TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2024 (9) TMI 424
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....issued by the Department from time to time and without going into the merits of the application. 4. Being aggrieved, the assessee has filed the present appeal before us. 5. During the course of hearing, Ld. AR submitted that the assessee was granted provisional registration on 24/08/2023 and it has applied for the final registration on 04/09/2023 within the prescribed limitation period. It was submitted that the relevant provisions state that the application for final registration has to be applied atleast six months prior to expiry of the period of the provisional registration or within six months of commencement of its activities, whichever is earlier. It was submitted that the assessee couldn't have applied for the final registration prior to the grant of the provisional registration and therefore, even where it has commenced its activities on 12/05/2022, the earliest it can apply for the final registration is soon after getting the provisional registration which it has duly complied with. It was submitted that the application seeking final registration has been wrongly dismissed by the ld CIT(E) and the order rejecting application of the assessee for registration under se....
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....ommenced its activities well before seeking the provisional registration and the period of six months of its activities had already expired well before applying the provisional registration thus, making the said requirement as not applicable. Similar view has been taken by various Benches of the Tribunal and useful reference can be drawn to the decision of the Coordinate Bench in case of Anudip Foundation for Social Welfare (Supra) and the relevant findings read as under: 3. The issue is squarely covered by the decision of the Coordinate Kolkata Bench of the Tribunal in the case of "Tomorrow's Foundation vs. CIT(Exemption)" in ITA No.367/Kol/2024 order dated 27.02.2024 (the Judicial Member herein being the author the said order also). The relevant part of the order of the Coordinate Bench is reproduced as under: "3. We have heard the rival submissions and gone through the record. Before proceeding further, it will be relevant to reproduce here the relevant provisions of section 80G(5) of the Act: "80G(5) This section applies to donations to any institution or fund referred to in sub-clause (iv) of clause (a) of sub-section (2), only if it is established i....
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....under- (a) clause (i) of the first proviso, from the assessment year from which approval was earlier granted to such institution or fund; (b) clause (iii) of the first proviso, from the first of the assessment years for which such institution or fund was provisionally approved; (c) in any other case, from the assessment year immediately following the financial year in which such application is made. 4. A perusal of the above provisions would reveal that the institutions which stood already approved u/s 80G(5)(vi) on the date of Amendment brought to section 80G of the Act by Taxation and Other Laws (Relaxation and Amendment of Certain Provisions) Act, 2020 have to re-apply for fresh registration under Clause (i) to the First Proviso to section 80G(5) of the Act and those institutions have to be granted provisional registration for five years by the ld. CIT(Exemption) without any enquiry. The prescribed date for final application for approval under Clause (i) to the First Proviso to section 80G(5) of the Act was stipulated as three months from 1st Day of April 2022. However, the CBDT from time to time extended the date for filing of the said applic....
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....cided on 08.12.2023 (Judicial Member herein being the author of the said order) while deliberating upon the provisions of section 80G(5) of the Act, has held as under: "6. So far as the observation of the ld. CIT(E) that the assessee had already commenced its activities since long and that as per Clause (iii) of 1st Proviso to section 80G(5) of the Act, the application for final registration was to be filed within six months from the commencement of its activities and therefore, the application of the assessee for final registration was time-barred, is concerned, we note that the issue has already been discussed and adjudicated by the Coordinate Bench of the Tribunal in the case of West Bengal Welfare Society vs. CIT(Exemption), Kolkata vide order dated 13.09.23 [one of us i.e. the Judicial Member herein, being the author of the said order], wherein, it has been held that the assessee, who has been granted provisional registration, is eligible to apply for final registration irrespective of the fact that the assessee had already commenced its activity even prior to the date of grant of provisional approval. The relevant part of the order of the Coordinate Bench is reproduc....
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....for making application under Clause (iii) to First Proviso to section 80G(5) of the Act. 5.1 We deem it appropriate to mention here that CBDT has extended the date upto 30.09.2023 for making application under Clause (i) to First Proviso to section 80G(5) of the Act, which means that the institutions, which were already registered prior to the amendment brought to section 80G(5) by Amendment Act of 2020 w.e.f. 01.04.2021, if an institution for some reasons could not make an application for renewal/continuance of registration under Clause (i) to First Proviso to section 80G(5) of the Act within the stipulated period of three months, it could still apply under Clause (i) upto 30.09.2023. However, once an institution has applied under Clause (i) to First Proviso to section 80G(5) of the Act on or before 30.09.2023, it will be further governed by the statutory provisions of Clause (iii) of First proviso to section 80G(5) of the Act and not by the CBDT Circular for the purpose of limitation. CBDT Circular is for extension of date to help the institutions which could not apply under Clause (i) within stipulated period of three months, and not for curtailing limitation or barring ....
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....gible. The ld. CIT(A) will decide the application for final registration within three months of the receipt of copy of this order. 4. The facts and issues involved in this case in hand are identical to that of the above referred to decision, the appeal of the assessee is allowed accordingly and the ld. CIT(Exemption) is directed to grant provisional approval to the assessee under Clause (iii) to First Proviso to section 80G(5) of the Act, if the assessee is otherwise found eligible. It is directed that the ld. CIT(E) will decide the application of the assessee for final approval as expeditiously as possible but not later than two months from the receipt of this order. 4.1. It is further directed that, if the assessee is granted final approval by the ld. CIT(E) then, the benefit of approval u/s 80G of the Act, available to the assessee prior to the Amendment brought vide Amending Act of 2020, will be deemed to be continued without any break. The assessee will not be deprived of the benefit during the time period falling between 31/03/2021 and the date of grant of provisional approval under clause (iv) i.e., 28/05/2021, due to technical errors occurred in making the....