ImpactMojo12A, 12AB & 80G — Tax Exemption for NGOs, annotated
Three provisions of the Income-tax Act decide whether your NGO, and the people who fund it, pay tax. § 12A and § 12AB make your own income exempt; § 80G gives your donors a deduction. This is a practitioner compliance digest of all three — the forms, the timelines, and the renewals and returns that organisations quietly lose the benefit through — with a development-sector note on each.
PDF · 3 pages · three provisions + the forms · delivered to your inbox within 24 hours of payment.
Why a compliance digest?
Most NGOs assume that "we're a charity, so we don't pay tax." That is only true once you hold a live registration — and since the 2020 overhaul, that registration expires and must be renewed. An old trust that never had to renew now has a deadline; a new one has a provisional registration it must convert in time; and every 80G-approved organisation has a donation return to file each May or its donors quietly lose their deduction.
This digest brings §12A, §12AB and §80G together in one readable map. Because tax figures, forms and validity periods change with each Finance Act, it is written as a practitioner digest, not a word-for-word transcription — the core rule, the current forms and timelines, and a candid development-sector note on where organisations actually lose the benefit: the lapsed renewal, the un-converted provisional registration, the unfiled Form 10BD.
What's inside — the three provisions and the forms
- § 12A — the gateway. Why registration is what makes the §§11–12 income exemption possible at all.
- § 12AB — registration & renewal. Provisional (3 yr) vs regular (5 yr, now 10 yr for smaller trusts), Forms 10A and 10AB, and the six-months-before renewal deadline.
- § 80G — the donor's deduction. The 50% deduction, the 10%-of-income qualifying limit, and the ₹2,000 cash cap.
- Forms 10BD / 10BE — the annual donation return. The 31 May filing that your donors' deductions now depend on.
- 12AB ≠ 80G. Two separate approvals, two expiry dates — plus the audit report (Form 10B/10BB) that registration alone doesn't cover.
Each: the core rule, the current forms/limits/dates, and a development-sector practitioner's note — updated for Finance Act 2025.
Sample
A watermarked preview of the format. The file you receive is clean, print-ready and fully yours.
This is the newest trap and the easiest to miss: you can silently destroy your own donors' deductions by not filing 10BD by 31 May. Keep a clean donor register, file 10BD and send every donor their 10BE on time, and reconcile it with your receipts. A donor who couldn't claim because you didn't file is a donor you may not keep.
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The rest of the compliance set
Pair this with How Your NGO Exists (the three legal vehicles) and Labour Laws for NGOs. The free Law Guides cover FCRA, CSR and POSH in plain English.
FAQ
Is this verbatim statute like your RTI and DPDP guides?
No — deliberately. Tax law is amended every year by the Finance Act, and the registration regime was overhauled in 2020–21 and changed again in 2025, so a word-for-word transcription would go stale quickly. This is a practitioner compliance digest: the core rule of each provision, the current forms and timelines, and a development-sector note. The governing sections and forms are named throughout so you can go to the source.
Is it current?
It reflects the position at the time of writing, including the Finance Act 2025 change that extends registration validity to ten years for smaller trusts (income up to ₹5 crore). Because these figures and due dates change, the guide tells you to verify the current provisions of the Income-tax Act 1961 and the latest CBDT forms and due dates before acting on a specific matter.
What's the difference between 12AB and 80G?
§12AB registration makes your organisation's own income tax-exempt; §80G approval gives your donor a deduction. They are separate approvals, each time-limited and renewable — and you can hold one without the other. The guide covers both, plus the annual Form 10BD/10BE donation return that donors' 80G claims now depend on.
Is this legal or tax advice?
No. It's practitioner commentary to help you understand and apply the provisions in development work — not legal or tax advice, and no professional relationship. For a specific matter, consult a chartered accountant or tax lawyer.
What exactly do I get?
A single print-ready A4 PDF (3 pages) covering §12A, §12AB and §80G of the Income-tax Act 1961 and Forms 10A/10AB/10BD/10BE — each with the core rule, current forms and dates, and a development-sector practitioner's note.
Can I print it and use it with my team?
It's licensed for your own and your organisation's learning and field use — print it, annotate it, take it into a training. Please don't resell or post it publicly.