Timeline for 12a certificate approval
The process of acquiring a section 12a certificate may take anywhere between 2-6 months. Once the application and necessary documents are submitted in the local Income Tax office the authorities will first check whether the submission is in compliance and complete or not. The organization might be delayed in case of need of more information. After the review is done the certificate is granted and the ngo gets the benefit of being in tax-exempt status. The process can be speeded up by timely and adequate submission.