Rejection of Registration of Trust due to Mismatch of Trust name in Legal Documents and PAN database: ITAT directs Re adjudication [Read Order]

The  Ahmedabad  bench of Income Tax Appellate Tribunal ( ITAT ) directed readjudication after finding that the CIT(Exemption) rejected the registration of trust due to mismatch of trust name in legal documents and PAN database .

The Assessee  Parul University Alumni Association,is a charitable trust registered under the Bombay Public Trust Act, 1950 . The assessee / applicant filed an application for registration of trust under Section 12AB of the Act.

The assessee / applicant Trust applied for regular registration by filling application in Form 10AB on 30.05.2023 electronically. Along with the application, the appellant filed a copy of Trust Deed, copy of Provisional Registration Certificate in Form 10AC, copy of Trust Registration Certificate under Bombay Public Trust Act, 1950 and Audited accounts for F.Y. 2021-2022.

The application of the appellant for registration was however rejected by CIT(Exemptions) Aggrieved by the order the assessee filed another appeal before the tribunal.

Samir Parikh,Counsel for the assessee submitted that the variation in nomenclature arises due to the English translation of the organization's name. The term "Parul University Bhutpurva Vidhyarthi Mandal" in the Memorandum of Association and the certificate of registration issued by the Assistant Charity Commissioner Vadodara is the official name of the organization in Gujarati.

On the other hand, "Parul University Alumni Association" is the English translation of "Parul University Bhutpurva Vidhyarthi Mandal," used in the PAN database and Form 10B for giving equal importance to both languages and to help with better understanding and recognition.

The Counsel for the assessee  further submitted that the applicant trust has got provisional registration in the name "Parul University Alumni Association" on the basis of legal documents like Trust Registration Certificate and Memorandum of Association. Same documents were also filed with the application form applied in the same name for registration in Form 10AB. Kamlesh Makwana, Counsel for Revenue supported the order of lower authorities.

It was observed by the tribunal that the assessee/applicant trust has been able to reasonably explain the mismatch between the name as appearing in the legal documents submitted by the assessee/applicant trust before CIT (Exemptions) and the name as appearing in the PAN database.

After reviewing the facts the ITAT bench of  Siddhartha Nautiyal, (Judicial Member) and Annapurna Gupta, (Accountant Member) directed readjudication after finding that the CIT(Exemption) rejected the registration of trust due to mismatch of trust name in legal documents and PAN database .

To Read the full text of the Order CLICK HERE

Support our journalism by subscribing to Taxscan premium. Follow us on Telegram for quick updates