A registered society carries two separate compliance obligations that people routinely treat as one. The first sits with the Registrar of Societies in the state where you registered, and it differs from state to state. The second sits with the income tax department, and it is identical everywhere in India. Missing the second is what costs societies their exemption.
Two layers, and only one of them is the same everywhere
The Societies Registration Act 1860 is a central Act, but it has been adapted or replaced by most states. West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh each run their own society legislation, and Maharashtra requires societies to sit under the public trust regime as well.
The practical result is that no single answer to "what does a society have to file with its Registrar" is correct nationally. Your obligations there depend on the Act you registered under.
The income tax layer has no such variation. A society registered under Section 12AB faces the same forms, the same thresholds and the same deadlines whether it operates from Kolkata or Coimbatore. That is also the layer where the penalties are severe, because the sanction is not a fee, it is the loss of exemption.
The Registrar layer: what your state Act requires
The common core, traceable to Section 4 of the 1860 Act, is an annual list of the governing body. It sets out the names, addresses and occupations of the governors, council, directors, committee or other body managing the society's affairs, and it must be filed once a year.
The timing under the central Act is within fourteen days after the annual general meeting. Where the society's rules do not provide for an AGM, the list is filed during January instead.
Most state Acts add to this. The additions typically include:
- audited annual accounts, filed with the Registrar
- an annual report on activities
- intimation of any change in the registered office
- intimation of any amendment to the memorandum or rules, which usually requires prior approval rather than mere notice
Some states charge a nominal filing fee, some require the filing to be signed by a specified number of governing body members, and some prescribe a different month entirely. Check the Act you registered under rather than the 1860 text.
The income tax layer: identical wherever you registered
This is where most of the real work is.
Registration under Section 12AB. Exemption depends on a live registration. Provisional registration runs for three years. Regular registration runs for five years and has to be renewed in Form 10AB. A renewal that lapses does not quietly continue. The society becomes taxable.
80G approval follows the same five year cycle and the same renewal form. A lapsed 80G does not affect the society's own exemption, but every donor loses their deduction, which tends to be discovered by the donors first.
Audit. Where total income, computed before giving effect to the exemptions under Sections 11 and 12, exceeds the basic exemption limit, the accounts must be audited. The report is furnished in Form 10B or Form 10BB, and which one applies is determined by tests including whether total income exceeds Rs 5 crore, whether the society received foreign contribution, and whether income was applied outside India. Filing the wrong one is treated as not filing at all.
Return. Form ITR-7 is the return for a society claiming exemption.
Accumulation. A society must apply at least 85 percent of its income towards its objects in the year. Where it cannot, it may accumulate or claim deemed application, but only by filing Form 9A or Form 10 in advance of the return.
The annual calendar
| Due date | Filing | Applies to |
|---|---|---|
| 31 May | Form 10BD statement of donations, and Form 10BE certificates issued to donors | Societies approved under Section 80G or Section 35 |
| 31 August | Form 9A or Form 10 for deemed application or accumulation | Societies applying less than 85 percent of income in the year |
| 30 September | Audit report in Form 10B or Form 10BB | Societies whose income before exemption exceeds the basic exemption limit |
| 31 October | Income tax return in Form ITR-7 | Societies registered under Section 12AB with audited accounts |
| 31 December | FCRA annual return in Form FC-4 | Societies holding FCRA registration |
| Per state Act | Annual list of governing body, and audited accounts where required | Every registered society |
Two of these deadlines run ahead of the return, which is the detail that catches societies out. Form 9A and Form 10 are due two months before the return date, and the audit report one month before it. A society that starts thinking about its filings in October has already missed both.
Donations: Form 10BD and the certificate donors need
Any society approved under Section 80G or Section 35 must file a statement of donations received in Form 10BD by 31 May following the financial year, and issue each donor a certificate in Form 10BE by the same date.
This is not optional record keeping. A donor's deduction is now matched against the Form 10BD filed by the recipient. If the society does not report the donation, the donor's claim fails, regardless of the receipt they hold.
Late filing carries a fee under Section 234G of Rs 200 for each day the failure continues. Given that the fee runs per day and the form covers an entire year of donations, delay here becomes expensive quickly.
If you receive foreign contributions
FCRA sits alongside everything above, not instead of it. A society holding FCRA registration files an annual return in Form FC-4 by 31 December for the preceding financial year, and it must be filed even where no foreign contribution was received in that year.
FCRA registration itself is valid for five years, and renewal has to be applied for before expiry rather than after. Foreign contribution must be received only in the designated FCRA account, and must not be mixed with domestic funds at any point.
Society, trust or Section 8 company: the second layer is shared
Not for profit organisations take three common legal forms in India, and clients often apply advice written for one to another. The distinction matters only on the first layer.
| Structure | Who the first layer answers to | What it typically involves |
|---|---|---|
| Registered society | Registrar of Societies under the applicable state Act | Annual list of the governing body, and audited accounts in most states |
| Public trust | The state Charity Commissioner, where the state has one | Annual accounts and change reports under the state public trust legislation |
| Section 8 company | The Registrar of Companies | AOC-4 and MGT-7, board and general meetings, and DIR-3 KYC for each director |
One detail worth stating plainly, because it is got wrong often: a Section 8 company can never file MGT-7A. That abridged return is available to small companies and one person companies, and a Section 8 company is neither. It files the full MGT-7 regardless of its size.
The second layer is common to all three. Any of them claiming exemption is registered under Section 12AB, faces the same audit test, files the same ITR-7, and if approved under 80G must file Form 10BD by 31 May. So advice about the income tax calendar carries across the three structures. Advice about the annual filing does not.
What non compliance actually costs
The Registrar layer usually costs money. The income tax layer costs the exemption.
- Registration cancelled or not renewed. Income is taxed, and a society taxed on gross receipts with limited deductible expenditure faces a bill it cannot fund.
- Audit report not filed, or the wrong form filed. The exemption for that year can be denied outright.
- Form 9A or Form 10 filed late. Accumulation is disallowed, so unapplied income becomes taxable in that year.
- Form 10BD missed. Every donor loses their deduction, and Rs 200 a day accrues under Section 234G.
- Governing body list not filed with the Registrar. In several states the society can be treated as defunct, which complicates everything from opening a bank account to receiving a grant.
Why societies use LegalX India
Society compliance fails on sequencing more often than on effort. The audit has to be complete before the report can be filed a month ahead of the return, and the accumulation forms have to go in a month before that. A society working backwards from 31 October has already lost two deadlines it cannot recover.
We run the calendar forward instead. We confirm which Registrar filings your state Act actually requires, track the 12AB and 80G renewal dates so neither lapses unnoticed, determine whether Form 10B or Form 10BB applies before the auditor signs, and file Form 10BD in time for your donors to claim.
If your registration or approval still needs to be obtained or renewed, see 12A and 80G registration. For the return itself, see income tax return filing.