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Income Tax Appellate Tribunal, “D” BENCH, AHMEDABAD
Before: SHRI SIDDHARTHA NAUTIYAL & SHRI NARENDRA PRASAD SINHA
PER SIDDHARTHA NAUTIYAL - JUDICIAL MEMBER:
This appeal has been filed by the Assessee against the order passed by the Ld. Commissioner of Income Tax (Exemptions), (in short “Ld. CIT(E)”), Ahmedabad vide order 27.12.2023.
The Assessee has taken the following grounds of appeal:-
“1. The order passed by the Ld. CIT(E) rejecting the Application filed U/S 80G(5)(viv) of the act is against law, equity & justice. 2. The Ld. CIT(E) has erred in law and facts in rejecting the application filed U/S 80G(5)(iv) of the act on ground of delay in filing application. 3. The appellant Craves liberty to add, amend, alter or modify all or any grounds of appeal before final appeal.” 3. The brief facts of the case are that the assessee filed application for final approval under Section 80G(5)(iii) of the Act in Form No. 10AB on
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27.06.2023. The assessee-Trust had been earlier granted provisional approval in Form No. 10AC on 02.10.2021 under Clause (iv) of first proviso. On receipt of application, Ld. CIT(E) observed that as per provisions of Section 80G(5) as it stands from 01.04.2021, in the present case, since the assessee had got provisional approval under Section 80G(5) of the Act, the applicant was required to file application in Form No. 10AB under Clause (iii) of first proviso to sub-Section (5) of Section 80G of the Act within the time period of at least six months prior to expiry of the period of the provisional approval or within six months of commencement of its activity, whichever is earlier. Further, the Ld. CIT(E) was of the view that the aforesaid timeline prescribed are mandatory in nature, in view of the Calcutta Tribunal decision in the case of Bishnupur Public Education Institute vs. Commissioner of Income Tax (Exemption) 139 taxmann.com 121 (Calcutta). Further, Ld. CIT(E) observed that CBDT, on multiple occasions, had extended the time line in filing the application in Form 10AB and vide Circular No. 8/2022 had extended the time line to 30.09.2022. Thereafter, another Circular No. 6/2023 dated 24.05.2023 was introduced, but in such Circular the date so far as filing of Form 10AB under Section 80G(5)(iii) of the Act is concerned, was not extended beyond the period of 30.09.2022. Accordingly, in view of the aforesaid Circular, the last date of filing From No. 10AB for approval under Section 80G(5)(iii) of the Act was 30.09.2022. However, in this case, the applicant had been granted order for provisional approval in Form No. 10AC under Section 80G(5)(iv) on 02.10.2021 and the applicant filed Form No. 10AB under Section 80G(5) of the Act on 27.06.2023. Accordingly, in view of the above facts, Ld. CIT(E) observed that, in view of the above provisions, the applicant was required to file application in Form No. 10AB on or before 30.09.2022, which it failed to submit. Accordingly, Ld. CIT(E) rejected the
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application of the assessee for grant of approval with the following observations:-
“7. The date of commencement of activities in this case is 21.06.2021. In view of discussion in Para 3 and Para 4 above, the applicant was required to file application in Form 10AB in this case on or before 30/09/2022, which he has failed to submit. Therefore, the present application in Form No. 10AB u/s 80G(5) of the Act has not been filed within the time limit prescribed therein and therefore, the same is liable to be rejected as such as non maintainable. Therefore, the present application in Form No. 10AB u/s 80G(5) of the Act is rejected as non maintainable without going into the merits and also provisional approval granted in Form No. 10AC, under clause (iv) of first proviso to sub-section (5) of section 80G vide URN: AAFCJ2285CF20211 is hereby cancelled.” 4. The assessee is in appeal before us against the aforesaid order passed by Ld. CIT(E) rejecting the application filed by the assessee-Trust. Before us, the Counsel for the assessee submitted that the assessee-trust was earlier granted provisional approval on 02.10.2021, and thereafter, the assessee-Trust filed application for grant of final approval under Section 80G(5) of the Act on 27.06.2023. The said application filed by the assessee-Trust was rejected vide order dated 27.12.2023. The Counsel for the assessee submitted that, in view of Circular No.7/2024, the due date of filing Form 10A/10AB stands extended to 30.06.2024, and therefore, the assessee has filed application within the extended timelines and the application filed by the assessee cannot be rejected on this ground alone, without discussing the merits of the case.
In response, the Ld. D.R. submitted that the assessee-Trust was issued several notices, and in absence of any details filed by the applicant, the date of commencement is assumed to be the date of incorporation i.e. 21.06.2021 and the applicant-trust was required to file application in Form No. 10AB on or before on 30.09.2022 in terms of Circular No. 8/2022 dated 31.03.2022 which had extended the time for making application in Form 10AB under Section
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80G(5)(iii) of the Act to 30.09.2022. Since the assessee-Trust had filed application for grant of registration beyond the stipulated time, there is no error in the order of Ld. CIT(E) denying the grant of registration to the assessee- Trust.
We have heard the rival contentions and perused the material on record.
