Before your bank releases a payment to a non-resident individual or a foreign company, you generally have to file Form 15CA for foreign remittances on the Income Tax Department’s e-filing portal and hand the acknowledgment to the bank. The form has four parts, and which one you fill depends on two questions: is the payment taxable in India, and have your total remittances to non-residents this financial year crossed ₹5 lakh? Answer those two, and the rest of the form follows.
One naming note before the details. India’s Income Tax Act of 2025 replaced the 1961 Act on April 1, 2026, and officially renumbered this filing as Form 145. The penalty provision moved from Section 271I to Section 462, and the withholding obligation on payments to non-residents shifted from Section 195 to Section 220.1Income Tax Department. Form No. 145 – Payments to Non-Residents/Foreign Company The substance did not change. Banks, accountants, and the portal itself still use “Form 15CA,” and everything below applies to the current Form 145.
Who Has to File
The obligation sits with the person sending the money, not the recipient. Salaried individuals, businesses, partnerships, and trusts all file the same form. Your bank, the Authorized Dealer in RBI language, will not release the foreign currency until you produce the filed form and its acknowledgment.1Income Tax Department. Form No. 145 – Payments to Non-Residents/Foreign Company
There is no deadline counted in days. The rule is simply that the form must be submitted before the remittance is made.2Income Tax Department. Form No. 145 – Frequently Asked Questions Most remitters file the same day they visit the bank. If you’re deducting TDS on the payment, you generally need a TAN in addition to your PAN, though a few narrow categories of deductors can operate on PAN alone.3Income Tax Department. Who Must Apply for TAN?
When You Don’t Need to File
Rule 37BB lists categories of remittances that are exempt from Form 15CA entirely. The broad ones:
- Personal travel and medical treatment abroad, and education expenses (RBI purpose codes such as S0304 and S0305).4Reserve Bank of India. Annexure III New Purpose Codes for Reporting Forex Transactions
- Gifts to family members abroad, within Liberalized Remittance Scheme limits.
- Payments settling invoices for goods imported into India.
The exemption also covers remittances by individuals that do not require prior RBI approval. If your payment doesn’t sit clearly in one of the listed categories, file the form regardless of the amount. The Liberalized Remittance Scheme cap of USD 250,000 per financial year is a separate limit on how much an individual can send abroad; it isn’t a Form 15CA threshold. You can be well within LRS and still owe a detailed Part C filing.
The ₹5 Lakh Threshold
The pivot point in the form is ₹5 lakh in total remittances to non-residents during a single financial year (April through March). Below that aggregate, taxable payments go on Part A, which is short and needs no external certificate. Once you cross ₹5 lakh in the year, taxable payments require either an Assessing Officer’s certificate or a Chartered Accountant’s Form 15CB.5Income Tax Department. Form 15CA FAQs
The Four Parts and Which One Fits
You complete only the part that matches your transaction. Picking the wrong one is a common reason banks send filers back to redo the form.
Part A: Taxable, Under ₹5 Lakh
The payment is taxable under Indian income tax law, and your total remittances during the financial year haven’t crossed ₹5 lakh. You supply basic details of the payment, the recipient, and the TDS rate. No certificate needed.5Income Tax Department. Form 15CA FAQs
Part B: Taxable, Over ₹5 Lakh, With an Assessing Officer’s Certificate
You’ve already obtained an order from the Assessing Officer under Section 195(2), 195(3), or 197 of the old Act (Section 220 under the 2025 Act), typically authorizing a reduced withholding rate or a nil rate. You enter the certificate number and date on the form.5Income Tax Department. Form 15CA FAQs
Part C: Taxable, Over ₹5 Lakh, With a CA’s Form 15CB
Instead of the Assessing Officer route, you’ve obtained Form 15CB from a Chartered Accountant. This is the most involved section. Your CA must upload Form 15CB to the portal first, because the system links the two filings before you can complete Part C.6Income Tax Department. Form 15CB User Manual
Part D: Non-Taxable Payments Outside the Rule 37BB List
The payment isn’t taxable in India, either because the recipient has no Indian income tax liability on it or because a treaty eliminates the tax, but it also doesn’t sit in the Rule 37BB exempt list. You still declare it, along with the recipient’s bank details including SWIFT code and branch address.5Income Tax Department. Form 15CA FAQs
What the Chartered Accountant Certifies on Form 15CB
Form 15CB is a substantive review, not a stamp. The CA examines whether the payment is taxable under Indian domestic law, determines the TDS rate, and then separately assesses whether a Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement lowers or removes that rate.6Income Tax Department. Form 15CB User Manual The certificate records the nature of the income, the gross amount, TDS deducted, and the net being remitted.
Every Form 15CB carries a Unique Document Identification Number (UDIN) generated through the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India. The portal allows submission without the UDIN and updating it later, but the certificate is incomplete until the UDIN is attached.6Income Tax Department. Form 15CB User Manual
Treaty Rate Documents to Collect Before Filing
If the recipient wants a lower TDS rate under a Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement, they must give you two documents before you pay. First, a Tax Residency Certificate from the tax authority in their country. Second, Form 10F, a self-declaration adding details such as the recipient’s tax identification number, nationality, and period of residential status.7State Bank of India. Form No. 10F
Without valid TRC and Form 10F paperwork, you must withhold at the higher domestic rate. Chasing these documents after the fact is the single most common cause of delay in cross-border payments, so ask for them up front.
TCS on Money Leaving India
Separately from TDS on the payment itself, banks collect Tax Collected at Source under Section 206C(1G) on top of the remittance amount when you send money abroad through the Liberalized Remittance Scheme. The 2025-26 rates:
- Education or medical treatment (without a loan): 5% on amounts above ₹10 lakh in the financial year.
- Other LRS purposes such as investments, gifts, or foreign property: 20% on amounts above ₹10 lakh.
- Overseas tour packages: 5% on the first ₹10 lakh, 20% above that, with no exemption threshold.
TCS isn’t a final tax. You can claim it as a credit on your income tax return, and if your liability is lower, you get a refund. But the cash is tied up in the meantime. On a ₹15 lakh non-education, non-medical remittance, the bank collects ₹1 lakh (20% of the ₹5 lakh above the threshold) before releasing the funds. Plan for it.
Filing on the E-Filing Portal
Log in to the Income Tax Department portal with your PAN credentials, go to the statutory forms area under the e-File menu, and pick Form 15CA (or Form 145, depending on how the portal labels it at the time). Select the correct part, enter the payment details, recipient information, TDS amount, and the foreign bank’s SWIFT code and branch address.
Corporate filers verify with a Digital Signature Certificate; individuals can use an Electronic Verification Code.5Income Tax Department. Form 15CA FAQs Once accepted, the portal generates an acknowledgment number and a downloadable PDF. Print or save it, and give it to the bank.1Income Tax Department. Form No. 145 – Payments to Non-Residents/Foreign Company
Form 15CA cannot be revised after submission. To correct a mistake, you withdraw the filed form on the portal and submit a new one. If a Form 15CB was linked to it, its status reverts from “Consumed” to “Withdrawn,” and your CA will typically need to cancel the original UDIN and issue a fresh certificate. Getting the entries right the first time avoids all of that.
Penalty for Skipping or Misreporting
Filing inaccurate information, or failing to file at all, can draw a penalty of up to ₹1 lakh under Section 462 of the Income Tax Act of 2025.1Income Tax Department. Form No. 145 – Payments to Non-Residents/Foreign Company The Assessing Officer sets the exact amount within that ceiling. The practical penalty is simpler: without the acknowledgment in hand, the bank will not send the money.