We were doing Tax audit & Vat Audit for the year ended 31.03.12 of a Public Ltd Company having a turnover of more than Rs.25 Crores.
For the year ended 31.03.2013 the company has appointed another auditor without any intimation to us.
1) Is it compulsory for the newly appointed Tax auditor u/s 44AB to seek permission from me ?
2) If it is compulsory than what is the alternative left before me if the newly appointed tax auditor doesn't take permission from me. Pls note that I do not know the name and address of the newly appointed auditor. The Head of the Finance Dept. of the company has not informed us regarding the same.
3) If seeking permission from the previous auditor is not compulsory for Tax and vat audit than is it compulsory for statutory audit of a company ?
25 August 2013
i) Yes, the requirement for communicating with the previous auditor would apply to all types of audits viz., statutory audit, tax audit, internal audit, concurrent audit or any other kind of audit. The Council has laid down detailed guidelinrs in this regard and the same are appearing at pages 163-168 of Code of Ethics, 2009 edition.