Resources · Tax
80G tax exemption on donations — what you actually get
Most pages on this subject were written before the tax regime changed and are now wrong for the majority of donors. This one starts with the answer that matters.
Read this first
On the new tax regime, a donation gives you no deduction at all
If you are on the new tax regime - which is the default - a donation under Section 80G (Section 133 from FY 2026-27) gives you no tax deduction at all; you get the deduction only if you file under the old regime.
The new regime has been the default since FY 2023-24, so this is now the position for most individual donors unless they deliberately opt out. We would rather tell you that than let you give on a mistaken assumption.
Plain English: Under the new regime a donation costs you its full face value. There is no tax shield at all. Under the old regime a donation to a typical 80G-approved NGO gives a deduction of 50% of the qualifying amount, so at a 30% marginal rate the real cost of a Rs 1,00,000 donation falls to about Rs 85,000 (Rs 15,000 of tax saved), and for a 100%-without-limit fund like PM CARES it falls to about Rs 70,000.
Regime Choice Arithmetic: Do not switch to the old regime just to claim 80G. The old regime is only worth choosing if the TOTAL of all old-regime-only deductions and exemptions (HRA, LTA, 80C/Section 123, home-loan interest, 80D/Section 126, 80G/Section 133, etc.) exceeds the extra tax the old slabs impose. For FY 2026-27 the new-regime slabs are unchanged from FY 2025-26 (nil up to Rs 4L; 5% 4-8L; 10% 8-12L; 15% 12-16L; 20% 16-20L; 25% 20-24L; 30% above 24L) with a Section 87A rebate making income up to Rs 12L effectively tax-free for non-special-rate income. For most salaried people the new regime still wins, and 80G alone rarely flips the answer.
Timing Trap: The choice of the old regime has to be made in the return of income filed by the due date. A belated return locks the taxpayer into the new regime, which silently kills the 80G claim. Opting out is governed by Section 202(4) read with the due date in Section 263(1) of the 2025 Act (old law: Section 115BAC(6) read with Section 139(1) and Form 10-IEA).
Business Income Asymmetry: A person with business or professional income who opts out and later withdraws the option can never opt out again while they still have business income. A person without business/professional income can choose afresh every year in the return.
Individual Huf Aop Boi Ajp: No 80G/133 under the new regime (Section 115BAC / Section 202). Available only if they opt out into the normal provisions.
Domestic Company Under Concessional Rate: Also NO. A company that has opted for the 22% concessional rate under Section 115BAA (now Section 200 of the 2025 Act) computes income without any Chapter VI-A / Chapter VIII deduction except old 80JJAA and 80M (new sections 146 and 148). Section 133 is not excepted, so such a company gets no 80G deduction. The same logic applies to new manufacturing companies under 115BAB, and to co-operative societies under 115BAD/115BAE (new Section 203 and the corresponding section).
Company Under Normal Rates: YES - a domestic company that has NOT opted into Section 200/115BAA, and a foreign company, computes income under normal provisions and can claim Section 133/80G subject to all the normal conditions.
Firms And Llps: YES. There is no concessional/default alternative regime for partnership firms and LLPs; they are taxed under the normal provisions at 30%, so Section 133/80G remains fully available to them. This is a genuinely important planning point: a firm or an LLP keeps the donation deduction that its individual partners would lose in their personal returns.
Trusts And Npos: A registered non-profit is taxed under its own regime (Part B of Chapter XVII, Sections 332-355) and does not use 80G/133 for its own income.
Answer: NO. There is no fund-specific exception. Donations to PM CARES, the Prime Minister's National Relief Fund, the National Defence Fund or any other 100%-deduction fund are equally non-deductible under the new regime. The 100%/50% question only decides HOW MUCH you deduct once you are already in the old regime; it never decides WHETHER the new regime lets you deduct.
Common Myth: The widespread belief that 'PM CARES is allowed even in the new regime' is false for income-tax deduction purposes. It arose because PM CARES donations are eligible as CSR spend for companies and because 100%-without-limit funds are the only ones an employer may consider in salary TDS - neither of which changes the Section 115BAC/202 bar.
- Section 124(1)/124(2) [old 80CCD(1B)/80CCD(2)] - NPS, principally the employer's contribution
- Section 125(2) [old 80CCH] - Agniveer Corpus Fund contribution
- Section 146 [old 80JJAA] - additional employee cost deduction for employers
- Standard deduction from salary and the employer's NPS/pension contribution are allowed separately as salary-computation items, not as donation relief
Provision New Act. Section 202(2)(a) of the Income-tax Act, 2025 - total income under the new regime is computed without any deduction under 'Chapter VIII other than the provisions of sections 124(1) and 124(2), or 125(2) or 146'. Section 133 (donations) sits in Chapter VIII ('Deductions to be made in computing total income') and is NOT among the four carve-outs.
If you are on the old regime
50% or 100% — and the cap that catches people
Government/national funds named in the Act = 100%, usually no cap. A private NGO with an 80G/Section 354 approval = 50%, capped at 10% of adjusted gross total income. Renovation of a notified temple/mosque/church/gurdwara = 50%, capped.