In the instant case, we observe that, very recently vide Circular No. 7/2024 dated 25.04.2024, CBDT has further extended the due date of filing Form No. 10A/10AB under the Income-Tax Act till 30.06.2024, taking into consideration the difficulties reiterated by tax payers electronic filing of 10A/10AB. It would be useful to reproduce the Circular for ready reference:-
“ Circular No. 7/2024 F. No. 173/25/2024-ITA-I Government of India Ministry of Finance Department of Revenue Central Board of Direct Taxes New Delhi, Dated 25th April, 2024 Sub: Extension of due date for filing of Form No. 10A/10AB under the Income- tax Act, 1961-reg. On consideration of difficulties reported by the taxpayers and other stakeholders in the electronic filing of Form No. 10A/10AB, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (the Board) in exercise of its powers under section 119 of the Income- tax Act, 1961 (the Act) extended the due date for filing Form No. 10A to 31.08.2021 by Circular No. 1212021 dated 25.06.2021, to 31.03.2022 by Circular No. 16/2021 dated 29.08.2021, to 25.11.2022 by Circular No. 22/2022 dated 01.11.2022 and further to 30.09.2023 by Circular No. 6/2023 dated 24.05.2023, and extended the due date for filing Form No. 10AB to 30.09.2022 by Circular No. 8/2022 dated 31.03.2022 and further to 30.09.2023 by Circular No. 6/2023 dated 24.05.2023. 2. Representations have been received in the Board with a request to condone the delay in filing Form No. 10A/10AB, as the same could not be filed in such cases within the last extended date, i.e., 30.09.2023.
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On consideration of the matter, with a view to avoid and mitigate genuine hardship in such cases, the Board, in exercise of the powers conferred under section 119 of the Act, hereby extends the due date of making an application/intimation electronically in – (i) Form No. 10A, in case of an application under clause (i) of the first proviso to clause (23C) of section 10 or under sub-clause (i) of clause (ac) of sub-section (1) of section 12A or under clause (i) of the first proviso to sub-section (5) of section 80G or in case of an intimation under fifth proviso of subsection (1) of section 35 of the Act, till 30.06.2024; (ii) Form No. 10AB, in case of an application under clause (iii) of the first proviso to clause (23C) of section 10 or under sub-clause (iii) of clause (ac) of sub- section ( I) of section 12A or under clause (iii) of the first proviso to sub-section (5) of section 80G of the Act, till 30.06.2024. 4. It may be also noted that extension of due date as mentioned in paragraph 3(ii) shall also apply in case of all pending applications under clause (iii) of the first proviso to clause (23C) of section 10 or sub-clause (iii) of clause (ac) of sub-section (1) of section 12A or under clause (iii) of the first proviso to sub-section (5) of section 80G of the Act, as the case may be. Hence, in cases where any trust, institution or fund has already made an application in Form No.10AB under the said provisions on or before the issuance of this Circular, and where the Principal Commissioner or Commissioner has not passed an order before the issuance of this Circular, the pending application in Form No. 10AB may be treated as a valid application. 4.1 Further, in cases where any trust, institution or fund has already made an application in Form No. 10AB, and where the Principal Commissioner or Commissioner has passed an order rejecting such application, on or before the issuance of this Circular, solely on account of the fact that the application was furnished after the due date or that the application has been furnished under the wrong section code, it may furnish a fresh application in Form No. 10AB within the extended time provided in paragraph 3(ii) i.e. 30.06.2024. 5. It is also clarified that if any existing trust, institution or fund who had failed to file Form No. 10A for A Y 2022-23 within the due date as extended by the CBDT circular no. 6/2023 dated 24.05.2023 and subsequently, applied for provisional registration as a new trust, institution or fund and has received Form No. 10AC, it can avail the option to surrender the said Form No. 10AC and apply for registration for A Y 2022-23 as an existing trust, institution or fund in Form No. 10A within the extended time provided in paragraph 3(i) i.e. 30.06.2024.”
Accordingly, since in the instant facts, it is evident from the various dates mentioned above, the assessee-Trust had filed application for grant of final approval under Section 80G(5) of the Act on 27.06.2023, within the
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extended due date i.e. 30.06.2024 vide Circular No. 7/2024 dated 25.04.2024. Accordingly, looking into the instant facts, the matter is restored to the file of Ld. CIT(E) for de-novo consideration, after giving due opportunity of hearing to the assessee, and thereafter pass order in accordance with law.
In the result, the appeal of the assessee is allowed for statistical
purposes.
This Order pronounced in Open Court on 28/05/2024
Sd/- Sd/- (NARENDRA PRASAD SINHA) (SIDDHARTHA NAUTIYAL) ACCOUNTANT MEMBER JUDICIAL MEMBER
Ahmedabad; Dated 28/05/2024 TANMAY, Sr. PS TRUE COPY आदेश क� ��त�ल�प अ�े�षत/Copy of the Order forwarded to : 1. अपीलाथ� / The Appellant 2. ��यथ� / The Respondent. 3. संबं�धत आयकर आयु�त / Concerned CIT 4. आयकर आयु�त(अपील) / The CIT(A)- 5. �वभागीय ��त�न�ध, आयकर अपील�य अ�धकरण, अहमदाबाद / DR, ITAT, Ahmedabad 6. गाड� फाईल / Guard file. आदेशानुसार/ BY ORDER,
उप/सहायक पंजीकार (Dy./Asstt.Registrar) आयकर अपील�य अ�धकरण, अहमदाबाद / ITAT, Ahmedabad 1. Date of dictation 27.05.2024 2. Date on which the typed draft is placed before the Dictating Member 27.05.2024 3. Other Member………………… 4. Date on which the approved draft comes to the Sr.P.S./P.S 27.05.2024 5. Date on which the fair order is placed before the Dictating Member for pronouncement .05.2024 6. Date on which the fair order comes back to the Sr.P.S./P.S 28.05.2024 7. Date on which the file goes to the Bench Clerk 28.05.2024 8. Date on which the file goes to the Head Clerk…………………………………... 9. The date on which the file goes to the Assistant Registrar for signature on the order…………………….. 10. Date of Dispatch of the Order……………………………………