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Anonymous Donations to Saibaba Sansthan in Shirdi Exempt from Income Tax: HC

Till 2019, the Shirdi Sai Baba Sansthan received a total of over INR 400 crore in donations

Anonymous Donations to Saibaba Sansthan in Shirdi Exempt from Income Tax: HC
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The Shri Saibaba Sansthan Trust in Shirdi has both charitable and religious status. Therefore, the High Court on Tuesday gave a landmark judgement that anonymous donations received by trusts are not subject to income tax.


The Appellate Tribunal had held that the anonymous donations received by the trust were eligible for exemption from income tax as the institute had both charitable and religious status. A bench of Justices Girish Kulkarni and Justice Somasekhar Sundaresan agreed with the decision and upheld it. Also, the appeal of the Income Tax Department challenging this decision of the Appellate Tribunal dated 25 October 2023 was dismissed.


Till 2019, the institute received a total of over INR 400 crore in donations. Out of this, the least INR 2.5 crore was spent on religious matters. A large amount was spent on educational institutions, hospitals and medical facilities. This proves that the Sansthan is merely a charitable trust, claimed the Income Tax Department during arguments.


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On the other hand, charitable and religious obligations are performed by the institution. Therefore, it was contended on behalf of the Sansthan that the Sansthan cannot be said to be a mere charitable or religious trust. On behalf of the trust, the court drew attention to the defect in the assessment of the Income Tax Department in calling the institute only as a charitable trust. 


Citizens from various communities visit the temple. All religious rituals are performed along with worship. Therefore, it was also claimed on behalf of the Sansthan that it is wrong to say that the Sansthan is not a religious trust. A bench of Justice Kulkarni and Justice Sundaresan upheld the Sansthan's claim.

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