12A approval exempts a charitable organisation's own income from tax, while 80G approval lets the people who fund it claim a deduction on what they give. The first is a tax question. The second is a fundraising one. A diagnostics entrepreneur on the EM Bypass, whose labs fund free screening camps through a family trust, hears the same opening question from every corporate CSR desk: does the trust hold 80G? Until both approvals exist, the trust pays tax on its donations and its donors get nothing back.
What do 12A and 80G change for a Kolkata NGO?
Both approvals now travel together in one online application, Form 10A, and both begin as provisional grants that mature into regular status once your activities are on record. The national rules, forms and validity periods are covered in the full 12A and 80G registration process nationwide, so this page stays on the West Bengal layer.
The local layer comes down to one thing. The income tax filing is national, but the constitution you upload is a state document. A Kolkata application succeeds or stalls on paperwork created at a sub registrar counter, at the state societies registrar or at ROC West Bengal, often years before anyone thought about tax.
Who applies for 12A and 80G in Kolkata?
The files crossing our desk come from a recognisable set of founders:
- Healthcare entrepreneurs, like a pathology chain owner on the EM Bypass routing free screening camps through a charitable trust.
- Founders of societies in Jadavpur and Tollygunge running tuition centres, libraries and community kitchens on member subscriptions and small grants.
- Family trusts around Bowbazar and College Street whose original deeds name relatives as beneficiaries, a clause that has to be cleaned up before Form 10A goes in.
- Section 8 companies floated by professionals who want a corporate structure for their foundation from day one.
If your organisation earns anything at all, even savings account interest, 12A matters. If you ever plan to ask a Kolkata company or a salaried donor for money, 80G is what makes the ask land.
Which office handles a Kolkata application?
One office, and you will probably never walk into it. Exemption files for West Bengal nonprofits sit with the Commissioner of Income Tax (Exemption), Kolkata, which is where any query on your application comes from. Form 10A itself is filed on the national e-filing portal and every clarification travels back the same way, so there is no counter to queue at.
Beneath that sits the state layer, and that is where Kolkata files usually stall. A trust deed must already be registered at one of the sub registrar offices across the city, under the Directorate of Registration and Stamp Revenue. A society points to its certificate from the Registrar of Firms, Societies and Non Trading Corporations, West Bengal, since the state registers societies under its own Act of 1961 rather than the central 1860 law. A Section 8 company points to its incorporation with ROC West Bengal, at Nizam Palace on A.J.C. Bose Road, visible in the WB state code inside its CIN. Most queries we answer for Kolkata clients turn out to be questions about that state paperwork rather than about the tax form.
What documents do you need?
For a typical Kolkata file we ask for:
- The registered constitution: a trust deed with sub registrar endorsement, a society certificate with memorandum and rules, or the Section 8 licence with the incorporation certificate.
- PAN of the organisation and KYC of every trustee, office bearer or director.
- Bank account proof in the organisation's name.
- Accounts for up to 3 completed years, audited where the law requires it.
- An activity note with dates, places and beneficiary counts rather than adjectives.
- Details of any government or CSR funds already received.
The objects clause deserves the closest reading. Older Kolkata deeds often mix charitable objects with family arrangements, and that mix is the most common reason files from the city attract queries. We read the clause before filing, not after a notice lands.
How long does 12A and 80G take in Kolkata?
Budget 30 to 60 days from complete documents to provisional certificates. The sequence runs:
- Constitution and accounts review, usually 2 to 3 working days.
- Corrections, where the deed or bylaws need amending at the sub registrar or with the state societies registrar.
- Form 10A drafting, filing and acknowledgment on the e-filing portal, which is a same day step once the papers are ready.
- Query responses, if the department wants clarification on activities or accounts.
- Provisional approval valid for 3 years, then Form 10AB to convert it into regular approval.
Step 2 is the wildcard. A clean society file skips it entirely, while an old trust deed that needs fresh stamping through GRIPS and a sub registrar appointment can add weeks before anything is filed. That is why we sequence the deed work first and file only when the record is solid.
Step 5 is the one founders misread. Form 10AB is due within 6 months of the organisation commencing activities or 6 months before the provisional approval expires, whichever comes first. A trust that starts work immediately does not get the full 3 years, and most lapsed approvals we clean up in Kolkata began as exactly that assumption.
What does 12A and 80G registration cost in Kolkata?
Professional charges come to ₹4,999 for both approvals prepared and filed together. The government charges nothing for the application itself.
| Item | What you pay | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Government fee for Form 10A | Nil | Both approvals ride on one free application |
| LegalX India professional fee | ₹4,999 | Review, drafting, filing and query handling |
| Trust deed amendment, where needed | Quoted before you commit | Supplementary deed drafting plus West Bengal stamp duty, paid through GRIPS |
| Society or Section 8 record updates | Quoted per file | Only when bylaws, memorandum or director records are outdated |
| Form 10AB conversion later | Quoted at the time | The filing that turns provisional approval into regular approval |
There is no honest way to print a stamp duty figure in that third row. West Bengal fixes duty by the instrument and its value, so what a supplementary trust deed costs depends on what the deed actually does. We compute it from your draft and give you the number before execution, which beats meeting it at a sub registrar counter. Most Kolkata societies and Section 8 companies never reach that row at all.
Trust, society or Section 8: which Kolkata structure files cleanest?
After enough files, a pattern shows.
Section 8 companies are usually the smoothest. ROC West Bengal has already vetted the objects at incorporation, the licence conditions mirror what the tax portal expects, and every record sits digitally on MCA. The application becomes an exercise in assembling what already exists.
Societies come second. The state registration certificate is accepted without fuss, though bylaws drafted decades ago sometimes lack the dissolution and no profit distribution wording the department looks for. Adding it takes a general meeting and a filing with the state societies registrar, which is manageable when planned early.
Trusts vary the most. A well drafted deed registered at a Kolkata sub registrar sails through. A deed that names family members as permanent beneficiaries, or says nothing about assets on dissolution, needs a supplementary deed, fresh stamping through GRIPS and another sub registrar visit before Form 10A goes in.
None of this should decide your structure, and an existing organisation rarely wants to convert. It decides how much preparatory work stands between you and the portal, which is exactly what we scope in the first call.
Why do Kolkata NGOs choose LegalX India?
The filing is national, but the reading that gets it approved is local. Our CA and CS team sits at 58B, Bidhan Park, Taki Road, Barasat, Kolkata 700124, and has read enough West Bengal deeds and bylaws to spot a problem clause in minutes. The process stays online from start to finish: documents move through our portal, and the only counter anyone visits is the sub registrar's, and only when a deed amendment forces it.
For ₹4,999 you get both applications drafted, filed and defended through queries until the certificates arrive, with the Form 10AB date on our calendar afterwards. Call +91 96356 85435 and a specialist calls back within 30 minutes, whether you run a society in Tollygunge or a family trust near College Street.