Trust Society (See how to register a society) Section 25 Company

SEE ALSO: Difference between trust and society A Trust can either be a private trust or a public charitable trust. Private trusts are governed by the Indian Trusts Act (1882) and are used for private purposes, such as running a private estate or institution. Privates trusts are not given any tax benefits by the Government of India. If you want to do some charitable work for public –you can set up a public charitable trust. India does not have a national level law to govern charitable trusts. However, a few of the states have enacted Public Charitable Trusts Act (Like Bombay Public Trusts Act, 1950)

Trusts are registered using a document called TRUST DEED. This document contains all the information about the Trust and is printed/written/typed on plain A4 size papers. Along with these papers you would need to attach a Rs. 100 Non-Judicial stamp paper (which you can get from a notary). All the Trustees and witnesses will have to give thumb impressions and signatures on these papers. All in all, you will need help of a notary to prepare the papers. You may also need a No-Objection Certificate (NOC) from the owner of the property where the registered office of the trust is to be situated. If you’re the owner of the property, then you don’t need to worry about NOC Following elements must be mentioned in the Trust Deed document: Name and address of the Settler (Settler is the person who is setting up trust) Name(s) and address(es) of the other trustees Name of the trust Minimum and maximum number of trustees your trust can have Address of the registered office of the trust Objectives of the trust Rules and Regulations of the trust For registering a trust you need minimum two trustees (i.e. one settler and another person). You can decide the maximum number of trustees and this number must be mentioned in the trust deed. All the trustees together are called Board of Trustees. This board collectively governs the trust. Unlike societies, in case of trusts all or some of the trustees can be related persons (i.e. they may belong to the same family) All the trusts are allowed to work on all India level Trusts are irrevocable –unless it is mentioned in the trust deed. This means that the trust cannot be wound up Trustees are usually life-long members or their tenure is specified in the deed. Electoral process is not involved in the appointment of trustees. Board of Trustees can also have various designations for trustees. Common designations are Chairperson and Managing Trustee. SEE ALSO: Can an NRI Become a Trustee? SEE ALSO: Can a government employee become a Trustee? Trustees cannot draw any remuneration from the trust fund. However, they may take reasonable compensation for the professional services they provide to the Trust. There no difference between a trust and a foundation. Profits earned by the Trust (e.g. interest gained from bank) cannot be distributed among the trustees. Trust Deed can be amended through a Supplementary Trust Deed. Most important part of the Trust Deed that you should pay special attention to is objectives of the trust. You should be as thorough as possible in writing down trust objectives so that you can function smoothly without any problems. At the time of registration, only the Settlor and two witnesses are required to be present in front of the Sub-registrar under whose jurisdiction the registered office address comes. Sub-registrar will check IDs of these people. After that the Trust Deed will go to the counter where data entry takes place. In the end, Settlor and two witnesses will be photographed. You will need to pay a fee of Rs. 1100 for this process. Of this amount, Rs. 100 will be the registration fee and Rs. 1000 will be the charges of keeping a copy of the Trust Deed with the sub-registrar. After about one week of submitting the papers, you can go back to the registrar’s office to receive a certified copy of the Trust Deed.

Trust income is exempted from income tax. Bu to avail this facility, after registration, you need to acquire a certificate from the Income Tax Department. This certificate is called u/s 12A Donations to the public charitable trusts are also exempted from tax (i.e. the donor will not have to pay tax on the amount he donates to the trust). For this, you need to acquire 80G certificate from Income Tax Department. Usually lawyers and practicing CAs can help you in registration of trust –but I guess a lawyer is better person if you need help in formulating your Trust Deed. CAs don’t know the nitty-gritty of legal stuff. If you can write your own trust deed –and sure that you have done a good job –then all you need is the help of a notary who will take your Trust Deed and prepare it for presentation before the Registrar. After registration of the Trust, for acquiring 12A and 80G certificates, you may need to take services of a practicing CA. They charge hefty fee for these services.

SEE ALSO: An important update on this article on registering a trust NGO If you need more information regarding this matter, you may comment on this article. Please do ask questions like:

I want to do so and so work… what is better for me, a trust or a society? [it’s a matter of your personal choice, you can read my article on the difference between trust and society.] How to collect funds for my NGO? [I am sorry, I don’t know! NGOs get donations from public, institutions, other NGOs and governments. You need to do your own research on it.]

