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He is currently practicing, as an Advocate, in the field of Indirect Taxes, Commercial Laws and Cyber Crime. He is having experience of more than 21 years in profession (17 years as CA and then onwards as an Advocate).
Ø He is regularly appearing before various High Courts & also before the Hon'ble Supreme Court.
Ø He is based at Ahmedabad, Surat and Delhi. Having Branches and Associates all over India.
Ø He is associated with M/s ASHVA Legal Advisors LLP, Attorneys and Advocates as Founder Partner, with M/s. AAP & Co., Chartered Accountants, as Legal Advisor and with M/s VSSK Advisory Pvt Ltd as Director .
Ø He is author of various books on GST and Indirect Taxes.
EDUCATIONAL QUALIFICATION:
· Bachelor of Commerce (B.Com)
· Bachelor of Laws (LL.B)
· Chartered Accountant (FCA)
· Doctorate of Philosophy (PhD, in GST) - Research subject is "Convergence of Excise, Service Tax and VAT into Goods & Service Tax (GST) and Its Likely Impact on the Industries of Gujarat State"
· Passed Limited Insolvency Examination of IBBI – Insolvency Professional
· Post Graduate Certificate in Cyber Crime (PGCCL).
· Diploma in Information System Audit (DISA)
· Certified Financial Planner (CFP)
· Microsoft Certified Professional (MCP)
· Completed various certified courses of ICAI such as Arbitration, Forensic Accounting and Fraud Detection, Valuation, IFRS, Indirect Taxes.
· Passed Online Proficiency Self-Assessment Test for Independent Director's Databank.
Passed Certified Program in Constitutional Law (CP – CL) by Institute of Constitutional and Parliamentary Studies, Delhi
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE:
· He has completed Chartered Accountancy (CA) in 2000 with excellent academic record and rank in merit list.
· He Practiced as a Chartered Accountant for almost 17 years (2000-2017) in Direct as well as Indirect Taxes and since April 2017 practicing as an Advocate. In such a short span, he is having many landmark judgements in his name.
AREA OF WORKING & SPECIALISATION:
· Practicing in the field of Indirect Taxation (Central Excise, Customs, Service Tax and VAT); Corporate Laws, RERA, IBC and Cyber Crime
· Specialised in Representing for litigation works pertaining to Indirect Taxation. Appeared and Argued before
v Honourable Supreme Court of India.
v Various High Courts viz. Gujarat, Madras, Patna, Kerala, Bombay, Allahabad, Kolkata, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, Orissa, Punjab & Haryana and Uttarakhand.
v Court of Sessions and Other Special Courts.
v Custom Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT)
v Commissioner (Appeals)
v Settlement Commission
v Authority for Advance Ruling.
· Appearing and Arguing before NCLT in Corporate Laws and IBC matters.
· Appearing and Arguing before Debt Recovery Tribunal (DRT).
· Appearing and Arguing in Arbitration & Conciliation matters as Counsel and also acting as Arbitral Tribunal for few matters. (Empanelled as Arbitrator at Indian Council of Arbitration)
· Conducts Forensic Investigation for several Government Agencies
CONTRIBUTION AS A PROFESSIONAL TO TRADE AND PROFESSION:
· Special Invitee of GST & Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code Committee of ICAI for the Year (2021 – 22)
· Special Invitee of GST & Indirect Tax Committee of ICAI for the Year (2019 – 20) and (2018 – 19).
· Special Invitee of Indirect Tax Committee of PHD Chamber of Commerce, Delhi for the Year (2021-2022), (2020-21), (2019 – 20) and (2018 – 19)
· Member of Indirect Tax Committee of Western Region Council (WIRC) of ICAI for (2021-22), (2020-21), (2018-19) & (2017–18).
