The development of digital finance is an important engine for the continuous optimization of the financial ecological environment, which has a significant impact on the development of the real economy. Based on the data of China’s A share non financial listed companies from 2011 to 2020, this paper empirically studies the impact of digital finance on audit fees from the perspective of corporate risk taking. The results show that digital finance can not only increase audit fees paid by corporates, but also increase audit fees through the improvement of corporate risk taking level. Further research finds that the coverage and depth of digital finance can increase audit fees charged by auditors through the level of corporate risk taking. The group testing found that the role of digital finance in increasing audit fees through corporate risk taking was more significant in non state owned enterprises and the role of digital finance in increasing audit fees is greater in the eastern region. In addition, audit input also plays an intermediary role in the impact of digital finance on audit fees.