100% deduction, no cap
Provision: Section 133(1)(a)(i) to (xxii) of the 2025 Act [old Section 80G(1)(i) read with 80G(2)(a) named funds]
Examples:
- National Defence Fund set up by the Central Government
- Prime Minister's National Relief Fund (PMNRF)
- PM CARES Fund
- National Children's Fund
- National Foundation for Communal Harmony
- An approved university or educational institution of national eminence
- Any State Government fund set up to provide medical relief to the poor
- Army Central Welfare Fund, Indian Naval Benevolent Fund, Air Force Central Welfare Fund
- Chief Minister's Relief Fund or Lieutenant Governor's Relief Fund of a State/UT
- National Illness Assistance Fund
- Zila Saksharta Samiti (district literacy committee)
- National Blood Transfusion Council and State Blood Transfusion Councils
- National Sports Development Fund / National Sports Fund
- National Cultural Fund
- Fund for Technology Development and Application
- National Trust for Welfare of Persons with Autism, Cerebral Palsy, Mental Retardation and Multiple Disabilities
- Swachh Bharat Kosh (but NOT the part that is a company's CSR spend)
- Clean Ganga Fund - resident donors only (but NOT the part that is a company's CSR spend)
- National Fund for Control of Drug Abuse
- Chief Minister's Earthquake Relief Fund, Gujarat / specified State earthquake and cyclone relief funds
- Prime Minister's Armenia Earthquake Relief Fund; Africa (Public Contributions - India) Fund
Note: Deduct the whole donation. No 10% cap. This is the category donors mean when they say 'full 100% exemption'.
100% deduction, capped at 10%
Provision: Section 133(1)(a)(xxiii) and (xxiv), which Section 133(2) subjects to the 10% ceiling [old Section 80G(2)(b) and 80G(2)(c)]
Examples:
- Donations to the Government or any approved local authority/institution/association for the promotion of family planning
- Donations by a COMPANY to the Indian Olympic Association or to a notified association for the development of infrastructure for sports and games in India, or for sponsorship of sports and games in India
Note: You deduct 100%, but only of so much of the donation as falls within 10% of adjusted gross total income. The Olympic/sports limb is available to companies only.
50% deduction, no cap
Provision: Section 133(1)(b)(i) of the 2025 Act, which Section 133(2) does NOT cover [old Section 80G(1)(ii) read with 80G(2)(a) named funds]
Examples:
- Prime Minister's Drought Relief Fund
Note: Under the 1961 Act this bucket also contained the Jawaharlal Nehru Memorial Fund, the Indira Gandhi Memorial Trust and the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation. The text of Section 133 of the 2025 Act as published does not carry those three names forward, leaving the PM's Drought Relief Fund as the surviving example. Flag this as a change to verify before publishing a list.
50% deduction, capped at 10%
Provision: Section 133(1)(b)(ii) to (vi), subject to Section 133(2) [old Section 80G(1)(ii) read with 80G(2)(a)(iv),(v),(vi),(via),(vii) and 80G(4)]
Examples:
- ANY ordinary charitable trust, society or Section 8 company that holds a valid approval - i.e. the overwhelming majority of Indian NGOs a retail donor gives to. Under the 2025 Act this is a registered non-profit organisation covered by Schedule VII (Table Sl. No. 1) and approved under Section 354
- The Government or any local authority, for a charitable purpose other than family planning
- An authority constituted for dealing with and satisfying the need for housing accommodation or for planning/development of towns, villages and cities
- A corporation established by the Centre or a State for promoting the interests of a minority community
- Notified places of historic, archaeological or artistic importance, and notified places of public worship, for renovation or repair
Note: This is the default bucket. If an NGO's 80G certificate does not say otherwise, assume 50% with the 10% qualifying limit. It is the single most common source of donor over-claiming.
The 10% cap
Qualifying limit
What It Is. A ceiling on how much DONATION can enter the computation - not a ceiling on the deduction itself. Donations falling in the capped categories are added up; anything above 10% of adjusted gross total income is simply ignored. The 50% or 100% rate is then applied to what survives.
Provision. Section 133(2) of the Income-tax Act, 2025 [old Section 80G(4) of the Income-tax Act, 1961]
Which Donations Are Capped. Only the capped categories - Section 133(1)(a)(xxiii), (xxiv) and (1)(b)(ii) to (vi). Donations to the named national funds in Section 133(1)(a)(i)-(xxii) and to the PM's Drought Relief Fund are outside the cap entirely.
Statutory Wording: Section 133(7)(a) of the 2025 Act (mirroring the parenthesis in old Section 80G(4)) defines it as gross total income as reduced by (i) any portion of it on which income-tax is not payable under any provision of the Act, and (ii) any amount in respect of which the assessee is entitled to a deduction under any OTHER provision of the same Chapter.
