(1)

Subject to the provisions of this section, every public trust shall pay to the Public Trusts Administration Fund annually such contribution at a rate or rates not exceeding five per cent, of the gross annual income, or of the gross annual collection or receipt, as the case may be, as may be notified, from time to time, by the State Government, by order published in the Official Gazette. The contribution shall be paid on such date and in such manner as may be prescribed. The contribution payable under this section shall—

(i) in the case of a dharmada, be fixed at a rate or rates on the gross annual collection or receipts of the dharmada;

(ii) in the case of other public trusts, be fixed at a rate or rates on the gross annual income of such public trust.

(a) For the purpose of this sub-section ‘gross annual income’ means gross income from all sources in a year (including all donations and offerings), but does not include any payment made or anything given with a specific direction that it shall form part of the corpus of the public trust, nor include any deductions which the State Government may allow by rules:

(b) Where a public trust conducts a business or trade as one of its activities for the purpose of assessing the contribution as respects that activity, the net annual profits of such business or trade shall be treated as the gross annual income of the business or trade.

(2)

The State Government may exempt from payment of contribution public trusts which are exclusively for the purpose of the advancement and propagation of education, or exclusively for the purpose of water conservation, or exclusively for the purpose of development of forest, horticulture or agriculture, or exclusively for the purpose of welfare of the Schedule Castes, Schedule Tribes, Denotified Tribes, Nomadic Tribes or Women, or exclusively for the purpose of medical relief or veterinary treatment of animals, or exclusively for the purpose of relief of distress caused by scarcity, drought, flood, fire or other natural calamity, and may also exempt from the payment of contribution any donations forming part of the gross annual income and which are actually spent on the relief of distress caused by scarcity, drought, flood, fire or other natural calamity. If any question is raised whether a trust falls in any exempted class of trusts or whether any donations are donations which qualify for exemption from contribution under this subsection, the decision of the State Government on the question, obtained in the manner prescribed, shall be final.

(3)

The State Government may, by order published in the Official Gazette, reduce, whether prospectively or retrospectively, the rate or rates at which the contribution fixed under sub-section (1) is payable by any class of public trusts and may in like manner remit the whole of such contribution or any part thereof, regard being had to the nature of the objects of the class of public trusts, or the smallness of the income thereof.

(4)

In determining the rate or rates of contribution to be notified under sub-section (1), the State Government shall take into consideration the balance available in the Public Trusts Administration Fund and the estimated income and expenditure (including any capital expenditure) of the Charity Organization and ensure that the levy has reasonable correlation with the services rendered or to be rendered or any expenditure incurred or to be incurred for carrying out the purposes of this Act. For this purpose, the rates of contribution may be increased or decreased, or reductions or remissions may be granted, from time to time, prospectively or retrospectively, by the State Government, by an order or orders made as provided in this section and published in the Official Gazette.

(5)

Notwithstanding anything contained in the foregoing provisions in this section, on and after the commencement of the Bombay Public Trusts (Amendment) Act, 1983, every trustee of a public trust liable to pay contribution shall, while filing a copy of the balance sheet and income and expenditure account under sub-section (1A) of section 34, pay in advance the whole amount of the annual contribution of the public trust computed at the rate fixed under sub-section (1) of this section, according to specified percentage of the gross annual income, or of the gross annual collection or receipt, as the case may be, as shown in the balance sheet and income and expenditure account, in such manner, and subject to such adjustments to be made after the contribution payable is assessed, as may be prescribed.