Form 15CA and 15CB: when each is required, and when neither is

Section 195 of the Income-tax Act, 1961 requires tax to be deducted on any sum chargeable to tax that is paid to a non-resident. Form 15CA is the remitter’s declaration to the department, filed on the e-filing portal, that the payment has been examined and tax deducted where due. Form 15CB is a chartered accountant’s certificate that supports the declaration where the amount is large enough to need one.

The authorised dealer bank will not process the remittance without the acknowledged Form 15CA, and the bank also transmits the forms to the department. Both forms are therefore compliance documents and processing documents at once.

For remittances from 1 April 2026 the same forms sit under the Income-tax Act, 2025 and the Income-tax Rules, 2026, where they are renumbered; the e-filing portal may show the old names during the transition. The structure below is unchanged.

The ₹5 lakh test is cumulative for the financial year and per remitter, so the sixth payment of ₹1 lakh to the same overseas vendor crosses the line even though each payment is small.

Rule 37BB lists 33 kinds of payment that need neither form, identified by the purpose code the bank uses. The ones that come up most:

• Imports of goods, and advance payments against imports
• Payments by individuals under the Liberalised Remittance Scheme that do not need RBI approval: education, medical treatment, maintenance of close relatives, travel, gifts
• Freight, insurance and other trade-related payments in the listed codes
• Investments abroad by Indian companies in the listed codes
• Refunds and reversals of earlier inward remittances

The exemption attaches to the purpose, not to the amount. A ₹50 lakh import payment needs no form; a ₹1 lakh payment for software licences does, because software is not on the list and is usually chargeable as royalty.

The certificate is not a formality. The chartered accountant must determine the nature of the payment, whether it is chargeable to tax in India under the Act, whether a tax treaty gives a lower rate or no tax, and the rate and amount of tax to be deducted. To apply a treaty rate the recipient must furnish a tax residency certificate and, where the certificate lacks the required particulars, Form 10F, and the CA records both.

Fees for technical services, royalties, interest and commission are where the analysis takes time; the answer depends on the treaty with the recipient’s country and on whether the recipient has a permanent establishment in India. Payments to a non-resident that are salary, or that fall under other specific sections, are handled under those sections rather than 195, but still pass through the forms.

Form 15CB is filed by the CA on the e-filing portal against the remitter’s PAN, and carries a UDIN. Only after it is filed can the remitter file Part C of Form 15CA referencing it.

1. Identify the purpose code and check the exempt list.
2. Determine chargeability and the treaty position; obtain the TRC and Form 10F if a treaty rate is claimed.
3. If Part C applies, the CA files Form 15CB with the details of the remittance, the invoice and the tax computation.
4. The remitter files Form 15CA in the applicable part on the e-filing portal, verified by DSC or EVC, and downloads the acknowledgement.
5. Submit the acknowledgement, the invoice and the bank’s own forms to the authorised dealer, which remits and reports.
6. Deposit the tax deducted by the 7th of the following month and report it in Form 27Q for the quarter.

A Form 15CA filed in error can be withdrawn within seven days of filing, before the remittance is made.

Failure to furnish Form 15CA or 15CB, or furnishing inaccurate information, attracts a penalty of ₹1 lakh under section 271-I. Courts have declined to apply it to import payments that were exempt in any case, but the remitter still bears the cost of arguing the point. Failure to deduct tax where it was due leaves the remitter liable for the tax, interest and the disallowance of the expense.

Non-resident Indians repatriating funds from an NRO account — sale proceeds of property, rent, inheritance — run the same process through the bank, generally within the limit of USD 1 million per financial year. The bank asks for Form 15CA and, above the threshold, 15CB; where tax has already been deducted at source on the underlying income, the CA certifies that in the form rather than computing fresh tax.

The forms are filed on the e-filing portal. Our 15CA and 15CB service covers the chargeability analysis, the treaty documents, the CA certificate and the filing, from ₹1,499.