Here, all the risk and rewards incident to ownership remains with the lessor, not the lessee.
    • The depreciation on the leased asset in case of operating lease is not charged by the lessee to its profit and loss account as the leased asset is not shown in the balance sheet. A leased asset is an off-balance sheet item in the case of an operating lease.

     

    Finance lease

    • Unlike an operating lease, the ownership of the leased asset is transferred to the lessee at the end of the leased period.
    • Thus, at the inception of the lease agreement, all the risk and rewards incident to ownership is transferred from the lessor to the lessee.
    • The depreciation on the leased asset is charged by the lessee to its profit and loss account as the leased asset is shown in the balance sheet. A leased asset is a balance sheet item in the case of an operating lease.
    • Along with the leased asset, the obligation to pay the future lease payment is also shown in the balance sheet as a non-current liability or current liability as the case may be.

     

    Difference between operating lease and finance lease in tabular format

     

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AbhishekBatabyal
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  2. Ayushi Curious Pursuing CA

    Introduction Like, in the case of excise duty, the taxable event is the manufacture of goods, supply is a taxable event with respect to the Goods and Services Tax regime in India. A taxable event is an event on occurrence of which tax is charged. Excise duty is charged when any specified good is manRead more

    Introduction

    Like, in the case of excise duty, the taxable event is the manufacture of goods, supply is a taxable event with respect to the Goods and Services Tax regime in India. A taxable event is an event on occurrence of which tax is charged.

    Excise duty is charged when any specified good is manufactured, GST is charged when any good or service is supplied.

    Definition of Supply

    The concept of supply is of great significance to the GST architecture. It can be called the ‘bones to the body of GST’.

    Section 7 of the CGST defines ‘supply’.

    At first, I have provided the whole Section 7 which consists of four sub-sections:

    • 7(1)
    • 7(1A)
    • 7(2)
    • 7(3).

    Thereafter will be the explanation of each sub-section in simple language.

    Section 7

    Section 7(1) of the CGST Act, 2017 defines ‘supply’. As per section 7(1) of the CGST Act, 2017, the supply includes:

    • All forms of supply of goods and services or both such as sale, transfer, barter, exchange, license, rental, lease or disposal made for a consideration by a person in the course or furtherance of business
    • Importation of service, for a consideration whether or not in the course or furtherance of business and
    • The activities specified in Schedule I, made or agreed to be made with or without consideration.

    Section 7(1A) states, ‘where certain activities or transaction constitute as supply in accordance of with the provisions of sub-section (1), they shall be treated either as a supply of good or supply of services as referred to Schedule II.

    Section 7(2) states, ‘notwithstanding with anything contained in sub-section (1).

    • Activities and transactions stated specified in Schedule III or
    • Such activities and transactions undertaken by the Central government, state government or local authority in which they are engaged as public authorities, as may be notified by the government on the recommendation of the Council

    shall not be treated neither as a supply of goods nor a supply of services.

    Section 7(3) states ‘subject to sub-section (1), (1A) and (2), the government may, on the recommendation of the council specify, by the notification, the transaction that is treated as :

    • a supply of goods and not as a supply of services
    • a supply of services and not as a supply of goods.

    Explanation of Section 7 in simple terms.

    Section 7(1) (a) sets three parameters of an activity or transaction to be a supply.

    • Supply should be only of goods and services. Supply of anything other than goods or services like money, securities do not attract GST.
    • Supply should be made for a consideration
    • Supply should be made in the course or furtherance of business

    Any activity or transaction will be treated as a supply if the above parameters are fulfilled as per sub-section (1) clause (a).

    Section 7(1)(b) is actually an exception to the 3rd parameter of supply. Import of service for a consideration will be considered a supply even if it is not made in furtherance of business,

    Section 7(1)(c) states that item in the schedule I will be treated as supply whether there is consideration or not. This is an exception to the 2nd parameter.

    Section 7(1A) states any activity which is a supply as per sub-section (1), shall be classified either as a supply of goods or as a supply of service as per schedule II. There are many activities and transactions which have the characteristics of both goods and services.

    For example, dining in a restaurant.  Schedule II helps to eliminate this confusion and helps to classify such activities or transactions as either supply of goods or supply of services. As per Schedule II, dining or take-away from a restaurant is a supply of service.

    Section 7(2) states the activities which are neither supply of goods nor neither of services even if they fulfilled the condition of the sub-section (1).

    Section 7(3) says that the central government have the power to notify transactions that are to be treated as supply of goods nor as a supply of service or supply of services not as a supply of services

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AbhishekBatabyal
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  2. Ayushi Curious Pursuing CA

    Introduction A capital reduction account is an account used to pass entries related to the internal reconstruction of a company. During reconstruction, paid-up capital reduced is credited to this account; hence its name is capital reduction account. It is also known as the reconstruction account. TyRead more

    Introduction

    A capital reduction account is an account used to pass entries related to the internal reconstruction of a company. During reconstruction, paid-up capital reduced is credited to this account; hence its name is capital reduction account. It is also known as the reconstruction account.

