Maintenance of documents by Trust/NGO under New Rule 17AA

CBDT has vide Notification No. 94/2022 dated 10/08/2022 prescribed new rule 17AA which prescribes the books of account and other documents to be maintained by every fund or institution or trust or any university or other educational institution or any hospital or other medical institution as per section 12A(1)(b)(i) or under clause (a) of tenth proviso to section 10(23C).

The books of accounts and other documents may be kept in written form or in electronic form or in digital form or as print-outs of data stored in electronic form or in digital form or any other form of electromagnetic data storage device.

The books of account and other documents shall be kept and maintained at its registered office or at such other place in India as the management may decide by way of a resolution and where such a resolution is passed. However, where a resolution has been passed you need to intimate the jurisdictional Assessing Officer in writing giving the full address of that other place within seven days.

The books of account and other documents shall be kept and maintained for a period of ten years from the end of the relevant assessment year.

Now, you might be aware that Finance Act, 2022 bought the following amendment:

Clause (b) of sub-section (1) of section 12A of the Act and tenth proviso to clause (23C) of section 10 of the Act has been amended to provide that if the total income of a trust or institution, without giving effect to the provisions of Sections 11 and 12 or Section 10(23C), exceeds the maximum amount which is not chargeable to tax, such trust or institution shall keep and maintain prescribed books of account and other documents, as may be prescribed.

The following books of accounts are required to be maintained by an institution/trust registered under section 12A or section 10(23C):

(i) cash book;

(ii) ledger;

(iii) journal;

(iv) copies of bills or counterfoils of receipts issued by the assessee;

(v) original bills and receipts in respect of payments;

(vi) any other book that may be required to be maintained in order to give a true and fair view of the state of the affairs which explain the transactions effected

The following other documents are required to be maintained by an institution/trust registered under section 12A or section 10(23C):

(i) record of all the projects and institutions run by the person containing details of their name, address and objectives;

(ii) record of income of the person during the previous year, including details of voluntary contribution, income from property held under trust and any other income.

(iii) records related to application of income

(iv) records related to application out of accumulated income

(v) record of voluntary contribution made with a specific direction that they shall form part of the corpus

(vi) records related to contribution received for the purpose of renovation or repair of religious institutions notified u/s 80G(2)(b) 

(vii) record of loans and borrowings

(viii) record of properties held by the assessee

(ix) records of specified or related persons specified under section 13(3)

  Report