HOW TO REGISTER A TRUSTIn India, Non Profit Organizations (NPOs) are often called the Non-Government Organizations (NGOs). An NGO could be registered in one of the following ways: TRUST SOCIETY (SEE HOW TO REGISTER A SOCIETY) SECTION 25 COMPANYA Trust can either be a private trust or a public charitable trust. Private trusts are governed by the Indian Trusts Act (1882) and are used for private purposes, such as running a private estate or institution. Private trusts are not given any tax benefits by the Government of India.If you want to do some charitable work for public you can set up a public charitable trust. India does not have a national level law to govern charitable trusts. However, a few of the states have enacted Public Charitable Trusts Act (Like Bombay Public Trusts Act, 1950)

1) Trusts are registered using a document called TRUST DEED. This document contains all the information about the Trust and is printed/written/typed on plain A4 size papers. Along with these papers you would need to attach a Rs. 100 Non-Judicial stamp paper (which you can get from a notary). All the Trustees and witnesses will have to give thumb impressions and signatures on these papers. All in all, you will need help of a notary to prepare the papers.2) You may also need a No-Objection Certificate (NOC) from the owner of the property where the registered office of the trust is to be situated. If youre the owner of the property, then you dont need to worry about NOC3) Following elements must be mentioned in the Trust Deed document:a. Name and address of the Settler (Settler is the person who is setting up trust)b. Name(s) and address(es) of the other trusteesc. Name of the trustd. Minimum and maximum number of trustees your trust can havee. Address of the registered office of the trustf. Objectives of the trustg. Rules and Regulations of the trust4) For registering a trust you need minimum two trustees (i.e. one settler and another person). You can decide the maximum number of trustees and this number must be mentioned in the trust deed. All the trustees together are called Board of Trustees. This board collectively governs the trust.5) Unlike societies, in case of trusts all or some of the trustees can be related persons (i.e. they may belong to the same family)6) All the trusts are allowed to work on all India level7) Trusts are irrevocable unless it is mentioned in the trust deed. This means that the trust cannot be wound up8) Trustees are usually life-long members or their tenure is specified in the deed. Electoral process is not involved in the appointment of trustees.9) Board of Trustees can also have various designations for trustees. Common designations are Chairperson and Managing Trustee10) Trustees cannot draw any remuneration from the trust fund. However, they may take reasonable compensation for the professional services they provide to the Trust.11) Profits earned by the Trust (e.g. interest gained from bank) cannot be distributed among the trustees.12) Trust Deed can be amended through a Supplementary Trust Deed.13) Most important part of the Trust Deed that you should pay special attention to is objectives of the trust. You should be as thorough as possible in writing down trust objectives so that you can function smoothly without any problems.14) At the time of registration, only the Settlor and two witnesses are required to be present in front of the Sub-registrar under whose jurisdiction the registered office address comes. Sub-registrar will check IDs of these people. After that the Trust Deed will go to the counter where data entry takes place. In the end, Settlor and two witnesses will be photographed. You will need to pay a fee of Rs. 1100 for this process. Of this amount, Rs. 100 will be the registration fee and Rs. 1000 will be the charges of keeping a copy of the Trust Deed with the sub-registrar.15) After about one week of submitting the papers, you can go back to the registrars office to receive a certified copy of the Trust Deed.

Other Important Points1) Trust income is exempted from income tax. But to avail this facility, after registration, you need to acquire a certificate from the Income Tax Department. This certificate is called u/s 12A2) Donations to the public charitable trusts are also exempted from tax (i.e. the donor will not have to pay tax on the amount he donates to the trust). For this, you need to acquire 80G certificate from Income Tax Department.3) Usually lawyers and practicing CAs can help you in registration of trust but I guess a lawyer is better person if you need help in formulating your Trust Deed. CAs dont know the nitty-gritty of legal stuff.4) If you can write your own trust deed and sure that you have done a good job then all you need is the help of a notary who will take your Trust Deed and prepare it for presentation before the Registrar.5) After registration of the Trust, for acquiring 12A and 80G certificates, you may need to take services of a practicing CA. They charge hefty fee for these services.

