Section 80G(1)

Section 80G(1) — the law in short

What the courts have decided on section 80G(1), in one screen. Read this first; open an entry when you need the facts, the reasoning and the source.

• Additional CIT v Abhai Maligai High CourtHelps taxpayerSuperseded by amendment
  I built a structure for a temple at my own cost instead of handing over money. Can I claim the s.80G deduction for what I spent?
  Not now. Explanation 5 to s.80G, inserted by the Finance Act 1976 with effect from 1 April 1976, declares that no deduction is allowed under the section unless the donation is of a sum of money. This judgment allowed such a claim only because it concerned AY 1969-70, before that Explanation existed, and the Madras High Court expressly recorded that the Explanation was inserted to get over decisions of that kind.
• Polynova Industries Limited v DCIT 14(1)(1), Mumbai ITATHelps taxpayerValidity unconfirmed
  An internal audit objection has produced a s.263 notice saying CSR spending is not voluntary and so is not a 'donation' at all for s.80G. Does that argument let the Commissioner revise my assessment?
  No, not while the point remains genuinely open. The Tribunal held that the eligibility of CSR expenditure for s.80G is a question on which Benches differ — the Bangalore and Kolkata Benches allow it, the Delhi Bench in Agilent Technologies disallows it — so an Assessing Officer who allows it has adopted one of two reasonably possible views and the s.263 jurisdiction does not arise.
• JMS Mining Pvt Ltd v PCIT-2, Kolkata ITATHelps taxpayerValidity unconfirmed
  I added back my company's CSR spend under Explanation 2 to s.37(1) and then claimed 50 per cent of it under s.80G. The Commissioner says s.37 blocks that and has revised the assessment under s.263. Is he right?
  No. Explanation 2 to s.37(1) operates only while computing business income under Chapter IV-D; it says nothing about Chapter VI-A, so a CSR contribution that independently satisfies s.80G remains deductible under s.80G. Parliament carved out only two CSR items in s.80G itself — clauses (iiihk) and (iiihl), the Swachh Bharat Kosh and the Clean Ganga Fund — and by expressio unius that exclusion implies every other qualifying donation survives.

Listed strongest first: Supreme Court, then High Court, then Tribunal, then CBDT. Nothing here has yet been read in full by a chartered accountant — open an entry to see where it came from.