Charitable Trust & NGO Registration
A public charitable trust is the most common structure for a small NGO in West Bengal. It is created by a trust deed, registered with the sub-registrar, and then brought into the compliance system that donors and banks expect.
What the trust deed must settle
- The name and objects of the trust, drafted specifically enough that a bank or a funding agency can see what the trust is permitted to do.
- The trustees, the minimum and maximum number, how new trustees are appointed and removed, and how the trust is to be administered.
- The corpus and how funds and property are to be received, invested and applied, including the rule against private benefit.
- Meetings, minutes, accounting, bank operation and the procedure for amendment and dissolution, with what happens to the assets on dissolution.
Registration and the filings that follow
The deed is executed on stamp paper as the state schedule requires and presented for registration before the sub-registrar having jurisdiction, with the trustees' identity and address proof and photographs. A registered trust then obtains its PAN, opens its bank account on the strength of the deed and the resolution, and registers under the Income Tax Act for the exemptions it wants to claim.
Where the work involves foreign funding, registration under the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act is a separate step with its own conditions, and where the entity is a society or a company, the registration route and the compliance calendar are different again.
Documents and decisions we ask for
Names, addresses and photographs of the trustees; the address of the registered office with proof; the objects in the founder's own words; the proposed trustees' consent; and the intended activities for the first year, so that the objects clause and the compliance plan are not generic.
Common questions
How many trustees are needed to register a trust?
A minimum of two trustees is the general practice for a public charitable trust. We usually recommend three, so that the trust can continue to function if one trustee steps down.
Is trust registration the same as NGO registration?
Registration of the trust is the first step. The income tax registration for exemption, the FCRA registration where foreign funds are involved, and the annual filings are separate and have their own conditions.
Can a trust earn income?
A charitable trust can receive income from its objects and from permitted investments. What it cannot do is apply the trust's funds for the private benefit of a trustee or a related person, and the accounts must show that the application of income is towards the objects.
Getting it done
FileX Advocates & Legal Consultants drafts, files and argues these matters in Kolkata — the Calcutta High Court, City Civil and Sessions courts, the family, consumer and tribunal forums, and before the registering authorities. Send us the papers you have and we will tell you what is missing before anything is filed.