Income tax exemption for activist Harsh Mander’s NGO revoked

New Delhi: Human rights activist Harsh Mander, who is the founder of non-governmental organisation Aman Biradari, said that the tax authorities on Wednesday cancelled the registration of his organization under Section 12A of the Income Tax Act, making it no longer eligible for income tax exemption for its income, Scroll reported.

Mander said the NGO responded one-and-a-half months ago to a notice the Income Tax Department had issued cancelling registration about three months earlier.

However, the department, he said, failed to respond in the order cancelling the registration to any of the points that the NGO made, while clarifying its stand.

One of the reasons for cancelling registration that the Income Tax Department cited was that the NGO did not give the permanent account numbers, or PAN of some donors, who contributed to its crowdfunding, which was used to provide food to underprivileged people during the Covid-19 pandemic, Mander reportedly said.

Mander, however, claimed the organization was not legally required at the time to provide the PAN numbers of those who contributed to the crowdfunding campaign.

Another reason that IT department raised was that the communication material on interfaith harmony the outfit created was not part of its ‘stated objectives’.

The bureaucrat-turned-activist claimed that it was part of its listed objectives while seeking income tax exemption under Section 12A.

The orgnisation, Mander claimed, would continue with its work despite the action by the Income Tax department.

Mander made it clear that the Income Tax department’s decision will not ‘come in our way’ adding ‘We have worked with a large number of violence-hit people across the country, including survivors of the 2020 Delhi violence and the ethnic conflict in Manipur’.