Friends Associates Charitable Trust Vs ITO (ITAT Delhi)
Delhi ITAT: Belated Form 10 Alone Cannot Defeat Trust’s Section 11(2) Exemption When Accumulation Was Claimed in Return and Form 10B
The Delhi ITAT held that a charitable trust’s claim for accumulation of ₹13,95,124 under Section 11(2) could not be denied merely because Form 10 was not filed within the prescribed time. The trust had inadvertently filed Form 9A instead of Form 10 on the advice of its consultant, and the delay and incorrect filing had already been condoned by the CIT(Exemptions) under Section 119(2)(b).
Although the trust filed Form 10 belatedly on 7 May 2026, after the NFAC’s order, the Tribunal observed that the accumulation claim had already been disclosed in the return of income and audit report in Form 10B. Therefore, delayed filing of the prescribed form could not, by itself, justify denial of the substantive exemption.
The matter was restored to the AO for de novo adjudication on merits, with an express direction that the Revenue shall not object to the belated filing of Form 10. The appeal was allowed for statistical purposes.
List of Cases Discussed / Relied Upon
FULL TEXT OF THE ORDER OF ITAT DELHI
1. The appeal in ITA No.6252/Del/2026 for AY 2018-19, arises out of the order of the ld Jt. Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeals)- 6, Kolkata [hereinafter referred to as ‘ld. JCIT(A)’, in short] dated 10.03.2026 against the order of assessment passed u/s 143(1) of the Income- tax Act, 1961 (hereinafter referred to as ‘the Act’) dated 08.02.2020 by the Assessing Officer, CPC, Bengaluru (hereinafter referred to as ‘ld. AO’).
