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2020 (9) TMI 1095 - AT - Income TaxExemption u/s 11 - charitable or commercial activities - assessee was earning huge profits by providing data connectivity to its subscribers in lieu of consideration as per its objects and nowhere, charity can be seen in the whole process - charitable or commercial activities - assessee is an autonomous society established under the aegis of Department of Information Technology, Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, Government of India, as a non-profit organization - HELD THAT:- As decided in own case [2018 (1) TMI 189 - ITAT DELHI] activity of the petitioner involves promotion, propagation and spreading awareness and knowledge about global coding identification system GS1. The entire expenditure of the petitioner has to be taken into consideration and cannot be ignored. There are stipulations in sections 11, 13, etc., of the Act to prevent misuse of or siphoning of funds, bar/prohibit gains to related persons, stipulations of time limits for use of funds, which are effective checks and curtail and deny benefit in cases of abuse. There is no such allegation or contention of the Revenue in the present case. Fee charged and the quantum of income earned can be indicative of the fact that the person is carrying on the business or commerce and not charity, but we must keep in mind that charitable activities require operational/running expenses as well as capital expenses to be able to sustain and continue in long run. The petitioner has to be substantially self-sustaining in long-term and should not depend upon the Government, in other words, taxpayers should not subsidize the said activities, which nevertheless are charitable and fall under the residuary clause "general public utility". The impugned order does not refer to any statutory mandate that a charitable institution falling under the last clause should be wholly, substantially or in part must be funded by voluntary contributions. No such requirement has been pointed out or argued. A practical and pragmatic view is required when we examine the data, which should be analyzed objectively and a narrow and coloured view will be counter-productive and contrary to the language of section 2(15) - Decided in favour of assessee.
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