What Is Subtracted In Practice:
- All other Chapter VIII / Chapter VI-A deductions actually claimed - Section 123 (old 80C), Section 124 (old 80CCD), Section 126 (old 80D), Section 145 (old 80TTA/80TTB), etc. - but NOT the 80G/133 deduction itself
- Income exempt from tax / on which income-tax is not payable
- Long-term capital gains included in gross total income
- Short-term capital gains charged at the special rate (old Section 111A - listed equity/equity mutual funds through a recognised exchange)
- Income of non-residents and foreign companies charged at the special rates of old Sections 115A/115AB/115AC/115AD
- A member's share of income from an AOP/BOI on which the member pays no tax
Note On The Last Four: These exclusions follow from the rule that Chapter VI-A / Chapter VIII deductions cannot be set off against income taxed at special rates, rather than from words inside Section 80G/133 itself. The result is the same and is the settled professional practice, but the 2025 Act expresses the definition in the short two-limb form above rather than as an itemised list.
Facts: Ms A, salaried, files under the OLD regime for FY 2026-27. Gross total income Rs 12,00,000, which includes Rs 1,00,000 of long-term capital gains on listed shares. She claims Rs 1,50,000 under Section 123 (old 80C) and Rs 25,000 under Section 126 (old 80D). She donates Rs 1,50,000 to an approved NGO (50% with qualifying limit) by bank transfer, and Rs 50,000 to PM CARES (100%, no limit).
Step 1 Adjusted Gti: 12,00,000 - 1,00,000 (LTCG) - 1,50,000 (Sec 123) - 25,000 (Sec 126) = Rs 9,25,000
Step 2 Ten Percent Cap: 10% of 9,25,000 = Rs 92,500
Step 3 Apply Cap To Capped Donation: NGO donation Rs 1,50,000, but only Rs 92,500 qualifies. Rs 57,500 is ignored.
Step 4 Apply Rate: 50% of Rs 92,500 = Rs 46,250
Step 5 Uncapped Donation: PM CARES Rs 50,000 at 100%, outside the cap = Rs 50,000
Total Deduction: Rs 46,250 + Rs 50,000 = Rs 96,250
Sanity Check: She donated Rs 2,00,000 and deducts Rs 96,250. At a 30% slab plus 4% cess the tax saved is about Rs 30,030. Had she stayed in the default NEW regime the deduction would have been NIL.
Other Ceilings. The aggregate of all Chapter VIII deductions can never exceed gross total income, and the deduction cannot be claimed against income taxed at special rates.
Cash
The ₹2,000 rule
Threshold. Rs 2,000
Rule. No deduction is allowed for a donation of any sum EXCEEDING Rs 2,000 unless it is paid by a mode other than cash. A cash donation of Rs 2,000 or less is still deductible; a cash donation above Rs 2,000 gets nothing at all - it is not merely restricted to Rs 2,000.
Provision New Act. Section 133(5) of the Income-tax Act, 2025
Provision Old Act. Section 80G(5D) of the Income-tax Act, 1961 (the threshold was reduced from Rs 10,000 to Rs 2,000 by the Finance Act 2017 with effect from AY 2018-19)
- Account-payee cheque
- Demand draft / banker's cheque
- NEFT, RTGS, IMPS
- UPI
- Debit card, credit card, net banking
- Any other electronic mode prescribed by the rules
Deductible:
Provision: Section 133(4) of the 2025 Act expressly allows the deduction only for a donation made as a SUM OF MONEY (old law reached the same result through the words 'sums paid' in Section 80G and settled case law).
Examples Not Allowed: Clothes, food, blankets, medicines, books, laptops, furniture, land, shares, a car, sweat equity or volunteer time. An NGO cannot convert these into an 80G receipt by valuing them.
80GGA Section 135: Same Rs 2,000 cash ceiling.
80GGC 80GGB Sections 136 137: Stricter - NO deduction for any cash contribution to a political party, at any amount.
Itr Utility Behaviour: The AY 2026-27 ITR validation rules cap the eligible amount for cash donations against the same donee PAN at Rs 2,000, and make the bank IFSC and transaction reference number MANDATORY for every non-cash donation entered in Schedule 80G.
The certificate
Form 10BE — you cannot claim without it
Statement Of Donations: Form 10BD under the 1961 Act / Rule 18AB; from FY 2026-27 it is Form 113 (FN 113) under Rule 190(2) of the Income-tax Rules, 2026, filed under Section 354(1)(e) of the Income-tax Act, 2025. It is the donee's annual, donor-wise statement of all donations received.
Certificate Of Donation: Form 10BE under the 1961 Act; from FY 2026-27 it is Form 114 (FN 114) under Rule 190(7) of the Rules 2026, issued under Section 354(1)(g). It is the donor's proof, generated by the portal from the statement.
Official Confirmation: The Income Tax Department's own 'Form 113 & 114 - Frequently Asked Questions' states that FN 113 corresponds to Section 354(1) of the Income-tax Act 2025 and to the earlier Section 80G / Section 35 of the 1961 Act, and that FN 114 is the donation certificate issued to the donor.
