G.O. (D). No. 96, Extension of Time for Registered Societies, 2021
The Commercial Taxes and Registration (M1) Department issued G.O. (D). No. 96 on 30 June 2021, granting all societies registered under the Tamil Nadu Societies Registration Act, 1975 an additional three months, up to December 2021, to place their financial year 2020-2021 accounts before a general body meeting. The extension was granted because the second wave of COVID-19 made it difficult for some societies to conduct meetings, including online or virtual meetings.
What the order does
The Commercial Taxes and Registration (M1) Department issued G.O. (D). No. 96 on 30 June 2021. It extends the time available to societies registered under the Tamil Nadu Societies Registration Act, 1975 to present specified annual financial statements to their general body meetings.
The usual requirement would have required societies to place the accounts for financial year 2020-2021 before a general body meeting conducted within September 2021. The permitted period was extended by three months, up to December 2021.
Who is affected
G.O. (D). No. 96 applies to all societies registered under the Tamil Nadu Societies Registration Act, 1975. The document specifically notes that organisations such as farmers' irrigation societies, women self-help group federations and porters' associations might not have facilities to conduct meetings online or virtually.
The document concerns the annual accounting and meeting obligations of registered societies. It does not set out any change to property registration, land transactions or stamp duty requirements for individual property buyers or owners.
Accounts that must be presented
Every affected registered society must place the following before its general body meeting for financial year 2020-2021:
- The receipts account.
- The expenditure account.
- The balance sheet of accounts.
The accounts must be duly signed by the auditor, or by the members appointed by the society for that purpose, and by the members of the committee.
Legal basis and reason
The Tamil Nadu Societies Registration Act, 1975, read with rule 22 of the Tamil Nadu Societies Registration Rules, 1978, normally requires every registered society to place the relevant accounts before a general meeting within six months after the end of the financial year.
The Governor of Tamil Nadu granted the extension using the power under sub-section (2) of Section 54 of the Tamil Nadu Societies Registration Act, 1975. The reason given was the spread of the second wave of COVID-19 and the resulting difficulty in holding general meetings. The extension changes the timing for presenting the accounts, but does not remove the obligation to present them.
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Common questions
What was the extended deadline for presenting the 2020-2021 accounts?
Societies registered under the Tamil Nadu Societies Registration Act, 1975 were allowed up to December 2021 to place the required accounts before their general body meetings.
Which societies received the extension?
The extension applied to all societies registered under the Tamil Nadu Societies Registration Act, 1975.
Which financial documents had to be placed before the general body meeting?
The society had to place its receipts account, expenditure account and balance sheet of accounts for financial year 2020-2021 before the general body meeting.
Does G.O. (D). No. 96 change property registration or stamp duty requirements?
No property registration or stamp duty change is set out in the document. It deals with the deadline for registered societies to present annual accounts to their general body meetings.
