SGPC granted exemption in Income Tax, Donors can now claim rebate

Jalandhar: The Judicial Member Lalit Kumar and Accountant Member Dr ML Meena of Income Tax Appellate Tribunal, Amritsar on Tuesday has granted exemption under section 80G to Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) holding that the donors of SGPC will be able to now claim rebate/deduction in their Income Tax Returns.
SGPC was represented by Senior Advocate Prem Singh, Gunjeet Singh Syal and Chartered Accountant Gurcharan Singh Syal, who informed that SGPC had applied for registration under section 80G of Income Tax to the Commissioner of Income Tax, Amritsar which was rejected in the year 2009.
After SGPC challenged the order of Commissioner of Income Tax and filed an appeal before the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal, Amritsar and now after approximately 12 years the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal, Amritsar heard the case and thereafter passed the order in favour of SGPC.
The panel observed that it has been found that the activities of the assessee society, though, both religious and charitable, were not exclusively meant for one particular religious community. It was, therefore, rightly not denied exemption under Section 11 of the Act. Following the decision of the Supreme Court and High Courts, we are of the view that the assessee is entitled to the registration u/s 80G (5) (3) from the date of application, the order read.