Introduction

Charitable or religious trusts are trusts which are formed with the objective of providing relief to the poor, education, medical relief, preservation of environment or monuments, advancement of objects of general public utility, religious purpose, etc. Their taxation has always been a point of concern. The entire income of such trust (be it house property, capital gain or any other income) is taxed as per the provisions of section 11-13 of the Income Tax Act, 1961 instead of as per their relevant provisions.

Societies Registration Act:

The Societies Registration Act, of 1860 is that which allows the registration of entities that involves activities like education, health, charitable purposes etc.

The Indian Societies Registration Act of 1860 was enacted under the British Raj in India but is essentially still effective in India today. It provides the registration of literary, scientific and charitable societies.

Under the Societies Registration Act entities can be incorporated, with the memorandum of association, with any seven or more individuals associated for any literary, scientific or charitable purpose. The memorandum of association has got to be filed with the Registrar of Societies. The memorandum has got to contain the name of the society, its objects, and the names, addresses, and occupations of the members of the governing body, by whatever name it may be called, duly signed for consent by all the members forming the society. A copy of the principles and regulations of the society also has to be filed along with the memorandum of association. A fee of ? 50 is to be paid in cash, for registration.

The procedure of registration of society:

A Society can often incorporate by a minimum of seven or more persons. Apart from persons from India, companies, foreigners, as well as other registered societies also can register for the Memorandum of Association of the society. Similar to Partnership firms, society also can be either unregistered or registered. But, only the registered societies are going to be ready to withstand consigned properties and/or have an ensemble filed against or by the society.

Society registration is maintained by state governments. Thus, the application for society registration must be created to the precise authority of the state, where the registered office of the society is situated.

For Society registration, the establishing members must accept as true with the name of the society first and then prepare the Memorandum, followed by the Rules & Regulations of the society.

Steps:

• Choose an appropriate name for society. This is the basic step in registering society. While choosing a name look out that the proposed name shouldn’t suggest any quiet patronage by the govt. of India or any government. It should be under the restricted list of names as per the provisions of the Emblems and Names Act, of 1950.
• Prepare a Memorandum of Association of the society alongside Rules & Regulations of society must be signed by every establishing member, witness by Gazetted Officer, Notary Public, and Chartered Accountant with their official stamping and complete address. The memorandum must contain the name of the society, and the thing of the society. Also, it consists of details of members of the society registration along with their names, addresses, designations, and occupations.
• Prepare all the documents which will be required at the time of submission.

The following are the necessary documents for the Registration of society:

• PAN Card of members of the proposed society has to be submitted along with the application.
• The Residence Proof of members of the society also has to be submitted. The following are often used as legitimate residence proof:
• Bank Statement
• Aadhaar Card
• Utility Bill
• Driving License
• Passport

A Memorandum of Association has to be prepared which will contain the following clauses and information:

• The work and the objectives of the society for which it is being established
• The details of the members forming the society
• It will contain the address of the registered office of the society

Rules & Regulations of the Society also have to be prepared which will contain the following information:

• Rules and regulations  which describe the working of the society and the maintenance of day-to-day activities
• It will contain the principles for taking membership of the society
• The details about the meetings of the society and the frequency with which they are going to be held is to be mentioned
• Information about the Auditors
• Way of the dissolution of society will also be mentioned

A cover letter mentioning the objective or the purpose for which the society is being formed will be annexed to the beginning of the application. It will be signed by all the concerned members of the society.

A copy of the proof of address where the registered office of the society will be situated along with a NOC from the landlord if any has to be attached.

A list of all the members of the governing body has to be given along with their signatures.

A declaration has to be given by the president of the proposed society that he is willing and competent to hold the said post.

All the above documents need to be submitted to the Registrar of Societies alongside the requisite fees in 2 copies. On receiving the application, the registrar will sign the primary copy as acknowledgement and return it while keeping the second copy for approval. On proper vetting of the documents, the registrar will issue an Incorporation Certificate by allotting a registration number thereto. 

The signed Rules & Regulations, also the Memorandum, has got to be filed with the concerned society or registrar of state with a mentioned fee. If the registrar is fulfilled with the society registration application, then they're going to certify that the society is registered.