Section 528 of the Income-tax Act, 2025 — Power of Central Government or Board to Condone Delay in Obtaining Approval

In plain language

What Section 528 actually deals with

Despite the working label "approval of specified associations/undertakings", the verified scope of Section 528 of the Income-tax Act, 2025 is narrower and cleaner: it is the power of the Central Government or the Board (CBDT) to condone a delay in obtaining an approval that some other provision of the Act required to be obtained before a specified date. It is a short, enabling, procedural provision sitting in the Miscellaneous chapter of the new Act. It re-enacts, almost word-for-word, Section 293B of the Income-tax Act, 1961.

In plain words: many benefits under the tax law (charitable registration, 80G donation approval, exemption notifications, approval of funds/institutions, scientific research approvals, etc.) depend on an approval being taken by a deadline. If that deadline is missed, Section 528 lets the same authority that grants the approval excuse the lateness "for sufficient cause", so the approval can still be treated as validly obtained.

Who it applies to

• The Central Government and the CBDT (the "Board") — these are the authorities on whom the power is conferred. They exercise it; taxpayers cannot self-condone.
• Any person or entity who was required to obtain a Central Government/Board approval before a specified date — typically charitable and religious trusts, institutions, funds, universities, hospitals, research associations, infrastructure/industrial undertakings and similar bodies seeking a tax benefit that hinges on timely approval.

Key conditions and limits

• "Sufficient cause" is mandatory. The delay can only be condoned where the authority is satisfied there was a genuine, reasonable reason for missing the date. It is not an automatic right.
• Only delays in obtaining an approval are covered — not the substantive merits. Section 528 does not force an approval to be granted; it only removes the obstacle of lateness so the application can be considered on merits.
• No fixed monetary limit, no fee, no rate. This is a discretionary administrative power, so there is no ₹ threshold attached to it. The "value" is the tax benefit that the underlying approval unlocks.
• Discretionary, not appealable as of right. Because it is a discretion, refusal is generally challengeable only on limited grounds (arbitrariness, non-application of mind) — usually via writ, not a normal tax appeal.

How it interacts with related sections

• Section 529 (Power to withdraw approval) is its immediate neighbour and mirror image — one lets a late approval in, the other lets the authority take an approval away.
• Registration/approval regime for charities (the 2025 Act equivalents of the old Sections 12A/12AB and 80G): applications there run on strict Form-based deadlines. Section 528 is the cushion that saves those filings when a deadline slips for a genuine reason. In practice the CBDT has repeatedly used this kind of power to extend the last date for Form 10AB (80G/registration) applications.
• Section 119-type powers (general CBDT administrative/relaxation powers) and condonation of delay in filing returns/claims (the 2025 successor to Section 119(2)(b)) are cousins — but those relate to returns, refunds and loss claims, whereas Section 528 is specifically about the obtaining of an approval.

Practical implications for a normal taxpayer or trust

• If your trust, fund or undertaking missed an approval deadline, the door is not necessarily shut — the Central Government/CBDT can condone it if you show a real reason (illness, technical/portal failure, professional error, genuine ignorance in the first year of a new law, etc.).
• Keep documentary evidence of why the delay happened; "sufficient cause" is judged on facts, so a paper trail is your best friend.
• Do not rely on Section 528 as a routine escape hatch — it is a relief, not a planning tool. File on time; use condonation only when you genuinely slipped.
• Section 528 does not create any new exemption or deduction by itself. It merely protects a benefit you were otherwise entitled to, had the approval been timely.