NRO to NRE transfer Update: 15CB/15CA required for Both “Taxable” and “Non Taxable” Transfers

From June 1, 2015, any person making a payment to a non-resident, including an NRI transferring funds from NRO to NRE account would be required to obtain a certificate from a Chartered Accountant in form 15CB and file form 15CA to the income tax department.  

On May 14, 2015, the President of India gave assent to the Finance Bill, 2015 as passed by the both Houses of Parliament, which substituted section 195(6) with effect from June 1, 2015 as under:

“The person responsible for paying to a non-resident (not being a company) or to a foreign company, any sum, whether or not chargeable under the provisions of this Act, shall furnish the information relating to payment of such sum, in such form and manner, as may be prescribed.”

This amendment brings clarity to the ongoing debate about whether 15CA/15CB is required for NRO to NRE transfer or for remittance outside of India of any non-taxable funds like long term capital gain on equity shares, PPF account, inheritance, etc.

While the CBDT notification 67/2013 required Form 15CA/15CB only for the taxable transfers, the bank personnel were asking for the Forms even for such non-taxable transfers creating a lot of confusion among NRI fraternity. This amendment made the procedural requirement very clear.

Please note:

  1. The revised rules are applicable from June 1, 2015, so you still have 15 days to transfer non-taxable funds without Form 15CB/15CA. Of course, convincing the bank won’t be easy.
  2. For the nature of the payments included in the “Specified List”, Form 15CB/15CA may not be required.
  3. For payment that does not exceed Rs. 50,000 or aggregate of payment does not exceed Rs. 250,000 in a financial year, Only Form 15CA Part A to be furnished.
  4. For any payment other than #3 above, updated CA Certificate in Form 15CB to be obtained and Part B of the Form 15CA to be furnished to the Income Tax department.

Please review my other blogs on NRO to NRE transfers and information required for 15CB/15CA.

Summary:
From June 1, 2015, Form 15CA/15CB would be required for transfer of funds from NRO to NRE or for making any payment to an NRI.

Category: Income Tax, Investments in India, NRI Investments, NRI Taxation, NRO to NRE Transfer, RBI / FEMA / Other Updates - Analyzed Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Comments

  • ravi adukia

    Will form 15ca or cb will be required if gifts are made to NRO account of son by father from his ordinary resident savings account with in limit of USD 250000 per annum

    • Jigar Patel, CFA (USA), MBA-Finance (USA), CPA (USA), CA (India)

      I don’t think so as gift is included in the specified list that do not require 15CB/15CA. Also, bank may not require at the time of credit to NRO but at the time of transfer from NRO to NRE or abroad, 15CB/15CA may be required. Thanks.

  • Nagaraj

    Does this affect anyone doing payment into an NRO account?. Say for example my in-laws wanted to deposit 5 lakhs into my NRO account, from their SB account?

    • Jigar Patel, CFA (USA), MBA-Finance (USA), CPA (USA), CA (India)

      You would need to determine the nature of the transfer. If any transfer is included in the specified list of transactions, it may not require 15CB/15CA. Else, 15CB/15CA would be required. Thanks.

  • deb burman

    Dear Mr. Patel –
    Thanks for a most informative blog.

    I have 2 questions re. this current post –
    1) In an earlier post, you had mentioned that the Form 15CA is to be found on the TIN-NSDL site (https://www.tin-nsdl.com/index.php) – under Services. I just checked it but couldn’t find it. Am I looking in the right place?

    2) I am somewhat confused about your reply to an earlier post by Mr. Nagaraj about transfer to the NRO account. As I understand it, the 15CA/15CB procedure is related to transfers from NRO to NRE accounts. The situation in his post is about money being transferred from a resident savings bank account (his parents) to the NRO account. This appears to be a rather normal transaction for NRO accounts – for example, to receive rents from renters of properties held in India, etc. etc. Can you please reconfirm whether such a transaction will *not* require 15ca/15cb, or whether you still think there are situations where 15ca/15cb will be required?

    Thank you very much!

    • Jigar Patel, CFA (USA), MBA-Finance (USA), CPA (USA), CA (India)

      1. Form 15CA is available at incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in in Forms other than ITR. You may also access the form after logging into your account on the site. Thanks.

      2. ANY payment to an NRI, whether taxable or not, would require 15CB/15CA unless it is included in the list of transfer that do not require those forms. Please note that the provision does not say anything about remittances outside India but only payment to NRI. So even if the money is going to stay in India, 15CB/15CA may be required i.e. even for rent income. Thanks.

      • Shailesh

        Dear Jigar –

        2.) I agree with your reading here. However, I still have the same doubt as Mr. Deb Burman. I mean section 195 / rule 37BB requiring 15CA/15CB has always applied to ‘any payment to NR’ (only ‘chargeable to tax’ is being taken away) but, in practice, for any tax chargeable payment to NRO accounts, banks did not require these forms. Does that mean that the resident payer was still supposed to submit these forms to IT (just that most people didn’t)?

        No way to know but, in your opinion, will this change also mean that this provision will now be actually enforced? This would lead to a situation where these forms are being filled twice – first when crediting to NRO and then, banks will require when remitting from NRO to NRE some time later.

        Thanks v much.

        • Jigar Patel, CFA (USA), MBA-Finance (USA), CPA (USA), CA (India)

          15CB/15CA while making payment to NRI would be enough to transfer funds from NRO to NRE. Banks would not require another set of documents for NRO to NRE transfer. Thanks.

          • Shailesh

            Thank you. Can you please also answer (yes/no will do) my first question?

