25/05/2026
Update 25/05
NGO update;
1. The Income Tax Act, 2025 replaces the 1961 Act from 1 April 2026 and overhauls taxation of NGOs, Trusts, and Section 8 Companies. The biggest shift: all charitable and religious entities are now under a single framework called “Registered Non-Profit Organisations” or RNPOs.
2. New RNPO Concept:
a. Chapter XVII Part-B of the 2025 Act is a dedicated section titled “Special Provisions for Registered Non-Profit Organisations”.
b. “Charitable purpose” is defined u/s 2(23) to include: relief of the poor, education, yoga, medical relief, preservation of environment, monuments/objects of artistic/historic interest, and advancement of any other object of general public utility.
c. Only entities constituted in India for wholly charitable/religious purposes with assets held for public benefit under irrevocable trust qualify. Permitted forms: Public Trusts, Registered Societies, Section 8 Companies, govt-funded institutions, etc.
3. Old vs New Section Mapping:
a. Registration: Erstwhile Sections 12A/12AA/12AB are now covered u/s 332 as RNPO registration.
b. Income & Taxation: Sec 11-13 regime replaced by Sec 334-337. Income is now split into 3 types:
c. Regular Income – Sec 335: Exempt if 85% applied/accumulated for charitable purposes. Includes activity income, property income, voluntary contributions, and incidental business.
d. Specified Income – Sec 337: Taxed at 30%. Includes anonymous donations, benefits to related persons, income applied outside India, investments violating Sec 350, misapplied accumulations.
e. Residual Income – Sec 355(J): Taxed at normal slab rates. Covers income not fitting other categories, like activities outside objects or prior period income.
f. Donor Approval: Separate 80G approval merged into the RNPO framework. No standalone 80G now.
4. Key Reliefs and Compliance Changes:
a. Automatic Transition: Existing registrations under 12A, 12AA, 12AB, 10(23C) are valid and deemed RNPOs. No fresh registration needed immediately. Validity continues for the balance period.
b. Single Regime: Dual regimes of 10(23C) and 11-13 ended. New applications under 10(23C) stopped after 1 Oct 2024. On expiry, entities must register under the second regime.
c. Application Rules: 85% of donation to other RNPO counts as application. Corpus reinvestment, loan repayment within 5 years allowed as application.
d. Deemed Application: Shortfall below 85% can be treated as deemed application if applied in current or next tax year. Due date was relaxed to the ITR filing date, not 2 months before.
e. Simplification: All NPO provisions consolidated into one chapter to reduce complexity for smaller organisations.
5. Updated Forms Under 2025 Act:
a) Income-tax Rules, 2026 and new simplified Forms notified on 20 March 2026.
b) ITR-7 updated for AY 2025-26 for trusts/NGOs with rationalised capital gains reporting.
6. Important for NGOs, Trusts, Section 8 Companies:
a) You don’t need to re-register now if you hold valid 12A/12AB/10(23C) approval.
b) Track income buckets: misclassifying as “specified income” triggers 30% tax.
c) Ensure 80G donor compliance is met within RNPO registration; the separate 80G approval process is gone.
d) Use new ITR-7 and updated forms from 1 April 2026.