In a recent case, the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal ( ITAT ) of Chennai directed the Commissioner of Income Tax (Exemption) [ CIT (E) ] to consider the fresh application submitted by a Trust as per Section 80G(5)(iii) of the Income Tax Act, 1961 for registration.
Virudhanagar Kshatriya Vidhyasala Managing Board, the appellant/assessee, is the trust who filed an appeal against the order passed by the CIT (E). The appellant had filed Form 10AB seeking registration under Section 12A(1)(ac)(iii) of Income Tax Act. But this was rejected by the CIT (E), reasoning the basis for rejection as that the form was filed after a significant delay of 269 days.
The appellant/assesse sought condonation for the delay before the tribunal, arguing that the delay was caused by a mistake in provisional registration. The registration was made under Income Tax Section 80G(5) (iv) instead of Section 80G(5)(iii), which in turn led to a provisional registration that commenced from 31/05/2023 instead of 01/04/2023. The appellant also contended the transition to an electronic regime and a misunderstanding of the registration provisions constitute reasonable cause for condonation.
The two member bench consisting of Mr. Mahavir Singh and Mr. R S Raghunatha condoned the delay as they found the contentions of the appellant to be reasonable. However, the income tax tribunal noted the appeal to be infructuous, as it was observed that the appellant has already applied afresh for registration under the extended time limit provided by CBDT circular no. 7/2024.
Thus, the issue at hand became academic and the primary reason behind the appeal does not survive. The tribunal directed the CIT(E) to consider the new application on its own merit, independent of the current appeal.
In light of the aforementioned observations, the appeal was dismissed by the bench.
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