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Facts
The assessee filed an appeal against the order of the CIT(E) rejecting their application for final registration under Section 12A of the Income Tax Act. The appeal was filed with a delay of 594 days. The CIT(E) had rejected the application due to a mismatch in the assessee trust's name between the PAN ID and the certificate from the Charity Commissioner.
Held
The Tribunal held that the CIT(E)'s reason for rejection was not justified, as there is no legal requirement for a charitable trust to be registered with the Charity Commissioner before obtaining registration under Section 12A. The Tribunal noted that the assessee already had provisional registration and was pursuing its activities.
Key Issues
Whether the rejection of final registration under Section 12A by the CIT(E) solely on the grounds of a name mismatch with the Charity Commissioner's certificate is justified.
Sections Cited
12A, 12AB
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Income Tax Appellate Tribunal, SURAT BENCH, SURAT
Before: Shri Sanjay Garg & Shri Bijayananda Pruseth
Assessee by: Shri Kamlesh Bhatt, A.R. Revenue by: Shri Ashish Pophare, CIT-D.R. Date of hearing : 04-03-2025 Date of pronouncement : 28-03-2025 आदेश/ORDER
Per Sanjay Garg, Judicial Member:
The present appeal has been filed by the Assessee against the order passed by the Learned Commissioner of Income Tax (Exemption), Ahmedabad [hereinafter referred to as “CIT(E)’] dated 04.03.2023 passed u/s. 12AB of the Income Tax Act, 1961 (here-in-after referred to as “the Act”) relevant to the Assessment Year 2023-24.
The assessee in this appeal is aggrieved by the action of the ld. CIT(E) in rejecting the application of the assessee for final registration u/s. 12A of the Income Tax Act.
Bharuch Jilla Pensioners Mandal, A.Y. 2023-24 3. The appeal is time barred by 594 days. Separate application for condonation of delay has been filed, wherein, it has been stated the assessee was not aware of the passing of the impugned order of the CIT(E). That the order was uploaded on the income tax portal and not physically served and that the assessee did not come to know about the same. Considering the above submissions, the delay in filing the present appeal is hereby condoned.
The ld. counsel for the assessee has submitted that the final registration has been rejected by the Ld. CIT(E) solely for the reason that there was a mis-match in the name of the assessee trust as mentioned in the PAN ID as compared to the certificate issued by the Charity Commissioner of the State Government. We note that the above said reason given by the CIT(E) for rejection of the application was not justified. There is no requirement under law that charitable trust must be registered with the Charity Commissioner before getting registration u/s. 12A of the Income Tax Act. The assessee trust has already been granted provisional registration u/s. 12A of the Income Tax Act. The assessee in this respect has filed Form No. 10AC issued by the CIT(E) dated 12-03-2022 under the name of the assessee trust and assessee was pursuing its charitable activities. The ld. CIT(E) was supposed to examine the activities of the assessee and decide the case of the assessee on merits. Therefore, the rejection of the application for final registration is not justified. Accordingly, the impugned