Issue of forms 15CA and 15CB and Assistance is Repatriation of Funds

Who is required to file Form 15CA?

As per Rule 37BB, any person responsible for paying to a non-resident, not being a company, or to a foreign company, any sum chargeable to tax under the provisions of Income tax Act, 1961, shall furnish such information in Form 15CA and Form 15CB. However, for all foreign remittances, banks have a mandate to provide for such information. Therefore, it is prudent to have such documentation in place for all foreign remittances.

Form 15CA prescribes the information to be furnished by the payer and Form 15CB prescribes the format of certificate to be obtained by the Chartered Accountant by the payer. Therefore, a person paying Non-Resident or a foreign company has to submit Form 15CA. Form 15CB is a certificate by the Chartered Accountant to the remitter of foreign exchange, specifying whether the transaction of foreign remittance attracts deduction of TDS and whether the remitter has deducted the TDS accordingly.

The furnishing of information in Form 15CA is classified into 4 parts namely

  1. 1. In case the payment or the aggregate of such payments made during the financial year does not exceed Rs. 5 lakh rupees, such information is to be furnished in Part A of Form No.15CA.
  2. In case the payment exceeds Rs. 5 lakh such information is required to be furnished in Part B of Form No. 15CA after obtaining a certificate from the Assessing Officer under section 197; or an order from the Assessing Officer under sub-section (2) or sub-section (3) of section 195.
  3. In case the payment exceeds Rs. 5 lakh such information is required to be furnished in Part C of Form 15CA after obtaining a certificate in Form No.15CB from an accountant as defined in the Explanation to sub-section (2) of section 288.
  4. In case the payment other than the payment referred in sub-rule (3) of Rule 37BB which is not chargeable to tax under the provisions of Income tax Act,1961, such information is required to be furnished in Part D of Form No. 15CA.

When Form 15CA is not required to be furnished?

In accordance with sub-rule (3) of Rule 37BB, Form 15CA and Form 15CB are not required to be furnished in case of the following transactions:

  1. Remittance is made by an individual and it does not require prior approval of the Reserve Bank of India as per the provisions of section 5 of the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999 (42 of 1999), read with Schedule III to the Foreign Exchange (Current Account Transaction) Rules, 2000; or
  2. Remittance is of the nature specified as follows:
    3. Sl. No. Purpose code as per RBI Nature of Payment
    1 S0001 Indian investment abroad - in equity capital (shares)
    2 S0002 Indian investment abroad - in debt securities
    2 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 S0202 Payment for operating expenses of Indian shipping companies operating abroad
    13 S0208 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.

Our Team assists in the issue of Form 15CA and Issues Form 15CB certificates to our clients. We also provide the advisory on Taxability and assist in the repatriation of funds.