The CSR expenses are eligible for claiming tax exemption. The CSR activities are in section 37(1) of the income tax act. The assessed is a domestic company with production units and distribution channels for aerated and non-aerated beverages. The assessed is criticised for six types of issues. The first issue is the disallowance of fees, the second issue is the disallowance of depreciation, the third issue is the disallowance of processing charges, the fourth issue is the disallowance of CSR expenses, and the fifth issue is the disallowance of section 4(a)(a) of the act. The sixth issue is the disallowance of Icebox’s expenses. The fourth issue is about CSR expenses. Here are the activities: the installation of hand pumps, uniforms, and distribution of fees from the list comes under CSR activities. The expenses and the CSR activities were not substantiated. The evidence and conceptual understanding are essential to claim deduction under the head of CSR activities. Recently, the tribunal bench confirmed that the amount spent for the activities is eligible for tax exemption. The blog reveals the different initiatives of coca cola Company for CSR activities.
CSR activities:
The initiatives are related to environmental issues. The Coca-Cola Company focus on water preservation and waste management. The packing of the coco cola product is made up of plastic. This packing creates environmental issues. The solution is with the recycling process. The initiatives of the company reveal the different ways to bring change. The CSR activities are planned according to the recommendations from the United Nations’ sustainability goals.
Coca-Cola Company is not ready to compromise with the bottle packing. The company intend to create a world that refrains from waste. The initiatives from the Coca-Cola Company for waste management are listed under. The moral support of the company are as follows: the bottles are hundred per cent reusable, the size and weight of the bottles are comparatively less and handy, the company collects the used bottles, and they employ waste management workers. The project Prithvi of coca cola collects the waste and syncs with the swacch Bharath plan of India. The company also partners with the United Nations development program. The waste bottles are collected and delivered to the recyclers. Alag karo is the initiative that educates the common man about the segregation of three types of waste.
The fruit circular economy is a project that operates to help farmers. The operations such as saplings, produce, and high-density farming techniques increase productivity. The Unnati mango project implemented in Andra Pradesh increased cultivation. Coca-Cola introduced high-density plantation technologies to reduce the problems from inability, knowledge and modern techniques.
In the company, the water management system brings out the following: facility water vulnerability assessments, facility water protection plans, and understanding the loopholes with reports and usage of water. FWVA check the quantity and quality of bottling plants. Facility water protection plans show the quantity of use and purpose. It also shows the reuse of water. The purpose of collecting information about water management is to treat wastewater properly. The water management system also helps aquatic life.
Benefits of Coca-Cola CSR activities:
- The project Prithvi, collected 1, 10,000 waste bottles and operated successfully in 28 cities. In 2018, the project Prithvi gave employment to 4500 workers. The self-help groups are educated about waste management. There are around a hundred self-help groups. Waste management is thought of in the schools as a part of the service from Project Prithvi. The segregation project is also popular in many cities. Around 1.5 million people follow the segregation of waste systems. The students also have an understanding of the project about waste management. 42 residents, 22,000 households, 87 restaurants, 412 offices, and 24000 students are used for the segregation project.
- The Unnati mango project benefitted 90,000 plus farmers and 3000 women. The plan helped plant 40 acres of nurseries.
- Unnati Orange project in the year 2018, supported more than 350 acres of land. The UDHP technique was used, and more than twenty thousand farmers benefitted.
- Unnati Apple created 150 orchards and thousand demo orchards. The first phase of the project resulted in the education of 3000 farmers. The second phase of the project has plans to benefit more than 50,000 farmers.
- The Unnati grapes project started in 2019 and resulted in social service to more than 600 demo farms and 8000 farmers.
- The Unnati Litchi project started in 2019. This project helped more than 80,000 farmers and 3,500 farms.
- Coca-Cola Company implement ideas for the reuse of water. The company also shows the data for decreased usage of water. The water usage was reduced for production from 3.38 litres to 1.74 litres. The data is drawn from the years 2008 and 2019. The Ananda project is providing wash facilities, watershed development and agricultural improvements. The beneficiary’s record goes as 80,000 people from 600 villages. RO, ultrafiltration units, Jaldhara water health centres, and hygienic toilets are built to help the weaker section. Around 119 per cent of water used for manufacturing has been replenished. The company also supported rainwater harvesting. Nearly 5000 people in remote districts benefitted from the services.
Final Words:
CSR activities are helpful to claim the deduction and bring change in society. The waste management, water management and plantation techniques of Coca-Cola Company clearly show the healthy ways to design CSR activities. The CSR activities should reflect the business objective and social issue. The expenses with evidence and change in society get appreciation from the general public.
