Landmark Cases on Charitable Trusts and Exemptions

An assessee is entitled to write back depreciation. If this occurs, the Assessing Officer must modify the assessment to determine higher income and allow recomputation of the written-back depreciation for future application to charitable purposes.

An 'order' that can be modified or rescinded under Section 21 of the General Clauses Act must be legislative or executive in nature. Quasi-judicial orders, such as those passed by the CIT under Section 12A, cannot be rescinded using Section 21.

Decisions concerning the cancellation of registration under Section 12A of the Income Tax Act are not applicable when determining whether an assessee exists for 'Charitable Purpose'.

Expenses incurred outside India for promotional activities benefit the entire trade in India, thus satisfying the requirement for application of income for charitable purposes within India, even if the expenditure occurs abroad.

The revenue bears the burden of proving that expenditure was incurred to earn exempt income. There is no presumption that an assessee must have incurred expenditure for this purpose.

An institution is not considered substantially financed by the government if only a small percentage of its total income, such as 6%, comes from government grants. The court applies this to determine eligibility for exemptions under Section 10(23C)(iiiab).

Corpus donations received by a trust are not to be treated as the income of the trust.

Not all receipts are income chargeable to tax. The case also sheds light on the meaning of 'donation' and the voluntariness requirement for deductions under section 80G, particularly in the context of CSR expenses.

Failure to furnish Form 56F along with the return of income does not automatically lead to denial of deduction under section 10AA of the Income Tax Act, as the filing of the form is held to be directory in nature.