    Type of account

    A capital reduction account is a temporary account open just to carry out internal reconstruction. It represents the sacrifices made by the shareholders, debenture holders and creditors. Also, any appreciation in the value of assets is credited to this account. It is closed to capital reduction when internal reconstruction is completed.

    Entries passed through capital reduction account

    When paid-up capital is cancelled.

    When paid-up capital is cancelled, the share capital account is debited and the capital reduction account is debited as share capital is getting reduced.

    Share Capital A/c Dr. Amt
    To Capital Reduction A/c Cr. Amt

    When assets and liabilities are revalued

    At the time of internal reconstruction, the gain or loss on revaluation is transferred to the capital reduction account instead of the revaluation reserve.

    Writing off of accumulated losses and intangible assets

    The credit balance of the capital reduction account is used to write off the accumulated losses and intangible assets like goodwill, patents etc which are unrepresented by capital. The capital reduction account is debited and profit and loss account and intangible assets accounts are credited.

    Capital Reduction A/c Dr. Amt
    To Profit and loss A/c Cr. Amt
    To Goodwill/ Patents A/c Cr. Amt

    Treatment in books of account

    The balance in the capital reduction account, whether debit or credit, it is transferred to the capital reduction account. Hence, it doesn’t appear on the balance sheet.

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AbhishekBatabyal
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  2. Ayushi Curious Pursuing CA

    Introduction Internal reconstruction refers to the process of restructuring a sick company’s balance sheet by certain methods to turn it financially healthy, thus saving it from potential liquidation. Explanation When a company has been making losses for many years, it has a huge amount of accumulatRead more

    Introduction

    Internal reconstruction refers to the process of restructuring a sick company’s balance sheet by certain methods to turn it financially healthy, thus saving it from potential liquidation.

    Explanation

    When a company has been making losses for many years, it has a huge amount of accumulated losses due to which the reserve and surplus appear at a very low or negative amount in the balance sheet.

    Also, such a company is said to be overcapitalised as it is not able to generate enough returns to its capital.

    As the company is overcapitalised, the assets are also overvalued. The balance sheet also contains many fictitious assets and unrepresented intangible assets.

    The balance sheet of such a ‘sick’ company looks like the following:

    Hence, to save the company from liquidation,

    • its assets and liabilities are revalued and reassessed,
    • its capital is reduced by paying off part of paid-up capital to shareholders or cancelling the paid-up capital.
    • the right of shareholders related to preference dividends is altered,
    • agreements are made with creditors to reduce their claims and
    • fictitious assets and accumulated losses are written off.

    In this way, its balance sheet gets rid of all undesirable elements and the company gets a new life without being liquidated.  This process is known as internal reconstruction.

    Legal compliance

    The internal reconstruction of a company is governed by the provisions of the Companies Act, 2013.

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AbhishekBatabyal
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  2. Ayushi Curious Pursuing CA

    Introduction Audit refers to an independent examination of the financial information of any entity to express an opinion on the financial statements of the entity.  An audit is conducted to ensure that the financial statements of the entity whose books of accounts are audited reflect a true and fairRead more

    Introduction

    Audit refers to an independent examination of the financial information of any entity to express an opinion on the financial statements of the entity.  An audit is conducted to ensure that the financial statements of the entity whose books of accounts are audited reflect a true and fair view of the affairs of the entity.

    In audit reports, an auditor uses the term ‘true and fair’ is used to express that the financial statements are free from any kind of material misstatement and depict a correct financial image of the entity.

    The term holds great significance in the audit reports of entities and auditors have to use this term carefully.

    Meaning of ‘True’ and ‘Fair’

    The term consists of two words, ‘True’ and ‘Fair’. Let’s understand what each of these words actually means.

    True

    The word ‘true’ suggests that the auditor, after examining the financial statements, has found no material misstatement whether due to error or fraud. The financial information depicted by the financial statements and the underlying accounting records is correct. The preparation and presentation of the financial statements are in accordance with the accounting standards applicable to the entity.

    Fair

    The word ‘fair’ means the financial information presented through the financial statement does not have an element of bias or sugar coating. There is a faithful presentation of financial information and the amounts at which the assets and liabilities, income and expenses and equity are shown is justified.

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AbhishekBatabyal
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  2. Ayushi Curious Pursuing CA
    This answer was edited.

    Meaning A valuation account is a balance sheet account that is paired with another balance sheet account to report the carrying amount of the paired account at a reduced value. The purpose of a valuation account is to reduce the balance of the concerned asset or liability without affecting the mainRead more

    Meaning

    A valuation account is a balance sheet account that is paired with another balance sheet account to report the carrying amount of the paired account at a reduced value.

