A notice for audit under section 65 is served by the proper officer on the basis of risk assessment to Ghoomghoom Pvt. Ltd. on 02.12.2023 for audit…

(a) As per section 65, audit of any registered person may be undertaken by: the Commissioner; orany officer authorized by him, by way of a general or a specific order. The audit shall be completed within a period of 3 months from the date of commencement of the audit. However, where the Commissioner is satisfied that audit in respect of such registered person cannot be completed within 3 months, he may, for the reasons to be recorded in writing, extend the period by a further period not exceeding six months. For the purposes of this sub-section, the expression "commencement of audit" shall mean: (a) the date on which the records and other documents, called for by the tax authorities, are made available by the registered person or (b) the actual institution of audit at the place of business, whichever is later. In the given case, the date of commencement of audit shall be determined as follows: (a) The date on which requisite information is made available by Ghoomghoom Private Ltd., i.e., on 30.12.2023. (b) The date of the actual institution of audit at the place of business, i.e., on 20.12.2023 whichever is later. Therefore, the date of commencement of the audit shall be 30.12.2023 Accordingly, the audit has to be completed within 3 months from the date of commencement of the audit, i.e., by 30.03.2024. Thus, in the given case, the audit was completed by the tax authorities within 3 months from the date of commencement of the audit, i.e., before 30.03.2024. Resultantly, the view of the accountant of Ghoomghoom Pvt. Ltd. that the audit by the tax authorities was completed after the maximum time period prescribed by law for the same, is not correct. Further, as per section 65 read with rule 101 (1) , the period of audit to be conducted under said section shall be a financial year or part thereof or multiples thereof. Thus, the view of the accountant that audit cannot be conducted for two financial years is also not correct.