2015 (3) TMI 445
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....ted approval under section 80G(5)(vi) of the Act vide order dated 29.5.2008 w.e.f. 01.04.2008. The Learned CIT(Appeals) did not agree with the assessee and upheld the action of the Assessing Officer that activities of the assessee falls in the 6th Limb of Section 2(15) of the Income-tax Act, 1961 which is advancement of general public utility. He held that the Assessing Officer was justified in holding that the assessee involves carrying on activities in the nature of running services in relation to trade, commerce or business as applicable in providing consultancy workshop training program, conducting research on behalf of other agency, hence, it does not deserve any relief. The Learned CIT(Appeals) has thus dismissed the first appeal which has been questioned before us in ITA No.5891/Del/2012. 4. In ITA No.5583/Del/2011, the assessee has questioned rejection of request of the assessee for continuation of approval granted under section 80G(5)(vi) of the Act by the learned DIT(E). 5. In support of the grounds raised in the appeals, the learned AR submitted that the assessee society is registered under the Society Registration Act, 1861 vide order dated 14.8.1997 and also unde....
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....2(15) of the Act. It was submitted before the authorities below that the assessee is carrying on all its activities for non-government organizations (NGOs) who are engaged only in charitable activities like UNICEF, Helppage India, ILO, Save the Children, Care India, the leprosy mission (TLM) and CRY etc. 8. The learned AR further submitted that the main reasoning of the Assessing Officer for denying the exemption under sec. 11/12 to the assessee and treating it in the 6th limb of the charitable activity, namely, "the advancement of general public utility" is that the assessee is engaged in providing with consultancy services for fees and thus hit by the first proviso to sec. 2(15) of the Act and hence it looses its charitable character. In this connection, the learned AR referred the provisions laid down in sec. 2(15) before amendment and after amendment. He reiterated that all the activities of the assessee clearly fall in the first three limbs of charitable purposes as defined in sec. 2(15) of the Act, namely, relief of the poor, education, medical relief. In this regard, he referred page Nos. 60 to 68 of the paper book as well as copy of arrangement between the assessee and N....
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....essee is working have also like minded objects as can be seen from the extracts of agreements quoted below: a. Care India The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundatioin (The' Foundation) has committed US 261 Million to HW prevention in India with the goal of reducing HIV prevalence among high-risk groups and stabilizing infections among general population. The Foundation's Avahan program is probably the largest single HIV prevention program around the world. The first phase of the program started in 2003 will end in 2009. Avahan is in the midst planning for a follow-on phase to transition the program inventions to its natural owners i.e., communities and the government. Community mobilization has been at the centre of Avahan's strategy to scale up and achieve HIV prevention impact. NACP III shares the same vision-it aspires that at least 50 percent of targeted interventions for highrisk groups will be implemented by community based organizations (CRO) by the end of NACP-III. b. The Leprosy Mission Trust India Over the last view years TLM has refocused its approach to working with people and communities affected by leprosy and disability. There has been a progressive....
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...., drug addicts in which the assessee society has gained experience over a period of time and has capacity to collect these particular clauses of principles and motivated them to get out of it. Therefore, the allegations of the Assessing Officer that the assessee is providing consultancy services for fees is unfounded and illegal. In this regard, he placed reliance on the decision of Delhi Bench of the ITAT in the case of M/s. Centre for Development Studies engaged in capacity applying to the managerial level of masses - ITA No. 4145/Del/2004- order dated 20.10.2010. 11. The learned AR submitted further that there is no change in the activities of the assessee which all along has been covered under first three limbs of charitable activities as can be seen from the assessment order passed under sec. 143(3) of the Act in the case of the assessee for the assessment years 2006-07, 2007-08 and 2008-09. 12. The learned AR submitted that the assessee is not charging any fee to any beneficiary and the beneficiary are poor community to whom the assessee is giving medical facilities, collecting and training drug addicted persons etc. 100% of assessee's receipts are for services rendered....
