Form 15CA and 15CB Are Now Form 145 and 146: Foreign Remittance Under Rule 220

Form 15CA is now Form 145 and Form 15CB is now Form 146. This is the full Rule 220 workflow: who files what, in what order, and where remittances get stuck.

Last verified: 5 September 2026 · Applies to: Tax Year 2026-27 onward (remittances on or after 1 April 2026)

Contents

• What changed on 1 April 2026
• The statutory basis: section 397(3)(d) and Rule 220
• Form 145: the Part A to Part D structure
• The ₹5 lakh line, and what it is measured on
• The sequence: who does what, in what order
• UDIN and the payee's TRC are now captured in the form
• When you do not need Form 145 or 146
• Forms 147 and 148
• Where remittances actually get stuck
• Frequently asked questions
• How BVACA can help

What changed on 1 April 2026

The foreign remittance certification workflow survives intact in substance. Every number attached to it changed.

If you are a bank relationship manager, a CFO signing off a vendor payment abroad, or an NRI repatriating sale proceeds, the practical instruction is short: stop asking for 15CB and start asking for Form 146. The certificate does the same job. The portal will not accept the old form for a remittance made on or after 1 April 2026.

For the wider renumbering across all income tax forms, see the complete renumbered form reference.

The statutory basis: section 397(3)(d) and Rule 220

Under the 1961 Act the duty to furnish information on payments to non-residents sat in section 195(6), with the mechanics in Rule 37BB. Under the Income-tax Act, 2025 the duty sits in section 397(3)(d), and the mechanics are in Rule 220 of the Income-tax Rules, 2026.

Be precise about what this obligation is. Section 397(3)(d) is an information provision: it does not itself charge tax, and furnishing Form 145 does not settle whether tax was correctly deducted. The deduction obligation on a payment to a non-resident is separate and sits at section 393(2), Table Sl. No. 17 (the old section 195). Two different duties, commonly confused.

Form 145: the Part A to Part D structure

Form 145 has four parts. You complete exactly one of them, and which one depends on two questions: is the remittance taxable, and is it above ₹5 lakh.

Part C is the common case for a business paying an overseas vendor or an NRI repatriating funds. Part D is the common case for a remittance that is genuinely outside the charge, and it is also the part that attracts the most scrutiny, because a Part D declaration is the remitter asserting, on their own, that no tax is due.

The Assessing Officer route in Part B connects to section 395(2), which is where a payer applies for a determination of the proportion of a payment that is chargeable to tax. That was section 195(2) and 195(3) under the old Act, and it is the same idea under a new number.

The ₹5 lakh line, and what it is measured on

Two mistakes recur here.

It is aggregate, not per-transaction. The ₹5 lakh test looks at taxable remittances in the aggregate during the financial year, not at the single payment sitting in front of you. Four quarterly payments of ₹1.6 lakh each to the same overseas consultant cross the line at the fourth payment, and the fourth remittance needs Part C and a Form 146, even though no individual payment was large.

It applies to the taxable remittance. A remittance that is not chargeable to tax goes in Part D regardless of size. A ₹4 crore repayment of a genuine non-taxable amount is a Part D case; a ₹6 lakh taxable royalty is a Part C case. Size alone does not decide the part.

Businesses that make frequent small overseas payments should track the running aggregate per payee for the year. In practice this is the single most common reason a remittance is refused at the bank counter on a Friday afternoon.

The sequence: who does what, in what order

The order is not optional. Form 146 is filed first, and its acknowledgement number is what makes Part C of Form 145 completable.

1. Remitter assembles the file. Invoice or agreement, the nature of the payment, the payee's details, the payee's Tax Residency Certificate if treaty relief is claimed, and the RBI purpose code the bank will use.
2. Chartered Accountant analyses chargeability. Is the payment chargeable under the Act, and if so at what rate; does a treaty reduce or eliminate the charge; is there a permanent establishment issue; has the payee furnished Form 41 (the old Form 10F) and a valid TRC.
3. CA files Form 146 on the e-filing portal, and it is digitally signed. The CA generates and quotes a UDIN.
4. Form 146 acknowledgement number is issued. This number is the input to the next step.
5. Remitter files Form 145, completing Part C and quoting the Form 146 acknowledgement number.
6. Remitter gives the bank the Form 145 acknowledgement, and the authorised dealer processes the outward remittance.
7. TDS is deposited and reported under the correct provision, and appears in the quarterly return for non-resident payees, which is now Form 144 (the old Form 27Q).

