Amendment of section 11.
5. In section 11 of the Income-tax Act,––
(a) in sub-section (1), after Explanation 3, the following Explanations shall be inserted and shall be deemed to have been inserted with effect from the 1st day of April, 2021, namely:––
“Explanation 3A.––For the purposes of this subsection, where the property held under a trust or institution includes any temple, mosque, gurdwara, church or other place notified under clause (b) of subsection (2) of section 80G, any sum received by such trust or institution as voluntary contribution for the purpose of renovation or repair of such temple, mosque, gurdwara, church or other place, may, at its option, be treated by such trust or institution as forming part of the corpus of the trust or the institution, subject to the condition that the trust or the institution––
(a) applies such corpus only for the purpose for which the voluntary contribution was made;
(b) does not apply such corpus for making contribution or donation to any person;
(c) maintains such corpus as separately identifiable; and
(d) invests or deposits such corpus in the forms and modes specified under sub-section (5) of section 11.
Explanation 3B.––For the purposes of Explanation 3A, where any trust or institution has treated any sum received by it as forming part of the corpus, and subsequently any of the conditions specified in clause (a) or clause (b) or clause (c) or clause (d) of the said Explanation is violated, such sum shall be deemed to be the income of such trust or institution of the previous year during which the violation takes place.”;
(b) in sub-section (3), with effect from the 1st day of April, 2023,––
(a) in clause (c), the words “or in the year immediately following the expiry thereof” shall be omitted;
(b) for the long line, the following long line shall be substituted, namely:––
“shall be deemed to be the income of such person of the previous year––
(i) in which it is so applied or ceases to be so accumulated or set apart under clause (a); or
(ii) in which it ceases to remain so invested or deposited under clause (b); or
(iii) being the last previous year of the period, for which the income is accumulated or set apart but not utilised for the purpose for which it is so accumulated or set apart under clause (c); or
(iv) in which it is credited or paid to any fund or institution or trust or any university or other educational institution or any hospital or other medical institution under clause (d).”;
(c) after sub-section (7), the following shall be inserted, namely:––
“Explanation.––For the purposes of this section, any sum payable by any trust or institution shall be considered as application of income in the previous year in which such sum is actually paid by it (irrespective of the previous year in which the liability to pay such sum was incurred by the trust or institution according to the method of accounting regularly employed by it):
Provided that where during any previous year, any sum has been claimed to have been applied by the trust or institution, such sum shall not be allowed as application in any subsequent previous year.”.
Notes on Clauses:
Clause 5 seeks to amend section 11 of the Income-tax Act relating to income from property held for charitable or religious purposes.
Clause (d) of sub-section (1) of the said section provides that subject to the provisions of sections 60 to 63, income in the form of voluntary contributions made with a specific direction that they shall form part of the corpus of the trust or institution, subject to the condition that such voluntary contributions are invested or deposited in one or more of the forms or modes specified in sub-section (5) maintained specifically for such corpus, shall not be included in the total income of the previous year of the person in receipt of the income.
It is proposed to insert a new Explanation 3A to sub-section (1) to provide that where the property held under a trust or institution includes any temple, mosque, gurdwara, church or other place notified under clause (b) of sub-section (2) of section 80G, any sum received by such trust or institution as voluntary contribution for the purpose of renovation or repair of such temple, mosque, gurdwara, church or other place, may, at its option, be treated by such trust or institution as forming part of the corpus of the trust or the institution, subject to the condition that the trust or the institution––
(a) applies such corpus only for the purpose for which the voluntary contribution was made;
(b) does not apply such corpus for making contribution or donation to any person;
(c) maintains such corpus as separately identifiable; and
(d) invests or deposits such corpus in the forms and modes specified under sub-section (5) of section 11.
It is also proposed to insert a new Explanation 3B to the said sub-section (1) to provide that for the proposed Explanation 3A where any trust or institution has treated any sum received by it as forming part of the corpus and subsequently any of the conditions mentioned in clause (a) or clause (b) or clause (c) or clause (d) of the said Explanation is violated, such sum shall be deemed to be the income of such trust or institution of the previous year during which the violation takes place.
These amendments will take effect retrospectively from 1st April, 2021 and will, accordingly, apply in relation to the assessment year 2021-2022 and subsequent assessment years.
Sub-section (3) of said section provides that where the trust or institution has accumulated any income under sub-section (2), and violates any of the conditions provided under sub-section (2), such income shall be deemed to be the income of the trust or institution as per the provisions of sub-section (3).
It is proposed to amend the said sub-section (3) to substitute its longline so as to provide that where the income referred to in sub-section (2) is applied or ceases to remain invested or not utilised or credited or paid as specified therein, the same shall be deemed to be the income of such person of the previous year–
(i) in which it is so applied or ceases to be so accumulated or set apart,; or
(ii) in which it ceases to remain so invested or deposited; or
(iii) being the last previous year of the period, for which the income is accumulated or set apart under clause (a) of sub-section (2), but not utilised for the purpose for which it is so accumulated or set apart; or
(iv) in which it is credited or paid to any fund or institution or trust or any university or other educational institution or any hospital or other medical institution.
These amendments will take effect from 1st April, 2023 and will, accordingly, apply in relation to the assessment year 2023-2024 and subsequent assessment years.
It is also proposed to insert an Explanation to the said section so as to provide that for the purposes of this section, any sum payable by any trust or institution shall be considered as application of income in the previous year in which such sum is actually paid by it (irrespective of the previous year in which the liability to pay such sum was incurred by the trust or institution according to the method of accounting regularly employed by it).
It is further proposed to insert a proviso to the said Explanation to provide that where during any previous year any sum has been claimed to have been applied by the trust or institution, such sum shall not be allowed as application in any subsequent previous year.
These amendments will take effect from 1st April, 2022 and will, accordingly, apply in relation to the assessment year 2022-2023 and subsequent assessment years.
