What a late tax audit report costs, this year and next
Section 271B caps the penalty by turnover, lets the officer decide and allows a reasonable-cause defence. From tax year 2026-27 it becomes a flat fee under section 428(c).
Notes on audit, tax, and the machinery underneath.
Written for chartered accountants in practice — about method, not marketing. Where the habits of the profession came from, which of them were constraints rather than principles, and what changes when the constraint lifts.
Look up any section in the Income-tax Act 2025 section finder
The third option on a penalty order, and the form that was just rewritten
CBDT substituted Form 161 on 8 October 2026. It applies for waiver of penalty under section 440(2) — paying additional income-tax instead, and giving up the right to appeal.
Two registrations that quietly moved to March, and the forms that changed with them
Notification 120/2026 moved the valuer and authorised income-tax practitioner registration cut-offs from 30 September 2026 to 31 March 2027, and substituted Forms 169 and 171.
The tax nobody invoices you for, and the statement that will ask you to prove it
The 57th GST Council recommended a statement reconciling reverse-charge tax paid against the credit claimed on it, and e-invoicing on reverse-charge purchases from unregistered suppliers.
The 57th GST Council: what changes, and the date it changes on
The Council recommended withdrawing arrest powers, raising the prosecution threshold to ₹5 crore and releasing seven blocked credits. None of it is law yet — here is what to do before it is.
The refund the Supreme Court told the Council to fix
Input services were cut out of the inverted duty refund formula in 2018. The Supreme Court upheld it and asked the Council to think again. From 1 November 2026, it has.
The ceiling moved, and the first return is due on the fifteenth
EPF wages ceiling rises from ₹15,000 to ₹25,000 from 17 September 2026. What it costs per employee, the EPS cap that breaks a payroll master, and the September figure nobody has derived.
The regulation that was amended before it ever took effect
Export proceeds now have nine months, not fifteen. The fifteen-month period was notified in January, amended in September, and commenced never — which is why both figures are still in print.
Form 112 is real, and it is not this year's form
A trust audited for the year ended 31 March 2026 files Form 10B or 10BB, due 21 October. Form 112 under section 348 begins with tax year 2026-27.
The ₹10,000 notice that was never worth issuing
The Council recommended a floor below which no show cause notice issues under sections 73, 74 and 74A — measured on all four levies added together, with a transitional rule for pending matters.
The warehouse becomes the office: rule 14B for marketplace sellers
A small goods seller on a marketplace would declare the operator's warehouse as its principal place of business and get registration automatically — within a ₹2.5 lakh monthly credit ceiling.
A machine's credit, returned one sixtieth at a time
The Council recommended refunding accumulated ITC on capital goods over 60 months, for credit availed on or after 1 April 2027 — a different head and a different date from input services.
ROC Filings for FY 2025-26: Every Date Hangs Off Your AGM, and ₹100 a Day Never Stops
AOC-4, MGT-7, MGT-7A and ADT-1 are counted from the AGM, not the calendar. The new ₹10 crore small-company limit, the ₹100 a day uncapped fee, the penalties, and the DIR-3 KYC rule that was repealed.
The Foreign Assets Disclosure Scheme, 2026: Two Doors, ₹1 Crore and ₹5 Crore, and a Date in December
FADS 2026 under the Finance Act, 2026: 60% where undisclosed foreign assets and income are within ₹1 crore, a flat ₹1,00,000 fee where an already-taxed asset is within ₹5 crore, closing 31 December 2026.
Appealing to the GST Appellate Tribunal: the Time Limit, the Pre-Deposit, the Fee, and the Date That Has Already Passed
The GSTAT time limit under section 112, the notified date of 31 July 2026 and the 60-day token, the 10% pre-deposit under section 112(8) with the ₹20 crore cap, the rule 110(5) fee, and how APL-05 is filed.
Is IMS Mandatory? What the Law Says, What the Portal Does, and Why Doing Nothing Is an Answer
No section or rule requires an IMS action, and GSTN calls it optional. But rule 36(4)(b) allows credit only if it is in GSTR-2B, and only IMS decides that. Deemed acceptance, pending limits, credit notes and the 30 November 2026 date.
