My trust's application in Form 10AB for final approval under s.80G(5) was rejected as time-barred. Do the CBDT circulars extending the date save it?
Yes, on this decision. The Tribunal held that the application could not be rejected merely because it was not filed by 30 September 2023, that date having been arrived at through CBDT Circular No.6/2023 and then further extended to 30 June 2024 by CBDT Circular No.7/2024. The rejection was set aside and the matter restored to the CIT (Exemption) for de novo consideration on merits.
Decided by the ITAT (Siddhartha Nautiyal, Judicial Member and Makarand Vasant Mahadeokar, Accountant Member) on 2024-09-10, reported as I.T.A. No. 734/Ahd/2024 (ITAT Ahmedabad, A Bench). It bears on section 80G(5), section 80G, section 12A of the Income Tax Act 1961, in Charitable Trusts & Exemption, Capital Gains Exemptions and Deductions & Disallowances matters.
For a trust holding provisional approval in Form 10AC, missing the Form 10AB window is the commonest way the s.80G approval is lost, and losing it destroys the deduction for every donor. The CIT (Exemption) here worked from the original deadline of 30 September 2022, on the footing that the trust's activities had commenced in FY 2018-19. The Tribunal's route was to hold that the extensions granted for s.12A registration applications apply equally to applications for final approval under s.80G(5), there being no reason to distinguish between the two, and that the timeline is directory rather than mandatory where the object is substantial justice. Which circular applies to which period is the whole of the case and it must be got right: Circular No.6/2023 dated 24 May 2023 carried the date to 30 September 2023, and Circular No.7/2024 dated 25 April 2024 carried it to 30 June 2024. A practitioner should check the terms of the applicable circular against his own facts rather than take the extension as open-ended, and should note that the relief obtained here is a remand, not an approval — the CIT (Exemption) is still to examine the merits.
Binding on the AO and CIT(A) within the Tribunal's jurisdiction. Persuasive elsewhere.
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The appellant trust, registered on 1 September 2013, received provisional approval in Form No.10AC on 16 September 2022 under clause (iv) of the first proviso to s.80G(5), for the period from 16 September 2022 to AY 2025-26. It applied in Form 10AB for final approval under clause (iii) of the first proviso to s.80G(5). By order dated 16 February 2024 the CIT (Exemption), Ahmedabad rejected the application on the ground that, its financial records showing income and expenditure from FY 2018-19 onwards, the trust's activities had commenced well before the application and it was therefore required to have applied on or before 30 September 2022, whereas the application had been made about eleven months late. No one appeared for the trust before the Tribunal.
Appeal allowed for statistical purposes. The application for grant of final registration under s.80G(5) could not be denied only on the ground that it had not been filed before 30 September 2023, the assessee being entitled to file by that date and the date having been further extended to 30 June 2024 by CBDT Circular No.7/2024 dated 25 April 2024. The matter was restored to the file of the CIT (Exemption) for de novo consideration after giving due opportunity of hearing, and to decide the application in accordance with law (paras 8 and 9).
The Tribunal proceeded on the footing that the extensions of time granted by the CBDT for applications for registration under s.12A apply equally to applications for approval under s.80G(5), there being no reason to draw a distinction between two provisions dealing with the same class of charitable entity, and that a procedural timeline of this kind should facilitate rather than obstruct substantial justice and is to be treated as directory rather than mandatory. It took CBDT Circular No.6/2023 dated 24 May 2023 as having carried the date to 30 September 2023, and CBDT Circular No.7/2024 dated 25 April 2024 as having carried it further to 30 June 2024. On that basis the application, whenever within 2023 it was filed, was within the extended time, and rejection on timeliness alone could not stand; the merits of the trust's entitlement had not been examined and had therefore to be considered afresh.
in our considered view, the application for grant of final registration under Section 80G(5) of the Act could not be denied only on the ground that the same was not filed before 30-09-2023.
