Do I need a new Form A2 for every transfer abroad?
The form declares the purpose of an outward remittance, so it attaches to the remittance rather than to the year. Each transfer has its own declared purpose, and a transfer for a different reason is a different declaration, even at the same bank in the same week. Banks often pre-fill a repeat transfer from the last one, which is convenient and is how a purpose that was true in March ends up on a transfer in September that is nothing like it. Read what has been filled in before you sign it, because the purpose on that page drives what follows.
Does my bank complete Form A2 or do I?
You declare; the bank relies on the declaration. The form is how a resident individual tells the authorised bank why money is going out, and the bank processes the remittance on that basis. Staff may type it for you from what you said on the telephone, but the statement is yours and the consequences of an inaccurate purpose are yours. That matters because the declared purpose is what determines whether the use is permitted under the scheme, what tax is collected at source on the transfer, and how the remittance is reported afterwards.
Who declares the purpose when I pay my child's university fees?
The resident individual whose money leaves the country makes the declaration, and the purpose is education. If you are paying, it is your declaration, regardless of whose name is on the invoice from the institution. Where several family members contribute to one term's fees, each contributor is remitting and each declares. Getting this right is not paperwork for its own sake: the education purpose is treated differently from a general transfer to a relative abroad, both in what the money may be used for and in the tax collected when it leaves.
Can a company send money abroad on Form A2?
The scheme this form sits under is written around the resident individual, so a company's outward payment is not declared this way and is handled under a different set of reporting. The point comes up most often in owner-managed businesses, where a director has been remitting in a personal capacity for something the company is buying, or the reverse. Decide whose payment it is before the transfer, not afterwards: the declaration names a remitter and a purpose, and a mismatch between the declared remitter and whoever actually bore the cost is difficult to explain later.
I moved abroad this year — does the scheme still apply to me?
Residence is the hinge, and it is a question of fact rather than a choice you make on the form. The scheme addresses resident individuals, so the first thing to establish is your residential status on the date of each transfer, not on the date you booked the flight. People who leave partway through a year often have transfers on both sides of the change, declared identically because the bank kept using the same instruction. Establish the position for the year, then look back at what was declared and correct anything that no longer describes you.
What happens if I declare the wrong purpose by mistake?
A purpose entered for banking convenience rather than accuracy becomes a compliance problem later, because three things run off it: whether the use is permitted, what is collected at source, and how the remittance is reported. Correcting it is easier before the transfer than after, and easier at the bank that processed it than through the reporting. Raise it with the bank, supply the documents that show what the money was for, and reconcile the tax collected against the purpose that was actually true. Leave it and the record says one thing while your own documents say another.
What is RNOR status and why does it matter to a returning NRI?
Resident but Not Ordinarily Resident is a transitional Indian status that can apply for a limited period after you return, based on how long you were non-resident before. While it lasts, certain foreign income stays outside the Indian net that would be taxed once you become an ordinary resident — which makes the timing of a return date, and of realising foreign gains, a genuine planning decision rather than an administrative one. See the RNOR window.
How does an NRI prove residence to get the treaty rate?
With a tax residency certificate issued by the country you are resident in, plus Form 10F giving the details the certificate does not carry, plus a PAN in the payer's records. The certificate has to cover the period of the payment, and the payer needs it before paying, not afterwards. Missing any of the three and the deductor is obliged to withhold at the domestic rate, which turns a rate reduction into a refund claim. See TRC against Form 10F.
