MAHESH PODDAR
MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT
(RAJYA SABHA)
Member
Standing Committee:- Ministry of Finance
Consultative Committee :- Road Transport & Highway
Joint Committee:- Office of Profit
Bureau Member:- Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS)
Advisory Committee:- Hindi (Ministry of Power)
Date: January 10th, 2022
Respected Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman Ji,
Sub: Request to extend the due date of furnishing the Report of Audit for the current fiscal year
Hope this letter finds you in good health and spirits. I am writing this letter forwarding requests as received from various industry bodies like State ICAI, Federation of Jharkhand Chamber of Commerce & Industries, etc. for extending the due date to furnish the Report of Audit for the current fiscal year.
Firstly, I would congratulate you on the speedy progress being made on the LIC IPO. Hoping that it gets listed as early as possible.
The current wave of the pandemic is a noted reality with the skyrocketing daily number of cases. This is bringing unimaginable stress on the population. The Government had been considerate in extending the due date of filing the Audit Report twice before this already which now terminates on the 15th of this month and failing to which will attract penalties under the law. I am informed that CBDT had carried out changes in the Tax Audit Schema thrice already with the latest one being on January 6th, 2022. These last-minute changes are causing unnecessary hassle for the audit professionals who themselves are struggling with the pandemic. Changes in audit mechanism often require expertise to understand which is beyond a layperson’s capability, therefore, it should be expected that the Government gives them considerable time to adjust to these changes. The situation is exacerbated with many State Governments announcing lockdowns. In a profession that relies immensely on physical verification and interaction, the current deadline is adding to their worries with the looming concern of penalties upon failing to meet the deadline. Many professionals and their family members are turning COVID positive which is a worrying prospect in this regard.
It is noted that extending the date will purely be an administrative issue, and would not result in any revenue loss. The audit professionals have risen to all the challenges that the pandemic has thrown at them and with the support of the Government, they have been contributing immensely in making sure taxpayers are compliant with all the provisions under the law.
Therefore, I would kindly request you to look into this matter and extend the due date for furnishing the Report of Audit for the current fiscal year.
Sincerely and Thanking You,
Mahesh Poddar
Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman Ji
Union Minister of Finance
Government of India
