Form 15CA is an online declaration filed on the Income Tax e-filing portal by any person remitting funds to a non-resident, capturing remittance details and the basis for tax withholding under Section 195.
Form 15CA is the online declaration filed by an Indian remitter (or its authorised dealer bank) on the Income Tax Department’s e-filing portal for almost every payment made to a non-resident or foreign company. Prescribed under Section 195(6) of the Income Tax Act, 1961, read with Rule 37BB of the Income Tax Rules, Form 15CA captures the remitter’s details, the remittee’s details, the nature of the remittance, the amount, the section under which TDS is deducted (or the reason no TDS applies), and the documentation supporting the withholding rate.
Form 15CA serves two purposes simultaneously. First, it is a self-declaration by the remitter that they have considered the tax implications of the foreign payment and either deducted TDS or are entitled to the exemption claimed. Second, it is a tracking mechanism for the Income Tax Department and the Reserve Bank of India to monitor cross-border outflows and ensure that taxable Indian-source income is not remitted abroad without the corresponding withholding.
Banks and authorised dealers acting as remitting agents are bound by RBI master circulars to obtain a valid Form 15CA acknowledgement before processing any outward remittance to a non-resident, with limited exceptions for the 33 specified categories listed in Rule 37BB(3) (which include personal remittances, payments for imports, certain government remittances and specified categories where furnishing of Form 15CA is not required).
Form 15CA is filed before the remittance is made — not after. The typical workflow:
Banks will not move money without a valid acknowledgement (except for the Rule 37BB(3) exempt list). The form is filed under the remitter’s PAN, on the e-filing portal at incometax.gov.in, using the remitter’s login credentials.
Rule 37BB structures Form 15CA into four parts based on the size and tax position of the remittance:
| Part | When to Use | Documentation Needed |
|---|---|---|
| Part A | Remittance (or aggregate during FY) does not exceed ₹5 lakh | None beyond the form itself |
| Part B | Remittance above ₹5 lakh AND an order/certificate under Section 195(2), 195(3) or 197 obtained from the Assessing Officer | The AO order/certificate |
| Part C | Remittance above ₹5 lakh AND chargeable to tax | Form 15CB certificate from a chartered accountant |
| Part D | Remittance is not chargeable to tax under the Income Tax Act | Self-assessment basis |
The ₹5 lakh threshold is aggregate per financial year per remitter–remittee pair, not per transaction. Multiple smaller remittances totalling above ₹5 lakh push subsequent filings into Part B, C or D depending on the tax position.
The end-to-end filing process on the e-filing portal:
Multiple Form 15CAs can be filed for the same remittee in a financial year — each remittance event needs its own filing.
The most frequent errors that trigger penalties or remittance delays:
A Bangalore IT services company pays USD 1,20,000 (₹1,02,00,000 at ₹85/USD) to a UK-based marketing agency in May 2026 for digital advertising services. The agency provides a UK Tax Residency Certificate, e-filed Form 10F, PAN and a no-PE declaration.
Because the remittance exceeds ₹5 lakh and is chargeable to tax in India, the company:
If the company had not filed Form 15CA, the bank would have refused the remittance under FEMA and RBI master directions, and Section 271-I would have triggered a ₹1,00,000 penalty.
For employers paying overseas contractors, vendors or service providers through Omnivoo, the platform automates the entire Form 15CA chain — analysing each remittance for taxability, requesting the right documentation from the remittee, generating Form 15CB through partnered chartered accountants for Part C filings, e-filing Form 15CA via API and providing the acknowledgement to the disbursing bank in one workflow. For more on related compliance, see Form 15CB, Form 27Q and Tax Deducted at Source (TDS).
Form 15CB is a chartered accountant's certificate under Rule 37BB certifying the tax withholding on a foreign remittance to a non-resident exceeding ₹5 lakh in a financial year.
Form 27Q is the quarterly TDS return Indian deductors file to report tax deducted on payments to non-residents and foreign companies under Section 195 of the Income Tax Act.
A Non-Resident Indian is an Indian citizen or person of Indian origin whose physical presence in India is below the thresholds set under Section 6 of the Income Tax Act, making them taxable in India only on Indian-sourced income.
TDS is the income tax an employer withholds from an employee's salary each month and deposits with the government on their behalf.
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