The step people skip is step 7. A remittance that has cleared the bank but has not been reported in Form 144 will surface later as a mismatch, and the deductor, not the payee, carries that.

Where the payee is claiming treaty benefit, the TRC and Form 41 position needs to be settled before step 3, not after. We deal with that separately in treaty relief, the TRC and Form 41.

UDIN and the payee's TRC are now captured in the form

Two fields in the redesigned forms change what a certificate has to be supported by.

UDIN. The Unique Document Identification Number of the certifying Chartered Accountant is captured in the form, which makes the certificate traceable to a specific member and a specific document. A Form 146 issued without a properly generated UDIN is now an identifiable defect rather than an internal housekeeping point.

The payee's TRC. The Tax Residency Certificate of the non-resident payee is now captured in the form itself. Under section 159(8) of the 2025 Act a TRC is mandatory for treaty relief, with prescribed information. The consequence for the workflow is that "the TRC is coming" no longer works. If the certificate claims a reduced treaty rate, the TRC has to exist and be in hand at the time of certification.

Note also that electronic filing of the non-resident's own information is mandatory. The manual filing reprieve for non-residents expired on 30 September 2023; from 1 October 2023 all non-residents must e-file. A non-resident without a PAN registers on the portal under the category "Non-residents not holding and not required to have a PAN", which issues a User ID in lieu of PAN, with verification by digital signature or OTP rather than PAN-linked EVC.

When you do not need Form 145 or 146

Rule 220 carries exemptions. Three categories to know:

• Remittances by an individual under the Liberalised Remittance Scheme. An individual remitting under LRS does not go through this workflow. Note that LRS carries its own TCS regime, which changed on 1 April 2026: nil where education is funded by an education loan, 2% for education or medical above ₹10 lakh, 2% flat with no threshold on overseas tour packages, and 20% above ₹10 lakh for everything else including investment. The LRS limit remains USD 250,000 per individual per financial year.
• IFSC units, within the scope prescribed.
• Specified RBI purpose codes, being the list of payment types treated as outside the requirement.

The 33-item specified list under old Rule 37BB carries over unchanged into Rule 220 of the Income-tax Rules, 2026. Categories such as advance payment against imports, remittances by individuals under LRS, subsidiary remittances to a parent, family maintenance remittances and construction contract payments abroad remain outside the Form 145/146 requirement on the same terms.

Until that is confirmed against the notified rule, treat the old 33-item list as indicative rather than authority. Where the position is finely balanced it is cheaper to file than to argue.

Forms 147 and 148

Two supporting forms in the same family renumbered at the same time: Form 15CC became Form 147 and Form 15CD became Form 148. They are reporting forms rather than transaction forms, so an ordinary remitter will not encounter them in the Form 145 workflow.

Form 147 (old 15CC) is a quarterly report filed by authorised dealer banks with details of foreign remittances they have processed — a reporting form for banks, not remitters. Form 148 (old 15CD) is filed by IFSC units with details of specified remittances. An ordinary remitter or CA does not encounter either form in the Form 145 workflow.

Where remittances actually get stuck

From live files, in rough order of frequency:

The aggregate crossed ₹5 lakh and nobody was tracking it. Covered above. Track per payee, per financial year.

Part D used where Part C was required. A remitter decides a payment is not chargeable, files Part D, and the bank processes it. The exposure sits with the remitter as deductor, not with the bank, and can surface years later. Where chargeability is arguable, a Form 146 that reasons the position is worth more than a bare Part D declaration.

TRC missing or expired at the certification date. Section 159(8) makes the TRC mandatory. A CA cannot certify a treaty rate on the promise of a document.

Form 41 not filed by the payee. Form 10F is now Form 41 under Rule 75. Non-residents who filed Form 10F once and assumed it stood forever are a recurring problem.

Wrong section quoted on the challan. Deductions on payments to non-residents now belong to section 393(2), Table Sl. No. 17, not to "section 195". Many accounting systems still carry the old code.

