ITAT Grants One More Opportunity to Charitable Trust for Section 12AB Registration, Imposes Rs. 5,000 Cost

The ITAT Ahmedabad granted the charitable trust one more opportunity to furnish relevant documents for Section 12AB registration. Due to consistent non-compliance, the tribunal imposed a cost amounting to Rs. 5,000 on the assessee.

The present appeal has been filed by Goyam Gunanuragi Shri Jaybhanu Bhakti Trust in the ITAT Ahmedabad, challenging an order dated January 22, 2026, passed by the CIT(Exemption) Ahmedabad. The impugned order had denied the assessee’s registration under section 12AB of the Income Tax Act, 1961.

The assessee is a charitable trust, which has a key objective to promote social, charitable, and cultural activities for public welfare. The assessee had applied for registration under Section 12AB(1)(ac) of the Income Tax Act 1961. The CIT(E) scheduled several hearings; however, the assessee failed to submit any of the asked details. Meanwhile, the time limit to pass the registration order was ending on September 30, 2025. Since no required details were submitted, the CIT(E) issued a final order hearing the case one-sided, rejecting the application.

The aggrieved assessee filed the present appeal before the ITAT Ahmedabad and prayed for one more opportunity to furnish relevant documents before the CIT(E) in regard to registration under Section 12AB of the Act. However, the CIT(E) argued that they have already given three opportunities to furnish all the required details, but the assessee did not reply to any of the notices.

Considering the same negligence, the tribunal imposed a cost of Rs. 5000 on the assessee trust. The assessee had been granted a time period of two weeks from the date of receiving the order to pay the cost and produce a copy of the Challan before the CIT(E) to reconsider the application afresh and thereafter pass a final order giving the assessee one more opportunity of hearing. In conclusion, the assessee’s appeal has been allowed for statistical purposes.