Business tax, audit and filing
For proprietors, firms, LLPs and companies — which return applies, whether tax audit is triggered, and the deadlines that follow from that answer rather than from the form number.
6 articles · written and reviewed by CA K Sanjay Bhargav, Chartered Accountant
Cornerstone guide
Does Your Business Need a Tax Audit for FY 2025-26?
Most businesses find out from their accountant in September. The test is four questions on figures you already have — and the two routes into audit that the turnover number alone does not reveal.
Cornerstone guide
F&O and Intraday Turnover: The Number That Triggers an Audit
A trader with ₹4 crore of contract value and ₹80,000 of profit does not have ₹4 crore of turnover. Getting this wrong is what puts people into an audit they never needed.
Cornerstone guide
Shops and Establishments Registration in Karnataka
It is the registration most new businesses in Karnataka discover late — usually when a bank, a landlord or a marketplace asks for the certificate they never obtained.
Section 44AD or Regular Books? The 5-Year Lock-In
Section 44AD removes the need for books and audit, but coming out of it triggers a five-year bar and can force an audit. Section 44ADA carries no such lock-in. The difference is worth understanding before electing either.
Tax Audit Due Date AY 2026-27: 21 Oct by Circular 7/2026
For FY 2025-26 the audit report is now due 21 October 2026 and the return 21 November, extended by CBDT Circular 7/2026. What decides whether audit applies, what late filing costs, and the records that hold the process up when they are missing.
Which ITR Form for Your Business: ITR-3, 4, 5 or 6
The form follows the entity and the basis of computation; the deadline follows audit liability, not the form. A decision path for proprietors, firms, LLPs and companies, with the dates that now apply.
Other topics
- Tax notices and assessments
- GST — registration, returns and credit
- Foreign income, RSUs and ESOPs
- NRI money, property and repatriation
- Foreign-owned companies in India
- Bank finance and company compliance
- Internal controls, IT audit and data protection
- Service exports, GCCs and professionals
- Manufacturing and industry
- Real estate, JDAs and development
- The Income-tax Act 2025 transition
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