Filing of statement of donation by donee to cross-check claim of donation by donor

Filing of statement of donation by donee to cross-check claim of donation by donor

It may be mentioned that certain provisions of the Act provide that an exempt entity may accept donations or certain sum for utilisation towards their objects or activities in respect of which the payer, being the donor, gets deduction in computation of his income. At present, there is no reporting obligation by the exempt entity receiving donation/ any sum in respect of such donation/ sum. With the advancement in technology, it is now feasible to standardise the process through which one-to-one matching between what is received by the exempt entity and what is claimed as deduction by the assessee.

This standardisation may be similar to the provisions relating to the tax collection/ deduction at source, which already exist in the Act. Therefore, the entities receiving donation/ sum may be made to furnish a statement in respect thereof, and to issue a certificate to the donor/ payer and the claim for deduction to the donor/ payer may be allowed on that basis only. In order to ensure proper filing of the statement, levy of a fee and penalty may also be provided in cases where there is failure to furnish the statement.

Hence, it is proposed to amend relevant provisions of the Act to provide that,-

(i) similar to exemptions under clauses (1) and (23C), exemption under clause (46) of section 10 shall be allowed to an entity even if it is registered under section 12AA subject to the condition that the registration shall become inoperative. If the entity wishes to make it operative in the future, it will have to file an application and then it would not be entitled for deduction under clause (46) from the date on which the registration becomes operative.

(ii) the registration under section 12AA would also become inoperative in case of an entity exempt under clause (23C) of section 10 as well, to have uniformity. The condition about making it operative again would also be similar to what is proposed for clause (46) of section 10.

(iii) an entity approved, registered or notified under clause (23C) of section 10, section 12AA or section 35 of the Act,as the case may be, shall be required to apply for approval or registration or intimate regarding it being approved,as the case may be, and on doing so, the approval, registration or notification in respect of the entity shall be valid for a period not exceeding five previous years at one time calculated from 1st April, 2020.

(iv) an entity already approved under section 80G shall also be required to apply for approval and on doing so, the approval, registration or notification in respect of the entity shall be valid for a period not exceeding five years atone time.

(v) application for approval under section 80G shall be made to Principal Commissioner or Commissioner.

(vi) an entity making fresh application for approval under clause (23C) of section 10, for registration under section 12AA, for approval under section 80G shall be provisionally approved or registered for three years on the basis of application without detailed enquiry even in the cases where activities of the entity are yet to begin and then it has to apply again for approval or registration which, if granted, shall be valid from the date of such provisional registration. The application of registration subsequent to provisional registration should be at least six months prior to expiry of provisional registration or within six months of start of activities, whichever is earlier.

(vii) the application pending for approval, registration, as the case may be, shall be treated as application in accordance with the new provisions, wherever they are being provided for.

(viii) deduction under section 80G/ 80GGA to a donor shall be allowed only if a statement is furnished by the donee who shall be required to furnish a statement in respect of donations received and in the event of failure to do so, fee and penalty shall be levied.

(ix) similar to section 80G of the Act, deduction of cash donation under section 80GGA shall be restricted to ₹ 2,000/- only.

These amendments will take effect from 1st June, 2020.

The author can be reached at sandeeprawatca@gmai.com