Chartered Accountant · ICAI M.No. 153926 · FRN 136869W
How (Form 10A)
File the online application with the trust’s registration and 12AB details.
Separate from 12AB
12AB exempts the trust; 80G benefits the donor — apply for both.
How it works alongside 12AB, and the reporting
80G registration is ideally applied for together with 12AB, since both run through the Form 10A/10AB process and a charitable trust usually wants both — 12AB to exempt its own income and 80G to let donors deduct their gifts. Like 12AB, 80G is now time-bound: new trusts get a provisional approval, then apply for regular approval in Form 10AB, and existing ones renew. The benefit to donors comes with a reporting duty the trust must take seriously. Each year the trust files a statement of donations received in Form 10BD by 31 May, listing each donor with their PAN and amount, and issues each donor a certificate in Form 10BE; a donor can claim the 80G deduction only if their gift appears in the trust’s 10BD and they hold the 10BE. So an 80G registration is not just a one-time approval but an annual data-reporting obligation, and errors or omissions in 10BD directly cost donors their deduction. Anonymous donations and donations in cash above the small limit have their own restrictions. Getting both registrations at formation, and building the 10BD reporting into the year-end routine, is what makes 80G genuinely useful for fundraising. Confirm the current forms and dates.