An informed client is a better client
Most of what you pay a compliance practice for happens where you cannot see it. This section makes it visible — the work inside each service, the cost of getting it wrong, and what the language on your notices actually means.
What you are actually paying for
Pick a service, then step through it. Each stage is the work that determines whether the filing holds up under examination — and what happens when it is skipped.
Purchase register normalisation
Your books, in your format, mapped to GST fields. GSTINs validated, place of supply corrected, reverse-charge entries separated.
If this is skipped
Wrong place of supply turns a valid credit into an ineligible one.
20% of the total work — a share of effort, not a duration.
Why we do not publish turnaround times
Two clients buying the same service rarely need the same work. Volumes grow, records arrive in different states, and a notice sets its own deadline. Publishing an average would be easy, and occasionally wrong — and the engagement it is wrong about is the one that matters. We agree a timeline with you in writing once we have seen the actual scope, and we tell you the moment anything changes it.
Statutory deadlines shown elsewhere on this site are set by the department, not by us. Those are fixed, and they are the dates we work backwards from.
Five things clients usually believe
None of these are foolish. All of them are expensive.
- 1
A refund means the department has accepted my return.
A refund is an automated processing outcome. Your return can still be selected for scrutiny afterwards, and reassessment can reopen the year later still.
- 2
My supplier failed to file, so their penalty is their problem.
Input credit is recovered from the person who claimed it. You carry the cost of your supplier’s default, plus interest.
- 3
Filing a nil return is optional if I had no business.
Nil returns are still due. Late fees accrue on nil filings, and a break in filing history complicates every subsequent registration.
- 4
Cheaper filing is the same service at a lower price.
Filing is a commodity; reconciliation and defensibility are not. The difference in price is usually the reconciliation that was never done.
- 5
I can fix an aggressive position later if it is questioned.
Positions taken in a filed return constrain every argument available afterwards. Revision windows are short and visible to the department.
What getting it wrong costs
Compliance fees are easy to compare. The exposure they exist to prevent is not — so here it is, stated plainly.
| Trigger | Statute | Exposure | How it compounds |
|---|---|---|---|
| Late TDS depositIncome Tax | Income Tax Act — s.201(1A) | 1.5% per month | Part months count as full months, from deduction to payment. |
| Late ITR — non-auditIncome Tax | Income Tax Act — s.234F, s.234A | ₹1,000 – ₹5,000 + 1% per month | Losses of the year can no longer be carried forward. |
| Tax audit not filedAudit | Income Tax Act — s.271B | 0.5% of turnover, capped at ₹1,50,000 | Applies per assessment year, independent of tax payable. |
| Under-reporting of incomeIncome Tax | Income Tax Act — s.270A | 50% of tax — 200% if misreported | Immunity under s.270AA is lost if the window is missed. |
| Late GSTR-3BGST | CGST Act — s.47, s.50 | ₹50/day + 18% p.a. interest | Interest runs on gross liability where returns stay unfiled. |
| Ineligible input credit claimedGST | CGST Act — s.16, s.73/74 | Credit reversal + interest + up to 100% penalty | Recoverable from you even when the supplier caused the default. |
| Late PF / ESI paymentPayroll | s.36(1)(va), Income Tax Act | Permanent disallowance of the expense | Deduction is lost outright — later payment does not restore it. |
| Late MCA annual filingMCA | Companies Act — s.92, s.137 | ₹100 per day, per form | No upper cap, and officers are personally liable. |
Figures reflect the standard statutory position and are stated before any case-specific relief. They are not a substitute for advice on your own facts.
What the section number on your notice means
Search a section or form — plain English, what to do about it, and how long you have.
- Routine
Section 143(1) — intimation
Income Tax Act, 1961
An automated statement comparing your return with the department’s records. It is not an accusation — but it is a demand if the numbers differ.
What to do
Reconcile the difference. File a rectification under s.154 if the department is wrong; pay if it is right.
Usually issued within 30 days of verification.
- Needs attention
Section 142(1) — inquiry notice
Income Tax Act, 1961
The officer is asking for documents or explanations before deciding anything.
What to do
Produce exactly what is asked, in the format asked, inside the deadline. Volunteering more is rarely wise.
Typically 15 days from receipt.
- Time critical
Section 143(2) — scrutiny selection
Income Tax Act, 1961
Your return has been selected for detailed examination. This is a formal proceeding with a defined record.
What to do
Assemble a paper book and written submissions. Treat every filing as evidence for a future appeal.
Served within 3 months of the end of the financial year in which the return was filed.
- Time critical
Sections 148 & 148A — reassessment
Income Tax Act, 1961
The department believes income escaped assessment in an earlier year and wants to reopen it.
What to do
Reply to the 148A show-cause first. Test limitation, sanction and the sufficiency of the material before arguing merits.
7 to 30 days, as stated in the show-cause notice.
- Time critical
Section 270A — under-reporting penalty
Income Tax Act, 1961
A penalty on top of the tax — half the tax for under-reporting, twice it for misreporting.
What to do
Consider immunity under s.270AA, which requires paying tax and interest and not appealing.
Immunity petition within 1 month of the assessment order.
- Needs attention
Section 44AB — tax audit
Income Tax Act, 1961
Above a turnover threshold, a practising chartered accountant must audit and certify your accounts. That certification is theirs to give, not ours.
What to do
Close the books early and have them verified, so the audit is an examination rather than a reconstruction. The report is due before the return, not with it.
Report by 30 September; return by 31 October.
- Routine
GSTR-2B — auto-drafted credit statement
CGST Act, 2017
A monthly, frozen statement of the credit you are actually entitled to — based on what your suppliers filed.
What to do
Match it against your purchase register before claiming. Withhold payment from suppliers who have not filed.
Generated on the 14th of each month.
- Routine
GSTR-3B — summary return
CGST Act, 2017
Your monthly self-assessment: what you owe, what credit you are setting off, and what you pay in cash.
What to do
Reconcile 2B first. Interest under s.50 runs from the due date, not from filing.
Due on the 20th of each month.
Explainers worth the ten minutes
Written for the person signing the return, not for search engines.
Ask it before it becomes a deadline
If something here raised a question about your own position, that is exactly the conversation worth having early.