Form 10BD Donation Filing & Form 10BE Certificates for Section 80G Trusts & NGOs

Every charitable trust, society, or Section 8 company approved under Section 80G (and institutions approved under Section 35(1)(ii)/(iia)/(iii) for scientific/research donations) carries an annual obligation that many organisations still underestimate: reporting every donation received during the year to the Income Tax Department in Form 10BD, and issuing a corresponding Form 10BE certificate to each donor. Missing this doesn't just inconvenience donors — it directly jeopardises their ability to claim the 80G deduction, and exposes the trust itself to a mandatory late fee.

1. Why This Filing Exists

Before this requirement was introduced, an 80G deduction claim by a donor relied entirely on a paper receipt issued by the trust, with no independent cross-verification by the tax department. Form 10BD closes that gap: the trust reports every donation (above the reporting threshold, and in practice most trusts report all donations regardless of amount to keep donor records clean) directly to the department, which then reflects in the donor's own Annual Information Statement (AIS). A donor's 80G claim in their ITR is now effectively cross-checked against the trust's Form 10BD filing — a mismatch is a common trigger for a donor receiving a scrutiny notice or an automated adjustment.

2. Due Date and Filing Mechanics

• Form 10BD must be filed electronically on the income tax portal on or before 31st May immediately following the end of the financial year in which the donations were received (e.g. donations received during FY 2025-26 must be reported in Form 10BD by 31 May 2026).
• The form requires, for each donor: name, address, PAN or Aadhaar (or, where the donor genuinely does not have a PAN/Aadhaar, an alternative identification as permitted), the amount donated, and the section under which the donation qualifies (80G with the specific sub-clause, or 35(1)).
• Once Form 10BD is successfully filed, the trust must download and issue Form 10BE — the donation certificate — to every donor listed. Form 10BE is auto-generated by the income tax system based on the Form 10BD data and carries a unique certificate number, which the donor should retain and quote when claiming the deduction in their own return.

3. Late Filing Consequences — Section 234G

Failure to file Form 10BD within the due date attracts a late fee of ₹200 for every day of delay under Section 234G, continuing to accrue until the form is filed (subject to the fee not exceeding the amount of donation reported, per the statutory cap structure). Beyond the monetary fee:

• Donors cannot obtain a valid Form 10BE certificate until the trust files Form 10BD, which can delay or jeopardise donors' own return filing and deduction claims for that year.
• Persistent non-compliance risks scrutiny of the trust's own 80G approval at the time of the periodic renewal process, since accurate donor reporting is treated as a core compliance obligation of an approved institution, not an optional administrative task.

4. Common Practical Errors

1. Incomplete or incorrect donor PAN capture at the time of donation. Since PAN validation happens at Form 10BD filing stage, a trust that did not systematically collect and verify donor PAN throughout the year faces a scramble in April/May trying to trace donors for missing details — building PAN collection into the donation receipt process itself (rather than retrofitting it at year-end) avoids this.
2. Treating small/cash donations as exempt from reporting. While certain categories of anonymous or below-threshold donations have specific treatment, the safer and increasingly standard practice is to report all identifiable donations through Form 10BD, since the mismatch risk to the donor's return is real even for modest amounts.
3. Not reconciling Form 10BD data against the trust's own books and Form 10B/10BB audit report figures. The total donations reported in Form 10BD should tie out to the corresponding income figures in the trust's statutory audit report — a discrepancy here is a red flag in any subsequent scrutiny of the trust itself.
4. Delaying Form 10BE issuance even after Form 10BD is filed. Donors need the certificate in hand before they file their own return; trusts should issue Form 10BE to all donors promptly after successful Form 10BD filing, not wait to be individually chased by each donor.

5. Practical Compliance Calendar for Trusts

Related Advisory Services & Practice Guides

• Access expert statutory assistance for 12AB and 80G registration with our senior Chartered Accountants.
• Access expert statutory assistance for Trust, Society & NGO audit with our senior Chartered Accountants.