Who Files. The DONEE, not the donor. Every fund/institution approved for donations (approval under Section 354 of the 2025 Act, previously Section 80G(5)(vi)) and every research association/university/institution approved under the old Section 35(1)(ii)/(iia)/(iii) (now Section 45(4)) must file. There is no de minimis - even small donations are reported where donor details exist. The named Government funds (PMNRF, PM CARES, National Defence Fund, CM Relief Funds and the like) are NOT approval-based institutions and do not file this statement; they issue their own receipts.
Filing Mode. Online only, through the income-tax e-filing portal, addressed to the Commissioner of Income-tax (CPC), verified by DSC or EVC.
Deadline. 31 May immediately following the end of the tax year/financial year in which the donations were received. The certificate to the donor must also be issued by 31 May. So donations of FY 2026-27 are reported by 31 May 2027.
Corrections. A correction/revised statement can be filed to fix a wrong PAN, a wrong amount, an omitted donor or a duplicate entry. Fresh certificates regenerate after the correction. There is no statutory bar on filing corrections, but do it before the donor files their return.
Late Fee: Rs 200 for every day the failure continues, capped at the amount of the donations in respect of which the failure occurred, and payable before the statement is delivered or the certificate furnished. Section 429 of the Income-tax Act 2025 (old Section 234G).
Penalty: Rs 10,000 minimum to Rs 1,00,000 maximum, levied by the Assessing Officer, for failure to deliver the statement under Section 354(1)(e) or to furnish the certificate under Section 354(1)(g). Section 464 of the Income-tax Act 2025 (old Section 271K).
Collateral Damage: Far worse than the money: if the NGO does not file, its donors get no deduction, and persistent default is a ground for cancellation of the Section 354 approval and the Section 332 registration.
- Donor's name and PAN exactly as on the PAN database
- Donor's address
- The unique registration number (URN) / approval number of the donee and the date of the approval order
- The amount of the donation and whether it was paid in cash or another mode
- The type/section under which it is reported (donation eligible for deduction, corpus/specific grant, etc.)
- The ARN - the acknowledgement/donation reference number of the donee's Form 10BD/113 filing. This is what goes into the ITR.
Rule: From AY 2023-24 onwards the 80G claim must be backed by, and match, the certificate. The deduction is allowed on the basis of the information about the donation furnished by the donee institution to the prescribed income-tax authority, and that information is cross-verified in accordance with the Board's risk-management strategy. The 2025 Act restates this in Section 133(6) for donations covered by Section 133(1)(b)(ii); the 1961 Act carried it in the proviso to Section 80G(5) read with clauses (viii) and (ix).
Practical Effect: A donation receipt on the NGO's letterhead is no longer sufficient on its own. If the donee never filed Form 10BD/113, the donation does not appear in the department's records, the donor has no Form 10BE/114 and no ARN, and the claim is liable to be disallowed when the return is processed under the equivalent of Section 143(1). The name, PAN, amount and registration particulars in the certificate must line up with the ITR entry.
Also Check: The donee's Form 10BD/113 total must reconcile with the voluntary contributions reported in its audit report (Form 10B/10BB, now Form 112) - a mismatch invites scrutiny of the NGO.
Claiming it
What to actually do at filing time
Step Zero Regime Check. Before anything else: confirm you are filing under the OLD regime. Under the default new regime the claim is simply not allowed and the ITR utility will block it (the AY 2026-27 ITR-1 validation rules say that where the new regime is selected the 80G deduction 'should not be more than 0' and no details should be provided in Schedule 80G).
During The Year:
- Donate by cheque/NEFT/UPI/card, never in cash above Rs 2,000.
- Collect a receipt carrying the NGO's name, address, PAN and its 80G / Section 354 approval number and validity period, plus the donation date and amount.
- Give the employer a declaration in Form 12BB only if the donation is of the narrow type an employer is permitted to consider in salary TDS. As a matter of long-standing CBDT practice set out in the annual TDS-on-salary circular, the drawing and disbursing officer should NOT allow ordinary 80G donations while computing salary TDS; only donations in the 100%-deduction-without-qualifying-limit category, made through the employer, are considered. Everything else is claimed in the return and comes back as a refund.
- After the year ends, wait for the donee to file its statement and download/receive Form 10BE (Form 114 from FY 2026-27) by 31 May. Check the Annual Information Statement too.
At Filing:
- Choose the old regime in the return, and file by the due date - a belated return cannot use the old regime.
- Use the ITR form applicable to you - ITR-1 (Sahaj) for simple salary cases, ITR-2 if you have capital gains or more than one house property.
- Fill Schedule 80G, then carry the computed eligible amount into the Chapter VI-A / Chapter VIII deduction line in Part C of the return.
- Cross-check the eligible amount the utility computes against your own qualifying-limit working - the utility applies the 10% cap for you in the 'with limit' tables.
Business Professional Or Investor:
- Same substantive steps, but the return is ITR-3 (business/profession) or ITR-4 (presumptive) or ITR-2 (no business income).
- A person with business/professional income who wants the old regime must exercise the opt-out on or before the due date under Section 263(1) of the 2025 Act (old Section 139(1)); under the 1961 Act this was done in Form 10-IEA before filing the return. Under the draft/notified Income-tax Rules 2026 the option is exercised in the return of income itself rather than in a separate form - confirm the exact mechanism on the portal at filing time.
