From 1st April 2026, no chartered accountant in practice can sign more than 60 tax audits in a financial year. This applies whether the audits are signed in an individual capacity or as a partner of a firm. The limit is now per person, not per arrangement.
Closing a Long-Running Practice
The change closes a long-running practice. Earlier, the 60-audit ceiling existed in principle, but firms could spread audits across junior or inactive partners on paper, allowing senior partners to sign well beyond the limit. The Institute has now anchored the cap to the individual chartered accountant, supported by field-level validation in the UDIN system. A firm with four active partners can collectively undertake 240 tax audits, but no single partner can exceed 60, and partners cannot sign on behalf of one another.
What This Changes for Enterprises Selecting an Auditor
For enterprises selecting a tax auditor, this changes a few practical things.
The signature on the audit report will increasingly reflect the actual partner who reviewed the file, rather than a senior name attached out of convention. Boards and audit committees should expect, and reasonably ask for, clarity on which partner is leading the engagement. Firms that have historically loaded audits onto a few senior names will need to redistribute the work, which makes partner bandwidth a more honest variable in audit selection than it has been.
The intent behind the rule is sound. An audit signed under pressure of volume is not the same as one signed with proper review time. For the profession, this is a long-overdue calibration.