Circular No. 782

535. Submission of certificate for claiming deductions in respect of donations made by an employee to the Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund, the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund and the Lieutenant Governor’s Relief Fund

What this is

Circular No. 782 was issued by the Central Board of Direct Taxes on 13 November 1999. Its subject is 535. Submission of certificate for claiming deductions in respect of donations made by an employee to the Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund, the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund and the Lieutenant Governor’s Relief Fund.

What it does

Permits an employee who has donated to the Prime Minister's National Relief Fund, a Chief Minister's Relief Fund or a Lieutenant Governor's Relief Fund through his employer to claim deduction under section 80G on the strength of a certificate issued by the drawing and disbursing officer or employer, without a separate certificate from the fund.

Why it was issued

After unforeseen national calamities of great magnitude such as the Orissa Cyclone, employees of Government, public sector undertakings, private companies and local authorities were donating through their employers, and the contributions went to the funds as a single consolidated cheque, so individual certificates could not be obtained.

Who it reaches

Salaried employees donating to relief funds through payroll deduction
Drawing and disbursing officers and employers issuing the certificate
Employers computing salary tax under section 192

The provisions it speaks to

Left, the provision of the Income-tax Act, 1961 as the instrument itself names it. Right, the section of the Income-tax Act, 2025 that the department’s own concordance maps it to — which is where the same ground is now covered.

Under the 1961 Act	Now
s.80G	s.133, s.332, s.354

The instrument, as the Board published it

The words below are the department’s own, reproduced from its published text. Where the department’s copy carried a publisher’s notes after the instrument, those are not reproduced.

535. Submission of certificate for claiming deductions in respect of donations made by an employee to the Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund, the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund and the Lieutenant Governor’s Relief Fund
In view of the occurrence of unforeseen national calamities of immense magnitude like the Orissa Cyclone, employees of the Central Government, State Government, Public Sector Undertakings, Private Sector Companies and Corporations, and local authorities are making donations to the Prime Minister’s Relief Fund, the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund or the Lieutenant Governor’s Relief Fund through their respective employers/organisations. An employee who is making such donations towards these funds is eligible to claim deduction under section 80G of the Income-tax Act, 1961. However, it may not be possible for every employee to obtain separate certificates in respect of donations made to such funds since the contributions made to these funds will be in the form of a consolidated cheque. It is, hereby, clarified that the claim in respect of such donations as indicated above will be admissible under section 80G of the Income-tax Act, 1961 on the basis of the certificate issued by the DDO/Employer in this behalf.
Circular : No. 782, dated 13-11-1999.

What to watch

The relaxation is about proof only; the donation must still qualify under section 80G.
It covers donations routed through the employer as part of a consolidated cheque, which is what makes a separate fund receipt impossible.
It names the Prime Minister's National Relief Fund, the Chief Minister's Relief Fund and the Lieutenant Governor's Relief Fund; other donations are not spoken to.

Where you meet it

A query on an employee's section 80G claim where no fund receipt exists, or an employer's Form No. 16 giving credit for a payroll-deducted relief fund donation.

On the same provision

Other instruments in this library that name the same provision of the 1961 Act. They are not necessarily still operative, and a later one may have replaced an earlier one without saying so.

Circular No. 6/2026 — Condonation of delay in filing Form No. 10AB electronically for approval under clause(ii) of the first proviso to sectio 2 July 2026
Notification No. 166/2025 [F. No. 300176/2/2025/ITA-I] / SO 5551(E) — Minstry of Finance 2 December 2025
Notification No. 40/2024 [F. No. 176/2/2023-ITA-I] / SO 1771(E) — 2 the Gazette of INDIA : Extraordinary [Part Ii—sec. 3(ii)] 23 April 2024
Notification No. 34/2023 [F. No. 370142/13/2023-TPL] / GSR 399(E) — Ministry of Finance 30 May 2023
Notification No. 29/2022 [F. No.176/2/2022-ITA-I] / SO 1770(E) — 2 the Gazette of INDIA : Extraordinary [Part Ii—sec. 3(ii)] 11 April 2022
Notification No. 36/2021 [F. No. 176/1/2021/ITA-I]/SO 1698(E) — 2 the Gazette of INDIA : Extraordinary [Part Ii—sec. 3(ii)] 23 April 2021

← Circular No. 783 · Circular No. 781 →

A circular binds the department, not you and not a court. The Board issues a circular to its own officers. An assessee may hold the department to a circular that helps him; the department cannot hold an assessee to one that hurts him, and the Tribunal and the courts decide the law for themselves.

Source: the Income Tax Department’s own published text — its page for this instrument.