Donations for Ayodhya mosque made tax-free

The government has granted tax exemption to those contributing for the construction of the mosque, for which the Supreme Court had allotted five acres in the Babri Masjid-Ramjanmabhoomi land dispute case, according to members of the trust overseeing the project.

The decision came nine months after the Indo-Islamic Cultural Foundation (IICF), the trust overseeing the project, applied for it first. Foundation chairman Zafar Farooqui said they had applied for the tax exemption under Section 80G of the Income Tax Act on September 1 last year and the application was rejected on January 21.

They reapplied on February 3 and replied to queries by March 10, he said.

Last year, a similar exemption was given for the Ram temple in Ayodhya.

Section 80G of the Income Tax Act allows for donations made to specified relief funds and charitable organisations to be considered as deductions from gross total income before being eligible for taxable income.

Athar Hussain, secretary of the trust, said they received the certificate approving it on Friday.

The objections and queries raised by the Income Tax Department and the procedural delay impeded donations for the construction of the mosque, he said.

“Contributions from abroad too remained choked,” he said. “Till now, we have received Rs 20 Lakh. We have not launched any campaign for the donations. All well-wishers have donated voluntarily, said Hussain.

Recently, the Indo-Islamic Cultural Foundation has submitted to the Ayodhya Development Authority the building plan of the mosque, which will be constructed at Ayodhya’s Dhannipur village.

Under the project, a 300-bed super-specialty hospital, a community kitchen and a research centre to highlight the Muslim’s contribution in nation building will also be constructed. The mosque will have enough space to accommodate around 2,000 people at a time.