Section 71: access to business premises and the audit party's powers
Access is not a search. The difference is the authorisation and what can be taken away.
Section 71 permits any officer authorised by the proper officer, not below the rank of Joint Commissioner, to have access to any place of business of a registered person to inspect books of account, documents, computers and other things, for the purposes of carrying out any audit, scrutiny, verification and checks. On demand, the person in charge must produce the specified records within fifteen working days or such further period as may be allowed. It is an access power, not a search power.
What access permits
Entry to the place of business and inspection of records, for audit, scrutiny, verification and checks.
A demand for the specified records — the audit report, the cost audit report, the income tax audit report, trial balance, statements of annual financial accounts and other prescribed documents — to be produced within fifteen working days.
It does not permit seizure. Seizure requires Section 67 with its authorisation and its recorded reasons.
It does not permit the recording of statements as in an investigation, though questions asked in the course of an audit are ordinary and should be answered in writing where the answers matter.
How to handle an access visit
Ask for and keep a copy of the authorisation, and note the officer's rank.
Provide a room, a nominated point of contact, and a document register recording everything supplied. Nothing should leave the premises without a receipt.
Answer queries in writing, even where asked orally. An oral answer becomes a paragraph in an audit report you never see until it is a notice.
Where the visit turns into a search — cabinets opened, devices taken, statements recorded — object in writing at once and ask for the Section 67 authorisation.
Where records are voluminous, seek the further period the section permits, in writing, rather than producing an incomplete set.
What to do on Monday
Keep a copy of the authorisation and note the officer's rank.
Maintain a document register and issue nothing without a receipt.
Answer every query in writing, whatever the form of the question.
Seek an extension in writing rather than producing an incomplete record set.
This page states the general position. A reader with a specific question on their own facts may write to the GST practice at AMLEGALS.
Write to the GST practiceQuestions we are asked on this
Can records be taken away under Section 71?
No. It is an access and inspection power. Removal requires seizure under Section 67.
How long do we have to produce records?
Fifteen working days from the demand, with a further period as may be allowed. Ask in writing if more time is needed.
Can statements be recorded?
A summons under Section 70 is the power for that. Questions asked during access should be answered in writing.
Can we refuse access?
No, where the authorisation exists. Obstruction is itself an offence. Manage the visit rather than resisting it.
What if the visit becomes a search?
Object in writing immediately and ask for the Section 67 authorisation; the objection is the ground later.
In this cluster
- GST enforcement: search, seizure, summons, arrest and attachment in one map
- Section 70 summons: your rights, your obligations and your record
- Section 67 search and seizure: the conditions that must be satisfied
- Section 69 arrest under GST: when it is legal and when it is not
- Section 132 prosecution: offences, thresholds and compounding
- Radha Krishan Industries: provisional attachment is draconian, and the conditions are strict
- Radhika Agarwal: the Supreme Court's 2025 safeguards on GST and customs arrest
- Bank account attachment: getting it lifted fast
- Anticipatory bail and regular bail in GST offences
- Statements recorded during investigation and their evidentiary value
GST Insights is published by AMLEGALS for general information. Law stated as on 3 September 2026. Not advice on any particular set of facts; not an advertisement or a solicitation under Rule 36 of the Bar Council of India Rules. Readers with a question on their own facts may write to the GST practice of their own accord.