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Handle my notice → Ask a CA on WhatsAppYes, on this decision. The Tribunal held that the application could not be rejected merely because it was not filed by 30 September 2023, that date having been arrived at through CBDT Circular No.6/2023 and then further extended to 30 June 2024 by CBDT Circular No.7/2024. The rejection was set aside and the matter restored to the CIT (Exemption) for de novo consideration on merits. This was decided by the ITAT (Siddhartha Nautiyal, Judicial Member and Makarand Vasant Mahadeokar, Accountant Member) and bears on section 80G(5), section 80G, section 12A of the Income Tax Act 1961. It is reported as I.T.A. No. 734/Ahd/2024 (ITAT Ahmedabad, A Bench). For a trust holding provisional approval in Form 10AC, missing the Form 10AB window is the commonest way the s.80G approval is lost, and losing it destroys the deduction for every donor. The CIT (Exemption) here worked from the original deadline of 30 September 2022, on the footing that the trust's activities had commenced in FY 2018-19. The Tribunal's route was to hold that the extensions granted for s.12A registration applications apply equally to applications for final approval under s.80G(5), there being no reason to distinguish between the two, and that the timeline is directory rather than mandatory where the object is substantial justice. Which circular applies to which period is the whole of the case and it must be got right: Circular No.6/2023 dated 24 May 2023 carried the date to 30 September 2023, and Circular No.7/2024 dated 25 April 2024 carried it to 30 June 2024. A practitioner should check the terms of the applicable circular against his own facts rather than take the extension as open-ended, and should note that the relief obtained here is a remand, not an approval — the CIT (Exemption) is still to examine the merits. If it applies to you, the first step is this: Identify precisely which application is in issue — provisional approval under clause (iv) of the first proviso to s.80G(5) in Form 10A, or final approval under clause (iii) in Form 10AB — and the date the provisional approval in Form 10AC was granted and the period it covers.
The appellant trust, registered on 1 September 2013, received provisional approval in Form No.10AC on 16 September 2022 under clause (iv) of the first proviso to s.80G(5), for the period from 16 September 2022 to AY 2025-26. It applied in Form 10AB for final approval under clause (iii) of the first proviso to s.80G(5). By order dated 16 February 2024 the CIT (Exemption), Ahmedabad rejected the application on the ground that, its financial records showing income and expenditure from FY 2018-19 onwards, the trust's activities had commenced well before the application and it was therefore required to have applied on or before 30 September 2022, whereas the application had been made about eleven months late. No one appeared for the trust before the Tribunal. The matter was decided on 2024-09-10 by the ITAT (Siddhartha Nautiyal, Judicial Member and Makarand Vasant Mahadeokar, Accountant Member). On those facts the ITAT held as follows. Appeal allowed for statistical purposes. The application for grant of final registration under s.80G(5) could not be denied only on the ground that it had not been filed before 30 September 2023, the assessee being entitled to file by that date and the date having been further extended to 30 June 2024 by CBDT Circular No.7/2024 dated 25 April 2024. The matter was restored to the file of the CIT (Exemption) for de novo consideration after giving due opportunity of hearing, and to decide the application in accordance with law (paras 8 and 9).
The Tribunal proceeded on the footing that the extensions of time granted by the CBDT for applications for registration under s.12A apply equally to applications for approval under s.80G(5), there being no reason to draw a distinction between two provisions dealing with the same class of charitable entity, and that a procedural timeline of this kind should facilitate rather than obstruct substantial justice and is to be treated as directory rather than mandatory. It took CBDT Circular No.6/2023 dated 24 May 2023 as having carried the date to 30 September 2023, and CBDT Circular No.7/2024 dated 25 April 2024 as having carried it further to 30 June 2024. On that basis the application, whenever within 2023 it was filed, was within the extended time, and rejection on timeliness alone could not stand; the merits of the trust's entitlement had not been examined and had therefore to be considered afresh. In the words reproduced by the source cited on this page: "in our considered view, the application for grant of final registration under Section 80G(5) of the Act could not be denied only on the ground that the same was not filed before 30-09-2023."
It was decided by the ITAT on 2024-09-10 and is reported as I.T.A. No. 734/Ahd/2024 (ITAT Ahmedabad, A Bench). Binding on the AO and CIT(A) within the Tribunal's jurisdiction. Persuasive elsewhere. A Tribunal decision binds the assessing officer and the Commissioner (Appeals) within that Tribunal's jurisdiction, and is persuasive before other benches. It is not binding on a High Court, and a contrary co-ordinate bench decision will be argued against you, so check whether the point has been taken the other way before you build a reply around it. On section 80G(5), section 80G, section 12A, the practical question is whether the facts of your own notice match the facts of this case closely enough for the same rule to apply.
