Dear Sir,
I refer to your Editorial in the September 2022 issue of
BCAJ regarding Tax Audit. Tax Audit provisions, introduced in Section 44AB by the Finance Act, 1984 w.e.f. 1st April, 1985 is a product of a different era. In the digital era and after the introduction of wide-ranging provisions of GST law read with other TDS Returns and Annual Information Reports required to be submitted by Banks, various Financial Intermediaries and Registrars etc., the need for Tax Audit is significantly reduced, if not totally redundant, as a surfeit of information is now available with the Central Government which needs to be made better use of by the Revenue Authorities.
At least, there is a need to reduce the compliance burden on small taxpayers by incorporating many of the details in the Tax Return form itself.
The time has come for the Revenue to study the Tax Audit requirements in other advanced taxpayer friendly jurisdictions and bring the Indian Tax Audit requirements in line with global best practices and freeing small businesses from the clutches of the Tax Audit requirements by raising the threshold limits severalfold. This will also do away with the yearly clamour for an extension of the deadline for submission of Tax Audit Reports.
I know that many of my professional brothers will squirm at my aforesaid suggestion. But let’s earn our living by rendering Value Added Services to our clients rather than relying on
