TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2026 (8) TMI 454
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....ued under section 143(1) for the assessment year 2020-21, whereby the exemption claimed under section 11 of the Act was denied and the gross receipts of the trust were brought to tax. 2. In the grounds of appeal, the assessee has, inter alia, challenged the impugned order on two principal planks: firstly, that the appeal before the first appellate authority came to be dismissed ex parte without affording a meaningful opportunity of being heard; and secondly, that the lower authorities erred in upholding the adjustments made under section 143(1), namely: (a) denial of deduction under section 11(1)(a) in respect of actual revenue expenditure of Rs. 89,77,260 debited to the Income and Expenditure Account; and (b) disallowance of the claim f....
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....he prescribed period. Accordingly, the delay of 221 days is condoned. 4. The brief factual matrix, shorn of embellishment yet rich in material significance, is that the assessee-trust filed its return of income for the relevant assessment year on 11.02.2021 declaring NIL income. The return was processed under section 143(1) by the CPC, which denied exemption under section 11 on the sole ground that the audit report in Form No. 10B had not been filed within the prescribed time. As a corollary thereto, the CPC disallowed the deduction claimed for actual application of income amounting to Rs. 89,77,260 and also denied the benefit of statutory accumulation of income to the extent of 15 per cent of gross receipts amounting to Rs. 11,65,005, t....
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.... High Court in CIT (Exemption) v. Anjana Foundation [2024] 168 taxmann.com 462 (Guj.), affirmed by the Hon'ble Supreme Court in 178 taxmann.com 658 (SC), and in Association of Indian Panel Board Manufacturers v. DCIT [2023] 157 taxmann.com 550 (Guj.), as well as on the decision of the Mumbai Bench of the Tribunal in MIG Cricket Club v. DCIT [2025]. 7. Per contra, the learned Senior Departmental Representative submitted that once the statute prescribes a time-limit for filing the audit report, the same has to be strictly complied with and that there is no express provision in the Act for condonation of delay. He, therefore, supported the orders of the lower authorities. 8. We have carefully considered the rival submissions and perused ....
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....ew. In Shree Bihari Seva Samiti v. ITO [2023] 149 taxmann.com 478 (Mumbai - Trib.) and in Trinity Education Trust v. ITO [ITA No. 669 (Srt.) of 2018], it has been held that even if Form No. 10B is filed at a later stage, exemption under section 11 cannot be denied where the audit report is otherwise available and the trust has substantially complied with the conditions. These decisions follow the ratio of the Hon'ble Bombay High Court in CIT v. Xavier Kalavani Mandal (P.) Ltd., wherein it was held that filing of Form No. 10B is a procedural requirement and a curable defect. 11. In the present case, not only was the audit report available on record, but it was also uploaded prior to the filing of the return of income. The denial of exempt....