ICAI Defends CA's Audit Expertise Amid Accountant Status Debate

New Delhi, Feb 19 (PTI) With sister institutions representing company secretaries and cost accountants seeking accountant status for their members under the new Income Tax Bill, apex body ICAI on Wednesday said audit is the forte of chartered accountants and that the issue will be taken up before the government's coordination committee.

The Institute of Company Secretaries of India (ICSI) and the Institute of Cost Accountants of India (ICMAI), both set up under Acts of Parliament, have demanded that their members be treated as accountant in the bill.

All the three institutes -- ICAI, ICSI and ICMAI -- have been set up under Acts of Parliament and come under the corporate affairs ministry.

Responding to queries on the issue, ICAI President Charanjot Singh Nanda on Wednesday said it is keen to maintain a healthy relationship with the sister institutes.

The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) has around four lakh members.

"Audit work can be done only by chartered accountants, the chartered accountants in practice... we do audit. Audit is a serious business which can be done only by people doing so," he said.

Nanda, who took over as the institute's President on February 12, also mentioned about at least two judgements, one each by the Supreme Court and the Delhi High Court, to emphasise that audit works are done by chartered accountants.

Stressing that tax audits is the forte of chartered accountants, he said the issue will be taken up at the coordination committee.

The committee, chaired by the corporate affairs secretary, has Presidents and Vice Presidents of all the three institutes as members.

"I want to again re-emphasise the fact that audit is the forte of chartered accountants... tax audits are the preserve of chartered accountants... audit is the responsibility that has been entrusted to us by the Parliament," Nanda said.

ICSI and ICMAI have sought that company secretaries and cost accountants be included in the definition of 'accountant' as outlined in Section 515(3)(b) of the Income Tax Bill, 2025.

The bill, which seeks to achieve tax certainty by minimising the scope of litigation and fresh interpretation, was introduced in the Lok Sabha last week and was referred to a 31-member select committee.

The panel is mandated to submit its report by the first day of the Monsoon Session of the Parliament. The ongoing Budget Session will conclude on April 4 and the Monsoon session may commence in the third week of July.