The Income Tax Department has targeted practitioners whose audit-report filings have fallen sharply, as the revised 21 October deadline approaches.
The Income Tax Department has stepped up pressure on tax professionals to clear a backlog of audit reports, sending messages and emails to around 12,000 practitioners who have filed less than half as many tax audit reports this year as they did in the previous financial year, according to PTI and official sources. The outreach forms part of the department’s SAKSHAM NUDGE campaign, a data-led compliance drive designed to encourage timely filing rather than wait for breaches to pile up.
The timing matters because the filing window has already been widened. According to the Central Board of Direct Taxes, the deadline for furnishing tax audit reports for assessment year 2026-27 has been moved from September 30 to October 21, while the income-tax return deadline for taxpayers subject to audit has been pushed back to November 21. Business Standard reported that the department is still seeing a substantial number of pending reports despite the extra time, prompting it to target professionals whose current filing levels are well below last year’s pace.
Form 3CD remains central to the process. It is the statement that accompanies the tax audit report under the Income-tax Act and sets out details needed to check whether the taxpayer has complied with the relevant provisions. Audit requirements generally apply to businesses and professionals whose turnover, gross receipts or other circumstances bring them within the law’s thresholds, and a chartered accountant typically prepares and files the report. The audit report is separate from the income-tax return, so completing one does not automatically satisfy the other obligation.
For taxpayers caught by audit rules, the immediate task is to confirm with their advisers that the report has in fact been filed and that the supporting information is complete. Business Standard said the department has not disclosed how many audit reports remain outstanding, but the use of targeted messaging suggests that officials are trying to reduce last-minute congestion before the revised deadline. Anyone still waiting on a filing should treat October 21 as a hard stop for the audit report and check whether the later November 21 return date applies to their case.
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