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Facts
The assessee, M/s Celebrate Life, filed an application in Form 10AB for registration under section 12AB. The CIT(Exemptions) rejected the application, stating that the assessee had applied under the wrong clause. The assessee had been granted provisional registration under Section 12A and the application was made under section 12A(1)(ac)(ii) instead of the applicable section 12A(1)(ac)(iii).
Held
The Tribunal found that the assessee had inadvertently selected the wrong sub-clause in Form 10AB due to a typographical error. Since the assessee's provisional registration was for three years, they did not qualify for renewal under the sub-clause selected. The Tribunal granted liberty to the assessee to file a fresh application.
Key Issues
Whether the rejection of the registration application by the CIT(Exemptions) for filing under the wrong section was justified, given the inadvertent error by the assessee.
Sections Cited
12AB, 12A(1)(ac)(ii), 12A(1)(ac)(iii)
AI-generated summary — verify with the full judgment below
Income Tax Appellate Tribunal, ‘C’ BENCH
आदेश / O R D E R PER AMIT SHUKLA (J.M): The aforesaid appeal has been filed by the assessee against order passed by ld. CIT (Exemptions) rejecting the application filed in Form 10AB seeking registration u/s.12AA.
2. The reasons mentioned by ld. CIT (Exemptions) while rejecting the application is that, assessee has filed the application under wrong clause after observing as under:-
Celebrate Life 1.M/s Celebrate Life [hereafter 'the applicant' or 'the assessee'] filed application in Form 10AB seeking registration under section 12AB of the Income Tax Act[hereafter 'the Act']. It is found that the applicant has been granted Provisional Registration under Section 12A of the Act in Form 10AC valid for AYs 2022-23 to AY 2024-25.
As the trust is provisionally registered, provisions of section 12A(1)(ac)(iii) are applicable to it, which is reproduced as under:
"(iii) where the trust or institution has been provisionally registered under section 12AB, at least six months prior to expiry of period of the provisional registration or within six months of commencement of its activities, whichever is earlier;".
3. On perusal of the From 10AB filed by the assessee it was observed that the assessee has applied under section 12A(1)(ac) (ii) which is valid only for trusts already having regular registration for five years and is seeking renewal of regular registration which is due to expire. The assessee, having provisional registration for three years, does not qualify to make the application u/s 12A(1)(ac) (ii). Thus, the application for registration in Form 10AB filed by the assessee is not allowable on the ground of application filed under wrong section.
For statistical purposes, this application is non maintainable and stands rejected.”
From the perusal of the records it is seen that assessee is a charitable Trust established on 12/11/2020 and has filed its application in Form 10AB on 24/08/2024, however, inadvertently, due to some error in column 2, section code which was mentioned as ‘01-Sub-Clause(ii) of Clause (ac) of Sub- Section (1) of Section 12A’ had been typed, instead of clause (iii) of clause (ac) of sub-section (1) of section 12A of the Act.
Celebrate Life 4. In view of the aforesaid facts that assessee had filed the Form 10AB and by mistake and due to inadvertent error, Section code has been mentioned wrongly instead of clause (iii) of clause (ac) Sub-Section (1) of Section 12A of the Act. Accordingly, we grant liberty to the assessee to file a fresh application before the ld. CIT(E) under the correct Form and ld. CIT(E) should take physical form or grant permission to upload the said form online and decide the issue in accordance with law after giving due opportunity of hearing to the assessee.
In the result, appeal of the assessee is allowed for statistical purposes.
Order pronounced on 31st December,2024.