Shri Sainath Education & Cheritable Trust Vs CIT(Exemption) (ITAT Ahmedabad)
Summary: The ITAT Ahmedabad considered an appeal against the order of the Ld. Commissioner of Income Tax (Exemption), Ahmedabad dated 05.09.2024 rejecting the assessee trust’s application for registration under section 12A of the Income Tax Act, 1961. The appeal was filed with a delay of 114 days, which the Tribunal condoned after accepting the explanation that the accountant handling the trust’s accounts and tax matters had left employment and the order remained unnoticed until a new accountant checked the portal. On the substantive issue, the CIT(E) had treated the application as non-maintainable because it had been filed under sub-clause (ii) of section 12A(1)(ac), whereas, according to the CIT(E), sub-clause (iii) was applicable.
The Tribunal examined the statutory circumstances in sub-clauses (ii) and (iii), noting that sub-clause (ii) concerns a trust already registered under section 12AB where the registration is due to expire, while sub-clause (iii) concerns a trust provisionally registered under section 12AB where the provisional registration is due to expire or activities have commenced, whichever is earlier. It held that the distinction between the two circumstances did not materially affect the substantive consideration of the trust’s application because, in either situation, the CIT(E) was required to examine the genuineness of the trust’s charitable objects and activities. Since the fact of the trust being registered or provisionally registered was available with the Department, the mere mention of an incorrect sub-clause was not sufficient to reject the application as non-maintainable.