UPDATE: There are now more than 400 comments on this page. So, I am closing comments on this page. You can ask your questions on my other NGO related articles. Thanks. Please feel free to ask if you have a specific question about the process of registering an NGO. Although I try to answer questions as much as possible, but I will suggest that you do research on your own as well. Also I request readers to reply to questions, if you know the answers. Let’s help each other by sharing knowledge! I’ve some corrections in my trust deed which was started in 2008, i.e. trust members names which has misspelt & how do i make a supplementary deed for this correction, besides, one of the member has died and his wife should be put in his position. Kindly advice me. Can I use the same bank current account for Trust / NGO & for my personal purpose ? I just wanted you to know, that your blog was the best information provider regarding the registration of a trust. I researched for over a month and got the apt understanding from your blog. If you feel comfortable, please share your contact details on my Email ID, as i would like to consult you on other issues as well. Thanks a lot for making things easier for me. Regards Akshit Sharma Thanks & Regards We have just now registered a society in Haryana, I’ve some queries,Hope you will address it to it. 1) Can we register a NGO and function in all India through this society which is registered in Haryana. 2) what are the other organizations we can open through this society like Charitable Clinics, Old-age homes, Community library etc. 3) we are interested to keep both our society and NGO same name can we do that? or else we have to change the name for NGO. 4) Is there any tax exemption for any organization been opened under society. Looking forward Reference to the premise for the trust – if currently i have a property which i can register for trust later i decide to sell the property at that time could i change the address of the trust. Also selling the property hope would not be a issue. Please advice. Sir! you have only explained about the process of registering a Trust but not a Society. So could you please provide me some advice for the registration of a Society that works for Disabled persons and the various processes or categories that is necessary for registration for such societies. Look forward to your reply. Thanks. Is there any rule for name of the trust? we wanted to register our trust as “Smita Ankadawala foundation for blind”. we were told that name is too long and it should not include the purpose in the name of trust. I have seen much longer names and almost half of them mention the purpose, all nationally and internationally My questions are: 1. is there a rule for the length of trust name? 2. does it have any restriction to include purpose in the trust name? Please reply ASAP, as our application has reach the concern person and we need to place our point in reply. if you can give specific rule or examples, it will help a lot Thanks. Chandra Thank you for the blog. It has been very helpful for all of us. We have gone through the questionnaires. We have a few specific doubts. Please revet. Sorry, in case it is a repeated question. 1. Can a settler remain the head of the NGO and still appoint one of the trustees as Chairman with rights for day to day activities ? 2. Can a person become trustees of two different trust. ? Thanking you in anticipation. 2. If registered office is changed to an address in a State other than Delhi, will registrar in the new city need to be informed? I need to amend the objective of the Trust, which would be detail activities of one of the obectives mentioned in the Trust deed, will that have to be done on Stamp paper or on the letterhead of the Trust ? My question is that i want to formed trust with the motive of HOSPICE. for this any permission is needed or not? please guide me. Thank You Sagar Thanki We are doing some social activity such as medical help / education help / arrange free medical check up, caltural programe, prise dstribution to bright students , note books distribution . We collect the required fund from the people but we cant give them a proper receipt which can be used for income tax rebate . We do the activity for single community like Prajapati . Can we establish any NGO trust . please reply Pls reply We are group of individuals from different professions, wanting to set up a new private foundation. Could you please let us know