- Remember the one-way door: once a business-income taxpayer withdraws the opt-out, they cannot opt out again while they still have business income.
- A firm or LLP files ITR-5 and claims the deduction under normal provisions - no regime election is involved.
- A company claims it in ITR-6, but only if it has NOT opted for the Section 200/115BAA concessional rate.
Schedule: Schedule 80G, inside the Chapter VI-A / Chapter VIII deductions part of the return. Donations for scientific research or rural development go in the separate Schedule 80GGA; political contributions in Schedule 80GGC.
Four Tables:
- Table A - donations entitled to 100% deduction WITHOUT qualifying limit
- Table B - donations entitled to 50% deduction WITHOUT qualifying limit
- Table C - donations entitled to 100% deduction SUBJECT TO qualifying limit
- Table D - donations entitled to 50% deduction SUBJECT TO qualifying limit (this is where a normal NGO donation goes)
Columns Per Donation:
- Name of the donee
- Address / Address detail
- City or town or district
- State code
- PIN code
- PAN of the donee
- Donation in cash
- Donation in other mode
- Total donation
- Eligible amount of donation (auto-computed after the 10% cap in Tables C and D)
- ARN (Donation Reference Number) - a column added in Table D from AY 2023-24; take it from the Form 10BE / Form 114 certificate
- From AY 2026-27: bank IFSC code and the transaction reference number are mandatory for every non-cash donation
Validation Traps:
- The donee's PAN cannot be the same as the assessee's own PAN or the PAN at verification.
- The same donee PAN cannot be entered in more than one of the four tables.
- For cash donations against the same donee PAN, the eligible amount is restricted to Rs 2,000.
Caveat: These field lists are confirmed for the AY 2026-27 ITR forms and validation rules. The return forms for the first year of the 2025 Act (FY 2026-27) had not been notified as at September 2026; expect the same data to be asked for, possibly under a schedule renamed for Section 133.
Records To Retain. Form 10BE/114 certificate, the NGO's 80G/Section 354 approval order (Form 107/106 or the old 10AC/10AD), the stamped receipt, and the bank statement line or UPI reference proving the non-cash mode. Keep them for at least the reassessment window; for political contributions the department has been reopening old years aggressively.
For NGOs
12A and 80G are two different things
What It Is. Registration of a charitable or religious trust/society/Section 8 company with the income-tax department so that the ORGANISATION'S OWN INCOME is exempt from tax when applied to its objects. Without it, an NGO's receipts are taxed like any other person's income. Section 12A was the original provision, Section 12AA the old procedure (omitted), and Section 12AB the current registration provision with fixed-tenure registrations, inserted by the Taxation and Other Laws Act 2020 with effect from 1 April 2021.
New Terminology: The Income-tax Act 2025 folds 12A, 12AA, 12AB and the old 10(23C) approvals into a single status - the 'registered non-profit organisation' (RNPO), defined in Section 355(g) and governed by Part B of Chapter XVII, Sections 332 to 355.
Registration Section: Section 332 - Application for registration. Section 333 deals with the registration order/related procedure; cancellation and related powers sit in Section 351; the exit tax on accreted income (old Section 115TD) is Section 352.
Transition: An organisation holding a valid, uncancelled 12A/12AA/12AB or 10(23C) registration on 1 April 2026 becomes an RNPO automatically. The existing certificate runs for its original remaining period - the clock does not restart. A registration that had already lapsed or been cancelled does NOT revive; it needs a fresh Section 332 application.
Twelve A 332: Benefits the NGO. Exempts the NGO's income from tax if applied to charitable purposes. Without it the NGO pays tax at maximum marginal rate on its surplus.
Eighty G 133 354: Benefits the DONOR. Lets the person giving money reduce their own taxable income. It does nothing for the NGO's own tax position.
Why Both: They are independent approvals with separate applications, separate orders and separate renewal clocks. An NGO with only 12A/332 is tax-exempt but cannot offer donors a deduction, which materially hurts fundraising. An NGO with 80G/354 but no 12A/332 is in a practically impossible position - Section 354/80G(5) requires the institution's income not to be liable to inclusion in its total income, which in practice means holding the registration. Serious donors and CSR funders ask for both certificates plus the 10BE/114 capability before releasing funds.
Provisional: 3 tax years, granted where activities have not yet commenced (Section 332(3) Case 1; the provisional registration is granted under Section 332(8)). Old law: provisional registration under Section 12AB for 3 years.
Regular: 5 tax years in the normal case.
Ten Year Option: Section 332(5) extends the validity to TEN tax years for the renewal/conversion cases (Cases 3 to 7) where the applicant's total income, computed without giving effect to this Part, does not exceed Rs 5 crore in EACH of the two tax years preceding the tax year in which the application is made. This corresponds to the relief introduced by the Finance Act 2025 for smaller trusts, which lengthened 12AB registration from 5 to 10 years for the same threshold.