AI in Audit: What a Chartered Accountant Can Rely On, and What NFRA and the Standards Still Demand
A vendor-neutral guide to using AI in an Indian audit: NFRA's July 2026 staff principles, automation bias in the 2026 Code of Ethics, SA 500 and SA 230, client confidentiality under the CA Act, and a checklist.
Crypto Tax in India in 2026: 30%, the 1% TDS, the Loss You Can't Use, and What the Platforms Really Report
Crypto under the Income-tax Act, 2025: 30% under section 194, 1% TDS under section 393(1) serial 8(vi) with the ₹50,000 and ₹10,000 limits, gifts, and the crypto-asset reporting of non-residents that starts in calendar year 2026.
Startups in 2026: Angel Tax Is Gone, the Tax Holiday Now Reaches ₹300 Crore, and When ESOP Tax Really Falls Due
Start-up tax under the Income-tax Act, 2025: angel tax switched off from 1 April 2025, the section 140 (was 80-IAC) deduction with the Finance Act 2026's ₹300 crore limit, the sixty-month ESOP deferral, and loss carry-forward.
GIFT City Tax Benefits in 2026: Twenty Years Out of Twenty-Five, and What Reaches Non-Residents and Individuals
GIFT City IFSC tax benefits under the Income-tax Act, 2025: the section 147 deduction extended to 20 of 25 years by the Finance Act 2026, 9% MAT, non-resident exemptions, 10% dividends, and what individuals get.
E-Invoicing in India: Down to ₹5 Crore, the 'Any Year' Trap, and the 30-Day Rule That Makes an Invoice Disappear
E-invoicing under rule 48(4) of the CGST Rules: the fall from ₹500 crore to ₹5 crore, the any-preceding-year and PAN-wide tests, who is excluded, and the 30-day IRP reporting limit for AATO of ₹10 crore and above.
For CA Firms Let Down by Audit Software Before: Output You Can Sign On, Straight From Tally, and a Team That Stays
Audcrix is an audit intelligence platform for CA firms in India. It works straight from Tally, gives output every figure of which opens to the voucher behind it, and stays with your team through every audit season.
Depreciation Rates Under the Income-tax Act, 2025: The Rate Chart, the 180-Day Rule, and the 35% That Doesn't Exist
The depreciation rate chart under section 33 and Appendix I to rule 25 for tax year 2026-27: buildings, furniture, plant and machinery, computers, ships and intangibles, the half-rate rule, additional depreciation and goodwill.
Section 194Q in the Income-tax Act, 2025: Now Serial 8(ii) of Section 393(1), and the Two Tests Behind It
Section 194Q is now section 393(1), Table serial 8(ii): 0.1% TDS on purchases above ₹50 lakh from a seller, by buyers with turnover above ₹10 crore. The tests, the PAN rule, the 5% rate and what happened to TCS.
TDS on Rent Under the Income-tax Act, 2025: Families, Businesses, and the Landlord Who Moved Abroad
TDS on rent now sits in section 393: 2% once a year for families paying over ₹50,000 a month, 2% or 10% monthly for businesses, and the rates in force for a non-resident landlord. Forms 141, 140, 144 and 145.
Capital Gains Under the Income-tax Act, 2025: The Rates, Where Sections 54 and 54F Went, and Why Buybacks Changed Again
Capital gains from tax year 2026-27: the 12 and 24-month holding periods, 20% and 12.5% rates, the ₹1.25 lakh exemption, sections 82 to 86 (were 54 to 54F), and the Finance Act 2026 return of buybacks to capital gains.
Old vs New Tax Regime for Tax Year 2026-27: The ₹12 Lakh Line, Where 80C Went, and the One-Way Door
The new regime is section 202 of the Income-tax Act, 2025 and still the default: nil tax up to ₹12 lakh with the rebate. Section 80C is now section 123. The slabs, what each regime allows, and a calculator.
Residential Status Under the Income-tax Act, 2025: 182 Days, 120 Days, and the Resident Who Never Came Home
Section 6 of the Income-tax Act, 2025 decides who is resident, not ordinarily resident or non-resident. The 182, 60 and 120-day tests, the ₹15 lakh rules, the deemed resident, and a calculator.
