Do I need Form 15CB as well as the remitter's declaration?
Only for payments falling into the categories where an accountant's certificate is required before the bank will release funds, and that is the question to settle first, because the part of the remitter's declaration you complete depends on the answer. The certificate is not a second copy of the declaration. It is a separate document in which an accountant states the nature of the payment, the treaty article relied on and the rate applied, and takes professional responsibility for that analysis. Deciding that you need one, and then obtaining it, are two different pieces of work.
Who is allowed to sign Form 15CB?
It is a chartered accountant's certificate, so a chartered accountant signs it, and the signature carries weight precisely because the signer answers for the analysis behind it. That has two consequences worth knowing before you go looking. The accountant will ask for the documents supporting the characterisation of the payment and the relief being claimed, and will not certify a rate they cannot defend. And the certificate is a professional opinion delivered against a banking deadline, so the time goes into the analysis rather than the typing, which makes a certificate requested on the afternoon of the transfer the awkward case.
What documents does the accountant need to issue the certificate?
Enough to support each statement the certificate makes. The nature of the payment originates in the contract and the invoice, so both are needed, and where the description is loose we go back to what was actually delivered. The treaty article relied on has to be identified rather than assumed, and relief under it needs evidence about the recipient, including where they are resident and that the income is theirs. The rate applied follows from those two. Where a document does not exist, the honest options are to certify without the relief or to wait for the document. There is no third.
Can my accountant outside India issue Form 15CB?
No. The certificate is defined by who signs it: it is the chartered accountant's certificate on the taxability and withholding of a remittance out of India, and that is the profession and the jurisdiction whose members can give it. An adviser abroad can do a good deal of the useful work, such as establishing the recipient's residence, producing the contract analysis and explaining what was actually supplied, and that work shortens the certificate stage considerably. But the signature has to come from someone who can be held to it in India, which is the point of requiring it.
Why does my bank want a certificate when nothing is taxable?
Because a nil or reduced rate is itself a conclusion, and the certificate is where someone states it and stands behind it. The bank is not equipped to decide whether a treaty article applies to your payment, and it is not meant to be; what it can do is decline to release funds until a document exists that answers the question. From the bank's side the awkward payments are exactly the ones where no tax is being withheld, since those are the ones that need a reason. Expect the exempt cases to attract more paperwork, not less.
How long does it take to get Form 15CB signed?
The form itself takes no time. The analysis behind it takes as long as the facts are unclear, and that is what governs. A recurring payment on a settled contract, with the recipient's residence evidence already on file, is short work because the thinking was done the first time. A new payment under a loosely drafted agreement, to a recipient whose residence has to be evidenced from scratch, is not, and the deadline that matters is the bank's cut-off rather than anything in the tax calendar. The way to keep it short is to settle the characterisation before the payment is scheduled.
Which kind of investor income is most exposed to double taxation?
Dividends from a foreign corporation. They have already borne corporate tax, the source country withholds on payment, and your residence country taxes the receipt — three layers, only two of which a credit can reach. Interest and royalties carry the same source withholding without the corporate layer. This is why the withholding article and the paperwork that reduces it matter more for portfolio income than for salary. See dividends, interest and royalties articles.
What is RNOR status?
Resident but not ordinarily resident — a transitional category in India between non-residence and full residence, reached on the day counts after returning from a period abroad. While it lasts, certain foreign income stays outside the Indian tax base, which makes the timing of a return to India worth planning rather than leaving to chance. It is temporary, and the window is set by the day-count rules. See RNOR status.