· Member of GST and Indirect Tax Committee of Gujarat Chamber of Commerce and Industries. (2020-21), (2019-20) and (2018-19)
· Member and Co-Chairman of GST and Indirect Tax Committee of Southern Gujarat Chamber of Commerce and Industries. (2021-22), (2020-21), (2019-20), (2018-19) and (2017-18)
· Member of Indirect Tax Committee of Ahmedabad and Surat Branch of WIRC of ICAI. (2017-18) & (2018 – 19)
· Past Convenor of Study Group on GST formed by ICAI for South Gujarat. Now member of the same.
· Empanelled Arbitrator at Indian Council of Arbitration (Membership No: IL/ICA/4863)
· Special Invitee in Committee formed by Veer Narmad South Gujarat University for changes in syllabus of B.Com and M.com in respect of GST. Also writing the book on GST in Gujarati for the said University.
· Vice Chairman of Excise and Service Tax Committee of South Gujarat Chamber of Commerce and Industries.
CONTRIBUTION AS A SPEAKER
He had delivered more than 900 lectures All Over India at various Residential, Regional and National Conferences of ICAI, ICSI , ICWAI, ICAI Live Webcast, PHD Chamber of Commerce Delhi, CREDAI, IIT Bombay, VNSG University, AURO University, ASSOCHAM and various other institutions, trade associations and corporates like STAR, STBA, GSTBA, TAAB, TAAG, SGTTA, SGTPA, Adani Group, Colourtex Group, etc. Also he had deliberated in various Webinars of various branches and study circles of ICAI, STAR etc,. He had also deliberated in seminars/workshops organised by Excise and Service Tax Department and NACIN.
He was also invited as a speaker in e-Summit' 2018 organised by IIT Bombay.
CONTRIBUTION AS AN AUTHOR -
· Released and Upcoming books
Upcoming Books (Between January 2023 – March 2023)
v Master Guide to GST Act.
v Appeals and Litigation in Indirect Taxes.
v Master Guide to GST Rules.
v Commentary on Assessments under GST (including procedures)
v Commentary on Demand & Recovery under GST (including procedures)
v Compendium on Critical Issues in GST and their Solutions
v Commentary on Appeals & Revision under GST (including procedures)
v Landmark Judgments under GST – 3600 Analysis.
v Anatomy of Fake & Bogus Invoicing & Arrest under GST
v Commentary on Penalties, Prosecution and Arrest under GST.
v Commentary on Investigation, Search and Seizure under GST.
v Digest on Landmark Judgments under GST
v Principles of Statutory interpretation & Important Legal Maxims GST.
v Cross Examination – Relevance in Tax Laws.
v Burden of Proof under Tax Laws.
v Litigation Practice Manual.
v How to Handle GST Problems (Legal & Practical Resolutions)
Released Books
GST
v As a Co-author, Audit and Annual Return in GST (2nd Edition) published and released by a renowned publisher Wolter Kluwer in June 2019.
v Appeals and Litigation in GST and Customs shall be published by CCH India, a Wolters Kluwer Business released in November 2019.
v As a Co-author, GST Referencer and Manual (2nd Edition) published and released by STAR in January 2020.
v Glimpses of GST, published by CCH India, a Wolters Kluwer Business.
v Step by Step Guide to GST Compliance Made Easy, , published by CCH India, a Wolters Kluwer Business.
v Complete Guide on e-Way Bill Under GST published and released by a renowned publisher Wolter Kluwer in April 2018.
v Practical Guide for Annual Returns and Audit in GST releasing by WIRC of ICAI
v Co-authored, Audit and Annual Return in GST published and released by a renowned publisher Wolter Kluwer.
v Co-authored, GST Referencer and Manual published and released by a renowned publisher LMP
v Co-authored, FAQs under GST published by CA Association Ahmedabad
v GST Saral Samjhuti in Gujarati published by SBD Publications, Ahmedabad.
v GST Concepts for Layman published by Crosswords Bookstores Ltd.
