What Is Form 10BD Income Tax Act: Due Date, Applicability & How To File Online?

Previously, there was no definite way to validate the amount of donations received by charitable institutions like colleges, schools or universities. As a result, sometimes claims of donations were proved to be false or fraudulent. To tackle such fraudulent activities, the government introduced the donation statement in Form 10BD. Let’s dive deeper into Form 10BD and its related aspects. 

Form 10BD of the Income Tax Act

Under Section 80G of the Income Tax Act 1961, a deduction on payment of donations is available. Accordingly, the Finance Act 2021 introduced an amendment where the trust that possesses an 80G certificate needs to submit the statement of particulars of donation in each financial year in Form 10BD to the authority within the stipulated time. Failure in furnishing the statement will attract hefty penalties. 

The main purpose of this tax provision is to bring transparency and tackle the issue regarding false or incorrect deduction claims. So, for filing Form 10BD, entities must fill in the necessary information. This includes the following:

• Donor’s ID
• Statement Number
• PAN/Passport/Aadhaar card/Driving License and another unique identification number.
• Donor’s address
• Section code (Section 35(1)(iii), Section 35(1)(ii), Section 35(1)(iia))
• Donor’s name
• Mode of receipt (Cash, cheque/draft, kind, and others)
• Donation type including specific, corpus, restricted grant or others
• Donation Amount
• Receipt Number of the receipt against donation

Form 10BD Applicability

Every organisation that falls under charitable institutions including trusts, colleges, schools, research institutions, universities and others are eligible to file Form 10BD income tax. Also, it is important to note that the funds of these organisations must cover the following section:

• Section 35 (1A) (i) of the Act
• Section 80G (5) (viii) of the Act

Form 10BD Due Date  

Form 10BD due date for FY 2024-25 is 31st May 2025. This signifies that all eligible trusts, organisations, and institutions need to file the donation return in Form 10BD on or before 31 May in the following financial year in which they received the donation.

In the scenario of failure to provide a donation return or statement of donation within a stipulated time, an additional fee and a penalty will be levied. As per Section 234G of the Income Tax Act, a penalty fee of Rs 200 per day is applicable for any delay. 

Additionally, according to Section 271K of the Act, failure to furnish the statement of donation in Form 10BD can attract a minimum penalty of Rs 10,000 and a maximum penalty of Rs 1,00,000. The Assessing Officer has the authority to impose the mentioned penalty amount to the concerned trust or institution. 

How To File Form 10BD Online?

As per the new rules, it is mandatory to file Form 10BD electronically or digitally through the official website of the Income Tax Department. Also, it is important to note that the authorised person needs to sign this Income Tax Return of the reporting entity. 

Below you will find a step-by-step guide to filing Form 10BD:

• Navigate to the official Income Tax website (https://www.incometax.gov.in/iec/foportal/) and log in by using valid credentials.
• Under the “e-file” tab, click on “Income Tax Forms” and locate Form 10BD.
• Select the required financial year and click on the “Continue” option.
• On clicking the "Provide details" tab, a new dashboard will appear on your screen to file Form 10BD.
• Provide all the relevant information in this form carefully. You will notice that this form is divided into three parts. This includes: “Basic information”, “Details about the donation and donors”, and “Verification”.
• The first part consists of basic information automatically filled in by the system. You do not need to input any details, simply click on "Confirm".
• Fill out the necessary information in the second and third parts of this form. 
• Download an Excel template to provide obligatory fields. Then a CSV file will be downloaded. 
• After filling in all data, upload this CSV file to the portal. This online form comes with the auto-save feature in order to retrieve the data entered.
• Click on the “Verification” tab and preview all relevant details.
• After verifying, if all details are accurate, select “Proceed to verify”.
• Click on "Yes" in order to file the form and download the acknowledgement. Furthermore, in case of any errors, you can revise Form 10BD quite easily.

After filing this Form 10BD, the charitable organisation needs to download and issue a Certification of Donation through Form 10BE and must provide it to the donors. Thereafter, they can claim a deduction u/s 80G or Section 35 of the Income Tax Act.

How To Download Filed Form 10BD?

Here is a complete step-by-step guide:

• On the official website of the Income Tax Department, click on the e-File menu.
• There, click “Income Tax Forms” and from the drop-down menu, select "View filed forms".
• A new webpage will appear. Click on 'Statement of Particulars to be filed”.
• Then, tap on the “View all” option.
• Finally, select “Download form” in order to download your online filed form of Form 10BD. 

Final Word
Due to the introduction of the new amendment by the Finance Act 2021, Form 10BD has served as a turning point to bring more transparency to the reporting systems of donation. Therefore, for charitable institutions, it is important to know everything about Form 10BD income tax and how to file it online.