Charitable Trust Deed Format 2026 (Word) — Public Trust Deed with 12A / 80G Clauses

A public charitable trust deed with the clauses income-tax registration is tested against — public objects, irrevocability, no benefit to settlor or trustees, permitted investments, audit, a restricted amendment clause and a compliant dissolution clause.

Free · CORAA original — SA-aligned

Updated 1 Oct 2026

Type

Public charitable trust deed — irrevocable

Governing law

State public trusts law (Indian Trusts Act, 1882 does not apply)

Tax registration from 1 April 2026

Sec 332 and Sec 354, Income-tax Act, 2025 (old 12AB and 80G)

Stamp duty

Varies by State — see the State Stamp Act

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Engagement details

The client and period this document is for.

Date of deed

Place of execution

Settlor (author of the trust) — Name

Settlor — Address

Settlor — PAN

Name of the trust

Registered office of the trust

Initial trust fund settled (₹)

Area of operation

First trustee — Name

First trustee — Address

Second trustee — Name

Second trustee — Address

Third trustee — Name(optional)

Third trustee — Address(optional)

Managing trustee

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Charitable Trust Deed Format 2026

DEED OF TRUST

(Public Charitable Trust)

THIS DEED OF TRUST is made at {{execution_place}} on 1 October 2026 BY {{settlor_name}}, residing at {{settlor_address}}, holding PAN {{settlor_pan}} (hereinafter referred to as the "Settlor") of the ONE PART; AND the persons named in Clause 7 as the first trustees (hereinafter referred to as the "Trustees", which expression shall include the trustees for the time being of this Trust) of the OTHER PART.

WHEREAS the Settlor is desirous of creating a public charitable trust for the objects set out below, for the benefit of the public at large, and has for that purpose delivered to the Trustees a sum of ₹{{initial_corpus}} to be held by them upon the trusts declared in this Deed;

AND WHEREAS the Trustees have, at the request of the Settlor, agreed to act as trustees of the Trust, as testified by their being parties to and signing this Deed;

NOW THIS DEED WITNESSETH AS FOLLOWS:

1. Name and Office

The Trust shall be known as "{{trust_name}}" (the "Trust"). Its registered office shall be at {{trust_office}}, or at such other place as the Trustees may decide by resolution. The Trust may carry on its activities in the whole of India.

2. Trust Fund

The Settlor has transferred to the Trustees the sum of ₹{{initial_corpus}}, which, together with all donations, grants, contributions and other property, movable or immovable, received by the Trust from time to time, and all accretions and income arising from them, shall constitute the "Trust Fund". The Trustees shall hold the Trust Fund upon trust for the objects of the Trust. Donations received with a specific written direction that they form part of the corpus shall be credited to the corpus and only their income applied to the objects.

3. Objects

The objects of the Trust are wholly charitable and are the following:

Relief of the poor — including provision of food, clothing, shelter and financial assistance to persons in need;
Education — including establishing, running and supporting schools, colleges, libraries and vocational training centres, and granting scholarships and fee assistance to deserving students;
Medical relief — including establishing, running and supporting hospitals, clinics, dispensaries and health camps, and providing medicines and treatment to the needy;
Preservation of the environment, including watersheds, forests and wildlife;
Relief to persons affected by natural calamities and other disasters;
____________ [add or delete objects to match what the Trust will actually do — registration is granted on the genuineness of activities against the stated objects, so a long list of objects the Trust will never pursue invites questions];
Granting donations and aid to other trusts and institutions having similar charitable objects, in the manner and to the extent permitted by the income-tax law for the time being in force.

The Trust shall not carry on any activity with the intention of earning profit. Any incidental surplus shall be applied only to the objects of the Trust. No object of the Trust shall be carried on outside India except with such approval as the law may require.

4. Beneficiaries

The benefits of the Trust shall be open to the public at large, irrespective of caste, creed, community, religion, sex or place of birth. The Trust is not created or established for the benefit of any particular religious community or caste.