  1. Is there any waiting period (1 year or so) before registering it? 2. Is the registration done with Charity Commissioner or Registrar of Companies? 3. Registration of Trust, is it different than Registration of Foundation? Vikram I wanted to start NGO which will deal with different types of rural issues like eduction,medical,employment. Question : Once we register NGO, can we address any type of issues like eduction,medical,employment or it needs to function in specific area only as they are register for specific purpose ? Your article is very informative and constructive for the persons like me those who are looking to setup a NGO. Actually I have a query, i want to start a NGO which will provide coaching of Football for girls in Madhya Pradesh. Are there any special terms and conditions for NGO related to sports? Please give your important suggestions. Warm regards Ajay Dorby Thanks, Maswood Alam To Start a School You need to register as a Trust or a Society. Then you need to set up the infrastructure and apply for No objection certificate from the education dept. After that you need to apply for your affiliation of Board, please note that each board has its own requirement so check that up separately. Thank s, Wahid Thank you for your information. I actually want to know that right now I could not register for the NGO the but in future I have some plan for the same but before I register I have to collect the donation for the other NGO’s the so is there are any specific documentation compulsory for collecting donation. If yes then please let me know. And also I want to know that can I collect the donation on behalf any NGO’s Thanks for the beautiful article. I have registered a Trust in Tamilnadu with my home as registered office. Now I am planning to sell my home and move to Karnataka and settle down permanently. Can I change registered address to Karnataka or I can continue current address? Please is there any problem related to jurisdiction between states? Thanks, Kumar
  2. I want to promote education for Adults, computer classes for dropout students and to organize cleanliness drive in our state…. your guidance is hihgly required here…thanks as per the knowledge gained from your site i need to setup a public charitable trust..my aim is to distribute some articles or things or any subsidy related stuff to people especially rural side.exmple: a cfl bulb which we get for 100 rupees approx,wanted to be distributed for fifty.given u the goal.please give me the overview and guidelines of the procedure as soon as possible.thanking u. I have these queries and request your advise: 1. Can a person working somewhere be a trustee or settler? 2. Some one told me that if we register a trust in MP then its area of operation would be in that state only. For another state we need to obtainn a seperate registration. is it true? if yes, can we get a nartional level registration done? 3. How many people can be authorised signatories to handle account of the trust with the Bank? Thank you
  1. Is there any possibility that a “society can be converted into a trust” (transferring all the assets of the society to trust) specially in Karnataka.
  2. If yes, then what are the procedure to do so. Thanks in advance…. We have a NGO with a govt approved certificate. We want to open a bank account. But, Our NGO location is like rural area and we want to open the bank account city area which is not located to same district or same area as per NGO registered address. So, I would like to know whether it is possible to open in City location. Thanks, Tuhin Please let me know weather it is mandatory to go for 12A AND 80g registrations with income tax department if our income is less than ten lakhs. How could the trust start an educational institution.Means registration with tax departments,corporations etc Thanks and Regards vipin Just two doubts.
  3. I was earlier under the impression that trusts are usually established by people who have property – and perhaps income from that is being used for charitable purposes. Is there any link at all between trusts and property? (most trusts I know have been set up by philanthropists who are rich and own much property and the trust manages the property) 2) If I have registered the trust office in one place (e.g. Delhi) If I subsequently move, can i) the address be changed? ii)would future paperwork related to the trust -e.g. supplementary deed if necessary etc have to be undertaken in the offices where the trust is originally registered or can this be done at offices in the new town/city one is working from? I realise you may not know the answers to this! but the informaion you provided has already been of incredible use. Thanks and regards, Ruhi I am glad that you found this article useful. Trusts have nothing to do with property. What you might be referring to is a “private trust” which people usually create to manage a significant property. But these trusts have no charitable goal. If you want to do some social work, what you register is a public charitable trust. Such trusts do not need to have any properties. You can change the registered address later on, but you will have to notify this to the registrar and the income tax department. An alternative is that you open an office of your trust elsewhere but let the registered address remain same. All the operations of the trust would be done at the new office. However, because the registrar and IT department would know only the registered address, they will send all the correspondence to that address. You must make sure that you collect mail from the registered address. But honestly, if your trust is a charitable trust, I find it a bit difficult to understand the word “investment”. People either give donations or loans to charitable trusts. Donations are not to be taken back. Loans will be paid back by the trust. But I am a bit lost as to how come trustees make an “investment” into a charitable trust and then demand their share back! But as I said, I am not an expert. Such things may happen in case of private trusts. And all I know is about public charitable trusts. No idea about how private trusts work. My question is that
