Is societies under XXl taxable

The two requirements which will make the filing of the return mandatory for the said trusts, etc., are :

1. the total income of the trust/institution should exceed the maximum amount which is not chargeable to income-tax (now i.e., in A.Y. 2001-02 the minimum amount is Rs.50,000/-)

2. such income is to be calculated without giving effect to the claim of deduction u/s.11 and u/s.12.

It is very clear that all trusts/ institutions with income/receipts exceeding Rs.50,000/- and claiming exemption u/s.11 and u/s.12 will have to file their return of income in Form 3A as specified in S. 139(4A) of the Income-tax Act, 1961. In other words if those trusts/institutions have income/receipts for the year of less than Rs.50,000/- no return of income needs to be filed.

Yes it is compulsory to get trust accounts get audited from a practicing chartered accountant.

And have to file income tax return with the department under Form ITR - 7

you have to consolidate the branch accounts of the society at the registered office and you do not have to register every branch under the act differently. but add them in the registered society only.

In our opinion , the societies registration act per se , does not mandate any audit by CA ,however this can be brought by the Memorandum of association , apart from the rules and regulation therein . Thus such type of clause on the MOA is always inserted for the purpose of accounts and audit .

Filling of the ITR is in the domain of Inomce tax Act , and the relevant section 139 tigers bases on its income . Further section 11, 11A, 12 , 13 also get triggered where the assessee has claimed any exemption . Section 44AA, 44AB also get triggered related to books of account and getting the accounts audited by the auditor .

The Societies Registration Act, 1860 was enacted for improving the legal condition of societies established for the promotion of literature, science, or the fine arts, or for the diffusion of useful knowledge or for charitable purposes.

in addition to the other provisions of this Act, be subject to the following conditions:

(a) to submit annual report of its activities and performance to the Registrar;

(b) to maintain accounts of its expenses and receipts and annually submit the

report to the Registrar; and

(c) to cause to be carried out audit of its accounts by an Auditor and annually submit

its audited accounts to the Registrar.

Thus in your case whether it is society registered under GOI, act of 1860 or other accounts of audit is compulsory

A society registered under the Societies Act will have to get its accounts audited and file income tax returns. As it is a religious institution, it has to obtain registration u/s 12A/12AA of the Income Tax Act to claim exemption of its income.