5. Trust Irrevocable

The Trust is irrevocable. The Settlor has divested himself or herself of all right, title and interest in the Trust Fund, and no part of the Trust Fund or its income shall in any circumstances revert to, or be applied for the benefit of, the Settlor or the Settlor's heirs.

6. Application of Income and Property

The income and property of the Trust shall be applied solely towards the objects of the Trust in India. No part of the income or property shall be paid or transferred, directly or indirectly, by way of profit, dividend, bonus or otherwise, to the Settlor, the Trustees, their relatives, or any other person of the description referred to in Section 13(3) of the Income-tax Act, 1961 or the corresponding provisions of the Income-tax Act, 2025, nor shall the income or property be used or applied for the benefit of any such person. Nothing in this Clause prevents payment in good faith of reasonable remuneration to any employee of the Trust, or reimbursement of expenses actually incurred for the Trust.

7. Trustees

The first Trustees of the Trust are:

Name	Address
{{trustee1_name}}	{{trustee1_address}}
{{trustee2_name}}	{{trustee2_address}}

The number of Trustees shall not be less than ______ nor more than ______. {{managing_trustee}} shall be the Managing Trustee and shall be responsible for the day-to-day administration of the Trust, subject to the control of the Board of Trustees. A Trustee shall hold office for ______ years [or: for life] and shall be eligible for reappointment. A vacancy shall be filled, and additional Trustees appointed, by resolution of the remaining Trustees passed by a majority of ____________.

A Trustee shall cease to hold office on death, resignation in writing, being adjudged insolvent or of unsound mind, being convicted of an offence involving moral turpitude, absence from ______ consecutive meetings without leave, or removal by a resolution of not less than ____________ of the other Trustees for conduct prejudicial to the Trust. The Trustees shall act in an honorary capacity and shall not be entitled to any remuneration for acting as Trustees.

8. Meetings

The Board of Trustees shall meet at least ______ times in every financial year. ______ days' notice of a meeting shall be given to every Trustee. The quorum shall be ____________ [for example, one-half of the Trustees or two, whichever is higher]. Decisions shall be taken by majority of the Trustees present; the chairperson of the meeting shall have a casting vote. Minutes of every meeting shall be recorded and signed. A resolution circulated to all the Trustees and approved in writing by a majority shall be as valid as one passed at a meeting.

9. Powers of the Trustees

To accept donations, grants, subscriptions and contributions, in cash or kind, from any person, government or institution, with or without conditions, provided the conditions are consistent with the objects of the Trust and the law;
To acquire, hold, take on lease, construct, maintain and, where it is in the interest of the Trust and subject to any permission required by law, to sell, let or otherwise dispose of movable and immovable property;
To open and operate bank accounts in the name of the Trust, to be operated by ____________ [for example, any two Trustees jointly, one of whom shall be the Managing Trustee];
To appoint, and fix the reasonable remuneration of, employees, professionals and advisers, and to delegate to them such functions as the Trustees think fit;
To borrow for the objects of the Trust, with or without security, by resolution of the Board of Trustees;
To institute, defend and compromise legal proceedings in the name of the Trust through the Managing Trustee or any Trustee authorised by resolution;
To frame, alter and rescind rules and by-laws for the administration of the Trust, consistent with this Deed;
To apply for and obtain registration, approval or recognition of the Trust under the income-tax law, the applicable State public trusts law, and any other law, and to do everything necessary to keep such registrations in force.

10. Investment of Funds

All moneys of the Trust not immediately required for its objects shall be invested or deposited only in the forms and modes permitted for charitable trusts and institutions by Section 11(5) of the Income-tax Act, 1961 or Section 350 of the Income-tax Act, 2025 read with Schedule XVI to that Act, as applicable, and in no other manner.

