11/02/2026
Finance Bill 2025, there are 3 proposed changes suggested for Charitable Entities
1. Explanation to Section 12AB(4) - Cancellation of Registration of NPOs for Minor Defaults No Longer Permissible
Section 12AB(4) of the Income-tax Act provides that when the registration or provisional registration of a trust or institution has been granted, the Principal Commissioner of Income Tax (PCIT) or Commissioner of Income Tax (CIT) can cancel the registration if they notice specified violations occurring during any previous year. According to the Explanation to Section 12AB(4), "specified violation" includes, among other things, cases where the application referred to in Section 12A(1)(ac) is incomplete or contains false or incorrect information. These broad and arbitrary powers for small errors were often considered unnecessary and excessive.
The Finance Bill 2025 proposes to delete this provision, ensuring that cancellation proceedings can no longer be initiated for minor mistakes related to incomplete information. Powers of the competent authority has been feathered.
Current provisions
The Explanation to Section 12AB(4) defines "specified violation" to include cases where the application referred to in Section 12A(1)(ac) is incomplete or contains false or incorrect information.
Under the current framework, even minor defaults, such as the failure to provide complete information in the application, can lead to the cancellation of registration, causing the trust or institution to become liable for tax on its accreted income under Chapter XII-EB of the Income-tax Act.
Proposed amendment
The proposed amendment suggests the deletion of the phrase "is not complete or it" from clause (g) of the Explanation to Section 12AB(4). This change means that cancellation proceedings can no longer be initiated solely because the application is incomplete.
With this proposed change, starting from 01-04-2025, cancellation proceedings cannot be initiated solely due to minor deficiencies in the application form but can be initiated still for furnishing false or incorrect information so it is important to note that lack of information can be allowed but furnishing of wrong or incorrect information is still considered as a violation.
Larger implications of the amendment
Although this proposed amendment may seem like a small technical correction, its impact is significant due to the severe consequences of a registration cancellation under Section 115TD of the Income-tax Act. Once a charity's registration is cancelled, Section 115TD imposes an accreted tax on the charity's entire net worth based on the market value of its assets.
In light of Section 115TD, the proposed amendment to protect organisations from cancellation proceedings for minor mistakes in their registration applications is a welcome relief. This change ensures that NPOs and charitable institutions are not unduly penalised for minor, inadvertent errors in the registration process application form filing.
2. Section 13(3) - Amendments in the Definition of Specified Persons
Section 13 of the Act, inter alia, provides that section 11 or section 12 shall not apply to exclude any income from the total income of trust of institution, if such income enures, or such income or any property of the trust or the institution is used or applied, directly or indirectly for the benefit of any person referred to in sub-section (3), which inter alia are as following –
• any person who has made a substantial contribution to the trust or institution, that is to say, any person whose total contribution up to the end of the relevant previous year exceeds fifty thousand rupees;
• any relative of any such person as aforesaid;
• any concern in which any such person as aforesaid has a substantial interest.
The amendment of the Rs. 50,000 limit was long overdue, as it had become impractical to report and disclose such information effectively.
Understanding the amendments to Section 13(3)
The Finance Bill 2025 proposes the following amendments to Section 13(3) of the Income-tax Act:
(a) Revised Contribution Limits:
Clause (b) is substituted to state that a person will be classified as a specified person if their total contribution to the trust or institution:
• Exceeds Rs. 1 lakh in the relevant previous year, or
• Exceeds Rs. 10 lakh in aggregate over all preceding years up to the relevant previous year.
(b) Exclusion of relatives from specified persons:
Clause (d) is amended to remove the reference to "person," thereby excluding the relatives of donors from the definition of specified persons.
(c) Exclusion of Concerns with Substantial Interest:
Clause (e) is modified to exclude any concern in which such a donor has a substantial interest from being classified as a specified person under Section 13(3).
Impact of the amendment
The Finance Bill 2025 effectively introduces three significant changes to the definition of a specified person:
(a) A donor will now be treated as a specified person only if they have donated Rs. 1 lakh or more in the relevant previous year or have contributed more than Rs. 10 lakh in aggregate over all preceding years.
