A newly incorporated Section 8 company is a not-for-profit that is fully taxable, whose donors get no deduction, which cannot receive corporate CSR money and cannot accept foreign contributions.
Four registrations change that, and they must be taken in order, because each one gates the next.
The order matters
| Step | Registration | Unlocks |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 12A / 12AB | The entity's own income becomes exempt |
| 2 | 80G | Donors can claim a deduction |
| 3 | CSR-1 | Corporate CSR funds can be received |
| 4 | FCRA | Foreign contributions can be received |
CSR-1 cannot be filed until both 12A and 80G are live. FCRA has its own, much longer, waiting period. An organisation that leaves these to year two has spent a year unable to accept the funding it was formed to attract.
12A, exemption for the organisation
Registration under Section 12A, granted as 12AB, exempts the entity's income from tax where it is applied to its objects. Without it, a Section 8 company is taxed like any other company on its surplus.
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Application form | Form 10A for a first application; Form 10AB for renewal |
| Filed with | The Income Tax portal |
| When | Apply within 30 days of incorporation |
| Documents | Incorporation certificate, MOA and AOA, PAN, activity details, accounts where available |
| Validity | Granted for a fixed period and renewed on Form 10AB |
Registrations are no longer perpetual. They are granted for a defined period and must be renewed, and a lapsed registration takes the exemption with it. Diarise the renewal date the day the certificate arrives.
80G, deduction for the donor
80G is what a donor asks for. It allows the person or company giving you money to claim a deduction on their own return, and its absence is the most common reason a corporate donor declines.
- Applied for on the same Form 10A, and granted separately from 12A
- 12A registration is a prerequisite, 80G cannot stand alone
- Also granted for a fixed period and renewed on Form 10AB
- Donation receipts must carry the registration details prescribed
Apply for both together, within 30 days of incorporation. Until they are granted, the organisation is taxable and every donation you receive is worth less to the person giving it.
CSR-1, receiving corporate CSR funds
Companies meeting the thresholds in Section 135 of the Companies Act must spend a prescribed portion of profit on corporate social responsibility. They can only route that spend through implementing agencies registered on the MCA's CSR portal.
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Form | CSR-1, filed on the MCA portal |
| Prerequisite | Live 12A and 80G registrations |
| Certification | By a practising professional |
| Result | A unique CSR registration number |
| Without it | The organisation cannot receive CSR funds at all |
FCRA, receiving foreign contributions
Registration under the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act, 2010, granted by the Ministry of Home Affairs, is required before an organisation can accept any contribution from a foreign source.
| Requirement | Detail |
|---|---|
| Age of the organisation | At least 3 years |
| Track record | At least ₹15 lakh spent on its objects across those 3 years |
| Validity | 5 years |
| Renewal | Form FC-3C |
| Designated account | Contributions must be received into the designated FCRA account |
| Reporting | Annual returns to the Ministry |
A newly formed organisation cannot obtain FCRA registration. The three-year and ₹15 lakh requirements are structural, so if foreign funding is central to your plan, that is a year-four conversation, not a year-one one.
Prior permission for a specific contribution from a specific donor is a separate route available to organisations that do not yet meet the registration criteria. It is project-specific and does not confer general eligibility.
A realistic sequence
| When | What |
|---|---|
| Month 0 | Incorporation, once the Section 8 licence is granted |
| Month 0 – 1 | Apply for 12A and 80G on Form 10A |
| On grant | File CSR-1 and obtain the CSR registration number |
| Alongside | Register on NGO Darpan where government schemes are relevant |
| Year 4 onward | FCRA registration, once the age and expenditure tests are met |
| Ongoing | Renewals on Form 10AB and FC-3C, diarised |
What goes wrong
- Assuming incorporation confers tax exemption, it does not
- Applying for 80G without 12A, which cannot succeed
- Attempting CSR-1 before 12A and 80G are live
- Missing a renewal and losing exemption retrospectively
- Receiving foreign money without FCRA registration, a serious contravention, not a technicality
- Receiving foreign contributions into an account other than the designated FCRA account
- Drafting objects too narrowly at incorporation, then finding the intended activity falls outside them
Questions About 12A, 80G, CSR-1 And FCRA
Statutory figures on this page verified 4 August 2026.