Ahmedabad: The Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT), Ahmedabad, will conduct bulk hearings of appeals on Tuesday filed by hundreds of charitable and religious trusts and Section-8 companies after their re-registration applications were rejected.Under amendments brought in by the Finance Act, 2021, trusts must obtain fresh approval under Sections 12A/12AB and 80G even if they were registered earlier. Prior to this, lifetime registration was granted. Now, registrations are time-bound — generally valid for five years, with a 10-year validity for trusts with annual income below Rs 5 crore.CA Sulabh Padshah, secretary, Chartered Accountants’ Association, Ahmedabad said that thousands of registration renewal applications have been rejected by the department this year for non-compliance, documentation gaps, and missed online responses.CA Nautam Vakil, specializing in trust-related Income Tax matters, said that many trusts had applied in the renewal window between April to Sept 30, 2025. “Following the 2021 amendments, registrations were initially renewed on basis of existing registration certificates alone. Now in the current cycle, scrutiny is tighter, with authorities seeking detailed clarification on activities, object clauses, financial statements and supporting documents. Applications are being rejected when replies are late, incomplete, or inconsistent with stated objects,” Vakil said.Vakil said many rejections are procedural rather than based on allegations of private benefit, citing missed deadlines, unread portal communications and poorly sequenced documentation.Stakeholders say smaller and grassroots trusts, often without dedicated tax teams, are finding portal-based compliance difficult, including tracking email notices and meeting short deadlines. Some trusts allege ex parte rejection orders after a single notice, including notices sent to email IDs not actively monitored.Professionals warn that loss of 12A/80G status can immediately disrupt donations and affect day-to-day charitable operations. Denials passed ex parte, without an effective opportunity to respond, undermine fair regulation, they said.Trustee of an NGO in education in Ranip, citing anonymity, said their registration renewal application was denied despite applying six months before the expiry date. “A month before the registration expiry, we got a notice directing us to submit in 10 days all documents including annual reports of the past three years, expenses incurred and pictures and papers supporting our charitable activities. We demanded an additional 15 days’ time but our request filed to get any reply. Instead, our application was rejected. We have again applied for the registration. Without a registration renewal, we cannot accept donations and stare at the suspension of our operations.”CA Jaimin Shah said high document requirements are proving key reasons for denial. “Trusts and professionals, who have promptly completed documentation requirements, have received re-registration easily.”Gujarat has an estimated 3.5 lakh trusts and some 20,000 are facing re-registration issues, experts said. The ITAT’s bulk hearings are expected to be closely watched for how they address procedural lapses, ex parte orders and the right to be heard in renewal disputes.