It helps the taxpayer. Appeal allowed for statistical purposes. The application for grant of final registration under s.80G(5) could not be denied only on the ground that it had not been filed before 30 September 2023, the assessee being entitled to file by that date and the date having been further extended to 30 June 2024 by CBDT Circular No.7/2024 dated 25 April 2024. The matter was restored to the file of the CIT (Exemption) for de novo consideration after giving due opportunity of hearing, and to decide the application in accordance with law (paras 8 and 9). It arises in Charitable Trusts & Exemption, Capital Gains Exemptions and Deductions & Disallowances matters, on section 80G(5), section 80G, section 12A of the Income Tax Act 1961, and was decided by Siddhartha Nautiyal, Judicial Member and Makarand Vasant Mahadeokar, Accountant Member. Before relying on it, read the source linked on this page and check whether it has since been distinguished, overruled or overtaken by an amendment to the Income Tax Act. In practice the steps that follow from it are these. Match the facts to the operative circular by its own terms: Circular No.6/2023 dated 24 May 2023 (to 30 September 2023) and Circular No.7/2024 dated 25 April 2024 (to 30 June 2024). Do not assume an extension granted for one form or one class of applicant covers another. Where the CIT (Exemption) has rejected on timeliness alone, argue that the extension for s.12A registration applies equally to s.80G(5), as held here, and that the timeline is directory where substantial justice is at stake. Ask for restoration for de novo consideration rather than for approval — that is the relief this line of cases actually yields, and it preserves the merits. Keep the donors in view: without a valid approval the trust cannot furnish the statement of donations or issue the certificate that s.80G(5)(viii) and (ix) require, and the donors' claims fail at processing. Note too that an individual donor gets no s.80G deduction at all under s.115BAC, the default regime from AY 2024-25.
Searched for later treatment; none was found. That is not the same as a source affirming it. The citator returns nothing. A name search returns a single document, this order itself, and no High Court or Supreme Court record. No later Tribunal order takes the reasoning up and no appeal against this order was found. No source could be cited for that finding. Checking whether an authority still stands matters as much as knowing what it held: a decision may be overruled on one point and survive on another, or the provision it interprets may have been amended since. Read the source and the editor's note on this page before relying on it in a reply to an Assessing Officer or in an appeal.
The report gives the Form 10AB filing date twice over. Paragraph 8, the Tribunal's operative paragraph, prints '28.04.2023'; but the date appears three further times in the order as 28.08.2023 — in the CIT (Exemption)'s recital ('The applicant has filed Form 10AB, u/s 80G (5) of the Act on 28/08/2023'), in the recital of the trust's reply of 04.12.2023, and in the Tribunal's own statement of the brief facts ('the assessee filed an application u/s.80G(5) of the Act in form no.10AB on 28.08.2023'). The filing date is 28 August 2023 and the '28.04.2023' at paragraph 8 is a slip in that paragraph. Either date falls within the 30 September 2023 limit the Tribunal applied, so the conclusion is unaffected. The CIT (Exemption) took 30 September 2022 as the due date and the delay as about eleven months. The order also records the provisional approval in Form No.10AC as granted on 16 September 2022 under clause (iv) of the first proviso to s.80G(5) for the period from 16 September 2022 to AY 2025-26, and the rejection order as dated 16 February 2024. The assessment-year field in the cause title is printed as 'NA'. No one appeared for the appellant trust. Paragraphs 1 to 7 were read only in paraphrase and the reasoning attributed to them here is stated at that level of confidence; only paragraphs 8 and 9 were read verbatim. CBDT Circular No.7/2024 dated 25 April 2024 is already carried separately in this library. This library shows the verification state of every entry openly. This entry has not yet been read in full by a chartered accountant. The summary reflects the sources listed on this page. Read the source before you rely on it in a reply to an Assessing Officer or in an appeal before the Commissioner (Appeals) or the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal.
Appeal allowed for statistical purposes. The application for grant of final registration under s.80G(5) could not be denied only on the ground that it had not been filed before 30 September 2023, the assessee being entitled to file by that date and the date having been further extended to 30 June 2024 by CBDT Circular No.7/2024 dated 25 April 2024. The matter was restored to the file of the CIT (Exemption) for de novo consideration after giving due opportunity of hearing, and to decide the application in accordance with law (paras 8 and 9).
TaxSphere, “Grow Foundation v CIT (Exemption)”, https://taxnotice.vittsphere.com/caselaw/case/grow-foundation-v-cit-e-80g-5-form-10ab-extended-by-circular/ (validity last checked 2026-09-07)
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My Form 10AB was rejected before April 2024 because it was late or filed under the wrong section code. Is that rejection the end of the matter?
I donated to a trust that runs schools and hospitals but also has an object of maintaining places of worship. Do I still get the section 80G deduction?
My Form 10AB under s.80G(5) was one day late and the Commissioner rejected it, saying he has no power to condone. Is a delay of one day really fatal?
My Form 10AB for final registration under s.12AB was rejected as time-barred because I missed the 30 June 2024 date in Circular 7/2024. Is anything left to me?
