Foreign remittance certification — the right part, the right withholding rate, before the bank asks twice.
Every outward remittance to a non-resident goes through a withholding tax check under Section 195, and the bank will not release the payment without the corresponding form. Form 15CA is your declaration; Form 15CB is a chartered accountant's certificate on the taxability of the payment and the rate applied. Getting the part wrong, or applying a treaty rate without the documentation to support it, is what turns a routine payment into a week of back-and-forth with the authorised dealer.
Which part applies
Situation
What to file
Remittance is not chargeable to tax in India
Part D of Form 15CA. No 15CB required
Chargeable, and the aggregate of remittances in the financial year does not exceed ₹5 lakh
Part A of Form 15CA. No 15CB required
Chargeable, exceeds ₹5 lakh, and an order or certificate under Section 195(2), 195(3) or 197 has been obtained
Part B of Form 15CA
Chargeable, exceeds ₹5 lakh, no such order obtained
Part C of Form 15CA, supported by Form 15CB from a chartered accountant
Remittance in the RBI specified list of exempt transactions
No 15CA or 15CB required
The ₹5 lakh test is aggregate, not per transaction. It applies to the total of remittances to that payee during the financial year. Several small payments to the same overseas vendor cross the threshold quietly, and the fourth invoice is when the bank suddenly asks for a 15CB.
Treaty relief — what the bank will want to see
Where a Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement reduces or eliminates Indian withholding, the relief is not automatic. To apply a treaty rate you need:
Tax Residency Certificate issued by the tax authority of the payee's country, valid for the relevant period
Form 10F filed electronically on the Indian income tax portal by the non-resident — this now requires the non-resident to have a PAN, or to obtain one, in most cases
No Permanent Establishment declaration from the payee, where the treaty article depends on the absence of a PE in India
Beneficial ownership declaration for interest, royalty and dividend payments
Without the TRC and Form 10F on file, the rate under the Act applies, and Section 206AA can push it to 20% where the payee has no PAN — a materially worse outcome than the treaty rate.
Common remittances and their treatment
Import of goods — ordinarily not chargeable to tax in India; Part D or exemption applies, but the invoice and bill of entry should support it
Software subscriptions and cloud services — the characterisation as royalty or business income drives everything; the Supreme Court's position on shrink-wrapped software has narrowed the royalty argument for many payments, but the contract terms decide it
Professional and consultancy fees — fees for technical services, where the make-available condition in the relevant treaty often determines taxability
Commission to overseas agents — generally not taxable where the services are rendered wholly outside India and the agent has no PE here
Dividend, interest and royalty — specific treaty rates apply, and the beneficial ownership question is live
Family maintenance, education and travel under LRS — personal remittances with their own TCS implications under Section 206C(1G)
Process
Documents reviewed. Invoice, agreement, purpose code, payee details, TRC, Form 10F and No PE declaration.
Taxability determined under the Act and the applicable treaty, and the withholding rate fixed with reasons recorded.
Form 15CB certified and filed by the chartered accountant on the income tax portal, where required.
Form 15CA filed by the remitter in the correct part, quoting the 15CB acknowledgement number.
TDS deducted and deposited where applicable, and reported in the quarterly Form 27Q; Form 16A issued to the non-resident.
The withholding itself is reported through the quarterly TDS return for payments to non-residents — see TDS return filing. If the remittance relates to foreign investment rather than a trade payment, the FEMA reporting is separate — see FDI, ODI and FLA filing.
Frequently asked questions
Payment for import of goods is generally not chargeable to tax in India, and imports appear in the RBI specified list for which no 15CA or 15CB is required. Banks differ in what they insist on, so the invoice, bill of entry and a Part D declaration are usually the pragmatic answer when an authorised dealer asks.
Without a TRC you cannot apply the treaty rate, so withholding falls back to the rate under the Act, and to 20% under Section 206AA if the payee has no PAN. The commercial answer is usually to gross up the payment or to renegotiate, and to make the TRC a contractual obligation in future agreements.
Section 271-I provides a penalty of one lakh rupees for failure to furnish the information, or for furnishing inaccurate information. That is separate from the consequences of short deduction under Section 195, which include disallowance of the expense and interest on the shortfall.
Yes. There is no bar on the statutory auditor issuing Form 15CB. What matters is that the certificate is based on documents actually examined, since the certifying chartered accountant carries responsibility for the taxability view expressed in it.