Uncharitable it may be called

Withdrawing the benefits of tax exemption for donations to charitable and religious institutions under Secton 80G of the Act will directly hurt their functioning writes MY SIDDIQUI.

- Siddiqui

In a highly startling move and typical of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s one-man NDA Government out to disrupt the well-established social and economic norms, recent instance being demonetizations of high denomination notes that destabilized socio-economic activities of people of India having lined them up helplessly before ATMs and banks to withdraw their own money ostensibly to cleanse the national economy of black money operations (parallel economy) and rendering poor, farmers, labourers unemployed, small and medium industry closed down under the cover of ultra nationalism, exemption to donations to religious and charitable organizations from income tax has been withdrawn in the Union Budget 2017-18, which our motivated media failed to notice.

The Union Budget 2017-18 has quietly inserted a clause in the Income Tax Act, 1961 withdrawing the benefits of exemption from tax for donations to charitable, religious institutions, etc. under Section 80G of the Act. It impacts the donors, mostly business class, who use their black money to donate. This has all-pervasive implications as it impacts all sections of people irrespective of their castes, religions, communities and sexes. This implies that revenue to such institutions will dry except the piecemeal donations in small cash by the faithful. It also means there will be large scale unemployment of priests, clergies and pontiffs across the country. This will affect the majority community more than others. Its implications can’t be dismissed as India is a deeply religious country.