  1. a setter can remove any trustee and appoint other person as trustee in his place? 2. majority of trustees can remove any trustee and appoint other person as trustee in his place? 3. can we alter/ modify trust deed? how? Thanks in advance Can we have a trust in UK (where we live) and work in India? This way funds will come to us in UK and we would deliver them in India in our own trust. Is it possible to have sister trust in India with same name etc, having main trust in UK? I would be grateful if you are able to provide some guidance what ever you can. Thank you. I know my answer is not of any help. But please let us know your experience as you proceed in solving these problems. Other readers will benefit from your experience. Thank you! Really very good article to under stand the Trust registeration. My Grand father was build one temple on 1980s and before that temple some empty land is there. His dream is to construct the kalan mandaban in along with temple. Now the temple was in not good condition and i am planning to re innvoate that template as well as use that empty land to construct the Kalana mandabam. For that i am planning to register the trust and collect the donation and build the temple and kalan mandaban on behalf of trust which help for the poor people. Please suggest the is it comes under Private trust or Public trust? or Suggest how i can go with kind of situatiation.. Br Samy BUT AT THE TIME OF REGISTRATION WE HAVE WRITTEN THE NAME OF TWO TRUSTEES IN DEED (SETTLORE AND 1 TRUSTEE)…. NOW WE HAVE 3 POSITION VACANT…SO MY QUESTION IS THAT…FOR FULFILLMENT OF 3 VACANT POSITION OF TRUSTEES IS COMPULSORY…..IF I WANT TO FULFILL 3 VACANT POSITION OF TRUSTEES FOR THIS I WILL HAVE TO GIVE IN WRITTEN TO SUB REGISTRAR… Thanks for all the information. My understanding is as follows. Please confirm a. Private trusts can be started with 2 persons. Witness can be from the family also b. Trust deed can be modified anytime c. Trust can donate for some other causes d. Trust can get 80G and 12 A certificate after registration e. Trustees can take a honorarium for the work done f. Books of accounts can be prepared and certified by auditor g. Trust money can be used for all purposes mentioned in the trust deed My articles are about public charitable trusts —I can not really comment on the private trusts. Please provide help full information and procedure to initialize as soon as possible. Also suggest how can we get DONORS for the above. Appreciating your good work…..!! I have some queries- I want to registered one trust and that will be a private trust.
  2. In that private trust, the trustee will be a minor, then how all things go in the registration, what precautionary steps to be taken?
  3. Kindly tell what is most benefited to client , Society or Trust. what are the possibilities to get all this answered? we will be in kerala in future , we need to be under kerala jurisdiction and we need to amend the trust deed what are the remedies? We 2-3 persons want to create a trust for social activities like Spiritual discourses, education and medical aid for poor etc. Initially when the Trust will be created there would be no property and there would be no owner. The trust will utilize the collections made by the Trustees or any charity from outside. anyone person among us could hold the funds collected. Then in Trust Deed, what should be mentioned that who will hold the funds collected (even if it is a very small amount), what should be clause in Trust deed? Who will be the Settlor in this case? Under which Act should we create Trust ? Indian Trust Act 1882 or Charitable and Religious Trusts Act 1920? Is “General public” be the beneficiary in this case? Shall these 2-3 persons be trustees (who will be the owner)? Who shall be the author/authors of the Trust Deed? Shall the Trust deed be executed on non-judicial paper? If yes, then what should be the value of paper? Is it necessary to get the Trust registered (if it is a public trust)? With which Authority? Is registration with Income Tax dept. (for Tax exemption) necessary? What is the registration procedure with Income Tax dept? Time duration for registration? Is the audit of the Trust mandatory (even if it is small trust with few funds)? Or if Income Tax is NIL on computation? Does the TRUST have to file the income Tax return every year? Should the method of winding up the trust be mentioned in the Trust Deed? regards Now my question is can we consider that our society as live? Now we want to do and follow all documentation as per law what to be done, do this two members are sufficient make resolution and approve, what to be done to amend our bylaws, please guide us that we may stream line everything in order.