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....pport: i) ITO vs. Society of Health Action & Training - ITA No. 4329/Del/2012 (2014) 30 ITR 698; ii) Divyayog Mandir Trust vs. JCIT (2013) -37 Taxman.com 227 (Del.); iii) GVK EMRI (UP) vs. DIT(Ex)- (2014) 63 SOT 195 (Hyd.). iv) ACIT vs. City Gymkhana - 300 ITR 214 (S.C); v) Hiralal Bhagwati vs. CIT - 246 ITR 188 (Guj.); vi) Mehta Jivraj Madandas etc. vs. DIT(E) (2011) 12 Taxmann.com 335 (Mum); vii) ITO vs. Baba Dali Educational Society of India (2009) - 27 SOT 391 (Del.); viii) ACIT vs. Centre for Dev. Studies - ITA No. 4145/Del/2004 (A.Y. 1998-99) dt. 20.10.2006; & ix) M/s. GSI India vs. DIT(E) - WP(Civil) No. 7797/2009 dt. 26.9.2013 14. The Learned DR on the other hand placed reliance on the order impugned. He pointed out that the appellant was denying only consultancy job and was rendering services but other societies/institution by charging fee. In earlier year up to 2008-09, the claim of the assessee regarding exemption under sec. 11 of the Act was being accepted but during the year the claimed exemption was withdrawn due to change in law by way of insertion beyond of proviso to sec. 2(15) of the Act. Since the assessee is providing services with ....
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....ll be held with the Leprosy Effected, Disability, Socially Excluded People to know about their aspirational and attitudinal behavior which they are looking for. The assessee will also hold discussion with officials of leprosy mission. Page No. 10/A of the annual reports contains the relevant activities and page 19C contains photograph depicting the plans. For the Plan International ( a child rights organization working to elevate child poverty) the objective is to understand the CC based microplanning through classrooms and field based training evolves a process and identity mythology for a participatory needs assessment to develop line centered community level microplan and field work etc., page Nos 18/19A of the annual report contains the relevant activities and photographs depicting therein online high and micro level planning for UNICEF, the task of the assessee involve fixing understanding the living condition of the tribal people and dynamics of their social exclusion (page No. 16 of the annual report contains the relevant activities and photographs depicting the immersional lending program). For international labour office (ILO), the task of the assessee is to carry out rapi....
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....f the society or any member of the assessee society except the reimbursement of expenses incurred in connection with the board's meeting. It is also not the case of the department that any part of profit or gain shown as receipt over expenditure has been transferred to any member of the society. Thus, the activity of the assessee society is certainly not for making profit and it is certainly not in the nature of any trade, business or commerce, so as to be headed by the first proviso to sec. 2(15) of the Act even if it is treated as advancement of any general public utility. Similar are the facts in the case of ITO vs. Society for Essential Health Action and Training (supra). In that case also, the assessee had received an amount of Rs. 42 lacs from SAS for research conducting on implementation of various medicine related to children invocation. This research was part of the research activities which were to be carried out by SAS, but SAS could not carry out. This research was carried out by the assessee society in pursuance of a written arrangement with SAS. As per the arrangement/agreement, the assessee provided techno-medical research support and compilation of DATA in a project....
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....he activities of assessee during the year was in pursuance of such purposes thereafter following the ratio laid down by the Co-ordinate Bench of the ITAT in the case of Harnam Singh Harbans Kaur vs. DIT(E), 2011 (12) TMI 232 -ITAT, Delhi, the ITAT upheld the action of the Learned CIT(Appeals). As per the cited decisions, charitable institution registered under sec. 12A of the Act and carrying the activities in the nature of charity, cannot be held to be engaged in the activity of advancement of any other object of general public utility. 19. Similar view has been expressed by the Hyderabad Bench of the ITAT in the case of GVKEMRI (UP) vs. DIT(E) (supra). Similar are facts in the case of assessee as most of the NGOs related to WHO/UNO etc. do not have any experience of connecting/collecting the poor and needy people like destitute orphans, sex workers, drug addicts in which assessee society has gained experience over a period of time and has capacity to collect these particulars classes of people and motivate them to get out of it. Besides, there is no change in the activity of the assessee which all along has been covered under the first three limbs of charitable activities laid....
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