Form 10B Filed Late? Your 80G Status at Risk

If your charitable trust or NGO misses the Form 10B deadline, the Income Tax department can reject your exemption claim. But courts have allowed late filing if you can show a genuine reason — like your CA falling ill.

Here's what happened: A Gujarat-registered charitable and religious trust lost its Form 10B audit report filing deadline because its chartered accountant fell ill.. The Gujarat High Court condoned the delay, ruling that a CA's illness qualifies as sufficient cause for late filing under tax law.. This ruling reinforces that genuine hardship — with proof — can protect a trust's Section 11 tax exemption even after a missed deadline..

What you should do: Check whether your trust's Form 10B has been filed before the ITR due date — log in to the Income Tax e-filing portal under the trust's PAN to verify.. If your CA missed the deadline due to illness or emergency, gather medical proof immediately and file a condonation request with the jurisdictional Commissioner of Income Tax.. Appoint a backup CA or tax consultant every year before September so a single professional's unavailability cannot jeopardise your trust's exemption status..

A trust that files ITR without Form 10B is treated as if it never claimed exemption — the tax demand comes first and the appeal battle comes later. File Form 10B first, ITR second.

For readers weighing their credit and loan options, our personal loan guide and CIBIL score resources put this update in context.