CORAA

Form 3CA Format — Tax Audit Report (Accounts Audited Under Another Law)

The CBDT-prescribed Form 3CA under Rule 6G(1)(a) — used when the assessee's accounts are already audited under another law (typically the Companies Act statutory audit), attached with Form 3CD. Editable in Word.

Free · CORAA original — SA-aligned
Updated 28 Jul 2026
Statutory basis
Rule 6G(1)(a), Income-tax Rules 1962
Used when
Accounts already audited under another law (e.g. Companies Act)
Always attached with
Form 3CD
Alternative
Form 3CB — where no other statutory audit applies
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Your firm — letterhead
Appears at the top of the document as the audit firm letterhead.
Used as the letterhead block.
Engagement details
The client and period this document is for.
What’s inside

An excerpt from the template.

FORM No. 3CA

Audit report under section 44AB of the Income-tax Act, 1961, in a case where the accounts of the business or profession of a person have been audited under any other law.

1. We report that the statutory audit of ___ (PAN: ___), for the period beginning from ____________ to ending on ___, was conducted by us / by M/s ___ under ___. The audit report under that law, dated ___, along with the audited Balance Sheet and Profit and Loss Account / Income and Expenditure Account duly authenticated, is enclosed.

2. The statement of particulars required to be furnished under Section 44AB is annexed herewith in Form No. 3CD.

↑ Excerpt only — the full template is what you download as Word
About this template

What you’re downloading, and when to use it.

This template follows the format published by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) in the AASB Audit Working Paper Templates (June 2023), the authoritative reference for Indian statutory-audit documentation. Fill in your firm’s letterhead and the engagement details on the form above, click Download Word file, and you’ll get a fully formatted .docx ready to use.

Everything is generated in your browser and on a stateless API endpoint — no account, nothing stored on our servers. We’ll ask for a work email once before your first download so we can send you the file and the occasional relevant update; after that, downloads on this device are instant. Edit freely in Word, Google Docs or Pages before sending to your client.

Common questions

FAQs.

When is Form 3CA used instead of Form 3CB?
Form 3CA applies where the assessee's accounts are already audited under some other law before the tax audit — most commonly a company audited under the Companies Act, or a co-operative bank under the Banking Regulation Act. Form 3CB applies where no such other statutory audit exists and the CA is examining the accounts solely for the Section 44AB tax audit. Both forms are always accompanied by Form 3CD.
Does Form 3CA give the auditor's own opinion on the financial statements?
No — unlike Form 3CB, Form 3CA does not repeat a true-and-fair opinion on the balance sheet and P&L, since that opinion has already been given in the other law's audit report (e.g. the Companies Act statutory audit report), which is enclosed. Form 3CA only cross-references that report and gives the auditor's opinion on the correctness of the Form 3CD particulars.
Can the tax auditor signing Form 3CA be different from the statutory auditor under the other law?
Yes, this can happen (e.g. a different CA is engaged specifically for the tax audit), though in practice for companies the statutory auditor and tax auditor are very often the same firm. Whoever signs Form 3CA must independently verify the Form 3CD particulars and hold a valid appointment/engagement for the tax audit itself, regardless of who performed the other law's audit.
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