11. Accounts and Audit

The Trustees shall keep regular books of account and other records in the manner required by law. The accounting year of the Trust shall end on 31st March. The accounts shall be audited every year by a Chartered Accountant appointed by the Trustees, and the audited statements shall be placed before and adopted by the Board of Trustees. The Trustees shall file the returns, audit reports and statements required under the income-tax law and the applicable State public trusts law within the times prescribed.

12. Amendment

The Trustees may, by a resolution passed by not less than ____________ [for example, three-fourths] of the Trustees, alter or add to the provisions of this Deed for the better administration of the Trust, PROVIDED that no amendment shall be made which (a) alters the charitable and public character of the Trust, (b) makes the Trust revocable, (c) permits any benefit to the persons referred to in Clause 6, or (d) is inconsistent with the conditions on which the Trust is registered or approved under the income-tax law. Every amendment shall be made by a supplementary deed and shall be intimated to the income-tax authorities and to the authority under the applicable State public trusts law in the manner and within the time required by law; a change in the objects shall be made only after complying with those requirements.

13. Dissolution

If the Trust is at any time dissolved or wound up, or its objects fail, the assets remaining after satisfaction of all its debts and liabilities shall not be paid to or distributed among the Settlor, the Trustees or their relatives, but shall be transferred to one or more other public charitable trusts or institutions having objects similar to those of the Trust and holding registration under Section 12AB of the Income-tax Act, 1961 or Section 332 of the Income-tax Act, 2025, as the Trustees may decide, subject to such permission as the applicable law may require.

14. Indemnity

Every Trustee shall be answerable only for his or her own acts and defaults and not for those of any other Trustee, banker or agent, and shall be entitled to be indemnified out of the Trust Fund against all liabilities properly incurred in the execution of the trusts of this Deed, except those arising from his or her own fraud, dishonesty or wilful breach of trust.

15. Governing Law, Stamp Duty and Registration

The Trust is a public charitable trust and shall be governed by the law applicable to public trusts in the State in which it is situated, including ____________ [name the State public trusts / charitable endowments Act, if the State has one], and the Trustees shall obtain registration under that law where required. This Deed is executed on non-judicial stamp paper of the value required for a declaration of trust under the Stamp Act applicable in the State of execution; the duty varies from State to State. The Deed shall be presented for registration under the Registration Act, 1908.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF the Settlor and the Trustees have set their respective hands to this Deed on the day, month and year first above written.

_______________________________

{{settlor_name}} (Settlor)

_______________________________

{{trustee1_name}} (Trustee)

_______________________________

{{trustee2_name}} (Trustee)

_______________________________

(Trustee) [delete if not applicable]

Witnesses

1. Signature: _______________________________

Name: _______________________________

Address: _______________________________

2. Signature: _______________________________

Name: _______________________________

Address: _______________________________

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What’s inside

An excerpt from the template.

DEED OF TRUST

THIS DEED OF TRUST is made at ___ on ___ BY ___, residing at ___, holding PAN ___ (hereinafter referred to as the "Settlor") of the ONE PART; AND the persons named in Clause 7 as the first trustees (hereinafter referred to as the "Trustees", which expression shall include the trustees for the time being of this Trust) of the OTHER PART.

WHEREAS the Settlor is desirous of creating a public charitable trust for the objects set out below, for the benefit of the public at large, and has for that purpose delivered to the Trustees a sum of ₹___ to be held by them upon the trusts declared in this Deed;

AND WHEREAS the Trustees have, at the request of the Settlor, agreed to act as trustees of the Trust, as testified by their being parties to and signing this Deed;

↑ Excerpt only — the full template is what you download as Word

About this template

What you’re downloading, and when to use it.

This template follows the format published by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) in the AASB Audit Working Paper Templates (June 2023), the authoritative reference for Indian statutory-audit documentation. Fill in your firm’s letterhead and the engagement details on the form above, click Download Word file, and you’ll get a fully formatted .docx ready to use.

