Akshat Education And Charitable Trust Vs ITO (ITAT Ahmedabad)
The appeal was filed by Akshat Education and Charitable Trust before the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) Ahmedabad against the order dated 30 June 2025 passed by the Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeals) [CIT(A)] for Assessment Year (AY) 2022–23.
Background and Grounds of Appeal
The assessee, a registered charitable trust engaged in educational activities, filed its return of income for AY 2022–23 on 31 October 2022 (within the extended due date of 7 November 2022), declaring Nil income after claiming exemption under Section 10(23C)(via) of the Income Tax Act, 1961. The return was processed under Section 143(1) by the Centralized Processing Centre (CPC), Bengaluru on 31 March 2023, wherein the entire gross receipts of ₹1,13,04,684 were treated as taxable income, effectively disallowing the claimed exemption.
The assessee raised several grounds of appeal before the CIT(A), contending primarily that:
- The CPC committed a mistake apparent from record in denying the exemption under Section 10(23C)(via), despite the assessee holding a valid approval in Form 10AC.
- The denial was based on a technical mismatch in the registration particulars, which was later corrected on the Income Tax Business Application (ITBA) portal.
- The CPC erred in assessing gross receipts without allowing legitimate revenue expenses. Even if exemption were to be denied, only net income should be taxed.
The case involved a clerical issue, not a failure to file the proper audit report. The assessee had filed Form 108, which, though technically different from Form 10BB, contained all relevant disclosures.
