The Income Tax Department has issued guidance on Form No. 183, an audit report required under Section 49 read with Schedule X of the Income-tax Act, 2025, for claiming deduction related to site restoration funds in the petroleum and natural gas sector. The form is mandatory for assessees engaged in prospecting, extracting, or producing petroleum or natural gas who seek deduction of up to 20% of profits from such business. The report must be certified by a qualified accountant and furnished annually one month before the due date for filing the return of income. Form 183 verifies key aspects such as maintenance and audit of books of account, deposits made into specified accounts, interest credited, withdrawals and their utilisation, and compliance with conditions relating to asset acquisition and transfer. The filing process involves deposit into a specified account, audit by an accountant, submission of the form electronically with required identification details, and acceptance by the taxpayer. The structure of the form includes audit reports and detailed statements of deduction claims. The form serves as the statutory basis for allowing deductions and ensures that funds are used in accordance with prescribed schemes, with non-compliance potentially leading to amounts being treated as income.
Income Tax Department
Ministry of Finance, Government of India
FAQs on Income Tax Form 183 (Earlier form 3AD): Audit Report under paragraph 2 of Schedule X for deduction for site restoration fund
Audit report under Section 49 read with paragraph 2 of Schedule X of the Income-tax Act, 2025.
| Name of Form as per I.T. Rules, 1962 |
Form 3AD | Name of Form as per I.T. Rules, 2026 | Form No. 183 |
| Corresponding Section of I.T. Act, 1961 | 33ABA | Corresponding section of I.T. Act, 2025 | 49 |
| Corresponding Rule of I.T. Rules, 1962 | Rule 5AD | Corresponding Rules of I.T. Rules, 2026 | Rule 291 |
Q.1 What is Form No. 183?
Ans:- Form No. 183 is a prescribed audit report required to be furnished under Rule 291 read with Section 49 of the Income-tax Act, 2025. This report is used for certifying the deduction claimed by an assessee engaged in the business of prospecting, extracting, or producing petroleum, natural gas, or both in India. It serves as an audit certificate authenticating the correctness of the deduction, which can be up to 20% of the profits from such business as computed under the head Profits and gains of business or profession.
Q.2 Who should file Form No. 183?
Ans:- Form No. 183 is required to be furnished by an assessee engaged in the business of prospecting, extracting, or producing petroleum, natural gas, or both in India, who claims deduction under Section 49. The audit report is to be certified by an Accountant as defined in Section 515(3)(b).
Q.3 Is filing of Form No. 183 compulsory?
Ans:- Yes. Furnishing of Form No. 183 is mandatory where deduction under Section 49 is claimed. In absence of this audit report, the deduction would not be allowed.
Q.4 What is the due date for furnishing Form No. 183?
Ans:- Form No. 183 is required to be furnished annually, one month prior to the due date for furnishing the return of income under Section 263(1) of the Income-tax Act, 2025.
Q.5 What documents / information are required to prepare Form No. 183?
Ans:- The Accountant will require the following documents and information to certify the audit report:
a. Complete books of account relating to the business of prospecting, extracting, or producing petroleum, natural gas, or both in India.
b. A copy of the audit report, if the accounts of the business have already been audited under any other law.
c. The audited or provisional Balance Sheet and Profit & Loss Account
d. Evidence of deposits made into the “specified account” (Special Account or Site Restoration Account) before the end of the tax year.
e. Details of any interest credited to the specified account during the tax year.
f. Statements showing details of withdrawals made, including the date, amount, and the specific purpose of each withdrawal.
g. Proof of utilization for funds withdrawn, including documents related to the purchase of assets or expenditures incurred as per the approved scheme.
h. Information regarding the sale or transfer of any asset acquired under the scheme, specifically if transferred within eight years of acquisition.
i. A formal computation of the deduction claimed under Section 49 to verify that it does not exceed 20% of the profits from such business as computed under the head Profits and gains of business or profession.
