As per Section 195 of the Income Tax Act 1961, every person liable for making a payment to non-residents shall deduct TDS from the payments made or credits given to non-residents at the rates in force.  The Reserve Bank of India also mandates that except in cases of certain personal remittances which have been specifically exempted, no remittance should be made to a non-resident without furnishing an undertaking in Form 15CA accompanied by a certificate from an Accountant in Form 15CB

The purpose of this undertaking and certificate is to collect taxes at the stage when the remittance is made as it may not be possible to recover the tax at a later stage from the non-residents. The format of the undertaking in Form 15CA which is to be filed electronically and the format of the certificate of the Accountant in Form 15CB have been notified vide Rule 37BB of the Income Tax Rules 1962

Procedure for furnishing Form 15CA

The Revised Procedure for furnishing information regarding remittances being made to non-residents wef 1st July 2009 is as follows:-

  1. The Person making the Payment (Remitter) shall obtain a certificate from an accountant(other than employee) in Form 15CB
  2. The Remitter shall then electronically upload the undertaking containing the remittance details to the department in Form 15CA on the following website https://onlineservices.tin.nsdl.com/TIN/JSP/tds/enterForm15CA.jsp
  3. The Information furnished in the Form 15CA is to be filed using the information contained in Form 15CB
  4. The Remitter shall take a print out of this filled up Form 15CA (which will bear an acknowledgement number generated by the system) and sign it. The Form 15CA shall be signed by the person  authorised to sign the return of income of the remitter or the person so authorised by him in writing
  5. The duly signed form Form 15CA and Form 15CB shall be submitted in duplicate to the Reserve Bank of India/ Authorised Dealer. The Reserve Bank of India/ Authorised Dealer will then forward a copy of the Certificate and undertaking to the assessing officer concerned
  6. A Remitter who has obtained a certificate from the Assessing Officer regarding the rate at or amount on which the tax is to be deducted is not required to obtain a certificate from the Accountant in Form 15CB. However, he is required to furnish information in Form 15CA and submit it along with a copy of the certificate from the Assessing Officer

Guidelines for furnishing Form 15CA

  • PAN No. and TAN No. allotted by the Income Tax Department shall be mentioned. TAN No. is necessary in cases where:-
    • Tax has been deducted or will be deducted at source
    • The Remitter has obtained an order under section 195(2) of the Income Tax Act from the Assessing Officer
  • In case of invalid PAN and/or TAN No., the Form will not be generated
  • No value shall be entered in the Area Code, AO Type, Range Code & AO Number. These fields would be automatically entered by the system after validating the PAN and/or TAN

After furnishing the details in Part A and Part B, a confirmation screen with the data filled up by the user would be shown. On confirming these details, a filled up Form 15CA with an acknowledgement number will be displayed. A Print out of this form should be taken, signed and submitted prior to remitting the payment