Registering a new trust: start with Form 104
The deed is registered. The PAN has come. The school has not admitted a child yet, the hospital has not seen a patient, the charitable work has not started. That is the exact position Form 104 is designed for.
In short
- Form 104 is for a trust that has not yet started its activities and has not been registered before. If activities have already begun, Form 105 is the right form.
- One form covers both provisional registration and the approval for donors to claim a deduction. The order is to be passed in Form 106 within one month from the end of the month in which Form 104 is filed.
- Provisional registration normally covers three tax years. Once the trust starts its activities, it must apply in Form 105 within six months.
- Do not promise a tax deduction to donors until the separate approval has actually been granted.
Is Form 104 meant for our trust?
Has the trust started its activities? If not, Form 104 may be used. If it has, Form 105 is the right form. Form 104 is also unavailable where the trust was previously registered under sections 12A, 12AA, 12AB or 10(23C) of the old Act.
Obtaining a PAN, opening a bank account and registering the deed do not by themselves mean that activities have begun. What starts the clock is actually doing the work: the first day of the camp, the first student admitted, the first beneficiary helped. That date matters more than any other in this whole process.
The application will be treated as invalid and will not be processed. If the trust has already begun its work, Form 105 is the right form, and an incorrect filing of Form 104 cannot cure that position. Where any doubt exists about whether activities have started, the date should be established before the form is filed.
Can we receive donations and issue receipts straight away?
Donations can come in before any form is filed. The question is whether you can promise the donor a tax deduction, and the answer to that is no, not until the approval order in Form 106 has actually arrived. Once it has, donors who receive the certificate in Form 114 can claim the deduction. Not before.
A public religious trust may obtain registration under section 332. But registration and approval for donors to claim a deduction are two different things. A trust mainly established to run a temple will ordinarily not qualify for that donor approval under section 354. Trustees must therefore avoid issuing receipts that promise a tax deduction unless the separate approval has actually been granted.
Form 104 asks directly whether the trust's objects or expenditure are of a religious nature. That answer determines whether the donor approval can be sought through the same application.
Check the trust deed before filing
The form asks you to declare things about the deed. A trustee who answers these questions without reading the deed first is taking a risk that is not worth taking.
Before filing, check the trust deed
- Can the founder cancel the trust or take back its property? If yes, the trust is not eligible. The property must be held under an irrevocable arrangement for the benefit of the general public.
- Are the charitable or religious objects clearly written? Vague or commercial objects can cause the application to fail, and spending outside the stated objects is a violation later.
- Can the founder, trustees or their relatives receive personal benefits? No clause should allow income or assets to flow to them. Money applied that way attracts a separate tax in the year it happens.
- Does the deed say where the assets will go if the trust closes? This is a condition for the donor approval, not merely good drafting. The deed must not allow assets to be used for anything other than a charitable purpose.
- Is the trust seeking approval for donors to claim a deduction? If yes, check whether the trust has objects or expenditure of a religious nature. The donor approval is not available where spending on religious activities exceeds 5% of the trust's total income in a year.
If any answer raises doubt, correct the deed before filing.
What documents to keep ready
Everything goes up on the portal. Nothing is posted. Gather these before the form is opened, not while it is sitting half-completed on screen.
- The trust deed or instrument of creation
- The certificate of registration with the Registrar of Companies, of Firms and Societies, or of Public Trusts, as applicable
- The PAN of the trust
- FCRA registration, if held
- Accounts for any earlier years in which returns were not filed, with a signed nil declaration for any year where no accounts exist
- A note describing what the trust plans to do
Whoever signs the trust's income-tax return must verify this form too, by digital signature or electronic verification code. Sort that out before sitting down with the form, not at the last screen.
What to expect after filing
Form 106 comes back within one month from the end of the month of filing. File in August and the order is due by the end of September, carrying a 16-digit Unique Registration Number. Nobody examines whether the work is genuine at this stage. That scrutiny comes later, on Form 105. The grant here is close to automatic.
Where both registration and donor approval were applied for, two orders come back, one for each, each with its own number. Keep both.
What must we do after starting activities?
Provisional registration covers three tax years, each running 1 April to 31 March. Three years sounds like enough time. It is not, once work begins. From the first day of activities, the clock runs for six months and then stops. Whatever is left of the three years is irrelevant.