Repatriation cases with an incomplete underlying file. For an NRI repatriating out of an NRO account, the USD 1 million per financial year limit applies, and Forms 145 and 146 are part of the paperwork. For inherited property, the bank will also want documentary evidence of inheritance and a tax clearance or no-objection from the income tax authority, and all instalments must go through the same authorised dealer. That workflow is set out in the USD 1 million NRO repatriation limit, and we handle it as part of NRI repatriation support.

Illustrative example. A Chandigarh software company pays a UK-based design consultant ₹18 lakh (₹18,00,000) in March 2027 for services. The payment is chargeable to tax in India as fees for technical services under domestic law, and the consultant claims a reduced rate under the India-UK treaty. Because the aggregate taxable remittance to that payee exceeds ₹5 lakh in the year, Part C of Form 145 applies. The CA reviews the contract, confirms no permanent establishment, obtains the consultant's TRC and Form 41, files Form 146 quoting a UDIN, and passes the acknowledgement number to the company. The company files Form 145 Part C, hands the acknowledgement to its authorised dealer, deposits TDS under section 393(2), Table Sl. No. 17, and reports the deduction in Form 144 for the quarter.

If your business makes regular overseas payments, our foreign remittance certification and cross-border tax advice team handles the chargeability analysis and the Form 146 certification together, so the bank file is complete the first time.

Frequently asked questions

Has Form 15CB been replaced?

Yes. From 1 April 2026, the Chartered Accountant's certificate on a foreign remittance is Form 146, issued under Rule 220 of the Income-tax Rules, 2026. Form 15CB related to Rule 37BB of the 1962 Rules, which no longer exists. The remitter's declaration, previously Form 15CA, is now Form 145.

What is Form 145 in income tax?

Form 145 is the remitter's declaration on a foreign remittance, replacing Form 15CA from 1 April 2026. It has four parts: Part A for taxable remittances up to ₹5 lakh in the year, Part B where an Assessing Officer's certificate has been obtained, Part C where a Chartered Accountant's Form 146 supports a remittance above ₹5 lakh, and Part D for remittances not chargeable to tax.

Do I file Form 145 or Form 146 first?

Form 146 first. The Chartered Accountant files Form 146 and its acknowledgement number is required to complete Part C of Form 145. Filing in the wrong order simply does not work, because Part C cannot be completed without the certificate acknowledgement.

Is a Form 146 needed for every foreign payment?

No. It is needed where the remittance is chargeable to tax and the aggregate taxable remittance in the financial year exceeds ₹5 lakh, and where an Assessing Officer's certificate has not been obtained instead. Remittances that are not chargeable to tax go in Part D of Form 145. Individual remittances under the Liberalised Remittance Scheme, IFSC units and specified RBI purpose codes are exempt from the mechanism.

Is a TRC compulsory for the payee now?

For treaty relief, yes. Section 159(8) of the Income-tax Act, 2025 makes the Tax Residency Certificate mandatory, with prescribed information, and the TRC is captured in the redesigned form. The non-resident also files Form 41, which replaced Form 10F, under Rule 75, and must do so electronically.

What section replaced section 195(6)?

Section 397(3)(d) of the Income-tax Act, 2025. It carries the obligation to furnish information on foreign remittances that section 195(6) of the 1961 Act used to carry. Be careful not to confuse it with section 195 of the 2025 Act, which is unexplained income, an entirely different subject from the old section 195.

How BVACA can help

Bachhal Vijender & Associates issues Form 146 certificates and handles the surrounding chargeability analysis for businesses and NRI clients, including treaty positions, permanent establishment questions and the TRC and Form 41 file. We work the sequence in the right order, so the certificate, the Form 145 part, the challan section code and the quarterly Form 144 all agree with each other. For repatriation matters we coordinate with the authorised dealer on the documentation the bank will ask for before it asks. Where an overseas adviser is involved, we act as the India-side partner on the Indian tax position.

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Author box: CA Vijender Singh Bachhal, Managing Partner, Bachhal Vijender & Associates (FRN 028355N), Panchkula. About the firm

Disclaimer: This article is general information current as at 5 September 2026, not advice for a specific situation. Tax and corporate law in India changed materially on 1 April 2026; verify the position before acting. Illustrative examples are not client matters.