Forms 145 and 146: The New 15CA and 15CB, and the One Question Every Foreign Remittance Starts With
Forms 15CA and 15CB are now Forms 145 and 146 under rule 220 of the Income-tax Rules, 2026. Which part applies, the 33 remittances that need nothing, what the CA's certificate says, and the ₹1 lakh penalty.
Transfer Pricing Under the Income-tax Act, 2025: Form 48, the Last Form 3CEB, and a Penalty That Became a Fee
Sections 92 to 92F are now sections 161 to 173, and Form 3CEB is Form 48 from tax year 2026-27. The due dates, the ₹1 crore documentation floor, the ₹20 crore domestic threshold, and the new section 428(d) fee.
Claiming a Tax Treaty Under the 2025 Act: the TRC, Form 41 for Form 10F, and Form 44 for Form 67
Sections 90 and 91 are now sections 159 and 160, Form 10F is Form 41 and Form 67 is Form 44. How treaty relief is claimed, how foreign tax credit is computed source by source, and when Form 44 needs a CA.
MSME Form 1, Due 31 October 2026: Who Files, What the 2024 Form Asks, and Why Its 45 Days Isn't the Law's
MSME Form I for April to September 2026 is due on 31 October. Who must file after the July 2024 amendment, the four columns by supplier PAN, the penalty, and the gap between the form's 45 days and section 15's deadline.
The GST Rate Change of 22 September 2025, One Year On: Section 14, Credit, and the First GSTR-9 Across the Rate Change
From 22 September 2025, GST moved to 5%, 18% and 40%. How section 14 decides old or new rate, what the FAQ said about credit, and what the change does to the FY 2025-26 annual return due on 31 December 2026.
44AD and 44ADA Are Now Section 58: Presumptive Taxation Under the Income-tax Act, 2025
Sections 44AD, 44ADA and 44AE become one Table in section 58 of the Income-tax Act, 2025. The limits, the 6% and 8% rates, the 5% cash test, who can use it, the five-year rule and the audit trigger, with a calculator.
Advance Tax Under the Income-tax Act, 2025: The Four Dates, the Safe Harbours, and What a Missed December Costs
Sections 207 to 211, 234B and 234C are now sections 403 to 408, 424 and 425. The 15%, 45%, 75% and 100% instalments, the 12% and 36% safe harbours, section 58's single date, and worked examples of the interest.
The Corporate Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2026: No Audit for Some Companies, a Cooling-Off for Auditors, and What the Committee Changed
The Bill would let prescribed companies skip the statutory audit and bar auditors from non-audit services for three years after their term. The Joint Committee narrowed both. Where it stands and what it means for CAs.
The DPDP Act for a CA Firm: What Has to Be in Place Before 13 May 2027
The Digital Personal Data Protection Act's obligations and penalties apply from 13 May 2027. What a CA firm holds, where it fits as fiduciary or processor, what the Rules require, and a readiness check.
Rule 46(8) and Form 26: The Tax Audit for 2026-27 Is Being Built Now
Rule 46(8) of the Income-tax Rules, 2026 asks for a daily backup of electronic books on servers in India, and Form 26 clause 14 asks the auditor whether it happened. The answers made during the year, clause by clause.
Forms 138, 140, 143 and 144: The New TDS Returns, the Dates, and the Two-Year Clock on Every Mistake
From tax year 2026-27, Forms 24Q, 26Q, 27Q and 27EQ are Forms 138, 140, 144 and 143. The due dates, what is different inside Form 140, what a late day costs, and why 31 March 2027 matters for older returns.
Gratuity Under the New Labour Codes: The 50% Wage Rule, Fixed-Term Staff, and What It Does to the Books
The Code on Social Security replaced the Payment of Gratuity Act on 21 November 2025. How the 50% wage rule raises gratuity, who qualifies now, and how ICAI says the increase is accounted for, with a calculator.
Audit Trail Under Rule 11(g): The Year It Starts, and What to Test
Rule 11(g) reporting begins with financial year 2023-24 and preservation only from 2024-25. The two rules and their different dates, the five controls ICAI lists, and what each accounting package's own documentation says.
