TOGETHER WE WILL FOUNDATION,FARIDABAD vs. CIT EXEMPTIONS, HARYANA

This appeal is preferred by the assessee against the order dated 11.08.2023 of the Commissioner of Income-tax (Exemptions), Chandigarh (hereinafter referred to as the ld. CIT(E) for short) rejecting the application filed by the assessee in Form 10AB of the Act on 11.02.2023 for approval under section 80G of the Act.

On hearing both the sides, we find that the assessee is a charitable organization duly registered u/s 12A of the Act. However, its application u/s 80G of the Act was rejected by the impugned order dated 11.08.2023 on the basis that the activities were commenced in September, 2021 and the present application filed in Form 10AB under clause (iii) of first proviso to sub-section (5) of section 80G of the Act has not been filed within the time limit prescribed therein and also the assessee has not filed its application within the extended time limit provided by the CBDT vide Circulars No. 12 of 2021 dated 25.06.2021, Circular No.16 of 2021 dated 29.08.2021 and the Circular No.8 of 2022 dated 31.03.2022. Although the ld. DR has vehemently defended the impugned order submitting that there is no power with the competent authority under the Act to condone the limitation, what we find is that the CBDT Circular No.6 of 2023 dated 24.05.2023 provides clarifications and explanations concerning the compliance requirements for charitable religious trusts under the Act and the deadline was extended till 30th September, 2023 and, further, time limit for filing 10AB forms has been extended vide Circular No.7 of 2024 dated 25.04.2024 wherein the Form 10AB has been permitted to be filed till 30.06.2024.