Q.6 What is the effect of furnishing Form No. 183?
Ans:- The audit report enables certification of the correctness of the deduction, which can be up to 20% of profits .
Q.7 What is the structure of Form No. 183?
Ans:- Form No. 183 consists of:
– Part A: Audit report where accounts are audited under any other law
– Part B: Audit report where accounts are not audited under any other law
– Part C: Particulars of the assessee
– Part D: Statement of claim of deduction under Section 49
Q.8 What is the process flow of filing Form No. 183?
Ans:- The process flow includes:
a. The assessee must first deposit eligible amounts into a “specified account,” which refers to a Special Account with the State Bank of India, or a Site Restoration Account approved by the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, within the timelines prescribed by the scheme.
b. The assessee’s business accounts must be audited by an “Accountant” as specifically defined in section 515(3)(b) of the Income-tax Act, 2025.
c. The accountant examines the books of account and prepares the statement of particulars, which includes verifying deposits, interest credited during the tax year, and the purposes and utilization of withdrawals.
d. The accountant furnishes the audit report online as an e-form (Form No. 183) via the designated e-filing portal.
e. It is mandatory for the accountant to provide their Membership Number, Firm Registration Number, and a Unique Document Identification Number (UDIN) within the form.
f. The accountant must verify the submitted form electronically using their Digital Signature Certificate (DSC).
g. The statutory filing process is finalized only after the taxpayer logs into the portal and “Accepts” the form furnished by the Accountant.
Q.9 Why is Form No. 183 important?
Ans:- Form No. 183 is the statutory audit certificate that forms the basis for allowing deduction under Section 49. It ensures verification of deemed income (by way of usage of funds not in accordance with provisions, sale of assets prematurely, etc.) and validates permissible deduction limits.
Guidance Note on Income Tax Form 183: Audit Report under paragraph 2 of Schedule X for deduction for site restoration fund
Form No. 183 [corresponding to erstwhile Form No. 183] – Audit Report under Section 49 for claiming deduction in respect of business of prospecting, extracting, or producing petroleum, natural gas, or both
Purpose:
Form No. 183 is a statutory audit report prescribed under Rule 291 of the Income-tax Rules, 2026.
It is used for certifying the deduction claimed by an assessee engaged in the business of prospecting, extracting, or producing petroleum, natural gas, or both in India.
The form verifies that:
- The assessee’s books of account with respect to such business have been audited either under section 49 of the Income-tax Act, 2025 or under any other law
- The assessee has deposited an amount, within time, in a special account with the State Bank of India or in a site restoration account, in accordance with a special scheme/deposit scheme made/approved by the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas
- Whether the withdrawals made from the account were for purposes specified in the special scheme/deposit scheme
- Whether withdrawals made for purposes specified in the special scheme/deposit scheme have not been so utilised, in which case, the amount would be chargeable as income of that tax year
- Whether withdrawals have been made for purchase of certain assets mentioned in the section, in which case, the amount would be chargeable as income of that tax year
- Whether any amount has also been claimed as expenditure while computing income under the head ‘Profits and gains of business or profession’, and which needs to be disallowed
- Whether any asset acquired in accordance with special scheme/deposit scheme, has been transferred before eight years, in which case, corresponding part of the cost would be chargeable as income of that tax year
- The amount of deduction permissible in accordance with section 49
Thus, Form No. 183 serves as a Chartered Accountant’s audit certificate authenticating the correctness of the deduction claimed under Section 48.
Who Should File:
Form No. 183 must be furnished by assessees engaged in the business of prospecting, extracting, or producing petroleum, natural gas, or both in India.
The audit report in Form No. 183 is to be furnished by a Chartered Accountant. Frequency & Due Dates:
Form No. 183 is furnished annually one month prior to the due date for furnishing the return of income under Section 263(1).
Structure of Form No. 183 :
Form No. 183 is divided into three parts.
