Glossary · Audit
Tax Audit (Section 44AB)
Also known as: 44AB audit, tax audit
A tax audit under Section 44AB is an audit of a taxpayer's accounts by a Chartered Accountant. Business turnover above ₹1 crore (or ₹10 crore if cash transactions are 5% or less) and profession receipts above ₹50 lakh trigger it. The report is filed in Form 3CA/3CB with 3CD.
A tax audit under Section 44AB is the examination and certification of a taxpayer’s books of account by a Chartered Accountant. It does not assess tax itself — it verifies that the accounts present a true picture and that specified disclosures are reported correctly.
How it works
The audit is triggered when a taxpayer crosses these thresholds:
- Business: turnover above ₹1 crore (raised to ₹10 crore where cash receipts and payments are 5% or less of the total)
- Profession: gross receipts above ₹50 lakh
The audit report is filed as Form 3CA/3CB along with the detailed Form 3CD statement of particulars. For the relevant year, the report is due by 30 September 2026. (Always confirm near the deadline — government extensions are common.)
Failure to get accounts audited or to furnish the report attracts a penalty under Section 271B of the lower of 0.5% of turnover or ₹1.5 lakh.
Because the audit report deadline precedes the audit-case ITR due date, firms work backwards from it. The audited figures also depend on clean TDS return data. Every certified report needs a UDIN generated from the ICAI portal.
For firms handling many audits, tracking which clients cross the thresholds and where each report stands is critical. See how tools support audit workflows in our rankings and our QwikCA review, and browse related terms in the glossary.