Rule 181 — Common application for registration of non-profit organisation or for approval for the purposes of deduction under section 133(1)(b)(ii). Made under s.133, s.265, s.332, s.354, s.355 of the Income-tax Act, 2025.
Rule 181 gives effect to Section 133, Section 265, Section 332, Section 354 and Section 355 of the Income-tax Act, 2025. A rule cannot go beyond the section it serves: where the two seem to differ, the section governs.
Sub-rule (1) routes applications for registration under section 332 or approval under section 354 through a Table of two cases. Case 1 is an application for provisional registration or approval under section 332(3) (Table: Sl. No. 1) or section 354(2) (Table: Sl. No. 1); it is made in Form No. 104 to the Commissioner being Commissioner of Income Tax (CPC). Case 2 is an application for registration or approval under section 332(3) (Table: Sl. Nos. 2 to 7) or section 354(2) (Table: Sl. Nos. 2 to 5); it is made in Form No. 105 to the Principal Commissioner or Commissioner having jurisdiction over the applicant.
Sub-rule (2) requires the application to carry the documents, information and undertakings specified in the relevant Form. Sub-rule (3) requires it to be furnished electronically, under digital signature where the return of income has to be so furnished and otherwise through electronic verification code, and to be verified by the person authorised to verify the return of income under section 265.
Sub-rules (4) to (9) deal with the Form No. 104 route. On receipt, the Commissioner of Income Tax (CPC) passes an order in writing in Form No. 106, issuing a 16-digit alphanumeric Unique Registration Number and granting registration under section 332(8) or approval under section 354(4), or both. Form No. 104 is to be treated as non est and not proceeded with where the activities have commenced or the applicant has been registered under any specified provision. The registration or approval and the Unique Registration Number may be cancelled by the Principal Commissioner or Commissioner referred to in the Table at Sl. No. 2, after an opportunity of being heard, if at any point of time it is noticed that Form No. 104 contains false or incorrect information and does not comply with sub-rule (3); on cancellation, the registration, approval or number is treated as never granted or issued. The applicant may also surrender the registration or approval if it has not claimed benefits in its return for any tax year, including the year of surrender, under Part B of Chapter XVII of the Act, or under section 10(23C)(iv), (v), (vi) or (via), or section 11 or section 12, of the Income-tax Act, 1961 as they existed prior to repeal, and gives an undertaking that no such claim will be made; on surrender the registration or approval is deemed never to have been granted.
Sub-rules (10) to (15) deal with the Form No. 105 route. The Principal Commissioner or Commissioner passes an order in Form No. 107 doing one of four things: issuing a 16-digit alphanumeric Unique Registration Number and granting registration or approval; rejecting the application; rejecting it and also cancelling the registration or approval; or granting under one section code mentioned in the Form while rejecting under the other. The applicant may withdraw the application if the request is made within seven days of filing. Where an order in Form No. 107 has rejected the application or cancelled the registration or approval or both, the applicant may re-apply in Form No. 105 within one month from the end of the month in which that order was passed, but only if the rejection or cancellation was on account of failure to provide documents or information sought under section 332(7), or not availing an opportunity of being heard, or ineligibility on account of certain terms in the trust deed; the applicant gives reasons for that failure, non-appearance or ineligibility, the trust deed in the last case having been modified on or before the date of re-application; and the applicant undertakes that it has not appealed against the earlier order or has withdrawn any such appeal, and will not appeal against it. Only one such opportunity to re-apply is allowed. A re-application made where the order was issued under section 332(7)(b) or 354(3)(b) is treated as a fresh application, with the time limit for passing the order continuing to be governed by section 332(3) or 354(2). Where the applicant notices that Form No. 105 was filed with an erroneous section code or erroneous nature of activity, it may request correction at any time before the order in Form No. 107 is passed, and the Principal Commissioner or Commissioner may allow the correction.
Sub-rule (16) gives "specified provision" the meaning assigned in section 355(m).
Registration under section 332 and approval under section 354 are separate entitlements that most non-profit applicants need together, and the sections leave the form, the authority and the procedure to be prescribed. This rule makes one application serve both, splits the work between a centralised Commissioner for provisional cases and the jurisdictional Commissioner for the rest, and fixes a Unique Registration Number as the identifier that follows the organisation afterwards. The re-application route in sub-rule (12) exists because most rejections are procedural, and it is cheaper to let the applicant cure the defect than to force an appeal.
| What | Figure | The condition on it | Where |
|---|---|---|---|
| Length and character of the registration identifier | A 16-digit alphanumeric Unique Registration Number (urn) | Issued by the order in Form No. 106 or in Form No. 107 granting registration or approval | Rule 181(4) and 181(10)(a) |
| Time within which an application may be withdrawn | Within seven days of filing of application | Request for withdrawal of the application for registration or approval | Rule 181(11) |
| Time within which a rejected or cancelled applicant may re-apply | Within one month from the end of the month in which the order is passed | Order in Form No. 107 rejecting the application or cancelling the registration or approval, and the conditions in sub-rule (12) satisfied | Rule 181(12) |
| Number of re-applications permitted | Only one time opportunity | Re-application under sub-rule (12) | Rule 181(13) |
Which form you file decides which officer decides your case, and the split is by stage rather than by size: provisional cases go to the Commissioner of Income Tax (CPC) in Form No. 104, everything else to the jurisdictional Principal Commissioner or Commissioner in Form No. 105. An applicant that has already commenced activities cannot use Form No. 104 at all; sub-rule (5) makes such a Form non est, so it is not rejected on merits, it is simply not proceeded with. Cancellation under sub-rule (6) needs both limbs, false or incorrect information and non-compliance with sub-rule (3), and its effect under sub-rule (7) is retrospective, the registration being treated as never granted; surrender under sub-rule (8) has the same retrospective effect but is available only to an organisation that has claimed no benefits and undertakes to claim none. The re-application route is not a general second chance: it is confined to the three procedural grounds in sub-rule (12)(a), requires an undertaking not to appeal against the earlier order, and can be used once.
A newly formed trust that has not commenced activities applies in Form No. 104 to the Commissioner of Income Tax (CPC) and is granted provisional registration by an order in Form No. 106 carrying a 16-digit alphanumeric Unique Registration Number. A second trust, already carrying on activities, applies in Form No. 105 to its jurisdictional Commissioner and is rejected in Form No. 107 because it did not produce documents sought under section 332(7). It may re-apply in Form No. 105 within one month from the end of the month of that order, giving reasons for the failure and undertaking not to appeal, and it gets that chance once.
You meet it as the application in Form No. 104 or Form No. 105 and the order in Form No. 106 or Form No. 107 that follows, and thereafter as the Unique Registration Number quoted whenever the organisation's registration or approval is relied on.
The Form 104 shall be considered non est and shall not be further proceeded with where the activities have commenced or it has been registered under any specified provision.
The applicant shall be allowed to withdraw the application for registration or approval if such a request for withdrawal is made within seven days of filing of application.
The applicant shall be allowed only one time opportunity to re-apply under sub-rule (12).