  4. Is it mandatory to get 12A certificate before applying for 80 G? 2. What purpose does 12A serve 3. What official portfolios can a Trust have? (like ceo, manager etc..) Please answer these questions. Raju I have a query regarding “owner of property” . I would be settler and presently staying in rented house and have no other place for registered office. My parents are staying in another town at own property. Can I show my rented house as registered office or office address should be permanent address What you are doing here (answering ppl queries with hassle free) is really called service. Hats Off. Just for fun what you eat :) You may “purchase” a trust. I have heard people do that. But personally I am against this idea of selling or buying trusts. The whole idea of social work is to WORK. If one is serious about doing something for the society, they can do it even with little resources to begin with. One does not need an old trust which can immediately get big funding. As far as, I know, there is no such online marketplace for trusts. If you wish to purchase a trust, you’ll have to ask around. Can a trust change its name after settlor dies? (There is no resolution in the deed mentioning anything about it) Very informative article. I would like to know if a Charitable trust be formed with in an existing charitable trust. Kind of like wholly owned subsidiary concept in case of registered companies. This would help the charitable trust pursuing various activities such as education, health, community development, etc, to establish subsidiary charitable trusts, where each subsidiary pursue one thrust area. Thus developing their own identity under an umbrella or parent organisation/Charitable trust. Greetings!!, Please email me your contact number to discuss further, if you interest charitable trust, [email protected] Due to some issues I wasn’t able to work much on thr trust though it worked to some extent and haven’t taken any 80G, 12A and FCRA on it and also not filled the returns though audit is done for all years. Now what should I do and if I want to merge or upgrade it to a section 8 (sec. 25 company) how it will be possible. Please suggest me the way to make it happen as I am getting good funds from some my foreign settled NRI so i can apply for FCRA ..now its more than 3 years now. I’ m having 3 Problems while creating trust? 1.CAN I NAME MY TRUST WITH A WORD “KHWAAB”? 2.ON WHOSE STAMP PAPER TO BE TAKEN? 3.IS THERE ANY IF I NOTARISE THE STAMP PAPER? KINDLY REVERT AS SOON AS POSSIBLE I want to give free tuition for Poor children & state govt. school’s students nearby my home with some my friends. We all are decided that we organize a NGO but i we don’t know how we can register it and where. please give us full information about this type of NGO. What we need to do. we are engg. students Please help us sir. Me and my friends plan to form a Charitable trust in Kerala. I have some confussions 1. Can i do social welfare, charitable,educational (edu-institutions), health medical activities, all under one trust? 2. Can I use my house address for trust registered office. 3. Can i use “Charity & Palliative Care” for trust name (eg: Krunya Charity & Palliative Care) Please reply me…. need a urgent reply please help if you have some clarity. regards, Greeshma Thanks for your comment. I do not have any clear information on whether OCIs can become trustees. So, I will not say anything on that. However, if you get to know something concrete on this issue, please be kind enough to post it here so that others can also benefit from it. As for Settler, well, settler is just a trustee who initiates the trust. She is usually the one who comes up with the idea of trust and who acts as the first trustee. Once the trust is established, settler can leave the organization. But that should be done under extreme circumstances because settler is the corner-stone of the ideology and objectives of the trust. Donors and volunteers identify trust with the settler. But legally there is no problem if settler leaves the trust. Greeshma Can you please tell me how much duration does it take in forming a Trust ? Will appreciate your reply It takes about 10 days to get a trust registered at the sub-registrar’s office. Appreciate your reply Meghana Yes, as long as owner of the house gives you NOC, you can have registered office of a trust in a residential building. If the settlor or any of the founding trustees are the owner -then even NOC is not required. You want “XYZ Charitable Trust” as name… then where is the conflict? The other two organizations are named XYZ Educational and Charitable Trust & XYZ Foundation. There is no conflict in name. However, you may look like (or be accused of) stealing brand reputation of these organizations as your name is quite similar to them. Appreciate your response. Thanks… Shaila. I am planning to start a foundation / charitable trust to help the govt school. i was told that as a president i need to submit my house tax , but i do not have a house. What else i can provide other than house tax for paper work? I want to know does an NGO(Trust) require a shop and establishment license as well? You have written these articles in 2011, are the procedures, rules & regulations still the same for registering society or trust and applying for 12A, 80G & FCRA? What are the procedures for applying to get FCRA. Reading the articles, registration & compliance for Trust looks great & easy, yet what are the benefits still to register for society? Your response & advice much appreciated. Thanks! First, thanks for your nice article with detail.ed information. My queries are 1.What is the powers of Settler, trustees? 2.Gov. giving any guidelines for power distribution or We should meet any criteria? 3.Settler can add/remove any trustee from trust? Pls reply thanks prabu
  5. If a Trustee of a Trust, doing full time job for the Trust, can he/she get salary/compensation for his/her livelihood?
  6. Can a Trust earn money by producing goods and services and selling it ? The whole income will be used for the welfare of the society or meet Trust objects.
