Tax Health Check

What is a tax health check?

A tax health check is a structured review of a business's tax compliance and positions — income tax, TDS, GST, and payroll taxes — to find gaps, exposures, and missed opportunities before they turn into notices, penalties, or problems in a fundraise.

It's a snapshot: a clear report of what's in order, what isn't, what it could cost, and what to fix first. It's especially useful after rapid growth, a change of accountant, or before a transaction.

What a health check covers

A typical health check reviews:

Filing status

Whether income-tax, TDS, and GST returns have been filed on time for every period.

TDS compliance

Whether TDS was deducted, deposited, and reported correctly, including on non-resident payments.

GST compliance

Reconciliation of books, returns, and GSTR-2B, credit eligibility, and reverse charge.

Income-tax positions

Expenses at risk of disallowance, regime choices, and depreciation.

Payroll taxes

TDS on salaries, perquisites, ESOPs, and Professional Tax.

Notices and demands

Open notices, demands on the portals, and their status.

Opportunities

Credits, deductions, or regime choices you may be missing.

Why it matters

It's always cheaper to find problems yourself:

Fix before notices

Issues found and fixed voluntarily usually cost less than ones the department finds.

Time limits

Credits and corrections have deadlines. A health check finds them while there's still time.

Growth outpaces compliance

Fast-growing businesses often add new payments and obligations without anyone noticing.

Accountant changes

Each handover risks something being dropped.

Due diligence

Investors and buyers will find the same issues — better to fix them first.

Law changes

The move to the Income-tax Act, 2025 and GST changes are good reasons to review processes.

Peace of mind

A clear picture of where you stand, and a plan to fix what isn't right.

Who is this for?

A health check is a review, not an audit. It identifies issues and recommends fixes; the fixes themselves are separate work.

Health check vs. tax audit vs. due diligence

Three different reviews:

What we'll need from you

Returns

Income-tax, TDS, and GST returns for the review period.

Accounts

Financial statements and ledgers.

Portal access

Income-tax, TRACES, and GST portal access, or downloads.

Payroll

Salary registers and Professional Tax records.

Notices

Any notices or demands received.

Contracts

Key contracts, especially with non-residents.

Health checks are priced on the size of the business and the period covered — typically the last two or three years.

How the health check works

A health check typically runs in two to four weeks:

1. 1

   Scope

   We agree the taxes, periods, and entities to cover.

2. 2

   Collect data

   Returns, portal data, and accounts are collected.

3. 3

   Review

   Each area is reviewed against the law and your records.

4. 4

   Quantify

   Issues are quantified — tax, interest, and penalty — where possible.

5. 5

   Prioritise

   Findings are ranked by risk, cost, and time limits.

6. 6

   Report and discuss

   You receive a report with an action plan, and we walk through it.

After the health check

The value is in acting on it:

Fix time-sensitive items first

Claim credits and file corrections before their deadlines.

Regularise defaults

Pay genuine shortfalls with interest, and correct data errors.

Fix processes

Change the processes that caused the issues.

Register where needed

Complete missing registrations like Professional Tax.

Document positions

Keep notes supporting judgement calls.

Repeat periodically

An annual check keeps things on track.

Benefits and responsibilities