Shri Ramajayam Charitable Trust Vs ITO (ITAT Chennai)
ITAT Chennai held that rejection of application in Form No. 10AB for seeking approval u/s. 80G(5)(iii) of the Income Tax Act by treating it as time barred under gist that CBDT circular no. 22/2022 dated 01.11.2022 didn’t provide extension of time limit is unjustified.
Facts- The assessee is old trust continuing to exist since 14.07.2017. The assessee trust filed an application dated 17.03.2023 in Form 10AB under Rule 11AA of the Income Tax Rules, 1962, seeking approval under clause (iii) of first proviso to sub-section (5) of section 80G of the Act. The CIT(Exemption) noted that the assessee had been granted provisional approval in Form No.10AC on 23.09.2021 u/s.80G(5)(iv) of the Act, for the period commencing 23.09.2021 to assessment year 2024-25. Thus, the assessee was required to file application in Form No.10AB u/s.80G(5)(iii) of the Act within the time period of six months prior to expiry of period of the provisional approval or within six months of commencement of its activities, whichever is earlier.
CIT(Exemption) noted that in the present case, the date of commencement of its activities is 14.07.2017 and the date of filing of application in Form No.10AB is 17.03.2023, which is after expiry of six months of commencement of its activities. Notably, circular no. 22/2022 did not mention extension of due date for filing of Form No.10AB to get approval u/s.80G of the Act, hence the application filed by the assessee trust on 17.03.2023 was treated as time barred.
