The finance ministry is reviewing and simplifying the compliance forms used by the charitable institutions for return filings, registration and renewal, a senior official said on Monday.
The new Income Tax Act, 2025, to be effective from April 1, 2026, has already reorganised exemption provisions into a simplified and cohesive structure, and the forms are now being reviewed.
Addressing the PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s (PHDCCI) session on the taxation of charitable institutions and exempt entities, Debjyoti Das, principal chief commissioner of income tax (exemption) acknowledged that the I-T 1961 is complex and fragmented, particularly with regard to exemption provisions.
What did Debjyoti Das say?
He pointed out that shifting provisos, scattered clauses, and repeated piecemeal amendments had created a web of procedural and interpretative difficulties, often leading to frustration for taxpayers, tax professionals, and officers alike. He said that efforts are underway to ease procedural hassles related to registration and late filing of tax audit reports.
PHDCCI Direct Taxes Committee Chair Mukul Bagla highlighted digitization efforts such as mandatory filing of Form 10DD for donations under Section 80G and advocated technical improvements including auto-population of donor data in Form 26AS to ease return filing complications. Bagla remarked on the legislative reforms aligning corpus donations to normal donations under Section 11(5), curbing tax abuse potential.
Stakeholders concerns’
He also voiced stakeholders’ concerns about inconsistent timelines for filing Forms 10 and 9A, foreign travel expenditure exclusions under Section 11, and the expansive, resource-intensive scope of Forms 10B and 10BB certifications introduced recently- calling for practical adjustments to better match NGO realities and reduce litigation.