    The purpose of a valuation account is to reduce the balance of the concerned asset or liability without affecting the main ledger account.  This is a conservative approach to use valuation accounts to present the value of the concerned asset or liability at a reduced value.

    The most common example of a valuation account is the ‘Provision for doubtful debts account’. It appears in the balance sheet as a reduction from the debtors’ accounts. Also when the amount is transferred to this provision, it appears in the statement of profit and loss account. But it doesn’t appear in the debtors’ account ledger.

    Treatment

    A valuation account appears only in the balance sheet. Sometimes, it also appears in the profit and loss account when any amount is transferred to it.

    Valuation accounts are only used in accrual accounting. They cannot be used in cash-based accounting as there is no flow of cash related to valuation accounts.

    They have a balance opposite of their paired accounts i.e. if their paired account is an asset then they will have a credit balance and if it is a liability then they will have a debit balance.

    Other Examples of valuation accounts are as follows:

    1. Provision for doubtful debts (offsets the account receivables or debtors’ account)
    2. Accumulated depreciation (report the assets net of depreciation)
    3. Discount on bonds payable (reduces the reporting balance of bond payable account)
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AbhishekBatabyal
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  2. Ayushi Curious Pursuing CA
    This answer was edited.

    The term ‘bad debt’ and ‘write off’ are often used together in a sentence but they have different meanings. First, we will discuss them in brief to understand the differences between them. Bad debts We know, debtors for a business are their assets because the business has the right to receive moneyRead more

    The term ‘bad debt’ and ‘write off’ are often used together in a sentence but they have different meanings. First, we will discuss them in brief to understand the differences between them.

    Bad debts

    We know, debtors for a business are their assets because the business has the right to receive money from the debtors due to the goods supplied to them.

    But if due to circumstances, there appears no probability that the amount due to one or more debtors will be realised to the business, then such debts are categorised as bad debts.

    In short, bad debts refer to the amount of money that will not be received from some debtors of the business due to some circumstances like insolvency of debtor etc.

    Bad debt is deducted from debtors account by the following journal entry:

    Bad debts A/c Dr. Amt
    To Debtors A/c Cr. Amt
    (Being bad debts written off from debtors)

    As bad debts are losses to a business, it is ultimately written off from the profit and loss account.

    Profit and loss A/c Dr. Amt
    To Bad debts A/c Cr. Amt
    (Being bad debts written off to profit and loss account)

    Write off

    In layman terms, write off means to deduct something out from something. In accounting, write off means to deduct or reduce value of assets by crediting it to a liability account which is usually a reserve account or the profit and loss account.

    It also refers to the elimination of an item from the books of accounts particularly losses and expenses.

    Generally, writing off is associated with the following:

    1. Bad debts.
    2. Damaged Inventories.
    3. Loss on issue or redemption of debentures.
    4. Preliminary expenses.
    5. Bad loans and advances.

    Write off can be done in one of the following methods:

    1. Direct write-off: The write off is directly done by crediting asset account or loss account and debiting the reserve or P/L account.
    2. Indirect write-off: Here, an intermediate account is involved between the asset account and liabilities account. A common example is writing off of bad debts where the bad debts account is the intermediate account.

    Hence, the following differences can be observed between bad debts and write off or writing off:

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AbhishekBatabyal
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  2. Ayushi Curious Pursuing CA

    Today, mobile phones especially smartphones are an indispensable part of most businesses and they qualify as fixed assets as they usually last for more than a year. Being a fixed asset, the depreciation on mobile phones is to be provided. The rate of depreciation to be charged on mobile phones is 15Read more

    Today, mobile phones especially smartphones are an indispensable part of most businesses and they qualify as fixed assets as they usually last for more than a year. Being a fixed asset, the depreciation on mobile phones is to be provided.

    The rate of depreciation to be charged on mobile phones is 15% WDV* as per the Income Tax Act. The rates as per the companies act, 2013 are 4.75% SLM** and 13.91% WDV*.

    *Written Down Value **Straight Line Method

    A company has to charge depreciation on mobiles in their books as per the rates of Companies Act, 2013.

    Any business or entity other than a company can choose the rate as per the Income Tax Act, 1961 which is 15% WDV. It is a general practice for non-corporates to charge depreciation in their books as per the rates of the Income Tax Act.

    An important thing to know is that as per the Income Tax Act, 1961, mobile phones are treated as plants and machinery and the general rate of 15% is applied to it.

    One may consider mobile phones as computers and charge depreciation at the rate of 40%. However, such a practice is not correct. Mobile phones are not considered equivalent to computers and there is case judgment given by Madras High Court which backs this consideration. The case is of Federal Bank Ltd. vs. ACIT (supra).

    Therefore we are bound to this case judgment and should treat mobile phones as part of plant and machinery and charge depreciation on it accordingly for the time being.

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