Sri Shivayogi Muniswara Swamy Vidyapeetha Vs ITO (ITAT Bangalore)
Form 10B Filed on Extended Due Date Can’t Kill Exemption — Bangalore ITAT Revives Trust’s 11 Benefit, Sends Case Back for Application Check
The Bangalore ITAT (B Bench) partly allowed the appeal of M/s Sri Shivayogi Muniswara Swamy Vidyapeetha (AY 2020-21) and held that exemption u/s 11 cannot be denied merely because Form 10B was uploaded on the extended due date, especially in the backdrop of COVID-19 extensions granted by the Supreme Court.
The Assessee-trust, registered u/s 12AA, filed its return on 15-02-2021 declaring gross receipts of ₹1.31 crore and application of income of ₹1.29 crore. Though Form 10B was uploaded on the same date, CPC denied the benefit of application of income while processing u/s 143(1)(a), on the ground that Form 10B was not filed one month prior to the due date. The CIT(A), NFAC confirmed the denial.
The Tribunal noted that the extended due date itself stood enlarged by the Supreme Court in COVID-related orders and relied on judicial precedents including PCIT vs Kalyan Educational Society (Cal HC) and Sarvodaya Charitable Trust (Guj HC) to hold that procedural delay in filing audit report cannot defeat substantive exemption.
However, since neither the AO nor CPC had examined whether the expenditure was actually incurred towards the objects of the trust, the ITAT remitted the matter back to the AO to verify application of income on merits and grant exemption accordingly.
Accordingly, the appeal was partly allowed for statistical purposes, reaffirming that Form 10B timing is procedural, not fatal, when substantive conditions are met
FULL TEXT OF THE ORDER OF ITAT BANGALORE
