However, as of now, no extension has been officially announced.
Swati Jain, CEO – Wealth, Arihant Capital Markets, an Indian financial services and stock-broking company, said businesses should therefore prepare on the basis that September 30 remains the applicable deadline.
What should businesses check before September 30?
Jain said many issues during tax audits arise because different records do not reconcile with one another.
Businesses should check whether turnover and tax figures reported in GST returns match their books of account. TDS and TCS records should be reconciled with the relevant income and expenses as well as Form 26AS and AIS data.
Bank balances, borrowings, interest expenses and lender confirmations should also be reconciled, Jain said. Fixed asset registers should agree with the financial statements and tax depreciation workings.
Loans, advances, investments and related-party transactions should be properly identified and supported by documentation. Significant year-end provisions, outstanding expenses and statutory dues should also be reviewed before the audit is finalised.
For businesses where inventory has a material impact on profits, stock records and closing inventory also require attention, Jain said.
Sharanya Tripathi, Legal Associates, Jotwani Associates, a multi-disciplinary global law firm, said documentation and reconciliation gaps are among the issues that can lead to last-minute problems.
She said taxpayers should first confirm which tax audit threshold applies to them and check the conditions applicable to turnover-based audit provisions and presumptive taxation. For taxpayers relying on the enhanced ₹10 crore turnover threshold, the underlying conditions relating to cash receipts and cash payments should also be checked.
Tripathi also highlighted the need to reconcile Form 26AS, AIS and TIS figures with the books before Form 3CD is finalised.
Related-party transaction disclosures, GST turnover cross-verification, stock and inventory valuation records, and loans or deposits covered under Sections 269SS and 269T should also be reviewed, she said.
Don’t leave e-filing formalities for the last day
There are also procedural steps that businesses need to complete on the Income-tax e-filing portal.
According to Jain, the chartered accountant has to be added and the relevant tax audit form assigned to the auditor. After the auditor uploads the report, it has to be accepted and verified by the taxpayer.
Tripathi further pointed out that AY 2026-27 tax audits continue to use Forms 3CA, 3CB and 3CD under the Income-tax Act, 1961 framework, despite the Income-tax Act, 2025 coming into force from April 1, 2026.
Why are tax professionals seeking more time?
Jain said the demand for an extension is linked to practical and operational difficulties faced during this year’s compliance cycle.
One factor, she said, is the change in the compliance calendar.
The due date for specified non-audit business cases and trusts was moved to August 31, meaning tax professionals remained occupied with non-audit returns until the end of August before moving into the tax-audit period.
She also pointed to the progressive availability of return-filing utilities during the year, which reduced the time available for finalisation, reconciliation, tax computation and audit reporting.
There is also a higher documentation and financial-reporting workload for some non-corporate entities and LLPs.
Tripathi said tax professionals have also pointed to the staggered release of ITR utilities. She cited the release of offline schemas for audit-heavy forms such as ITR-6 in August as one of the practical challenges this year.
Several professional bodies, including the Chartered Accountants Association Jalandhar, Punjab Accountants Association and Rajasthan Consultants Association, have sought an extension to October 31.
Jain further pointed to last year’s extension as a precedent, when the CBDT extended the tax audit deadline from September 30, 2025 to October 31, 2025 following representations.
What if there is no extension?
Jain said businesses should not wait for an extension before completing their pending work.
“If an extension does not come, there may be very little time left to resolve GST mismatches, obtain confirmations, correct TDS issues, complete stock or loan reconciliations, or arrange missing supporting documents,” she said.
Tripathi said failure to comply with the tax audit requirement can attract a penalty under Section 271B of the Income-tax Act. The penalty is generally 0.5% of turnover or gross receipts, subject to a maximum of ₹1.5 lakh, with exceptions where reasonable cause is established, she said.
For taxpayers, the immediate task is therefore to complete pending reconciliations, provide the auditor with the required documentation, close audit queries and complete the e-filing formalities ahead of September 30.