NOTIFICATION NO. 9/2013 [F. NO.
142/20/2012-TPL], DATED 31-1-2013
In exercise of the powers conferred
by clause (22AAA) of section 2 of the Income-tax Act, 1961 (43 of 1961), the
Central Government hereby makes the following scheme for approval of electoral
trusts, namely:-
Short title, commencement and
application
1.
(1) This Scheme may be called the Electoral Trusts Scheme, 2013.
(2) It shall come into force on the
date of its publication in the Official Gazette.
(3) The scheme shall apply for the
approval of any electoral trust under clause (22AAA) of section 2 of the Act.
2.
To lay down a procedure for grant of approval to an electoral trust which will
receive voluntary contributions and distribute the same to the political
parties.
Definitions
3.
In this Scheme unless the context otherwise requires,-
(a) "Act"
means the Income-tax Act, 1961 (43 of 1961);
(b) "Rules"
means the Income-tax Rules, 1962;
(c) "Scheme"
means the Electoral Trusts Scheme, 2012; and
(d) the words and
expressions used herein but not defined and defined in the Act shall have the
same meanings as assigned to them in the Act.
Eligibility
4.
A company registered for the purposes of section 25 of the Companies Act, 1956
(1 of 1956) satisfying all of the following conditions shall be eligible to
make an application for approval as an electoral trust, namely:-
(a) the company is
registered on or after the 1st day of April, 2012 for the purposes of section
25 of the Companies Act, 1956 (1 of 1956);
(b) the name of the
company registered for the purposes of section 25 of the Companies Act, 1956 (1
of 1956) shall include the phrase "electoral trust";
(c) the sole object of
the electoral trust is to distribute the contributions received by it to the
political party, registered under section 29A of the Representation of the
People Act, 1951(43 of 1951); and
(d) the electoral trust
shall have a permanent account number.
Procedure for approval
5.
(1) The procedure for approval of an electoral trust shall be as follows,
namely: —
(a) the application for
approval under clause (22AAA) of section 2 of the Act shall be made in
duplicate in FORM A, on or before the 31st day of July of the previous year
relevant to the assessment year for which the approval is sought, to the
Commissioner of Income-tax or the Director of Income-tax, as the case may be,
having jurisdiction over the applicant;
(b) the applicant shall
also send a copy of the application to the Member (Income-tax), Central Board
of Direct Taxes accompanied by the acknowledgement receipt evidencing
submission of application form in duplicate to the Commissioner of Income-tax
or Director of Income-tax, as the case may be, having jurisdiction over the
case ;
(c) if any defect is
noticed in FORM A or any document referred to therein is not attached with it,
the Commissioner of Income-tax or the Director of Income-tax, as the case may
be, shall intimate the defect to the applicant within thirty days from the date
of receipt of the application form in his office;
(d) the applicant shall
remove the defect within a period of fifteen days from the date of such
intimation or within such further period which, on an application made in this
behalf, may be extended. However, the total period for removal of defect shall
not exceed thirty days;
(e) if the applicant
fails to remove the defect within the period so allowed, the Commissioner of
Income-tax or the Director of Income-tax, as the case may be, shall send his
recommendation to the Member (Income-tax), Central Board of Direct Taxes for
treating the application as invalid;
(f) the Central Board
of Direct Taxes, if satisfied, may pass an order treating the application as
invalid;
(g) if the application
form is complete in all respects, the Commissioner of Income-tax or the
Director of Income-tax, as the case may be, may make such inquiry as he may
consider necessary regarding the genuineness of the electoral trust and send a
report to the Member (Income-tax), Central Board of Direct Taxes for grant of
approval or rejection of the application;
(h) the Central Board
of Direct Taxes may, on receipt of the report referred to in sub-clause (g),
call for such documents or information from the applicant, any authority or
other person as it may consider necessary and get any further inquiry conducted
in this regard;
(i) the Central Board
of Direct Taxes shall, after considering all the information in its possession
and the result of enquiry conducted, if any, grant approval to the electoral
trust or reject the application;
(j) the Central Board
of Direct Taxes may also impose any conditions, subject to which the approval
shall be valid;
(k) no order treating
the application as invalid or rejecting the application or withdrawing the
approval shall be passed by the Central Board of Direct Taxes without giving
the applicant an opportunity of being heard and without recording the reasons
for the same in writing;
(l) the order of
approval or rejection shall be passed by the Central Board of Direct Taxes
within six months from the end of the month in which the application form was
received from the applicant in the office of Member (Income-tax), Central Board
of Direct Taxes;
(m) the period of
limitation of six months referred to in sub-clause (1) shall exclude the period
beginning from the date of the intimation of the defect under clause (c) by the
Commissioner of Income-tax or the Director of Income-tax, as the case may be,
to the date the applicant removes such defect;
(n) a copy of the order
invalidating or rejecting the application or withdrawing the approval shall be
sent to the applicant, the Assessing Officer and the Commissioner of Income-tax
or the Director of Income-tax, as the case may be;
(o) the approval shall
be valid for the assessment year relevant to the financial year in which such
application has been made and for a further period, not exceeding three
assessment years, as may be specified in such approval.
