The Central Board of Direct Taxes has granted income-tax relief to Panchkula’s District Legal Service Authority, aligning it with other Haryana legal aid entities and signalling a broader trend of tax exemptions for legal bodies in the state.
The Central Board of Direct Taxes has extended income-tax relief to the District Legal Service Authority in Panchkula, bringing the authority into the same bracket as several other legal aid bodies in Haryana that have recently secured similar exemptions. The relief, issued through Notification No. 112/2026 dated August 11, applies under Section 10(46) of the Income-tax Act and is carried over through the transitional provisions of the Income-tax Act, 2025.
The exemption is limited to specified receipts rather than the authority’s full income. Those covered include grants from the Punjab and Haryana High Court, the National Legal Services Authority and the Haryana State Legal Services Authority, as well as grants or donations from the Centre or Haryana government for legal services work. It also covers amounts received under court orders, recruitment application fees and interest earned on bank deposits.
The concession comes with strict conditions. The authority must stay out of commercial activity, keep the nature of its work and income unchanged from year to year and continue filing returns under the relevant tax rules. If those conditions are breached, the exemption can be withdrawn and penalties may follow.
The notification gives the Panchkula authority retrospective relief for assessment years 2023-24, 2024-25, 2025-26 and 2026-27, corresponding to financial years 2022-23 through 2025-26. Similar exemptions have already been reported for district legal services authorities in Jind and Panipat, suggesting a wider pattern of tax treatment for legal aid bodies in Haryana.
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