Everything is generated in your browser and on a stateless API endpoint — no account, nothing stored on our servers. We’ll ask for a work email once before your first download so we can send you the file and the occasional relevant update; after that, downloads on this device are instant. Edit freely in Word, Google Docs or Pages before sending to your client.

Common questions

FAQs.

Which clauses must a trust deed have for 12A and 80G registration?

Seven: charitable objects open to the public, irrevocability, application of income only to the objects, no benefit to the founders, permitted investments, accounts and audit, and restricted amendment and dissolution clauses. The law does not prescribe a model deed, but applications are examined against the deed and these points come up repeatedly. The objects must be charitable — relief of the poor, education, medical relief, environment, or another object of general public utility — and open to the public rather than to a family or a closed group. The trust must be irrevocable. Income and assets must be applied only to the objects, in India, with no benefit to the settlor, trustees or their relatives. Funds must be invested only in the permitted modes. There should be provision for accounts and audit, an amendment clause that cannot be used to dilute these conditions, and a dissolution clause sending the remaining assets to another registered charitable institution with similar objects. Missing or loosely worded amendment and dissolution clauses are common reasons for queries and rejections.

Does the Indian Trusts Act, 1882 apply to a charitable trust?

No. Section 1 of the Indian Trusts Act, 1882 states that nothing in it applies to public or private religious or charitable endowments; that Act governs private trusts. Public charitable trusts are governed by State law. Some States have a public trusts Act with a Charity Commissioner and compulsory registration — Maharashtra and Gujarat are the best-known examples — while in States without such a law the trust deed is registered with the Sub-Registrar under the Registration Act, 1908 and the trust is otherwise governed by general principles. Check the position in the State where the trust will have its office before finalising the deed.

How does a new trust get 12A and 80G registration in 2026?

It applies online in Form No. 104, because from 1 April 2026 the registration regime sits in the Income-tax Act, 2025 rather than Sections 12A and 80G. A newly created trust applies for provisional registration under Section 332 in Form No. 104 on the e-filing portal, and can apply in the same form for provisional approval under Section 354 so that its donors can claim a deduction under Section 133. Once activities have commenced, the trust applies in Form No. 105 for regular registration and approval. These replace Forms 10A and 10AB and Sections 12A/12AB and 80G(5) of the 1961 Act, which continue to matter for earlier years and for registrations granted under them.

Can the settlor also be a trustee?

Yes. Nothing prevents the author of the trust from being one of the trustees, or the managing trustee, and in most family-founded charities that is how it is done. What the deed and the conduct of the trust must ensure is that the settlor, the trustees, their relatives and concerns in which they are substantially interested receive no benefit from the trust's income or property — Section 13(1)(c) read with Section 13(3) of the 1961 Act, carried into the 2025 Act. Reasonable salary to a trustee for services actually rendered is a separate question that is examined closely; this format keeps trustees honorary, which is the safer starting point.

Can a charitable trust have religious objects as well?

It can, but the tax consequences change. A charitable trust created for the benefit of a particular religious community or caste loses exemption under Section 13(1)(b) of the 1961 Act, and approval for donor deduction under Section 80G is not available to an institution whose objects are expressed to be for the benefit of a particular religious community or caste; only a small part of income may be spent on religious purposes without losing that approval. If donor deductions matter, keep the objects charitable and the beneficiaries unrestricted, as this format does, and set up religious activities separately.

What happens to the trust's assets if it is wound up?

They must go to another charity, not back to the founders. The deed should say so, and the tax law enforces it: where a registered trust is dissolved and does not transfer its assets to another registered institution within the time allowed, or converts into a non-charitable form, tax is charged on its accreted income — broadly the fair market value of its assets less its liabilities — at the maximum marginal rate, under Section 115TD of the 1961 Act and Section 352 of the 2025 Act. In States with a public trusts Act, permission of the Charity Commissioner or the court may also be needed.

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