(2) The application in FORM A shall
be accompanied by the following documents, namely:-
(a) an attested copy of
the certificate evidencing the registration of the company for the purposes of
section 25 of the Companies Act, 1956 (1 of 1956);
(b) a certified copy of
the memorandum and articles of association;
(c) complete name,
permanent account number and address of the electoral trust and its members
(including members of its Executive Committee, Governing Committee or Board of
Directors);
(d) initial share
capital of the company and its source;
(e) details of
beneficiaries, if available;
(f) an undertaking in
the form of an affidavit stating that the receipts shall be distributed only to
the political parties registered under section 29A of the Representation of the
People Act, 1951 (43 of 1951); and
(g) copy of accounts of
the applicant for the last one, two or three years, as may be applicable.
(3) Any change in the shareholders,
subsequent to the approval granted under the Scheme, shall be intimated to the
Board within thirty days of the change.
Criteria for approval
6. An electoral trust shall be considered for approval if it
fulfils all of the following conditions, namely: —
(a) the company
registered for the purposes of section 25 of the Companies Act, 1956 (1 of 1956
), which satisfies the conditions referred to in paragraph 4 of this Scheme;
(b) the object of the
electoral trust shall not be to earn any profit or pass any direct or indirect
benefit to its members or contributors, or to any person referred to in
sub-section (3) of section 13 of the Act, or any person referred to in sub-rule
(10) of rule 17CA of the Rules;
(c) it has made
adequate arrangement for recording the receipts from the contributors in
accordance with rule 17CA; and
FORM
A
Application
for approval of an electoral trust under the Electoral Trusts Scheme, 2013
To
Member (Income-tax)
Central Board of Direct Taxes
New Delhi
I, ______________________________
(Name)
Designation
............................................... on behalf of
_________________________ , being a company registered for the purposes of
section 25 of the Companies Act, 1956 hereby apply for the approval of the said
section 25 Company as an electoral trust under Electoral Trusts Scheme, 2012.
The following particulars are
furnished herewith
|
(1)
|
Name and Address of the applicant
in full [In BLOCK letters]
|
:
|
____________
|
|
(2)
|
Permanent Account Number
|
:
|
____________
|
|
(3)
|
Name and Address of the electoral
trust in full [In BLOCK letters]
|
:
|
____________
|
|
(4)
|
Date of Registration as a Company
for the purposes of Section 25 of the Companies Act, 1956
|
:
|
____________
|
|
(5)
|
Name(s), address(es) and Permanent
Account Number of members (including members of its Executive Committee,
Governing Committee or Board of Directors)
|
:
|
____________
|
|
(6)
|
I also enclose the following
documents
|
:
|
|
(a) An attested copy of
the certificate evidencing registration of the company for the purposes of
section 25 of the Companies Act, 1956;
(b) certified copy of
the articles of association and memorandum;
(c) complete name,
address and permanent account number of the shareholders;
(d) initial share
capital of the company and its source;
(e) details of
beneficiaries, if available;
(f) details of
contributors, if any;
(g) an undertaking in
the form of an affidavit stating that the receipts shall be distributed only to
political parties registered under section 29A of the Representation of the
People Act, 1951; and
(h) copies of the
accounts of the applicant for the last one/two/three years as applicable.
Verification
(a) The particulars
given above and in the enclosed documents are true and correct.
(b) The requirements
contained in the rule 17CA of the Rules relating to the functioning of
Electoral Trusts have been specifically included in the Articles of Association
of the Company and shall be complied with.
(c) I shall comply with
all the provisions of the Scheme, the concerned rules and all the prescribed
conditions subject to which approval, if any, shall be granted and have
understood that in case of any failure to do so, the approval is liable to be
withdrawn.
(d) I undertake to
communicate forthwith any alteration in the object and terms of the electoral
trust or the shareholders or in any clause of the articles of association
within thirty days of such change.
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Date :---------------
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Signature
|
|
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_______________________
|
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Designation
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______________________
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Address
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___________________
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