CARO 2020, Clause by Clause: Who Reports and What Each Clause Asks
The Order's own words for all twenty-one clauses, the four cumulative conditions that keep a private company out, why consolidated statements carry only clause (xxi), and the thresholds that decide each clause.
Schedule III Additional Regulatory Information: The Formats, Division I and Division II
The ageing buckets that differ between receivables and payables, why Division II has six receivable categories, the two CWIP tables, the eleven ratios and the 25% rule — with a free checklist.
The Tax Audit Checklist, Clause by Clause: What Each One Needs, and Where It Comes From
A clause-wise tax audit checklist sorted by where the number comes from — the books, a filed return, or a register — with the clauses that need documents from outside the accounting system, and a free checklist.
AIS, TIS and Form 26AS: Which One Should Match the Books, and Why They Differ
Reported, processed and derived value; the deduplication rule that explains most double counting; the six feedback responses in the department's own words; and where mismatches actually come from.
Related Party Transactions: Four Definitions, One List, and the Register Nobody Opens
AS 18, Ind AS 24, section 188 with Rule 15's ten per cent tests, and section 40A(2)(b) each define a related party differently. The thresholds, the section 189 register, and what each standard asks you to disclose.
Ledger Scrutiny: The Checks Worth Running, and the Four That Cannot Be Sampled
Seven categories of ledger error, why completeness and master-hygiene checks are population questions rather than sample ones, and where each exception should be routed — with a free programme.
MSME Reporting: Section 22, Schedule III Ageing, and the Two Tax Audit Clauses People Swap
Where each MSME number is actually reported — the five items section 22 requires, the Schedule III payables ageing rows, clause 22 for interest and clause 26 for the 43B(h) principal — and why CARO has no MSME clause.
Bank Branch Audit and the Revised LFAR: The Threshold, Annexure III, and a Week That Works
What the revised LFAR asks of a branch auditor — the Section B structure, the large advance threshold of 10% or ₹10 crore whichever is less, the twenty-six items of Annexure III, and the certificates besides the report.
Starting and Scaling a CA Practice: The Rules That Actually Shape It
The ceilings, the fee rules and the advertising guidelines a practice is built inside — 40 audits per partner, ICAI's recommended fee scale, and what the write-up and website guidelines really permit.
Audit Automation and AI Tools for CA Firms: A Checklist Built on the Standards
A vendor-neutral checklist for choosing audit automation and AI tools: client confidentiality under the Chartered Accountants Act, reliability under SA 500, documentation under SA 230, what was tested, and the 2025 Act.
Income-tax Rules 2026: The New Form Numbers, and the Old Numbers That Now Mean Something Else
The Income-tax Rules, 2026 renumber every form from 1 to 190. The numbers a CA firm uses most, the forms merged into one, and eight old numbers that now name entirely different forms, with a finder.
GSTR-9 and 9C for FY 2025-26: Tables 8 to 13 and the 30 November Cut-Off
GSTR-9 for FY 2025-26 is due on 31 December 2026, but section 16(4) closes the ITC window on 30 November 2026 or on filing the return. Tables 6A1, 8A, 8C, 10 to 14 and the reclaim rules, with a router for any credit.
Form 26 Against Form 3CD: Every Clause Mapped, and What Form 26 Adds and Drops
Form No. 26 replaces Forms 3CA, 3CB and 3CD from tax year 2026-27. Every Form 3CD clause traced to its Form 26 clause or schedule, the disclosures that are new, and five subjects the new form no longer asks about.
SQM 1 and SQM 2 Deferred, SQC 1 Continues: What ICAI Said and What It Did Not
The day before SQM 1 and SQM 2 were to become mandatory, ICAI deferred them until further announcement, with SQC 1 continuing. What the announcement settles, what it leaves open, and what SQM 1 asks of a firm.
GSTR-3B and IMS in 2026: What Is Locked, What Is Not, and What Each IMS Action Does
The GSTR-3B liability is locked from July 2025 and Table 3.2 from November 2025. The ITC in Table 4 is not, whatever the posts say. What GSTN has actually issued, and what accept, reject and pending do in IMS.