HOW TO REGISTER A TRUST NGO IN INDIA In order to register a public charitable trust you dont really need to get your trust registered with the sub-registrar of your area. However, if you do so, there is no harm in it.Registration with the sub-registrar is effectively a way to safe keep your trust deed with the government. The registrar will issue a certified copy of the deed to you that you can use for your day-to-day purposes. If your copy gets lost or destroyed you can go to the registrars office and get another certified copy made.BUT the real registration of a public charitable trust takes place at the Income Tax Department when you apply for tax exemptions under sections 12A and 80G. Here is how it goes:

1) Prepare your trust deed. It is strongly recommend that you take services of a good lawyer for this purpose. Then get the trust deed printed on a Rs. 100 stamp paper (i.e. the first page of the deed will be printed on the stamp paper and rest of the pages will be stapled with it.) Execute the trust deed by signing on all the pages. All the trustees will sign on all the pages.2) Now, obtain form 10A and 10G from the Income Tax Department. You can download these forms from their website as well. Form 10A is for exemption under section 12A and form 10G is for exemption under section 80G.3) Duly fill these forms and submit these forms along with trust deed to the relevant official in the Income Tax Departments exemptions office. Within 2-3 months, youll receive a clarification notice from the department. You should reply to all the questions and clarifications that the department asks for. Supply relevant documents if they ask for it. Once the tax department is satisfied youll issued the Exemption Certificates.4) The above said certificates shall bear a registration number which you can quote as the registration number of your trust. Same process for 80G and 12A applies for NGOs registered as Societies.5) Certificate for exemption under 12A bears the lifetime validity whereas the 80G certificate is valid only up to a period of 1 to 3 years.

EXEMPTION USER THE SECTION 80G OF INCOME TAX ACT.WHAT IS THE EXEMPTION UNDER 80GExemption under section 80G gives rebate to a donor on the amount he donates to an organization that has 80g certificate. If the public charitable organization (NGO) has 80g certificate then the donors of that organization would not need to pay tax on the 50% of the donated amount.How to apply for 80G exemption certificateExemption under section 80g is applied on a form called 10g. This form can be downloaded from Income Tax departments website.Validity of 80g ExemptionIncome tax department issues 80g certificate only for a specific period (usually 1-3 years). After expiry, 80g exemption must be reapplied for and renewed.Update (June 2014): Now Income Tax department is issuing 80g certificate for lifetime. You would no longer need to get it renewed.

CONDITIONS FOR GETTING 80G EXEMPTION?1) There are a few conditions that must to be fulfilled if you want to apply for exemption under the section 80g:2) NGO should not have any income which are not eligible for exemption. For example, business income. lf, the NGO has business income then it should maintain separate books of accounts and should not divert donations received for the purpose of such business.3) Bylaws or objectives of the NGOs should not contain any provision for spending the income or assets of the NGO for purposes other than the charitable objectives mentioned in the Trust Deep or Rules of Association.4) NGO should not be working for the benefit of particular religious community or caste.5) NGO maintains regular accounts of its receipts & expenditures.6) NGO is properly registered under the Societies Registration Act 1860 or under any law corresponding to that act or is registered under section 25 of the Companies Act 1956.7) Trustees or governing body members are not drawing any undue benefits from NGO funds.8) Documents required for registration of 80g certificate9) Dully filled in Form 10g for registration u/s 80g registration;10) Registration Certificate and MOA /Trust Deed (two copies self attested by NGO head);11) NOC from landlord (where registered office is situated);12) Copy of PAN card of NGO;13) Electricity Bill / House tax Receipt / Water Bill (photocopy);14) Evidence of welfare activities carried out & Progress Report since inception or last 3 years;15) Books of Accounts, Balance Sheet & ITR (if any), since inception or last 3years;16) List of donors along with their address and PAN;17) List of governing body I board of trustees members with their contact details;18) Original RC and MOA /Trust Deed for verification;19) Authority letter in favor of NGO Factory;20) Any other document I affidavit / undertaking I information asked by the Income Tax department.

When can you apply for 80g exemption certificate?Exemption certificate u/s 80g can be applied for just after the registration of NGO is completed.Where is 80g certificate to be applied?Exemption under section 80g can be applied for at the office of Commissioner of Income-tax (Exemption) having jurisdiction over the institution.