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Facts
The appellant, a charitable trust, applied for approval under Section 80G(5) of the Income Tax Act. The CIT(E) rejected the application for non-compliance and failure to furnish required details, despite opportunities given.
Held
The Tribunal noted the appellant's submission that non-compliance was due to reasons beyond their control and allowed a further opportunity to furnish details. The impugned order was set aside, and the matter was remitted to the CIT(E) for fresh adjudication.
Key Issues
Whether the CIT(E) rightly rejected the approval application for non-compliance, or if the assessee should be granted another opportunity to submit details.
Sections Cited
80G(5), 80G(5)(iii), 80G(5)(vi)
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Income Tax Appellate Tribunal, PUNE BENCHES “A”, PUNE
Before: DR.MANISH BORAD & SHRI VINAY BHAMORE
आदेश / ORDER
PER DR. MANISH BORAD, ACCOUNTANT MEMBER :
The captioned appeal at the instance of appellant is against the rejection of application of approval u/s.80G of the Act framed by CIT(E), Pune dated 17.10.2024.
At the outset, ld. Counsel for the appellant submitted that requisite details as called for by ld.CIT(E) could not be filed by the appellant trust in the proceedings examining the application for approval u/s.80G(5) of the Act. Therefore a prayer is made to remit back the issue on merits to the file of ld.CIT(E) to file the requisite details.
Ld. Departmental Representative on the other hand supported the order of ld.CIT(E).
Succinctly stated, the appellant is a charitable trust and made application on Form 10AB for approval u/s.80G(5)(iii) of the Act on 27.06.2024. In order to verify the genuineness of activities of the appellant, the ld.CIT (Exemption) issued notice through ITBA portal on 25.07.2024 requiring the appellant to upload certain information. No compliance has been made by the appellant to various notices issued by ld.CIT(E). Eventually, ld. CIT (Exemption) vide the impugned order dated 17.10.2024 rejected the application filed by the appellant for grant of approval u/s.80G(5) observing as under :
“5. The information / details were called for under the provisions of sub-clause (a) of clause (ii) of second proviso to section 80G(5) of the Income Tax Act, 1961. These are the basic details required to ascertain the overall nature of the activities of the assessee and are directly relevant to the present proceedings. However, the assessee has failed to comply despite giving sufficient opportunities as discussed above, including an opportunity of being heard.
Thus, the assessee has failed to furnish the details called for under the provisions of sub-clause (a) of clause (ii) of second proviso to section 80G(5) of the Income Tax Act, 1961 to verify the genuineness of activities of the trust or institution and fulfilment of conditions laid down in clauses (i) to (v) of Section 80G(5) of the Act.
In absence of the compliance to the above requirement, it is not possible to arrive at any conclusion about the genuineness of activities of the assessee and fulfilment of conditions laid down in clauses (i) to (v) of Section 80G(5) of the Act.
It is clear from the above that the assessee was given sufficient opportunity to comply, but it has not complied to the same. It seems that the assessee is not having any supporting documents / evidence to submit. The assessee has failed to comply with the provisions of sub-clause (a) of clause (ii) of second proviso to section 80G(5) of the Income Tax Act, 1961 and hence, the undersigned is unable to draw any satisfactory conclusion about genuineness of activities of the assessee and fulfilment of conditions laid down in clauses (i) to (v) of Section 80G(5) of the Act and has left no alternative but to reject the application.
In view of the above, the application filed by the assessee is hereby rejected and the provisional approval dated 22/06/2022 under section 80G(5)(vi) read with clause (iv) of first proviso to section 80G(5) of the Act is hereby cancelled.”
Bhartiya Bouddha Mahasabha Pune 5. Now the appellant is in appeal before this Tribunal assailing the impugned order.
6. We have heard the rival contentions and perused the record placed before us. The appellant is a charitable trust and filed application on Form 10AB for grant of approval u/s.80G(5)(iii) of the Act on 27.06.2024. Owing to non- compliance from the side of assessee, ld.CIT(E) rejected the application filed by the appellant trust. Before us, Ld. Counsel for the appellant submitted that the appellant could not furnish the requisite details before ld.CIT(E) for the reasons beyond its control. Ld. Counsel for the appellant made a prayer that given an opportunity the appellant is in a position to submit the requisite details before ld.CIT(E) substantiating the charitable activities carried out by the trust. Ld. Departmental Representative albeit supported the order of ld.CIT(E) however, raised no objection for restoration of the issue on merits.
7. Under the given facts and circumstances and considering the prayer made by ld. Counsel for the assessee and in the larger interest of justice, we deem it proper to afford one more opportunity to the appellant. We therefore remit the issue on merits to the file of ld.CIT(E) for necessary adjudication. Impugned order dated 17.10.2024 is hereby set aside, and the matter is restored to the file of the Ld.CIT (Exemption) with a direction to adjudicate the issue afresh based on the details to be filed by the appellant and then decide in accordance with law. Needless to mention that the appellant trust in the course of the set aside proceedings shall be afforded a reasonable opportunity of hearing. Appellant is at liberty to adduce all the required supporting documents/evidence substantiating the Bhartiya Bouddha Mahasabha Pune charitable activities. Grounds of appeal raised by the appellant are allowed for statistical purposes.
8. In the result, the appeal filed by the appellant trust is allowed for statistical purposes.
Order pronounced on this 19th day of August, 2025.