Sirur Shikshan Prasarak Mandal Vs ACIT (ITAT Pune)
The ITAT Pune has provided a significant clarification regarding the tax treatment of charitable trusts, offering retrospective relief in a recent appeal by Sirur Shikshan Prasarak Mandal against an order from the Addl./JCIT(A)-1, Chennai for Assessment Year 2021-22. The core issue involved the disallowance of Rs. 46,79,75,225/-, denying the trust the benefit of Section 11 of the Income Tax Act, 1961. The disallowance was primarily due to the trust not mentioning its 12AB registration details and the belated e-filing of the audit report in Form 10B, which was not submitted one month prior to the due date for furnishing the return under Section 139. The assessee, a society/trust providing educational facilities for 75 years, had filed its return of income along with Form 10B on March 30, 2022, and subsequently obtained provisional 12A registration on April 7, 2022, and permanent 12A registration on March 31, 2023.
The Tribunal noted that while the Form 10B was indeed filed late (43 days after the due date of February 15, 2022), it was available with the Central Processing Centre (CPC) when the return was processed on October 27, 2022. Citing previous decisions by co-ordinate benches, including ITO vs. P.K. Krishnan Educational Trust and Shiksha Foundation vs. ITO, the ITAT held that the CPC was not justified in rejecting the trust’s claim under Section 11 merely due to the belated filing of Form 10B, especially considering the delays attributable to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Tribunal emphasized that the delay in filing Form 10B, even if beyond the specified period, should be condoned when there is no mala fide intention and the report is available before the assessment order is passed.