  7. Can a Trust Employ people to meet Trust Objectives and give them salary?
  8. If answer of any one of the above is “”YES”, shall all above points must be mentioned in the Trust DEED? Best Regards, Rajiv Kumar IIM Ranchi I am planning to set up an Alumni Organisation whose members will be pass-out students from different batches of our school, currently working in different fields. For the same, we want to contribute some money each (monthly / annually / as registration fees, etc) and use the fund in activities like meetings, gatherings, social works, scholarships to some good students of our school, etc. But I am confused how to safeguard this fund? do we need to create a trust / fund for this? if yes, could you please let me know if there is any special provision for Alumni funds? Will we get any tax benefits ? Waiting for your kind reply. Regards, Narsingh Are you sure that the word India cannot be used in the Trust name? I have covered all of the article, queries and your honest reply to many. I need your kind suggestions on the following issue: Now Policing of India is done by Police Act-1861, which was prepared during the colonial period. There are many commission and commissioners view on change of the old police act. There is also apex court judgment on implementation of “New Police Bill-2006”. But the result is – no state want to adopt, because of change of political power on the Police. I feel, public needs to be made aware for the issue, that “New Police Bill-2006” is essential for the sustainability of Indians. So, I am thinking of making a blood donation camp for the awareness of the above issue. So, the purpose can be fulfilled by making a society or by making a trust. Need your kind guidance. Regards. – Can I receive donations without having a registered NGO?, however I would be using the donations only for service. If yes, why people would like to open a trust to do the service? Request for your response When you register an ngo -you can apply for tax exemption from IT department. Once you get this exemption -you will not need to pay tax on donations received. Moreover, your donor will also get tax rebate of the amount s/he donates to you. Also, if you don’t register, you wont be able to apply for grants that are provided only to the registered ngo. A trust/society is an organization whose audit is done. Such an audit keep your donors happy that you are not misusing their money. Pandian Subramanian Chennai Thanks Best Regards Suhail Ahmad Now I want to know weather it is offence or illegal, if not so, can I register rectification deed to change the name as HINDUSTAN EDUCATIONAL INDIA TRUST instead of HINDUSTAN EDUCATIONAL INFO TRUST. Please reply at an earliest. Thanking you, With war regards, Prof. SP SHARAVANAN Now I want to know weather it is offence or illegal, if it not so can put an rectification deed to change my name of the trust. Please reply at an earliest. Thanks a lot. The information you have provided through your article and the answers are just so informative. Its so useful for someone like me who wants to set up a trust or society and have almost no knowledge of this field. Here goes my question: I belong to a remote village. We raise fund for meeting the cost of operations, maintenance and construction of our madarssa, masjid and kabristan.
    My ambition is to make the things more organised by raising more funds and investing them on beter education.
    Can you please suggest what would be the better option to opt for, Society or trust ? Please give your input as much as possible in this regard to help me contribute to me community, my society, my country and the humanity at large. 1.I want to open a school under my trust.Can I do that.If Yes than How. 2.if so, then if I not get sufficient funds and donation than can I take some amount of fees from student. Is it legal. Sir you have done a great job. Br/// Amit Choudhary Also I have a NRO account. Can I fund with this account or do I need RBI permission? I will appreciate your reply and help. I must congratulate you on igniting interest among so many people to give back to society! Lately, I have also developed interest in setting up an NGO so I can help the needy people in my own capacity. Am a self-employed person work closely with government & media. Now here’s my queries… 1. What’s the difference between Trust & Foundation? 2. Which of above considered as NGO? 3. If my NGO is registered in Mumbai then can I accept donations from other states/cities and countries? 4. If yes, then any legal implications? 5. As I said am in media profession, alongside my professional services, I tend to do social work in area of awareness for public cause. And such research will require donations. So, will it be an issue if register name of my Trust or Foundation under my company name? Because I have seen some companies register their Foundation with their company name. Like Tata Research Foundation. 6. Do Foundation also get 12A, 80G and FCRA? I could see above that you have been flooded with many questions but I am hoping that you will extend your guidance to me as well. Thanks
  1. Foundation is just a word which some people use as part of their NGO’s name. It is not an entity in itself. For example “XYZ Foundation” is just a name and it can be registered as a non profit organization under one of the three type: Trust, Society, Section 25 Company.
  2. You can register your NGO anywhere in India and can accept donations from anywhere in India. But in order to accept donations from foreign countries you would need FCRA certificate. If you accept foreign donations without having FCRA certifcate -you’ll be in a soup. But donations from within India does not requires any special certificate.
