Injeti Srinivas committee on CSR recommends CSR expenditure to be made tax deductible expenditure

The High Level Committee on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), headed by Corporate Affairs Secretary Injeti Srinivas, has recently submitted its report to Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. The main recommendations include making CSR expenditure tax deductible, allowing the carry-forward of unspent balance for a period of 3-5 years, and aligning Schedule 7 of the Companies Act (which outlines the kinds of activities that qualify as CSR) with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The Committee has also recommended that companies having CSR-prescribed amount below Rs 50 lakh may be exempted from constituting a CSR Committee. It also suggested that violation of CSR compliance may be made a civil offence and shifted to the penalty regime.