Filing of Forms 15CA-15CB

What forms 15CA and 15CB are all about?

If you are alaw-abiding tax paying citizen, you may want to know what form 15CA and CB is. Form 15CA, in relation to tax remittances, is a declaration of remittance and is a tool for collecting information concerning payments in respect of incomes chargeable to tax in the hands of non-resident recipients. The declaration of form 15CA is an effective Information Processing System that isutilized by the Income Tax Department to track foreign remittances and determine the nature of tax liability.

Form 15CB is a type of certification where aCA certifies the details of the payment, TDS rate, TDS deduction and other details of nature and purpose of remittance.

Further, while filing form 15CA, the details of form 15CB are also required. However, there are few exemptions as per rule 37BB of income tax rules where the submission of form 15CB is not required.

Applicability of form 15CA and CB

The applicability of 15CA and CB is mentioned below.

Form 15CA is a declaration made by a person who intends to make remittance.

Form 15CA is applicable for remittances made:

* To a foreign company or a non-resident.
 
* By a remitter who can be a foreign company/ domestic company/ resident/non-resident.
 
* If the amount of remittance is chargeable to tax
 
Form 15CB is required to be filed by a CA when:

* Remittance is made to a foreign company or a non-resident and is taxable
 
* The payment exceeds 5 lakhs.
 
* A certificate for No deduction or any such order has not been received from the Assessing Officer.

Guidelines to the filing process

Based on the feedback provided by diverse experts and corporations across India, the Income Tax Department has re-engineered both the forms that clarify the preparation, submission, assignment and verification process of the complete filing cycle. If you are curious about the 15CA-CB filing process, the following pointers might be helpful.

By now, if you know a bit about the forms, you may further want to know how to file form 15CA-CB. As per the revised rule in 37BB, it is the duty of banks and authorized dealers to furnish form 15CA received from the remitter to the income tax authority to comply with the provisions of Income Tax Act.

Consequently, the Income Tax Department has created an online facility to file your information. Therefore, form 15CA can be filed online. After that, you need to print out the proof of the online submission. This copy is to be given to the bank. This copy is a proof of tax clearance from the Income Tax Department.

(a)         Form 15CA filing process

Step1- Visit the official Income Tax e-filing portal and log in using your valid credentials.

Step2- Select a file from the menu and click on Income Tax forms.

Step3- In the drop-down list named 'Form Name', select form 15CA.

Step4- From the 'Select a relevant part from drop option’, and select the required section.

Step5- Fill in the selected part of the form and click on the 'submit button.

Step6- Fill the verification section of the respective parts of form 15CA.

Note: You have to upload form 15CB before filling part C of form 15CA as you require the acknowledgement number of form 15CB. If the procedure seems complex, you can hire a 15CA CB filing expert to ensure there are no errors in the filing procedure.

(b)         Form 15CB filing process

Since a Chartered Accountant must file form 15CB, one can do so by following the below-mentioned process.

Step1- Visit the official Income Tax e-filing portal and hit the downloads tab.

Step2- The CA now needs to complete the ‘add CA’ requisite under the ‘My Account’ tab.    

Step3- Enter the CA’s membership number and the Form number as 15CB.

Step4- After the CA is registered, download the Form 15CB Utility from the ‘Downloads’ page, because for successfully submitting Form 15CB, the .xml file needs to be uploaded.

Step5- Click on the e-file tab, and from the drop-down menu, select the 'Upload Form', to upload the .xml file that is prepared offline. 

Step5- After uploading the xml file, press the submit button.
 
Note: Once the submit button is pressed, a success notification will be sent to the CA, along with a confirmation email sent to their registered email ID. The CA needs a Digital Signature Certificate while filing Form 15CB.

Revision of rules for submitting form 15CA and CB

A taxpayer is required to maintain certain compliances when making payments outside India. Submission of forms 15CA and 15CB falls under one such compliance. However, since the Income Tax Department has revised the rules concerning the preparation and submission of both the forms, you may want to know when 15CA and CB are required.

* The form 15CB is only required for payments made to non-residents if the payment is taxable and exceeds rupees 5 lakhs.
 
* Part A of Form 15CA is required when payment is made below 5 lakh(whether taxable or not).
 
* Part B, as well as part C of Form 15CA, are necessary when payment made exceeds 5 lakh.
 
* Part D of Form 15CA is essential when the payment made is not chargeable to tax under IT Act.
 
Conclusion:

Filing of Forms 15CA-CB is important as they provide all the necessary declarations and information towards tax payment (if any) required by all banks before proceeding with repatriation. Compliance in matters of foreign remittances can get your pulse racing, which is why this guide is a humble attempt to ensure that the filing process is hassle-free. If the procedure seems complicated for you, you can consider hiring a consultant for 15CA-CB filing.

So, if you want to remit funds outside India and want assistance in filing Forms 15CA and 15CB, you can feel free to reach us at info@manishanilgupta.com.