Section 135 — Deduction in respect of certain donations for scientific research or rural development. Successor to s.80GGA of the 1961 Act.
Section 135 is in Chapter VIII — Deductions to Be Made in Computing Total Income, which runs from section 122 to section 154.
Sub-section (1) allows a deduction for any sum paid in the tax year to two kinds of payee: under clause (a), a research association whose object is scientific research, or a University, college or other institution approved for the purposes of section 45(3)(a)(i), the sum to be used for scientific research; and under clause (b), a research association whose object is research in social science or statistical research, or an institution approved for the purposes of section 45(3)(a)(ii), for that research.
Sub-section (2) denies the deduction where the assessee's gross total income includes income chargeable under the head "Profits and gains of business or profession", or where the contribution is made in cash exceeding Rs. 2000. Sub-section (3) protects a donor against later withdrawal of the payee's approval after the sum was paid.
Sub-section (4) makes the claim depend on the payee's reporting: it is to be allowed on the basis of information relating to that sum furnished by the payee to the prescribed income-tax authority or the person authorised by it, subject to verification as per the risk management strategy formulated by the Board. Sub-section (5) bars any deduction for the same payment under any other provision in any tax year.
Research bodies depend on outside money, and the deduction is the price the Act pays for it. The two restrictions mark the boundaries: a business assessee is directed to the business-side research provisions instead, and a cash gift above Rs. 2000 is untraceable. Sub-section (4) shifts proof from the donor's receipt to the payee's own reporting, which is what makes the deduction verifiable.
| What | Figure | The condition on it | Where |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cash contribution ceiling | Rs. 2000 | No deduction where the contribution is made in cash exceeding this amount | Sub-section (2)(b) |
The bar in sub-section (2)(a) is on the presence of business income anywhere in gross total income, not on the source of the donation, so an assessee with even a small business or professional income is out of this section whatever the size of the gift. The Rs. 2000 limit is a limit on cash, not on the donation, so paying by any non-cash mode leaves the whole sum deductible. The practical control is sub-section (4): a donation the institution has not reported will not survive, and a receipt in the donor's hands is not a substitute. Sub-section (3) protects only against withdrawal after payment; approval must still have existed when the sum was paid.
An individual with only salary and interest income pays Rs. 5 lakh by bank transfer to an approved research association, and separately gives it Rs. 3000 in cash. The Rs. 5 lakh is deductible provided the association reports it as sub-section (4) requires; the Rs. 3000 gets nothing under sub-section (2)(b). Had the individual also carried on a small consultancy business, sub-section (2)(a) would have denied both.
It is claimed in the deductions schedule of the return and matched against what the recipient institution has reported to the prescribed income-tax authority, so a mismatch surfaces as a proposed adjustment or scrutiny query rather than as a dispute about the donor's receipt.
shall be allowed on the basis of information relating to such sum furnished by the payee to the prescribed income-tax authority or the person authorised by such authority, subject to verification as per the risk management strategy formulated by the Board from time to time
See the full 1961 to 2025 concordance.