The Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) held that the registration under section 12AA of the Income-tax Act, 1961 cannot be refused on the ground that trust has not commenced the charitable or religious activity.
The assessee society, Mariam Education Society is registered under the society of the Registrar, Uttar Pradesh, and said Registration was renewed for a period of five years by way of renewal Certificate. Society claimed its objectives include the opening of paramedical management, computer engineering, medicine, and Ayurvedic science educational institution, etc for the expansion of education.
The society filed an application before the CIT for registration under section 12AA of the Act and was asked to file necessary documents before him. The Learned CIT after examining the documents filed by the society and after carrying out necessary inquiries, rejected the application of the assessee for registration under section 12A(1) of the Act.
The CIT contended that the documents on record do not suffice to establish the genuineness of the activities of the society and provide sufficient material to corroborate the charitable nature of the objects.
Relying on the decisions, the tribunal held that the registration under section 12AA of the Income-tax Act, 1961 cannot be refused on the ground that trust has not commenced the charitable or religious activity.
The tribunal consists of a Judicial Member, Bhavnesh Saini, and an accountant member, O.P. Kant observed, “the registration of the assessee society before the register of society shows that the society was resisted prior to financial year 2009. The assessee has not provided any detail of the activities for the period from its establishment until the date for applying for registration. In our opinion, the assessee is required to provide all details regarding the Constitution of its members, funds received and utilized towards charitable activities et cetera since the inception of the society.”
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