The tax audit report for FY 2025-26 (AY 2026-27) is due on 30 September 2026. The audited return itself follows on 31 October 2026. As things stand, CBDT has not extended either date, and professional bodies' requests for more time are only requests until an order actually appears.
If your books aren't frozen yet, the next ten days decide whether this is a clean audit or a rushed one.
Does the audit apply to you?
Section 44AB applies where, for FY 2025-26:
- Business turnover is above ₹1 crore. This rises to ₹10 crore if cash receipts and cash payments are each 5% or less of the total — which is where the cash-ratio working becomes part of the audit file, not an afterthought.
- Professional gross receipts are above ₹50 lakh.
- You opted out of presumptive taxation. If you had declared income under 44AD earlier and now declare lower than the presumptive rate while your total income exceeds the basic exemption limit, audit applies — even if turnover is well under ₹1 crore. The same logic covers professionals under 44ADA declaring below 50%.
The opt-out cases are the ones people miss. A small trader with ₹60 lakh turnover showing a 4% margin instead of the presumptive 6–8% is in audit, and usually finds out in the last week of September.
Which forms, and who signs
- Form 3CA + 3CD — where accounts are already audited under another law, such as a company audited under the Companies Act.
- Form 3CB + 3CD — everyone else, typically proprietors and firms.
Form 3CD is the clause-wise statement of particulars and always travels with 3CA or 3CB. The report is uploaded by a practising Chartered Accountant with a UDIN, and then it must be accepted by you on the e-filing portal. An uploaded report sitting unaccepted is not a furnished report — check this before the 30th.
A note for next year: the Income-tax Act, 2025 replaces 3CA/3CB/3CD with a single Form 26, but that applies from tax year 2026-27. This year's audit stays entirely under the 1961 Act.
The ten-day checklist
In order of how often each one holds an audit up:
- Turnover tie-out. Books vs GSTR-1 vs GSTR-3B vs 26AS. Differences are normal — unexplained differences are not. Keep the reconciliation in the file.
- MSME payments under 43B(h). Amounts owed to micro and small suppliers beyond the statutory time limit are disallowed in the year they're outstanding. Pull the vendor list with Udyam status now; it's the single biggest disallowance surprise in recent audits.
- Statutory dues under 43B. GST, PF, ESI, bonus, gratuity — what was actually paid, and when. PF and ESI deposited after the labour-law due date are disallowed permanently, not just deferred.
- TDS. Deducted and deposited on time? Anything short leads to disallowance under 40(a)(ia). Reconcile the TDS returns with expenses rather than with challans alone.
- Cash. Payments above ₹10,000 to one person in a day, and the cash receipt/payment ratio if you're claiming the ₹10 crore threshold.
- Loans and deposits. Amounts taken or repaid otherwise than by banking channels attract 269SS/269T, and the penalty there equals the amount itself.
- Stock and creditors. Valuation basis, and confirmations where balances are material.
What missing the date costs
The penalty under section 271B is 0.5% of turnover or gross receipts, capped at ₹1,50,000. It isn't automatic — reasonable cause can be shown — but arguing it is a poor use of anyone's time. The bigger practical cost is that the audited return then gets delayed too, which brings interest under 234A and, where losses are involved, the loss of carry-forward.
If you're reading this on the 28th
Prioritise ruthlessly. Get the books frozen and the turnover reconciliation done first, because everything in 3CD hangs off them. Quantify the 43B and MSME disallowances even if approximately, and pay whatever can still be paid before the 30th, since some disallowances reverse simply by paying in time. Leave cosmetic clean-up for later; a correct report filed on time beats a perfect one filed on the 5th of October.
How Vitt-Marg helps
We prepare the audit file — finalised books, GST and TDS reconciliations, 43B and MSME workings, and the clause-wise 3CD data — and coordinate with the practising Chartered Accountant who signs and uploads the report, since a 44AB audit can only be signed by a CA. If your books aren't ready and the date is close, tell us where you're stuck and we'll tell you honestly what can and can't be done in the time left. Our income tax return service then takes the audited return through to filing by 31 October.
General information, current as of September 2026, not advice for a specific case. GST and income-tax rules change often — check with us before acting on it.