12AB & 80G Registration for NGOs

The two registrations, and what each does

Section 12AB (Income Exemption). This registers the trust, society or Section 8 company under Section 12AB of the Income-tax Act, 1961 and exempts its voluntary donations, grants and institutional receipts from income tax under Section 11/12, subject to applying at least 85% to charitable purposes each year.

Section 80G (Donor Tax Deduction). Section 80G approval allows donors to claim a 50% tax deduction on contributions. Section 80G does not exempt the NGO's own income—that is the function of Section 12AB—but enables institutional and corporate donors (including CSR funds) to contribute with full tax benefits.

Provisional and regular registration

Both 12AB and 80G registration are now obtained in two stages.

Provisional registration is granted to a new organisation applying for the first time in Form 10A on the income tax portal. It is valid for 3 years without requiring prior operational track record.

Regular registration must be applied for in Form 10AB at least 6 months prior to expiry of provisional registration, or within 6 months of commencing charitable activities, whichever is earlier. It is granted for 5 years after verification of genuine charitable objects, and must be renewed every 5 years by filing Form 10AB.

Renewal of regular registration follows the same form, applied for again before expiry.

Missing the conversion from provisional to regular registration, or missing a renewal, does not merely create an administrative gap. It can mean the organisation was never validly registered for the period in question — which affects both its own exemption and every donor's deduction for gifts made during that time.

The point every existing NGO should check now

An organisation holding a valid 12AB or 80G registration on 1 April 2026 was carried into the new framework automatically, continuing until its existing expiry date and then renewing under the new provisions.

An organisation whose registration had already lapsed before that date was not carried over. A fresh application is required, and — critically for 80G — donations received while the approval was lapsed do not qualify for donor deduction, whatever the donor believed at the time. This is worth checking now, and it is worth checking before asking donors for money rather than after a donor's deduction is challenged.

What every organisation seeking 80G approval should tell donors

Two restrictions on the donor's side matter more than most NGOs realise, and both are worth explaining to donors proactively rather than leaving them to discover at return-filing time.

The new tax regime blocks the deduction. An individual or HUF computing tax under the new regime cannot claim a deduction under Section 80G at all — only a narrow set of specified government funds remain deductible there. Since the new regime is now the default, a donor who does nothing is, in effect, giving up the deduction unless they actively choose the old regime. For a donor planning a significant gift, whether the old regime is worth electing for that year is a real question, and one we help donor and organisation alike think through.

Most approved organisations give only a 50 per cent deduction, subject to a limit. Donations to most charitable trusts and institutions qualify for 50 per cent deduction, not 100, and are further capped at 10 per cent of the donor's adjusted gross total income. Only a small category of specified national funds carries a full, uncapped deduction. Donors who assume every donation to an approved NGO gives a rupee-for-rupee benefit are usually mistaken, and telling them the correct position before they give avoids an awkward conversation afterwards.

Cash donations above ₹2,000 do not qualify at all, however the recipient reports them. Donations in kind — goods, services, time — never qualify, regardless of value.

The certificate the donor actually needs

Approval alone does not secure a donor's deduction. The organisation must report the donation in its annual statement of donations, and issue the donor a certificate generated from that statement. The department cross-checks the donor's claimed deduction against what the organisation has reported, and a donation not reported, or reported with the wrong PAN or amount, is a deduction the donor cannot substantiate — regardless of how genuine the gift was.

This makes the organisation's own record-keeping a direct determinant of its donors' tax position, which is a stronger reason to get it right than compliance alone would supply.

Scope of our work

We advise on eligibility and prepare provisional and regular registration applications in Form 10A and Form 10AB; track conversion and renewal deadlines so applications are made in advance rather than after expiry; check whether an existing registration is currently valid or has lapsed, and advise on regularising it where it has; advise organisations on what to tell donors about the new-regime restriction and the deduction limits that apply to them; ensure the annual statement of donations is filed and certificates issued correctly, so that donor deductions are not put at risk by the organisation's own reporting; and coordinate this work with the annual exemption audit, since both draw on the same records.