AQMM Applicability From April 2026: Which Audit Firms Are Now Covered
ICAI has widened the Audit Quality Maturity Model to firms auditing group companies of listed entities, banks and insurers, and large unlisted public companies from 1 April 2026, with a third group from 1 April 2027.
UDIN for Tax Audit in 2026: Five-Field Validation, Portal Gates and the Ceiling
Since December 2025 a tax audit UDIN is validated against the assessee's PAN, and since February 2026 the UDIN portal checks section 44AB criteria before issuing one. Every change in order, with the gates.
The 60 Tax Audit Limit: How ICAI Counts It From 1 April 2026
ICAI's limit of 60 tax audits per member is now enforced when the UDIN is generated. What counts, what does not, why the year of signing decides, and a register that counts the way the Guidelines do.
Tax Audit Due Date for AY 2026-27, and Every Extension Since AY 2018-19
CBDT extended the AY 2026-27 tax audit report to 21 October 2026 and the return to 21 November 2026 by Circular No. 07/2026; transfer-pricing cases were not moved. Plus nine seasons of extensions on one scale.
The Income-tax Act, 2025: Your Section Numbers Change, Your Answers Mostly Do Not
A conversion table from the 1961 sections to the 2025 Act — 194C, 194J, 194I, 194Q, 269SS, 40A(3), 44AB — and the two provisions that genuinely disappear.
TDS Under the 2025 Act: The 393 and 394 Tables, Worked Through
Rates, thresholds and worked examples for contracts, professional fees, rent, purchase of goods and partner payments under the Income-tax Act 2025 Tables.
269SS, 269ST, 40A(3) and 44AB Under the 2025 Act
The cash limits and the tax audit trigger move to sections 185, 186, 188, 36(4) and 63(1). The amounts carry over — the numbering collides with two other statutes.
Form 26AS and AIS Against the Books, in Both Directions
Agreeing the total TDS figure reconciles nothing. Deductor-wise matching, why the consolidated statement is not 26AS, and the payee problem underneath TDS testing.
Director Loans: Section 185 and Section 2(22)(e) Are Not One Question
One entry, two statutes. Who counts as a person the director is interested in, why repayment does not undo a deemed dividend, and why the ledger will not tell you.
One Challan, Two Sections: PF and ESI After Checkmate
The employer share falls under 43B(b) with proviso relief. The employee share falls under 36(1)(va) with none. Why the split is hard to find in a Tally ledger.
269SS, 269T and 269ST: Three Sections That Do Not Work Alike
The cash limits carry a penalty equal to the amount itself. Per-transaction versus per-person-per-day, why NBFC loans stay in scope, and when merging parties changes the answer.
Books Against GSTR-1, 2B and 3B: Where the Reconciliation Breaks
GST reconciliation fails when annual totals are compared instead of tax periods. Month-wise matching, tax-tag classification and the control account nobody opens.
Section 194T: The Provision Your Firm Is Most Likely to Miss
From FY 2025-26, TDS at 10% applies on partner remuneration and interest above ₹20,000 a year. Why section 192 was never the answer, and where firms get caught.
Section 43B(h): The Clause That Reprices Your Client's March
The MSME disallowance under section 43B(h) — the 15 and 45-day windows, why traders sit outside it, and why the return due date does not rescue clause (h).
Capacity Without Headcount
A firm's capacity is trained hours divided by hours per engagement. The profession has spent thirty years attacking the numerator. The denominator is the one that just moved.
What Makes the Best Audit Software in India: Ten Questions
"Best" is a marketing word. These are ten testable questions about how an audit tool is built — proof of its own read, population testing, classification, refusal over guessing — and how Audcrix answers each one.
Audit Is Shifting to Technology. The Firms Moving Now Will Lead the Decade.
Tally, e-filing and GST each looked optional for about eighteen months. Audit technology is at exactly that point — and the advantage of moving early compounds in a way a discount never does.
Sampling Was a Constraint, Not a Standard
We sample because we couldn't read everything. That reason has expired — and what shows up when you test the whole population is not what the sample was going to tell you.