For corporations and individuals under Indian tax laws who were subject to tax audits, the deadline to file income tax returns is 31st October 2025, for the financial year 2024-25. Late fees will apply if taxpayers have not filed by the due date.
For late tax filing, a late fee of Rs 5000 would be applied. The audit report would be needed to get filed in the stipulated time; if not done, the penalty would be levied via the assessing officer under section 271B:
- 0.5 per cent of the turnover, gross receipts, or total sales
- Rs 1,50,000
Whichever would be lower.
Moreover, for the late tax return filing, there shall be no losses permitted to be taken forward as well, and the interest u/s 234A will be applied.
Although the A.O. has the discretion to issue a notice regarding the tax penalty, taxpayers are not discouraged from filing tax audit reports filing it even after the due date, and the same can be filed if it is compliant with the regular provisions. An assessee can even drop off the notice if they provide a bona fide explanation for the delay.
October 31, 2025, is the last date to file an Income tax return for the business assessment year 2025-26.
What is The Term Tax Audit Implied?
Tax audits arrived in 1984 in the Indian tax laws. The major purpose of this complaint of the distinct provisions of the act that would be performed via the CA.
The taxpayers who come under the income tax audits need to get their accounts, i.e. balance sheet and profit and loss account, audited by a chartered accountant.
Moreover, a proper audit for the purpose of tax furnishing, the books of account along with additional records would have been maintained by the assessee, which shows that the assessee’s income, as well as the same claims for the tax deduction, would have been performed in a precise way.
What Forms Would be Needed to Perform?
The chartered accountant running the tax audit provides his/ her findings, observations, and others, in the form of an audit report in Form Nos. 3CA/3CB and 3CD.
The form specified for the audit report under section 44AB of the act is Form No. 3CB, and the defined particulars need to be reported in Form No. 3CD.