(b) The relatives of a donor will no longer be classified as specified persons.
(c) Any business or entity in which such a donor has a substantial interest will also be excluded from the definition of specified persons.
These amendments provide much-needed relief, as the previous definition was arbitrary and impractical. For instance, if any person has donated Rs. 50,000 to any organisation, then for every new donors who donates it, the organisations will open its entire donors list who have previously donated more than Rs. 50,000 and will ask the current donors whether you're a relative of the entire list or not.
This change removes a burdensome and largely ineffective provision, making compliance more feasible.
3. Proviso to Section 12AB(1) - Registration of Smaller Charitable Trusts or Institutions
Currently, regular registration to a trust or institution is granted for a period of five years. Similarly, provisional registration (for cases where activities have not commenced at the time of filing the application) is granted for a period of three years.
All organisations are required to apply for renewal of registration or conversion of provisional registration to regular registration at least six months before the expiry of the five-year or three-year period, as applicable. Notably, the registration requirements are uniform for all organisations, meaning a small charity with an income of Rs. 10 lakh is subjected to the same compliance requirements as a charity with an income of Rs. 100 crores.
The Finance Bill 2025 has rightly proposed exempting smaller charities from renewing their registration every five years by extending the registration period to ten years. This change will reduce the compliance burden for both charities and the tax department.
Understanding the proposed amendment
In Section 12AB(1), the following proviso shall be inserted:
' Provided that where an application is made under sub-clauses (i) to (v) of the said clause, and the total income of such trust or institution, without giving effect to the provisions of sections 11 and 12, does not exceed rupees five crores during each of the two previous years, preceding the previous year in which such application is made, the provisions of this sub-section shall have effect as if for the words "five years", the words "ten years" had been substituted.'
The proposed amendment effectively increases the registration tenure from five years to ten years for organisations whose total income, before Sections 11 and 12 exemptions, does not exceed Rs. 5 crores in each of the two previous years preceding the application year.
Is the benefit extended to all categories of applicants with income less than Rs. 5 Crores?
This extended validity benefit applies to trusts or institutions that will make an application under sub-clauses (i) to (v) of Section 12A(1)(ac). Therefore, it does not apply to applications under sub-clause (vi) of Section 12A(1)(ac). This means that the benefit is not available to trusts or institutions applying for registration for the first time, whether before or after commencing activities. It is granted only to applicants seeking re-registration of existing trusts, renewal of registration, or conversion of provisional registration.
Effective date of the amendment
The amendments will take effect from 01-04-2025. However, it is unclear whether they apply only to registration certificates granted after 01-04-2025, or to applications made after this date. In my personal opinion, it shall apply to all registrations granted after this date, but the bigger question is
Before concluding the said write-up, few important questions arise which are yet to be answered, such as:
• What happens if income exceeds Rs. 5 Crores during the registration period?
• Will this amendment extend the existing Five-year registration period?
• What happens to orders passed previously for entities who have renewed their 5 year registration already or receive order before 01/04/2025?
• Will the amendment also extend Section 80G approvals to ten years?
• Does it genuinely offer registration-related relief to small charities?
The intent behind the amendment, in practical terms, remains minimal and is largely ineffective for the following reasons:
(a) The amendments fail to provide relief to existing small charities whose five-year registration renewal is due. Instead, they only benefit new charities, a much smaller proportion of institutions. As a result, the majority of small charities will not see immediate benefits.
(b) Even most smaller charities are not granted relief, as the number of charitable organisations applying for provisional registration before commencement is typically very low. Charities usually apply for direct registration under clause 12A(1)(ac)(vi) after starting their activities, meaning these organisations will be excluded from the ten-year benefit.
(c) There is no corresponding amendment in Section 80G. Consequently, despite the ten-year registration certificate tenure, the five-year compliance burden will persist, as organisations will still need to apply for 80G renewal.
The real challenge for small charities remains the extensive requirements related to maintaining books of accounts, audits, and filing ITR-7. Since no relief has been granted for these compliance obligations, this amendment is largely symbolic and may not provide substantial material benefits to smaller charities.
