Sacred Heart Church Vs ITO (Exemption) (ITAT Mumbai)
The appeal before the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) Mumbai concerned the denial of exemption under Section 11 of the Income Tax Act to Sacred Heart Church, a trust registered under the Maharashtra Public Trust Act and Section 12A/12AB of the Income Tax Act. The assessee’s primary objective is religious and charitable, including managing a church in Santacruz, Mumbai, and providing food, education, and medical aid to the needy.
For the Assessment Year 2024–25, the assessee filed its return of income on 14 November 2024, while the due date for submitting the audit report in Form 10B was 7 October 2024, resulting in a delay of 39 days. Although Form 10B was filed on the same day as the return, the Central Processing Centre (CPC) denied exemption under Section 11 on account of the delay.
The assessee contended that several judicial precedents held that filing Form 10B is directory rather than mandatory, and minor delays should be condoned where the audit report is available during assessment. The assessee relied on the ITAT Mumbai decision in Church of Our Lady of Immaculate Conception vs ITO (ITA Nos. 4998 & 4999/Mum/2025, dated 18 September 2025), which granted similar relief. The Departmental Representative, however, supported the order of the lower authorities, emphasizing that the prescribed deadline had been missed.