> Part I: Audit report u/s 49 in case where accounts of the assessee have been audited under any other law
> Part II: Audit report u/s 49 in case where accounts of the assessee have not been audited under any other law
> Part III: Statement of particulars relating to claim of deduction u/s 49:
-
- Accounting information: Books of account examined, method of accounting followed, maintenance of separate accounts for business of prospecting, extracting, or producing petroleum, natural gas, or both in India
- Deposit information: amounts deposited within time in the specified account
- Withdrawal information: amounts withdrawn, purposes of withdrawal, utilisation for stated purposes, amounts utilised for purposes not allowed, transfer of asset bought with withdrawn funds before expiry of specified time
- Deduction permissible: Total deduction permissible in accordance with section 49
What are the documents required to file the Form No. 183 ?
Following documents may be required for filing Form No. 183 :
1. Books of account / relevant documents of the business (Balance Sheet, Profit & Loss Account or Income & Expenditure statement).
2. Audit report if audited under any other law
3. Evidence of deposit in the specified Account
4. Documents related to withdrawal of funds from specified Account showing purpose of withdrawal, proof of utilization
5. Documents related to transfer of assets purchased in accordance with special scheme/Deposit Scheme
What is the process flow of filing Form No. 183?
The process flow includes following steps
1. Deposit of amounts into specified Account
2. Withdrawal of amounts (if any) from specified Account
3. Audit by Chartered Accountant under any other law or under section 49
4. Furnishing of Form No. 183 online by Chartered Accountant (e-form)
5. E-verification of Form via DSC
6. Acceptance of Form by taxpayer
Outcome of Processed Form No. 183:
Enables claiming of deduction under Section 49, which can be up to 20% of profits derived from the business, subject to the amount deposited.
Brief note on broad or qualitative changes proposed:
Key updates include the following
- The entire form has been made into a smart form, tabulating data to make extraction easier.
- Books of account examined – A few books of account have been provided in a tabular format so that the accountant need only tick the books examined. A field for adding any other books has been given.
- References to account in State Bank of India or Deposit Account have been replaced with specified account since the same has been explicitly defined in the new Act.
- Deposit and withdrawal details have been tabulated for ease of entry and extraction.
- Data on transfer of asset has been tabulated for ease of entry and extraction.
- Change in definition of accountant entitled to sign the audit report – The Form originally allowed three types of people to sign the report:
- A CA as defined in the Chartered Accountant’s Act, 1949
- A person entitled to be appointed as an Auditor u/s 226(2) of the Companies Act, 1956
- A person entitled to audit the accounts by virtue of any other law [for those assessees whose accounts were audited under any other law]
The new Act defines accountant in section 515(3)(b) as a CA defined in the Chartered Accountant’s Act, 1949, subject to certain exclusions, like related parties of the assessee or a CA that has been dismissed from government service or convicted of an offence, etc. Since these are reasonable exclusions, the same definition has been included in the proposed Form.
With respect to the second category, the Companies Act, 2013 does not include a corresponding provision of section 226(2) of Companies Act, 1956. Hence, this clause has been removed as redundant.
- Details like membership number, firm registration number, and UDIN have been incorporated in the Form to be filled in mandatorily.
Challenges and Solutions:
Earlier, Form No. 183 majorly had free textboxes to enter details like date of deposit/withdrawal, amount, purpose, etc. By tabulating the data, compliance as well as extraction and validation is expected to be simplified.
Common Changes made across Forms:
1. To make Forms system-friendly and enable e-filing and uploading, certain anomalies found due to grouping of Name, Designation, Address, PAN and Aadhaar number have been separated into different boxes.
2. Assessment / Financial / Previous year or years have been replaced with Tax year or years, wherever appearing in the Form/Annexure.
3. Sections, Clauses and Schedules changes as per the Income-tax Act, 2025.
4. Currency symbol “Rs.” has been replaced with “₹”.
