Nilesh Kulkarni Foundation Vs CIT (Exemptions) (ITAT Mumbai)
The appeal before the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT), Mumbai, concerned the denial of registration under Section 80G of the Income Tax Act, 1961 to a charitable trust by the Commissioner of Income Tax (Exemptions), Mumbai [CIT(E)]. The assessee, a registered charitable trust engaged in education and sports promotion, was already registered under Section 12A and had been granted provisional approval under Section 80G up to Assessment Year (AY) 2024–25. To continue the benefit beyond that period, the trust filed Form 10AB seeking regularization of its provisional approval. However, the application process and its subsequent rejection became the subject of this appeal.
The trust had filed its initial application on 29.03.2024, mistakenly mentioning Section 80G(5)(ii) instead of Section 80G(5)(iii). The CIT(E) rejected this application on 31.08.2024 solely because the form referred to the wrong clause, without giving the assessee an opportunity to rectify the error. The trust then filed a fresh, corrected application on 18.11.2024 under the correct clause. However, the CIT(E) rejected this second application as well, citing two reasons: first, that the application was not filed within the prescribed time limit; and second, that the trust deed contained clauses allowing expenditure outside India, which allegedly violated Section 11 of the Act.
