« Top Headlines » Open DEMAT Account in 24 hrs  Income Tax Rules 2026: CBDT Introduces Revised Form 161 for Penalty Waiver, Clarifies Misreporting Categories and Taxpayer Relief  ITR Filing and Income Tax Audit Deadline Extended: 5 Critical Things Taxpayers Must Know  Filing Belated ITR for AY 2026-27? Know Which Losses You Can Carry Forward and Which You May Lose  CBDT Extends Tax Audit Report Deadline to October 21, ITR Filing Last Date to November 21 for AY 2026-27  CBDT Extends AY 2026-27 ITR Filing Deadline for Tax-Audit Cases: New Dates and Key Compliance Details  Foreign Assets Missing From Your ITR? Income Tax Department Opens One-Time Disclosure Window  Tax Audit Deadline September 30: Why AIS, TDS and GST Figures May Not Match Your ITR and What Taxpayers Should Do  Tax audit deadline September 30: Common mistakes taxpayers should avoid  Your ITR says ‘verified’, but the refund hasn’t arrived? 5 reasons why your money could be stuck  Missed the ITR Deadline but TDS Refund Is Due? Here’s How You Can Still Claim Your Money  ITAT Cuts ?4.85 Lakh Penalty After ?14.02 Lakh Interest Income Was Missed in ITR «  Tax liability of PMS investors won`t go up... Advance tax collections up 29%... » Mandatory cost auditing norms may be revised June, 21st 2007 Sensitive operational details of a large section of corporate India are likely to come under government scrutiny soon. The ministry of corporate affairs has started reviewing the way it orders mandatory cost audits on companies to optimise the coverage of each of the 44 sectors for which it has notified norms for keeping cost records. In many sectors, cost audit data is used by the government for decisions related to pricing, excise duty, income-tax and in calculating the injury suffered by the domestic industry due to dumping. The audits also reveal the extent of efficiency and profitability of a company as well as the sector. The move is to find out why some companies were missed out while audits were ordered. This would help the ministrys Cost Audit Branch (CAB) to determine if they too need to be audited. In January this year, CAB ordered cost audits of 12 oil companies at the request of the petroleum ministry to have an idea of the extent of under-realisation (sale of petroleum products below their cost price). Last year, it had ordered cost audits on 70 electricity and 90 pharma companies, which form only a small part of the sectors concerned. Cost audits were ordered on drug makers in the wake of reports that astronomical trade margins exist in the sector. Comparing production cost with retail price would expose this. The other sectors covered include telecom, plantation, mining, chemicals and pharma, steel, engineering, textile, sugar, cement, tyre and motor vehicles. Cost audits are ordered on specific companies in a sector that have a turnover of over Rs 10 crore. All manufacturing companies are expected to keep cost records as per rules notified by CAB. The audit covers areas such as quality control, raw material consumption, R&D expenses, royalty payments, fixed assets and depreciation.