IT department extends manual filing of IT Forms 15CA/15CB

The income tax department announced that the taxpayers can submit a manual income tax Form 15CA/15CB up to 15th July. It has advised the authorised dealers to accept such forms till 15th July 2021 for foreign remittances.

Before submitting it to the authorised dealers, the taxpayers must e-file the said forms through the income tax e-filing portal. However, there was a shut down of the old e-filing portal after 30th May 2021.

Many different banks have different mechanisms of either meeting the control procedure or as part of the law requirement. Even if the law does not require, their checklist may consist of these documents from the remitter. Hence, many business transactions will be at a standstill due to such practical problems.

Hence, to avoid any hardships to the taxpayers for making outward remittances, the ITD had earlier issued a circular allowing manual filing of forms (Form 15CA/15CB) for foreign remittance till 30th June. It is now further extended to 15th July 2021.

Section 195 of the Income Tax Act mandates the deduction of income tax for payments made to a non-resident. The information in the certificates helps the ITD to monitor and track the information in an efficient manner.

Any person who needs to make payment to a non-resident (other than a company) or a foreign company must furnish payment information in Form 15CA with the income tax department. The information in the declaration shall specify the nature of the transaction and the amount of income tax deducted on such payments. In Form 15CB, a Chartered Accountant certifies that the taxpayer has deducted appropriate income tax on such foreign payments. 

The ITD will provide the facility for uploading the said forms in the new e-filing portal to generate the document identification number.

Failing to furnish information in Form-15CA/15CB attracts a penalty. In such cases, the assessing authority may direct the taxpayer to pay a fine of Rs 1 lakh. Hence, the taxpayers must manually furnish such forms with accurate information to avoid any penalties.

For any clarifications/feedback on the topic, please contact the writer at namita.shah@cleartax.in