If you are planning to open a religious trust or charitable organisation, you must consider other factors besides financial obligations. For instance, one of the major aspects to consider is the registration of the charitable organisation with the Income Tax Department, which allows you to claim beneficial tax exemptions.
Learning how to file Form 10A is crucial for getting this registration underway. This article deals with Form 10A and its filing process.
According to a particular section of IT Act, charitable institutions are eligible to claim exemptions on the income they receive. However, in order to do so, they should mandatorily have a registration under Section 12A of ITA.
Obtaining this registration is quite an easy procedure with Form 10A. Charitable organisations need to file this form on the official portal of IT department. The process of e filing form 10A requires a digital signature of the applicant or an electronic verification code. Go through the following sections to get a clear understanding of how the procedure works.
Also Read: Form 10E Of Income Tax: Importance, Filing Process, And Eligibility
To know how to file Form 10A using the e-filing website of the Income Tax Department, refer to the steps mentioned below:
Step 1: A charitable organisation or trust has to first log in to the income tax e-filing portal to begin this procedure.
Step 2: On the upper left side of the IT Department portal, the applicant can find e file menu. From there, one has to choose ‘Income Tax Forms’.
Step 3: The assessment year has to be chosen along with Form 10A from the drop-down list.
Step 4: Applicants have to select Prepare and Submit Online as the submission mode and tap on Continue to proceed further.
There are specific instructions provided on the portal which will help applicants understand which things are required while going through the form filing process.
While you have a clear idea regarding the filing procedure of Form 10A, you should know which people or entities will be eligible for this. The following list comprises such details:
The due date of filing form 10A for unregistered charitable institutions or trusts is generally within one month prior to the past year’s commencement. The tax exemptions available for such organisations can be claimed from that year.
Recently, the government has extended certain due dates or timelines for filing specific forms, where Form 10A was also included. After the announcement made by CBDT, certain charitable organisations eligible for donations as per the norms of IT Act of India, can file the form till March 31 2022. Newly incorporated trusts should pay heed to such announcements related to extension for filing form 10A whenever they wish to get registration.
Find the list of documents required for filing Form 10A provided below:
Other than these, you can go through the website of Income Tax Department to get clarity regarding further requirements. Also, in case you are wondering how to file Form 10A if one of these documents is missing, you can refer to the official website and submit your query.
While you already know the requirements a charitable organisation has to meet before filing Form 10A, you should also learn about some additional pointers related to this process. Note that before you submit the form, you need to make sure the following details are present in that:
In case the charitable institution submitted such an application earlier and got rejected for any particular reason, the authority needs to verify that. If the application was granted, the information needs to be provided in the form.
Also Read: Section 80G Of Income Tax Act: Tax Deduction On Donations To Charity & Fund
After verification of these details and your application, you will get approval of your registration. Now that you know how to file Form 10A and all its prerequisites make sure you prepare the necessary documents to expedite the process.
Ans: A taxpayer must choose only a single section code while filling Form 10A application. He/she cannot register one charitable or religious trust under different sections. Therefore, a person must make sure to choose the section codes carefully.
Ans: In such a case, a trust would need to file a separate Form 10A. This is because the rules state that any organisation looking to register under a unique section code would need to file this form every time.
Ans: When an applicant chooses the first proviso to sub-section (5) under 12-Clause (iv) of Section 80G, the person must fill in the Religious Activities details section. For any other section code, the Religious Activities details filled are grayed off, and no inputs are necessary.
Ans: Applicants must follow the below-mentioned specifications:
All attachments must be in PDF format, and they should have 300 DPI scan clarity.
Only the English translated version of a document should be submitted if the original is in vernacular language.
Ans: As per Section 12AB, first-time registrations will be issued for 3 years. However, if it is not a first-time issuance, a provisional registration under Section 12A(1)(ac)(i) will be valid for 5 years.
Before you go…
Before you go…