Sarvadeivatha Education Trust [Regd] Vs ITO (ITAT Bangalore)
ITAT Bangalore held that filing of form 10B is only directory and the same is not mandatory. Hence denial of exemption under section 11 of the Income Tax Act for delay in filing of form 10B unjustified.
Facts- Assessee is a trust constituted under the Deed of declaration of Trust dated 11/06/1991 to carry on the charitable objects of imparting education. It is submitted that the assessee was registered u/s. 12AA of the act vide order dated 06/08/2020 and has thereafter obtained the registration u/s. 12AB of the act vide form 10AC dated 30/11/2022.
For the year under consideration, assessee filed its return of income on 06/11/2022 within the time allowed u/s. 139(4A) of the act declaring total income of Rs.1,78,148/-, being the shortfall in application of income during the year under consideration. The assessee filed form 10B i.e. audit report, on 05/11/2022, before filing the return of income. Whereas the form 10B was required to be filed one month before the due date of filing the return of income. There was a delay of 29 days in filing the same.
The exemption claimed by the assessee was denied without assigning any reasons. The assessee under the presumption that the benefit u/s. 11 was denied due to belated filing of Form 10B, it filed petition before the CBDT u/s. 119 of the act on 22/05/2023. The order u/s. 119 in response to the petition filed by the assessee was passed on 02/02/2024, rejecting the assessee’s request for condonation of delay in filing Form 10B for the year under consideration. On receipt of the rejection order u/s. 119(2)(b), the assessee immediately filed appeal before the Ld.CIT(A) on 30/03/2024 against the intimation u/s. 143(1) of the act, thereby causing the delay of 364 days. CIT(A) dismissed the appeal.
