17 May 2021
Not provisioning a bad debt is not a problem. Even if it was provided such provision is not an allowable deduction under IT Act (subject to certain exceptions). If you believe that sufficient follow ups have been made and there exists a strong reason to support your claim, then you may treat it as a bad debt. Also the age of debt matters, the older the age, the stronger would be the reason. Formal communications like email, follow-up letters, notice sent (if any) etc would be sufficient for submission during audit.
18 May 2021
To claim a bad debt as an expenditure for the purpose of assessment of income it is sufficient if the debt is actually written off in the accounts.