Deciphering language of finance as a Chartered Accountant

Most people in Nagaland are not aware that they have to file Income Tax Return if their income exceeds Rs 2.5 lakh per annum, observes, Chartered Accountant Nikhini Kaikho.

Most people in Nagaland are not aware that they have to file Income Tax Return if their income exceeds Rs 2.5 lakh per annum, observes, Chartered Accountant Nikhini Kaikho.

Vishü Rita Krocha
Kohima | June 30

In the light of Nagaland being exempted from tax under Section 10(26) of the Income Tax Act 1961, most people in the State think that they are not required to file ITR (Income Tax Return) whereas it is mandatory for individuals to file an ITR if their income exceeds Rs 2.5 lakh per annum.

This is one of the observations made by 30-year-old Chartered Accountant (CA), Nikhini Kaikho, who told The Morung Express that it is only when they receive IT notices for not filing ITRs that clients approach him.  

“We are not aware,” he opined, while elucidating that “all scheduled tribes of India residing in the scheduled area are exempted from income tax and whatever income we earn from schedule Area, we do not have to pay any tax on that income.”

The Scheduled Tribe areas include Tripura, Mizoram, Manipur, Nagaland, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, and Ladakh region of the State of Jammu and Kashmir, he added.

“And therefore, whatever income we earn from Nagaland, you don't have to pay any tax on that income but most of us think we don't have to file income tax.”

“Suppose you deposited 20 lakh and you don't file or declare your income, they will send notice to you,” he further illustrated.

Towards this end, he also underscored the need for more awareness highlighting that there are only a few CAs from Nagaland. 

“There is a lot of scope in this field,” he noted, upon while citing various sectors such as private firms, entrepreneurship and government agencies where CAs are needed. 

With very limited professionals in this aspect from the state of Nagaland, he also observed that CAs are brought in from outside only at the time of audit or other related services.

Kaikho currently runs a chartered accountancy firm under the name “N Kaikho & Associates” at BOC, in Kohima. He cleared the CA examination from the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) in May 2023.

The ICAI is a statutory body established by an Act of Parliament for regulation and development of the profession of CAs in the country and is the largest such professional body in the world.

Kaikho’s journey of pursuing CA however has not been without challenges as it encompasses rigorous levels of examinations namely - foundation exam, intermediate and final exams 

When he opted to pursue CA and appeared for the Common Proficiency Test (CPT), he cleared in his first attempt and scored 160 CPT out of 200.

Subsequently, he went on to complete the three stages involved in becoming a CA.

“It needs a lot of hard work and dedication,” he put across.

Stating that the exams are very difficult, the young CA maintained that getting through the first attempt is the best because “if you don’t clear in such attempt, it becomes difficult to catch up with all the amendments”.

In this connection, he also cited his own personal experience during the rigorous process of the three stages of CA exams and pointed out that, “the exam is very difficult, and if you get stuck in between, there is no way in or out.” 

However, having accomplished and earning the prestigious CA qualification now, he expressed, “once you pass, then it's worth doing it, it’s worth struggling.”

Mention may be made here that Kaikho was a topper in the Nagaland Class 12 Commerce stream examination in 2013.

He completed his Bachelor of Commerce and Master of Commerce from IGNOU while simultaneously pursing CA from ICAI. 

Based in Kohima, N Kaikho & Associates currently offers services including Income Tax Returns, GST, Auditing, etc.



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