02 February 2009
As per Income Tax Rules, 1962, Rule 6F, The books of account and other documents specified in sub-rule (2) and sub-rule (3) shall be kept and maintained for period of [six] years from the end of the relevant assessment year. As per Companies Act,1956, section 209,The books of accounts together with the vouchers, invoices and other connected documents or records shall be preserved in good order for a period of 8 years (or the entire period, if the company is less than 8 years old).
Just like the above, ICAI has also issued some guidelines : According to Auditing and Assurance standard 3 (AAS 3) issued by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India “Documentation†refers to the working papers prepared or obtained by the auditor and retained by him , in connection with the performance of the audit. Period of retention The auditor should retain the working papers for a period of time sufficient to meet the needs of his practice and satisfy any pertinent legal or professional requirements of record retention.
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