Provisional To Regular Route: Apply for provisional registration before starting activities; get 3 years. Then, WITHIN SIX MONTHS of actually commencing activities (or at least six months before the provisional registration expires, whichever applies), apply for regular registration. A regular registration of 5 (or 10) years follows.
Renewal Deadline: At least SIX MONTHS before the existing registration expires. Example: a registration expiring on 31 March 2027 must be renewed by 30 September 2026.
Order Timelines: One month from the end of the month of application for a provisional case; six months from the end of the quarter in which the application is filed for the other cases.
Late Application: Section 332(4) lets the Commissioner condone a delay for reasonable cause. Section 332(6) is the sting: missing the deadline without condonation triggers tax on accreted income under Section 352 - the exit tax on the NGO's net assets.
Other Trigger: Any modification of objects that does not conform to the registration conditions requires a fresh application within THIRTY DAYS of the modification (Section 332(3) Case 7).
Form 104: Application for provisional registration (and provisional approval) - the successor to Form 10A. Relates to Section 332(3) and Section 354(2). Filed online by any registered non-individual user on the e-filing portal, verified by DSC or EVC. It can be withdrawn within 7 days of filing.
Form 105: Application for regular registration, conversion from provisional, renewal and re-registration - the successor to Form 10AB.
Form 106: The provisional registration/approval order, carrying a 16-digit Unique Registration Number (URN). Available about 7 days after Form 104 is filed. Successor to Form 10AC.
Form 107: The final registration/approval order (or rejection). Successor to Form 10AD.
Form 112: Audit report of the NGO's accounts - successor to Form 10B/10BB.
Ongoing Obligations. Maintain books of account, get them audited and file Form 112 where turnover/income thresholds are crossed, file the NPO return (Section 349 of the 2025 Act - the Finance Act 2026 amended Section 349 to permit a BELATED return by an NPO, a welcome relaxation), apply at least 85% of income to objects, keep anonymous donations and specified-person benefits in check, and file the donation statement in Form 113 with certificates in Form 114.
For NGOs
80G approval and renewal
What It Gives The Ngo. Approval that lets DONORS claim a deduction for what they give. It is a fundraising asset, not a tax exemption for the NGO. Practically it is what makes retail giving, payroll giving, corporate cheques and most CSR conversations possible; large donors and platforms will not on-board an NGO without it.
Provision. Approval under Section 354 of the Income-tax Act, 2025 - headed 'Application for approval for purpose of section 133(1)(b)(ii)' - which is the successor to approval under Section 80G(5)(vi) of the 1961 Act. The approved NGO sits in Schedule VII (Table Sl. No. 1) and donations to it attract 50% deduction subject to the 10% qualifying limit.
- Not established for the benefit of any particular religious community or caste
- Religious expenditure not exceeding 5% of total income in any year
- Instrument/rules must not permit transfer or application of income or assets for any purpose other than a charitable purpose
- Regular accounts of receipts and expenditure must be maintained
- Income must not be liable to inclusion in the NGO's total income (in practice, it must hold registration under Section 332 / erstwhile 12AB)
- It must deliver the prescribed donation statement (Form 113) within time, file correction statements where needed, and furnish the donation certificate (Form 114) to each donor by the prescribed date
Provisional Approval: 3 tax years, where activities have not yet commenced (Section 354 table, Case 1; application in Form 104).
Regular Approval: 5 tax years. Note the asymmetry with registration: the 10-year option in Section 332(5) applies to REGISTRATION, not to the Section 354 donation approval, which stays on a 5-year cycle.
Conversion: Where provisional approval is held and activities have commenced, apply within six months of commencement of activities.
Renewal: Apply at least SIX MONTHS before the existing approval expires, in Form 105. The order is to be passed within six months from the end of the quarter in which the application is filed. Renewed approval runs for 5 tax years from the tax year following the year of application.
Separate Clock: The 80G/354 approval renews on its own timeline, independent of the 12A/332 registration. NGOs routinely renew one and forget the other.
Forms. Form 104 (provisional application), Form 106 (provisional approval order with 16-digit URN), Form 105 (regular approval / renewal), Form 107 (final approval or rejection order). Under the 1961 Act these were Form 10A, 10AC, 10AB and 10AD.
Consequences:
- The approval simply lapses on expiry. It does not auto-renew and it does not revive.
- From the date of lapse the NGO cannot issue valid 80G/Section 354 receipts. Donations received in the gap are not deductible for donors, and the NGO cannot report them in Form 113 as deduction-eligible.
- The NGO must apply afresh; the new approval takes effect prospectively, so the gap period is generally unrecoverable.
- Donors who already claimed on the strength of a lapsed approval face disallowance on processing, plus interest, and potentially a misreporting penalty.
- If the corresponding Section 332 REGISTRATION is also allowed to lapse without condonation, the far heavier consequence is tax on accreted income under Section 352 (old Section 115TD) - effectively an exit tax on the organisation's net assets.
Mitigation: Section 332(4) gives the Commissioner power to condone delay in the registration application for reasonable cause, and the CBDT has historically issued circulars extending these deadlines (for example the repeated extensions for Form 10A/10AB up to 30 June 2024). Rely on neither. Diarise both renewals 9-12 months ahead.