v WIRC GST Reference Manual published and released by WIRC of ICAI
v WIRC Background Material for GST published and released by WIRC of ICAI
v Contributed the GST portion in WIRC Reference Manual released by WIRC of ICAI
v EIRC Background Material for GST published and released by EIRC of ICAI
Service Tax & Others
v "Service Tax Law Practice and Procedure" published by Bharat Law House
v "Service Tax Made Simple" published by Bharat Law House
v "Service Tax Ready Reckoner" published by Bharat Law House
v "Appeals and Litigation in Indirect Tax" published by CCH India, a Wolters Kluwer Business
v "Indirect Tax Manual" published by CCH India, a Wolters Kluwer Business)
v "Audit, Investigation and Prosecution under Indirect Taxes" published by CCH India, a Wolters Kluwer Business)
v Gujarati Book on service tax named "Service Tax Margdarshan" published by SBD Publications
v Service Tax Book in Hindi published by Bharat Law House
· Authored a motivational book titled "Unleash your hidden potential" released internationally in June 2017.
CONTRIBUTION ONLINE TO PROFESSION AND SOCIETY AT LARGE
· He writes articles for various newsletters and online portals such as www.taxindiaonline.com, www.gstclub.in, gst.cchtaxonline.com on regular basis.
· Releasing fortnightly a newsletter, Avinash Poddar's Communique, which carries the case laws, articles, etc. on Indirect Taxes and is being sent to more than 60000 members.
· Founder and promoter of a portal www.gstclub.in with the intention of creating an interaction platform for professionals, corporates and tax payers about GST. This portal has features such as creating a Public Forum, Post Articles related to GST and Ask queries relating to GST from the GST Club team. Currently this portal has around 25000 active members who receive updates on GST on daily basis.
· Had a portal www.avinashpoddar.com for updates about the service tax and the most important feature of the said portal is Replying to the queries related to Service Tax and GST.
· Mobile app named GST Club is also launched for both the platforms namely Android and IOS. More than 12000 persons are taking benefit of the same i.e. getting the updates on regular basis in the field of GST.
PROFESSIONAL& OTHER MEMBERSHIPS:
· Member of Bar Council of Gujarat
· Member of Gujarat High Court Advocates Association
· Life Member of Gujarat Sales Tax Bar Association
· Life Member of Tax Advocates Association Ahmedabad
· Life Member of Indian Council of Arbitration (ICA)
· Life Member of All India Federation of Tax Practitioners
· Life Member of Society for Tax Analysis and Research
· Life Member of Bombay Chartered Accountants Society
· Life Member of Chamber of Tax Consultants
· Life Member of Confederation of GST Professionals and Industries (CGPI)
· Life Member of Chartered Accountant's Association Surat (CAAS)
· Chief Patron Member of South Gujarat Chamber of Commerce and Industries.
· Patron Member of South Gujarat Productivity Council
· Life Member of Gujarat Chamber of Commerce and Industries.
· Member of Certified Fraud Examiners India Chapter
· Member of Certified Internal Auditor Mumbai Chapter
· Member of Lions Club of Surat Samarpan
· Member of Agrawal Professionals Association, Surat.
· Member of Anuvrat Dwar CPE Surat Study Circle of ICAI.
· Member of Bhartiya Vitta Salahkar Samiti (BVSS)
CONTRIBUTION TO SOCIETY AND OTHERS:
· Associated for social activity as active member Lions Club. Served the society and Lions Clubs District 3232F2 as Club President, District Chairman (various portfolio), Zone Chairperson.
· President of Agrawal Professionals Association, Surat.
· Patron Trustee of Agarwal Pragati Trust, Surat
· Past Convenor of Anuvrat Dwar Surat CPE Study Circle for the year 2015-16. Study Circle awarded "Highly Commendable Study Circle" by WIRC of ICAI for 2015-16.
· Manages portal GSTCLUB.IN which has more than 10000 members. Purpose is to keep them updated and resolve their queries, if any. Best feature is daily the subscribers get a digest of updates in the field of GST. It also has both Android as well as IOS application.
· A fortnightly newsletter is issued with updates, case laws and articles in the name of Avinash Poddar's communique.