Last month, the Union Finance Minister, presented the budget for the financial year 2025–26, and within a week, the proposal for the New Income Tax was presented in the Parliament. Both documents have far-reaching consequences for the NPO sector. The proposed new Act will go through a year-long revision process and is expected to take effect from the new ‘tax year’, April 2026.
Writing to the believers in the context of a regime which was tormenting them, Apostle Paul advised the believers to pay taxes to the government authorities, if they owed it (Rom13:7). When confronted with the question of whether He would pay tax, the Lord Jesus told the Pharisees and Herodians to “render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s and to God the things that are God’s”. It teaches us that whatever is due to be paid to the government must be paid. We should not be keeping for God’s ministry what is owed to be paid to ‘Ceasar’.
In this context, I recall listening to an interesting observation from Mr. Raja B. Singh, an eminent Chartered Accountant “Often, we pay Ceasar what belongs to God. We do this when we do not follow the law and we are penalised, and end up paying the government what should have been used for God’s ministry.
One of the major focuses of CIM’s ministry in the last 25 years has been to equip NPOs to adhere to the law. CIM creates awareness among the leaders on various legislations including Income Tax, FCRA, GST, labour laws, property laws, personal laws and the like.
CIM recently conducted a four-month online course on Legal Requirements for NGOs. CIM is also planning to have a series of seminars on Income Tax in the coming months.
Let us equip ourselves to navigate the complexities in the legal milieu, and strive to be law-abiding citizens and institutions and witness effectively for God!
Dr. Aby Alexandar
Executive Director
CIM