Home > Income Tax > Help Center > Form 15CA & 15CBLast Updated: Feb 20th 2024
Foreign remittances? Form 15CA and 15CB Explained
Form 15CA and 15CB must be submitted while making payments outside India. They must be presented under different conditions.
Overseas Remittances have tax ramifications that the majority of taxpayers disregard. Section 195 of the Income Tax Act of 1961 stipulates that tax must be deducted from any payments made to non-residents. The goal of tax deduction is to collect taxes from nonresident aliens at an earlier stage, as it may be impossible to do so later. In certain instances, the individual making payments to NRIs must submit an affidavit on Form 15CA together with Form 15CB.
This document covers
- What is Form 15CA?
- What is Form 15CB?
- Remittances which don't require Form 15CB
- Remittances which don't require 15CA & Form 15CB?
- Details required for filing Form 15CA & Form 15CB
1. What is Form 15CA?
Form 15CA is a declaration of remitter (sender if money to NRI) and is considered as a tool for collecting information of payments to Non-residents. This will help the Income Tax Department to determine whether the payments are taxable or non-taxable in the hands of non-resident. Banks and Authorized dealers are now becoming more conscious in ensuring that form 15CA/form 15CB are received by them before remittance
A person who is making foreign remittance need to furnish Form 15CA. It is required to be submitted online. In certain cases, a certificate from a practicing Chartered Accountant in form 15CB is required to be submitted along with form 15CA. Form 15CA consists of 4 parts.
Part A:
It is required to be filed if the remittance is chargeable to tax and the aggregate of such remittances does not exceed Rs 5 Lakhs during the financial year
Part B:
It is required to be filed if the remittance is chargeable to tax and the aggregate of such remittances exceeds Rs 5 Lakhs during the financial year and an order/ certificate u/s 195(2) /195(3)/197 of Income Tax act has been obtained from the Assessing Officer.
Part C:
It is required to be filed if the remittance is chargeable to tax and the aggregate of such remittances exceeds Rs 5 Lakhs during the financial year and a certificate in form 15CB is required to be obtained
Part D:
It is required to be filed if the remittance is not chargeable to tax under the provisions of Income Tax act.
2. What is Form 15CB?
The liability of withholding tax can be ascertained and certified by obtaining the certificate from Chartered Accountant in Form No 15CB. A CA certifies the details of payment, TDS rate, TDS deduction etc. For uploading Part C of Form 15CA, an Acknowledgement number of Form 15CB is mandatory.
3. Remittances which don't require Form 15CB
Form 15CB is not required in the following cases
- Form 15CB is not required where "Part-A" of Form 15CA is to be filled in, i.e. in case payments does not exceed Rs Five Lakhs during the financial year
- Form 15CB is not required where a certificate from the AO u/s 197 or 195(2) / (3) has been obtained.
- Form 15CB is not required where sum payable is not chargeable to tax under the provisions of Income Tax Act.
- No information is required to be furnished for any sum which is not chargeable under the provision of the Act, if the remittance is made by an individual as per the provision of Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999 read with schedule III to the Foreign Exchange (Current Account Transactions) Rules, 2000
- No information is required to be furnished for any remittance which is of the nature specified in the list given in Rule 37BB
Learn more on Form 15CA / 15CB Filing Plan & Pricing
4. Remittances which don’t require 15CA & Form 15CB?
Form 15CA and Form 15CB are not required for the transactions which does not require RBI approval. Following are the payments prescribed by RBI as per rule 37BB.
| S.No | Purpose Code | Nature of Payment |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | S0001 | Indian investment abroad – in equity capital (shares) |
| 2 | S0002 | Indian investment abroad – in debt securities |
| 3 | S0003 | Indian investment abroad – in branches and wholly owned subsidiaries |
| 4 | S0004 | Indian investment abroad – in subsidiaries and associates |
| 5 | S0005 | Indian investment abroad – in real estate |
| 6 | S0011 | Loans extended to Non-Residents |
| 7 | S0101 | Advance payment against imports |
| 8 | S0102 | Payment towards imports – settlement of invoice |
| 9 | S0103 | Imports by diplomatic missions |
| 10 | S0104 | Intermediary trade |
| 11 | S0190 | Imports below Rs.5,00,000 - (For use by ECD offices) |
| 12 | SO202 | Payment for operating expenses of Indian shipping companies operating abroad |
| 13 | SO208 | Operating expenses of Indian Airlines companies operating abroad |
| 14 | S0212 | Booking of passages abroad – Airlines companies |
| 15 | S0301 | Remittance towards business travel |
| 16 | S0302 | Travel under basic travel quota (BTQ) |
| 17 | S0303 | Travel for pilgrimage |
| 18 | S0304 | Travel for medical treatment |
| 19 | S0305 | Travel for education (including fees, hostel expenses etc.) |
| 20 | S0401 | Postal services |
| 21 | S0501 | Construction of projects abroad by Indian companies including import of goods at project site |
| 22 | S0602 | Freight insurance – relating to import and export of goods |
| 23 | S1011 | Payments for maintenance of offices abroad |
| 24 | S1201 | Maintenance of Indian embassies abroad |
| 25 | S1202 | Remittances by foreign embassies in India |
| 26 | S1301 | Remittance by non-residents towards family maintenance and savings |
| 27 | S1302 | Remittance towards personal gifts and donations |
| 28 | S1303 | Remittance towards donations to religious and charitable institutions abroad |
| 29 | S1304 | Remittance towards grants and donations to other Governments and charitable institutions established by the Governments |
| 30 | S1305 | Contributions or donations by the Government to international institutions |
| 31 | S1306 | Remittance towards payment or refund of taxes |
| 32 | S1501 | Refunds or rebates or reduction in invoice value on account of exports |
| 33 | S1503 | Payments by residents for international bidding |
5. Details required for filing Form 15CA & Form 15CB
The following information is required to file form 15CA and Form 15CB
- Details of Remitter (sender)
- Name and Address of Remitter
- PAN of Remitter
- Status of Remitter (Individual/ Firm/LLP/Company/Trust etc)
- Email id and Mobile number of Remitter
- Details of Remittee (recipient)
- Name and Address of Remittee
- Status of Remittee (Individual/ Firm/LLP/Company/ etc)
- Country of the Remittee
- Country to which Remittance is made
- Currency in which remittance is made
- Amount of Remittance in Indian Currency
- Proposed date of Remittance
- Nature of Remittance
- Bank Details of Remitter (Name, Bank, Branch and BSR Code of Bank)
Requirement of Form 15CA and Form 15CB on payments to NRO bank accounts of NRI's
There are numerous incomes being paid to non-residents through their NRO accounts like interest, capital gains, rents etc. These types of incomes are liable to TDS u/s 195. As these payments are being made to NRO account and the payments are in Indian Rupee, Form 15CA and Form 15CB is not required
Applicability of Form 15CA and Form 15CB for remittance from NRO account by NRI
- Non-resident who earns income in India through Rental Income, Bank interest, Sale of properties/shares etc and the same is being credit to his NRO account then the non-resident may transfer such amount from NRO account to NRE account.
- Before transferring the same from NRO to NRE Account, the non-resident is required to file Form 15CA/Form 15CB accordingly depending on the nature of transaction