The Income Tax Audit due date is September 30, 2026 for AY 2026-2027 and this is applicable to a particular group of taxpayers. Only chartered accountants can conduct an Income Tax Audit and the CA needs to complete the audit and upload the tax audit report on the e-filing ITR portal on the taxpayers’ behalf.
Under Section 44AB of the Income-tax Act, 1961, taxpayers carrying on a business or specified profession must get their accounts audited by a Chartered Accountant and furnish a tax audit report.
Chartered Accountant Abhishek Soni says that for FY 2025-26 (AY 2026-27), tax audit generally applies to:
- Businesses: Where turnover or gross receipts exceed Rs 1 crore. The limit increases to Rs 10 crore if cash receipts and cash payments each do not exceed 5% of the relevant totals.
- Specified professions: Where gross receipts exceed Rs 50 lakh.
- Certain presumptive-taxation cases: Where the taxpayer declares income below the prescribed presumptive rate or becomes subject to audit under the applicable presumptive-taxation provisions.
The presumptive-taxation limits are:
- Section 44AD: Rs 3 crore where cash receipts do not exceed 5%; otherwise Rs 2 crore.
- Section 44ADA : Rs 75 lakh where cash receipts do not exceed 5%; otherwise Rs 50 lakh.
These are presumptive-taxation limits, not tax-audit thresholds. Soni says that this means a taxpayer who validly declares income under Sections 44AD or 44ADA generally does not require a tax audit merely because business or professional income is earned.
Soni says: “However, tax audit may apply where the conditions of the presumptive scheme are not met or the taxpayer falls within the specific audit provisions of Section 44AB.”
September 30, 2026 is the deadline for income tax audit. The ITR filing due date for taxpayers liable to tax audit for the financial year 2025-26 is October 31, 2026.
CA needs to upload tax audit report on the e-filing ITR portal
The tax audit report is uploaded by the Chartered Accountant (CA) through the Income Tax e-Filing portal. However, the taxpayer also has to accept and e-verify the report.
Soni explains the process i:
- Assign the CA: The taxpayer adds the CA through Authorised Partners → My Chartered Accountant and assigns the applicable Form 3CA-3CD or Form 3CB-3CD.
- CA accepts the assignment: The assigned form appears in the CA’s Worklist, where the CA accepts the assignment.
- CA prepares and uploads the report: The CA completes the form using the offline utility, generates the JSON file, uploads it and verifies it using Digital Signature Certificate (DSC).
- Taxpayer receives the report for acceptance: After the CA uploads and verifies the report, it appears in the taxpayer’s Worklist → Pending for Acceptance.
- Taxpayer accepts and e-verifies: The taxpayer reviews the report, accepts it and completes e-verification. The filing is then completed, and an acknowledgement is generated.
Therefore, the taxpayer does not need to rely solely on the CA for confirmation. Soni says that taxpayers can log in to the e-Filing portal and check pending actions → Worklist → Pending for Acceptance to see whether the tax audit report has been uploaded.