Watch Item: A general power to condone delay in the Section 354 APPROVAL application, equivalent to Section 332(4) for registration, was not confirmed in the sources reviewed - treat the six-month-before-expiry deadline as hard.
Mistakes
Ten things people get wrong
Who this catches: Donor
The new regime is the default since FY 2023-24 and most salaried people never actively choose a regime. The donation receipt says '80G' so they assume it works.
What goes wrong: Straight disallowance at processing. The ITR utility itself blocks it - the AY 2026-27 ITR-1 validation rules require the 80G deduction to be nil and Schedule 80G to be empty when the new regime is selected.
Fix: Opt out into the old regime in a return filed by the DUE DATE, and only if the total old-regime benefits beat the new-regime slabs. Otherwise accept that the donation carries no tax benefit.
Who this catches: Donor
NGO marketing says 'save tax on 100% of your donation', or the donor confuses '100% of your donation reaches the field' with 'deduct 100%'.
What goes wrong: Half the claim is disallowed. Most private NGOs fall in the 50%-with-qualifying-limit bucket; only the funds named in the Act get 100%.
Fix: Read the approval order and the Form 10BE/114 category, and put the entry in the right table (A/B/C/D) of Schedule 80G.
Who this catches: Donor
The donor holds a stamped receipt and assumes it is proof, as it was before AY 2023-24.
What goes wrong: The department allows the deduction on the basis of the donee's statement. No statement means no record, no ARN, and disallowance on processing.
Fix: Wait for the certificate (due by 31 May), reconcile name, PAN and amount, and quote the ARN in Table D.
Who this catches: Donor
Cash boxes, hundis, donation drives and events.
What goes wrong: The WHOLE donation is disallowed, not just the excess over Rs 2,000. A Rs 20,000 cash donation gives a deduction of zero.
Fix: Pay by UPI, card, NEFT or cheque and keep the transaction reference - from AY 2026-27 the IFSC and transaction reference are mandatory ITR fields for non-cash donations.
Who this catches: Donor
The 10% cap is invisible on the receipt and the donor applies 50% to the full amount.
What goes wrong: Over-claim, notice, interest. A large one-off donation relative to income is the classic case.
Fix: Compute adjusted GTI first, cap the capped-category donations at 10% of it, then apply 50% or 100%.
Who this catches: Donor
The NGO issues a valuation letter or a receipt showing an amount.
What goes wrong: Not deductible at all. The deduction is allowed only for a donation made as a sum of money (Section 133(4); old Section 80G 'sums paid').
Fix: Donate money and let the NGO buy the goods.
Who this catches: Donor
Poor calendar discipline; or a CFO forgets the company opted into Section 200/115BAA years ago.
What goes wrong: A belated return cannot carry the old-regime option, so the deduction dies. A Section 200/115BAA company gets no 80G/133 at all - only Sections 146 and 148 (old 80JJAA and 80M) survive.
Fix: File by the due date. For corporates, check the regime election before budgeting a donation as tax-effective, and remember that firms and LLPs have no such restriction.
Who this catches: NGO
It is a once-a-year form, donor PAN data is messy, and small NGOs think it is optional below some threshold. There is no threshold.
What goes wrong: Rs 200 per day fee under Section 429 (old 234G) capped at the donation amount, penalty of Rs 10,000 to Rs 1,00,000 under Section 464 (old 271K), every donor's deduction disallowed, and eventual risk to the approval itself.
Fix: Collect PAN at the point of donation, reconcile the statement with the audit report, file by 31 May and issue certificates the same week. File a correction statement for errors before donors file their returns.
Who this catches: NGO
The two approvals have separate clocks and the renewal must be filed six months BEFORE expiry, not after.
What goes wrong: Donations in the gap are not deductible; a lapsed registration cannot be revived and can trigger tax on accreted income under Section 352 (old 115TD).
Fix: Diarise both renewals 9-12 months ahead; file Form 105 at least six months before expiry.
Who this catches: NGO
Copy-paste marketing language.
What goes wrong: Misleading for a 50% institution, and outright false for the ~75%+ of individual taxpayers now on the new regime who get nothing. It creates refund disputes and reputational risk.
Fix: Say 'eligible for deduction under Section 80G (Section 133 from FY 2026-27) if you file under the old tax regime', and state the correct percentage and whether the qualifying limit applies.
Questions
What donors ask
No. Under the new tax regime - the default since FY 2023-24 - an individual or HUF gets no deduction for donations. Section 115BAC(2)(i) of the 1961 Act, and Section 202(2)(a) of the Income-tax Act 2025 which governs FY 2026-27 onwards, both compute total income without any Chapter VI-A / Chapter VIII deduction except the NPS employer contribution, the Agniveer Corpus Fund and the employer's additional-employee-cost deduction. Section 80G/133 is not among them. You can claim the donation only if you positively opt out into the old regime in a return filed by the due date. The rule is the same for PM CARES and every other 100% fund - there is no fund-specific exception.
