Symposium on RERA & GST addressed concerns

10^th August 2017, Mumbai: A session organized in the city by TREK (The Real Estate Kings) witnessed unprecedented crowds and a packed auditorium. The recently inaugurated laws affected realtors, brokers, architects, bankers, construction contractors and vendors, investors, housing finance companies, NBFC’s, etc. It also witnessed presence of chartered accountants, company secretary, real estate advocates, interior designers, real estate associations, broker associations, surveyors and wealth managers who directly or indirectly are in business with the real estate industry. Advocate Parimal K. Shroff of Parimal Shroff & Co. and Advocate Anil Harish of D.M. Harish & Company spoke about RERA whereas C.A. Ravikumar Yanamandra of Ernst & Young spoke about GST.

Advocate Shroff who practices in Constitutional, Corporate, Civil and Property Law has a large practice in property related matters. Mr. Shroff has also drafted The Maharashtra Infrastructure Development And Support Act (MIDAS) for the Government of Maharashtra and the same is in the advance stage of being introduced by the Government of Maharashtra. Speaking on the occasion he said “RERA is a fabulous initiative and it will be a win-win for all the stake-holders.”

Advocate Anil Harish is a Partner of the Law Firm, D. M. Harish & Co. said; “The Real Estate Regulation Act is all set to bring in transparency into the Real Estate Sector. It is a milestone for the Indian Real Estate Industry. The act is bound to forge a symbiotic relationship between the discerning home buyers and genuine real estate developers. Specialized regulation and enforcement ensures consumer protection and fraudulent activities like money trail and curbing money laundering. The bill promotes transparency and fair and ethical practices, through disclosure of project details and contractual obligations between the project and the buyer.”

Ravikumar is a Director in the Indirect Tax practice of Ernst & Young and focuses on clients in the Industrial, Infrastructure and Consumer Sector. He specializes in providing services to clients in the Real Estate, Construction, Pharma, FMCG and Manufacturing Sectors. Speaking at the occasion he said, “A simple single rate tax structure of 12% for home-buyers is a welcome move along with reduction in paper-work. GST will also help cut cash component in construction as products have to be sourced from registered vendors to get input tax credits.”

Mr. Avinash Khater, who’s the chairman of TREK  a group of 69 Highly Professional, Ethical & Experienced Realtors of Mumbai comprising of the ‘Movers-and-Shakers’ in the real-estate consulting business said; “The real estate sector is the second largest employer in the country after agriculture and ranks third among the 14 major sectors in terms of direct, indirect and induced effects in all sectors of the economy. The housing sector alone contributes 5-6 per cent to the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP). GST & RERA will surely bring in the boost within the Real Estate sector through their progressive and diversified roles. We at TREK plan to promote regular knowledge sharing sessions like these”