A trust files Form 104 in November 2026. Its three years run across tax years 2026-27, 2027-28 and 2028-29, ending on 31 March 2029.
If the trust opens its school on 1 August 2027, Form 105 is due by 1 February 2028, six months from that day. The remaining fourteen months of the provisional period are of no use.
If the trust has still not started work when the three years are running out, Form 105 is due at least six months before 31 March 2029, that is, by 30 September 2028.
What happens if we miss the deadline?
Missing the Form 105 deadline is serious. If the delay is not condoned, the trust faces additional tax broadly linked to the value of its assets. Not a penalty. A tax that can be many times the trust's annual surplus.
Record the date activities begin. Write it in the governing body resolution. Note the first payment made on the objects, the first person helped. That single date drives everything, and reconstructing it from a bank statement three years later is much harder than it sounds.
A delay can sometimes be condoned where there is good reason. But condonation is a remedy, not a plan.
Questions we are asked
Is Form 104 meant for our trust?
Form 104 is for a trust that has not yet started its charitable or religious activities and has not been registered before under the earlier income-tax provisions. If the trust has already started its activities, Form 105 is the right form. Opening a bank account, obtaining a PAN or registering the deed does not by itself mean that activities have commenced. But conducting a medical camp, admitting students, distributing assistance or beginning the main programme normally indicates commencement.
Can we receive donations and issue receipts straight away?
You may receive donations after the trust is formed, but you should not promise a tax deduction to donors unless and until the separate donor approval has actually been granted. Where provisional approval is applied for along with registration and the order in Form 106 is received, donors who receive the Form 114 certificate may then claim the deduction. Do not issue receipts mentioning a deduction before that approval arrives.
What documents should we keep ready before filing?
The trust deed, the certificate of registration with the Registrar, the PAN of the trust, FCRA registration if held, and a note describing what the trust plans to do. Where accounts exist for earlier years in which returns were not filed, those accounts should also be kept ready, with a signed nil declaration for any year where there are no accounts.
What must we do after starting activities?
File Form 105 within six months of the date on which activities commence. Do not wait for the three-year provisional period to end. Record the exact date on which activities begin, for example, the date of the first medical camp, the first student admitted or the first beneficiary assisted. That date starts the six-month clock.
What happens if we miss the Form 105 deadline?
Missing the deadline is serious. If the delay is not condoned, the trust may face additional tax on its accreted income, broadly linked to the value of the trust's assets after applying the statutory rules. This is not a fine. It is a substantial additional tax that can far exceed the trust's annual surplus. Trustees should record the date of commencement and set a reminder well before the six months expire.
What trustees should do now
- Confirm that the trust has not commenced activities.
- Keep the trust deed, PAN and registration documents ready.
- Decide whether registration alone, or donor approval also, is required.
- Check the deed against the five questions above before making declarations in Form 104.
- Preserve both Form 106 orders where two approvals are granted.
- Do not promise a donor deduction until approval is received.
- Record the date on which the trust begins its activities.
- File Form 105 within the applicable time after activities commence.
If a deed has been drawn but nothing has been filed yet, write to TaxSmriti with the deed, the PAN and a note on what the trust plans to do. We will tell you what needs checking before the form goes up.
Sources relied on
- Income-tax Act, 2025, section 332, Application for registration, in particular the eligibility conditions in sub-section (2), the Table in sub-section (3) at serial numbers 1, 3 and 4, and the grant of provisional registration under sub-section (8), incometaxindia.gov.in, section 332
- Income-tax Act, 2025, section 354, Application for approval for purpose of section 133(1)(b)(ii), in particular the conditions in sub-section (1), incometaxindia.gov.in, section 354
- Income Tax Department, Form No. 104 departmental note, for the one-month order period, the documents and withdrawal within seven days, incometaxindia.gov.in, Form No. 104 note
- Income Tax Department, Form No. 104 and Form No. 106 Frequently Asked Questions, incometaxindia.gov.in, Form No. 104 FAQs
- Income-tax Act, 2025, sections 334, 337, 351 and 352, for income taxed at the applicable rate, specified violations and tax on accreted income, incometaxindia.gov.in, Income-tax Act 2025
This note sets out the general position in law as at 13 August 2026 and is written for information only. It is not advice on any particular matter and should not be acted on without professional advice on the specific facts. Provisions, forms and time limits change, and the position for your own institution may differ.