            “Does that mean that the resident payer was still supposed to submit these forms to IT when crediting the NRO account (just that most people didn’t)?”

          • Jigar Patel, CFA (USA), MBA-Finance (USA), CPA (USA), CA (India)

            The payer would need to submit the forms before making payment. For crediting into NRO, bank may not ask those forms as it is not required. However, forms need to be prepared and filed to the income tax department by the payer. The Bank may require those forms when you transfer from NRO to NRE or abroad. Thanks.

          • Shailesh

            thank you!

  • Harish mehta

    the Indian incometax act allows gift of any amount from a son to his parents without attracting any gift tax liability.Can a son who has remitted funds to India in his NRO a/c gift amount from his a/c to his parents?

    • Jigar Patel, CFA (USA), MBA-Finance (USA), CPA (USA), CA (India)

      Yes (as per Indian laws). you would need to check the gift tax laws of your country of residence as well. Thanks.

  • Nagaraj

    Can you post the link, or the details of the “specified list of transactions”, which may not require 15CB/15CA.

    I tried searching and could not find that information.

    Thanks

    • Jigar Patel, CFA (USA), MBA-Finance (USA), CPA (USA), CA (India)

      The list is included in the CBDT notification 67 of Septermber 2013. I would expect a revised notification soon (by June 1, 2015). Thanks.

      • Nagaraj

        Thanks for the Information.

        So it all depends on how you treat the transfer. One could say it is a loan from my in-laws (RBI code S0011) , and no documentation is needed and they can deposit let’s say 5 lakh rupees in NRO, and then transfer it to NRE without issues? Or does moving money into NRE always require a 15CB/CA forms?

        • Jigar Patel, CFA (USA), MBA-Finance (USA), CPA (USA), CA (India)

          Please note that to treat it as a repatriable loan, there are certain conditions related to term of loan, whom, for what purpose and rate of interest (0%), out of which account, etc. of RBI that needs to be complied with. I would think the transfers included in the specified list may not require 15CB/15CA. Thanks.

  • Vasudevan

    dear sir
    My wife and i are senior citizens retired from govt of india.we receive pension and int income.we have been recently sponsored by our son for GC which has been approved.
    We have been filing our I.T.Return and are current with I.Tax returns in India.
    We plan to file US return showing pension,int on FD and dividends and take ccredit fir taxes paid in india
    We plan to change our status to NRO
    Considering complex treatment of MF investmentshere we want to close them .
    C an we transfer the money to our a/c in USA to meet our expenses.what document are needed in India and USA
    Should we show our balance in PPF in 8938
    Thanks

    • Jigar Patel, CFA (USA), MBA-Finance (USA), CPA (USA), CA (India)

      Yes, as you are an NRI (after relocating to USA), you are allowed to remit upto $1 million per year from your savings and sale of assets provided you obtain CA certificate in Form 15CB and file Form 15CA online. I would suggest you check with your bank and your CA for the required documents. All financial accounts/assets are required to be reported in Form 8938 and FBAR respectively. Thanks.

  • Sharada Harihar

    My Client is a Travel Agent (LLP)
    would he require to obtain 15CB and 15CA on all remittances made abroad for hotel booking, tour booking etc. on behalf of his customers

    • Jigar Patel, CFA (USA), MBA-Finance (USA), CPA (USA), CA (India)

      I think Business Travel or Travel under BTQ is included in the specified list that does not require 15CB/15CA, so it may not be required. Please check with your bank. Thanks.

  • Vasu

    Dear Mr Patel
    I have requested money transfer INR 7 lakhs from my ICICI NRO account to my UK bank account. I have gone through a CA firm with form 15CA/15CB all filled in but my bank wants me to be present there in branch physically to get this transfer done. They also saying that the mandate holder is even not allowed to authorise this transaction.
    Can you please advise me on this as I cannot visit India for this. If you could also let me know how long the CA certificate be valid for in this situation.
    Thanking you.
    Vasu.

    • Jigar Patel, CFA (USA), MBA-Finance (USA), CPA (USA), CA (India)

      While you can not visit India, you can ask your CA to email 15CA to UK, sign the form and ship it to your ICICI bank in India. Your CA can also courier the form to your bank. Once the bank will have both forms, they will transfer funds to UK. CA certificate is valid forever. However, it is advisable to transfer funds within a reasonable time from proposed date of transfer. Thanks.

  • Tejas

    Hi Jigar,
    This seems to be a out of the topic subject, but hope you can clear it.
    Does Section 206AA override Section 90. Does a foreign company require a PAN when tax is being deducted in india?
    Also Section 115A gives a rate of 10% ? Why is DTAA giving 20%, which should i take for payment to a foreign company?

    • Jigar Patel, CFA (USA), MBA-Finance (USA), CPA (USA), CA (India)

      If your client doesn’t have PAN or TRC, he may not be able to take the benefit of DTAA (Sec. 90) so this question would not arise. Thanks.

  • Geetha murthy

    Dear Mr Jigar Patel
    Thanks for all your input, I just want to know how much of money I can get as gift from my blood relatives ,what is the limit so I don’t have to pay taxes as an NRI ,U.S. Citizen
    Thank you very much
    Geetha Murthy

    • Jigar Patel, CFA (USA), MBA-Finance (USA), CPA (USA), CA (India)

      As per FEMA, a resident can gift upto LRS limit (currently $250,000) to close relative NRI. As per Income tax, there is no tax if gift is received from close relatives. As per IRS, there is no tax on any foreign gift. However, the relative definition per FEMA and Income tax act is different and need to be checked before gift. I would also recommend a gift letter/deed to document the gift. Thanks.

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