Section 80G(5B) of the Income Tax Act
Income-tax Act, 2025: s.133
Section 80G(5B) falls under section 80G of the Income-tax Act, 1961, which corresponds to section 133 (Deduction in respect of donations to certain funds, charitable institutions, etc) of the Income-tax Act, 2025.
Read section 133 of the 2025 Act
Correspondence checked against the ICAI tabular mapping of the two Acts and the BharatTax.co section commentary.
The decision most relied on for Section 80G(5B) is Upper Ganges Sugar Mills Ltd. v. CIT (93 Taxmann 645), cited in 25 of the 145 judgments on BharatTax that turn on this section.
Leading authorities on Section 80G(5B)
An institution or fund is deemed to be one to which section 80G applies even if it incurs expenditure of a religious nature not exceeding five per cent. of its total income, overriding Explanation 3 to section 80G(5)(ii).
An institution is disentitled from approval under section 80G(5) if its trust deed contains even a single religious object, as it is not established wholly for charitable purposes. This applies even if the trust also has charitable objects or if section 80G(5B) is considered.
Section 13(1)(b) of the Income Tax Act, 1961, which denies exemption, applies only to trusts that are purely for charitable purposes. If a trust has both charitable and religious objects, section 13(1)(b) is not applicable, and such a trust may be entitled to exemption under section 11.
Carrying out 'sewa puja' and 'Akhand Naam Sankirtan' in an Ashram constitutes a charitable activity under Section 2(15), and such activities do not justify rejection of registration under Section 12A or approval under Section 80G unless proven to be for a specific community.
