Key Statutory Compliance Areas to Cover in a Statutory Audit

A Consolidated checklist of the principal laws, rules and professional standards you'll want to reference when planning and performing a statutory audit in India. Depending on the entity's industry, location and activities, you may need to cover additional sector-specific statutes (e.g. FSSAI, RBI/IRDA/NBFC regulations, environment laws, etc.).

1. Companies Act, 2013

• Appointment, removal & rotation of auditors (Secs. 139-142)
• Auditor's powers & duties (Sec. 143, CARO 2020)
• Board/General-meeting procedures, disclosures & filings
• Annual return (MGT-7), financials (AOC-4)
• Related-party disclosures (Sec. 134, MBP-1/MBP-2)
• Secretarial Standards (SS-1, SS-2)
• CSR reporting (Sec. 135)
• Statutory registers & minutes
• Compliance certificates (DIR-8, DIR-3 KYC, ADT-1, ADT-3)

2. Accounting Standards

• Indian GAAP (AS 1-29) and Ind AS (1-41 as applicable)
• Schedule III disclosures to the Companies Act (standalone/consol.)
• Sectoral frameworks (e.g. Banking - RBI; Insurance - IRDA)

3. Standards on Auditing & Quality Management

• SAs 200-299 (Ethics, risk & planning)
• SAs 300-499 (Risk-assessment procedures)
• SAs 500-599 (Audit evidence, including inventory)
• SAs 600-699 (Using the work of others)
• SAs 700-799 (Reporting)
• SQCs (e.g. SQC 1) or QM Standards (e.g. SQM 1-2)

4. GST Act (CT/IG/UTGST) 2017

• Registration, invoicing, E-way bills
• Returns (GSTR-1, 3B, 9), payment, interest & penalties
• Reverse-charge, TCS/TDS under GST
• Input-tax-credit procedures & reconciliation
• Refunds, audits & assessments under GST

5. Customs Act, 1962 & Customs Tariff Act, 1975

• Import/export licensing & documentation
• Classification (Tariff Headings), valuation, origin rules
• Special regimes (Duty Drawback, Bond/warehousing)
• Anti-dumping, safeguard duties & export rebates
• Audit provisions (Customs Audit Regs., 2018)

6. Income-Tax Act, 1961

• Tax audit (Sec. 44AB) & reporting (Form 3CB/3CD)
• TDS/TCS compliance, Advance Tax, withholding obligations
• Transfer-pricing documentation (Secs. 92-92F)
• Return-filing, assessments, appeals & penalty provisions
• Vivad-Se-Vishwas/Dispute-resolution schemes

7. Labour & Social-Security Laws

• Employees' Provident Funds & Misc. Prov. Act, 1952 (EPF)
• Employees' State Insurance Act, 1948 (ESI)
• Payment of Wages Act, 1936; Minimum Wages Act, 1948
• Payment of Bonus Act, 1965; Payment of Gratuity Act, 1972
• Maternity Benefit Act, 1961; Equal Remuneration Act, 1976
• Contract Labour (Regulation & Abolition) Act, 1970
• Child Labour (Prohibition & Regulation) Act, 1986
• Industrial Disputes Act, 1947; Standing Orders Act, 1946
• Shops & Establishments Acts (State-law compliance)
• Sexual Harassment at Workplace (POSH) Act, 2013 - ICC setup

8. Other Central Laws & Regulator Rules

• FEMA, 1999 (Foreign exchange & cross-border transactions)
• Prevention of Money-Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002
• Competition Act, 2002 (anti-trust/anti-competitive practices)
• SEBI (LODR) Regs., 2015 - for listed companies
• RBI regulations (banking, NBFC, Forex, etc.)
• IRDAI norms (insurance companies)
• FSSAI, 2006 (food businesses); Drug & Cosmetics Act, 1940
• Environment (Protection) Act, 1986; Hazardous Wastes Rules

9. Sector-Specific & Miscellaneous Laws

• FCRA, 2010 (NGOs receiving foreign funds)
• Mining & Petroleum-related laws
• Real Estate (RERA) Act, 2016
• Telecom, Pharma, Power, Healthcare regulations, etc.
• Lease/rent controls under state law (land & premises)
• Data-privacy & IT Act, 2000 (sensitive personal data)

Use this checklist to map the entity's statutory obligations to your audit plan. Drill down into each statute's relevant sections, rules and notifications. Confirm compliance with documentary evidence (filings, board minutes, registers), reconcile statutory-records to accounting ledgers, and test controls over each compliance area.