Form 15CA and Form 15CB – Accountant’s certificate for foreign payments

In this article, for the benefit of our reader’s we have come up with detailed FAQ on procedures of issuance, requirement of Form 15CA and Form 15CB – Accountant’s certificate for foreign payments

Q: CBDT has revised the guidelines on form 15CA and form 15CB.From when did the revised forms come into force?

A: Revised Forms with amendments came into force on the 1st October, 2013.

Q: To whom are the forms 15CA and 15CB applicable?

A: If any payment including any interest or salary or any other sum chargeable to tax, is made to non-resident, not being a company, or to a foreign company then Form 15CA and Form 15CB are applicable. The RBI 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 along with a certificate from an accountant in Form 15CB.

Q: Who shall fill the form 15CA?

A: Form 15CA has two Parts : A and B. Part A of the form is required to be filled if the remittance to non resident or to a foreign company does not exceed Rs.50,000 per transaction and aggregate of such payments made during the financial year does not exceed Rs. 2,50,000. Part B of the form is to be filled up for remittances other those specified in Part A i.e. if the remittance is chargeable to tax and exceed Rs. 50000 per transaction and aggregate of such payments made during the financial year exceeds Rs. 2,50,000.

Q: What information has to be filled in Form 15CA?

A: As we know, Form 15CA has two parts – A and B.

Part A of Form 15 CA requires the following information:

• Particulars of Remitter, Remittee, Remittance made and TDS
• Mandatory to furnish PAN of Remitter, if tax is deducted then TAN of the Remitter also needs to be provided
• Form prescribes mandatory application of provisions of Section 206AA, if remittance is chargeable to tax and PAN of remittee is not available.
• E-mail and Phone Number of remittee to be furnished, if available.

Part B of Form 15 CA requires the following information in addition to those mentioned in Part A:

• Taxability under the Income Tax Act
• Taxability under the relevant DTAA. Details of TRC (Tax Residency Certificate)

Q: Is Form 15CB required in case of filling Part A of the form 15CB?

A: No. Form 15CB is required only when filling Part B of form 15 CB.

Q: What is required for filling Part B of Form 15CA?

A: Part B of Form 15CA is to be filled after obtaining either of the below

• a certificate in form no. 15cb from an accountant (chartered accountant) or
• a certificate from the Assessing Officer (AO) under Sec 197 or
• an order from Assessing Officer under sub-sec (2) or sub-section (3) of sec 195

Q: What is the procedure for furnishing the Form 15CA?

A: The procedure can be easily understood with the help of the following steps:

Step 1: Remitter shall obtain from a chartered accountant a certificate in Form 15CB.

Step 2: Then, the remitter shall electronically upload Form 15CA on the website – https://onlineservices.tin.egov-nsdl.com/TIN/JSP/tds/enterForm15CA.jsp

Step 3: The form 15CA shall be filled on the basis of the information contained in form 15CB.

Step 4: The system will then generate an acknowledgement number. The remitter is required to take out a print out of the form which would bear an acknowledgement number and then sign the form.

Step 5: He should then submit the signed paper undertaking form to the RBI/Authorized Dealer along with the certificate of an accountant in duplicate.

Step 6: Then the RBI/ Authorized dealer remits the amount and a copy of form 15 CA and form 15CB is forwarded to assessing officer.

Q: What will happen if the PAN/TAN No. is invalid?

A: In case of invalid PAN/TAN No., the form will not be generated.