  3. Tata is just a surname -it is not a company. So, registering an NGO with a particular name does not bind it to a particular person or company. If your company’s name is XYZ Pvt. Ltd. You can create a Trust/Society/Sec25 with a name like “XYZ Foundation” or “XYZ” or “XYZ Whatever”
  4. As I clarified, “Foundation” is NOTHING -it’s just a word. When you register an NGO and you want your donations to be exempted from income tax -then you need to apply and acquire 80G and 12A… FCRA is also required if you want to receive donations from foreign lands. I hope it answers your questions. Please consult a good lawyer if you have more questions in this regard. Lalit I have found this very useful. I was confused as to how to go about charity in India. I would like to give back and want to do it legally. I am an NRI and I was wanting To open a charity with my husband. We come from business families. My question is what should I open if I wanted to physically give back myself to the women and children I work with and also opening a trust can u get charity from outside or does it have to come from u only. Please email and advice. I am from Bombay. Also I want to link it to international funds. I have opened a trust named YUVA. How many days will it take to open a bank account of the trust in a perticular bank. The information you posted is very helpful for new people like me. But I am still little confused, can you tell me the suggestions for my plan? Plan – I want to serve 4 categories people at one place, I am planning to buy a land and do construction so the homeless people can stay for free. The categories I am concentrating are 1. Old age people, 2. Orphans 3. Unsecured women 4. Handicap people. Would like to provide all kind of facilities as needed. As it’s a big project, I am in plan to gather funds and use for them very sincerely. This is my life ambition and wanted to start when I am young only For above mentioned project, do I need to register under Public Charitable Trust OR Society? Once I register, can I get tax benefits (12A & 80G) and FCAR? Other than my questions, please suggestion me anything that you think of useful to my project. Thanks in Advance. Haritha I am glad that my article has been of use for your noble cause. In my opinion, you should register a Trust. You’ll be eligible to get 12A, 80G and FCRA. You’ll need to apply for these certificates at desk of the Exemption officer of Income Tax Department under whose jurisdiction your registered address falls. Cheers! Lalit Thanks in Advance :-) Haritha For an 80G process do we need to complete the 3 years auditing. 2)How long it takes to get donations in the trust? 3)Please advise how long it takes to get the government grant after submitting the project report. We are going to start a trust for charity purpose. I have three questions.
  1. Is it essential that after a registration, you will need to register for 12 A, and 80 G for income tax exemptions?
  2. How about filing the returns? Do we need to file returns annually even if we don’t have any fund/ or very less fund for that year? Can filing be done more easily via online without any other procedures? Do we need to apply for PAN card as soon as trust is registered?
  3. Any other legal/income tax formalities we need to face while running a trust? We are a group of friends doing our bit for society with our own money. So just need to check any legal formalities blocks us from running a trust :) Your help is much appreciated. This article is really useful for me.
  1. If you want exemption, it is essential that you apply for 12a/80g… IF you dont want exemption you dont need to apply.
  2. You’ll have to file returns annually. A CA can do so. You’ll have to file returns even if you don’t have any funds. Applying for PAN card is a must if you want to open a bank account for your trust (which is mandatory for receiving donations)
  3. Other legalities may arise out of your trust’s objective. Consult your lawyer. This is the procedure as per my experience. You may want to contact a local notary and confirm the procedure. Hope this will help –Lalit Although I know roughly how much lawyers charge for registration of trust under 80G and 10A but I would refrain from commenting on it because the amount may greatly vary from place to place and the person you will contact. However, I would suggest that you contact a CA for such registrations instead of a lawyer. CAs know better of this stuff and can provide necessary financial documents if required by the Income Tax Department. Yes, you can write your own trust deed but it is advisable to show it to a legal expert to ensure that you have covered all important clauses. All the best for your charitable work. Yes, you can run your trust without registering it with the Income Tax Department -but in that case all the income (via donations or otherwise) of the trust will become taxable and you’ll have to pay tax every year like any other profit making establishment does. If you don’t mind can we share our email ids so we can be in contact through that in near future? mine is [email protected] (while sending me email just quote your name i will remember you always) You can add trustees anytime after registration by passing a resolution to this effect.
  1. Our trust deed is registered in Sub Registrar office. In addition should we get it registered in registrar of companies / firms? 2. In addition to trust deed, should we have a separate bylaws? 3. Do we have to file IT returns even though trust is under loss? 2 Can an NRI be a trustee?

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