It depends entirely on who you gave to. Donations to the funds named in the Act - National Defence Fund, PM's National Relief Fund, PM CARES, National Children's Fund, a CM's Relief Fund, the National Trust for persons with disabilities and so on - get 100% with no ceiling. Donations to an ordinary approved NGO get 50%, and only of so much of the donation as falls within 10% of your adjusted gross total income. Two smaller buckets exist: family planning donations to the Government and a company's sports donations to the Indian Olympic Association get 100% but WITH the 10% ceiling, and the PM's Drought Relief Fund gets 50% with no ceiling. Check the category printed on the approval order and on your Form 10BE/114.
No. Since AY 2023-24 the deduction is allowed on the basis of the donation statement the NGO files with the department, so you need the certificate generated from it - Form 10BE, renamed Form 114 from FY 2026-27 - and you quote its ARN in the return. A letterhead receipt alone will not survive processing. If the NGO never filed its statement, your claim will be disallowed even though you genuinely donated.
There is no rupee limit like 80C's Rs 1.5 lakh. For the 'with qualifying limit' categories - which includes almost every private NGO - the donations that count are capped at 10% of your adjusted gross total income, and you then deduct 50% of that. For the named national funds there is no cap at all. Adjusted gross total income means gross total income less your other Chapter VI-A/VIII deductions, exempt income, long-term capital gains, special-rate short-term capital gains on listed equity and non-resident special-rate income. And the overriding limit: under the new regime the answer is zero regardless.
Only up to Rs 2,000. Any donation exceeding Rs 2,000 paid in cash gets no deduction at all - the whole amount is lost, not just the excess. Pay by UPI, card, net banking, NEFT/RTGS/IMPS, cheque or demand draft. From AY 2026-27 the return also asks for the bank IFSC and the transaction reference number for non-cash donations, so keep the payment trail. Political contributions under Section 80GGC/137 are stricter still: no cash deduction at any amount.
Yes, in substance - but the number changed. From 1 April 2026 the Income-tax Act 2025 replaced the 1961 Act, and the donation deduction is now Section 133, in Chapter VIII. The rates, the four categories, the 10% qualifying limit, the Rs 2,000 cash rule and the donee-reporting requirement all carry over. For NGOs, 12A/12AB registration becomes registration under Section 332 as a 'registered non-profit organisation', 80G approval becomes approval under Section 354, Form 10A/10AB become Forms 104/105, and Form 10BD/10BE become Forms 113/114.
Usually not. Under long-standing CBDT guidance in the annual TDS-on-salary circular, an employer should not allow ordinary 80G donations while computing salary TDS; only donations in the 100%-without-qualifying-limit category that are routed through the employer are considered. Everything else you claim yourself in the return and receive as a refund. And none of it applies if you are on the new regime.
Only in specific situations. General offerings and hundi donations are not deductible. A donation for the renovation or repair of a notified place of public worship, or of a notified place of historic, archaeological or artistic importance, gets 50% subject to the 10% qualifying limit. A religious trust can itself hold an 80G/Section 354 approval only if it is not for the benefit of a particular religious community or caste and its religious expenditure stays within 5% of its income.
12A - now registration under Section 332 - exempts the NGO'S OWN income from tax. 80G - now approval under Section 354 - lets DONORS deduct what they give. They are separate applications with separate orders and separate renewal clocks, and a serious NGO needs both: without 332 the organisation pays tax on its surplus, and without 354 it cannot offer donors any deduction, which closes off retail and most corporate fundraising.
Provisional registration and provisional approval run 3 years. Regular registration runs 5 years, extendable to 10 years where the organisation's total income (before the exemption) did not exceed Rs 5 crore in each of the two preceding years. The Section 354 donation approval stays on a 5-year cycle - the 10-year option does not apply to it. Renewal must be applied for at least SIX MONTHS before expiry, in Form 105. A lapsed approval does not revive; donations received in the gap are not deductible, and a lapsed registration can trigger tax on accreted income under Section 352.
Yes, if the NRI has income chargeable to tax in India, files an Indian return under the old regime, and donates to an eligible Indian institution by a non-cash mode. The same rates, qualifying limit and Form 10BE/114 requirements apply. Note that income taxed at the non-resident special rates is stripped out when computing adjusted gross total income, which can shrink the 10% ceiling to very little. Separately, the NGO's ability to receive foreign-currency contributions is an FCRA question, not an income-tax one.
Chase the NGO - it can still file, or file a correction statement, paying the Rs 200-per-day fee under Section 429 (old 234G) and risking a Rs 10,000 to Rs 1,00,000 penalty under Section 464 (old 271K). Once it files, download the Form 10BE/114 and use its ARN. If it will not file, your claim is very likely to be disallowed on processing; claiming anyway invites interest and penalty for a wrong claim.
Verified September 2026 against the Income-tax Act 1961, the Income-tax Act 2025 (in force from 1 April 2026, which renumbers Section 80G as Section 133 and 12A/12AB as Section 332), CBDT ITR validation rules and the income tax portal. This is general information, not tax advice — your own position depends on your regime, income and filing date, and a chartered accountant should confirm it. Scapex Foundation cannot file your return or advise on it.