Budget-friendly Form 10FA / 10FB — TRC for Indian residents in India

Form 10FA / 10FB — who files it, when it is due, what late filing costs, and what we charge to prepare it. India (Income Tax Department). Budget-friendly Form 10FA / 10FB with a fixed fee agreed in writing before any work starts. Call the 24-hour helpline on +1 (416) 619-0068, or request a written quote today.

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Secure a fixed quote

Whatever documents you hold are enough to begin: we read them and put a fixed price in writing first.

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In 60 words

Form 10FA / 10FB is a certificate or waiver: The application by an Indian resident for a residency certificate, and the certificate that issues. Indian residents who need to prove Indian residency to another country to claim treaty relief there.

Whether this is your situation

Indian residents who need to prove Indian residency to another country to claim treaty relief there.

The rule underneath it looks like this. This is the outbound mirror of the inbound certificate: an Indian resident earning foreign income needs it before the foreign payer will apply a reduced rate, and the application has to match the income year in question.

Two of the firm’s advisers and the team in the open-plan office

What form 10fa / 10fb India costs here

A residency certificate application for an Indian resident is priced on how many income years the certificate has to cover and on how readily residence can be evidenced: days spent in India, a permanent address, the foreign income and its payer. One year with clean records is modest; several, or a contested year, is more. Written fee first.

Individual tax filing

From $349

fixed, quoted before work starts

One engagement for a personal return that touches more than one country: the income, the assets held abroad and the relief claimed against them.
See the fee schedule

Estate & trust filing

From $799

fixed, quoted before work starts

Trust and estate filings that reach across a border, including the reporting a foreign beneficiary or a foreign asset creates.
See the fee schedule

Foreign asset & information reporting

From $349

fixed, quoted before work starts

Disclosure of assets and interests held abroad, built once from a single asset list and filed on every side that asks for it.
See the fee schedule

Non-resident & departure filings

From $349

fixed, quoted before work starts

Returns for the year you leave, the year you arrive, and the years you earn rental or pension income from a country you no longer live in.
See the fee schedule

Corporate cross-border filing

From $999

fixed, quoted before work starts

Returns for companies with foreign subsidiaries, foreign income or foreign shareholders, and the schedules each of those triggers.
See the fee schedule

Catch-up & voluntary disclosure

From $349

fixed, quoted before work starts

Missed years brought current under the disclosure programme that fits, with the penalty position worked out before anything is filed.
See the fee schedule

Payroll & mobility setup

From $999

fixed, quoted before work starts

Registrations, withholding and the employer obligations that follow staff working across a border, set up once and correctly.
See the fee schedule

Transfer pricing documentation

From $2,500

fixed, quoted before work starts

Benchmarking and documentation for related-party dealings, prepared to the standard the reviewing authority applies.
See the fee schedule

All published fees on one page — each engagement priced as one number on one list, with nothing left as a range.

What the reporting test actually looks at

What decides whether Form 10FA / 10FB applies
What the application establishesLead-time constraint
The obligationThe application by an Indian resident for a residency certificate, and the certificate that issues.
Who it bindsIndian residents who need to prove Indian residency to another country to claim treaty relief there.
Jurisdiction and authorityIndia — Income Tax Department
Category of filingCertificate or waiver — obtained before the money moves

When it is due

This is a before, not an after: the certificate or waiver has to be in hand before the payment, the closing or the remittance. Applied for afterwards, it usually cannot fix the withholding that has already happened — that becomes a refund claim instead. In practice the binding constraint is usually a document that has to arrive from somewhere else, which is why the timetable is mapped backwards from the deadline.

What late or missed filing costs

There is often no penalty for not applying. The cost is cash: withholding computed on a gross amount rather than a net one, held by a tax authority for a year or more until a return recovers it. On a property sale or a large fee that difference is the whole point of the exercise. If that exposure has already accumulated, it is a disclosure question rather than a filing question, and the assessment comes first.

What this looks like with numbers

Here is the rule doing its work on an actual set of amounts.

Gross withholding against a net-basis return

A non-resident receives C$57,000 in the year. Assume withholding at 30% on the gross amount, and assume deductible costs of C$32,490 against it.

Gross withholding against a net-basis return
ItemAmount
Gross amount receivedC$57,000
Withheld at source (assumed 30% of gross)C$17,100
Deductible costsC$32,490
Net amount actually earnedC$24,510
Tax on the net amount (assumed graduated result)C$6,863
Difference recoverable by filingC$10,237

Filing on a net basis recovers C$10,237 of the C$17,100 withheld. That difference is the entire reason the elective return exists, and it is lost by not filing. Change any one of those inputs and the answer moves, which is why we run it on your own figures rather than on an illustration.

Treat these numbers as a worked example rather than advice — they exist to make the mechanics visible, and the rates and thresholds are assumed for the illustration. For a real filing, we verify each figure with the authority that publishes it, for your year.

How we prepare and file it, and what it costs

Pricing is settled first: a written scope and a fixed fee for it, before any work begins. See the India ↔ Singapore — DTAA for comparable engagements.

The four steps

  1. 1Confirm the applicable route and the lead time before the transaction date
  2. 2Prepare the computation the authority needs to reduce the amount
  3. 3File the application and follow it through to issue
  4. 4Hand the certificate to the payer or closing agent before funds move
  • We will tell you when you do not need us, and that call is free.
  • Documents move through one secure portal, and you can meet us in person at any of our offices.
  • Nothing is filed until you have read it.

The first call establishes whether there is work to do. Everything after that is quoted.

Reviewed against current guidance for the 2025 and 2026 filing seasons by Udit Gupta, Cross-Border Tax Expert, Legal Quotient Consultants. General information, not advice for your circumstances — call our 24-hour helpline to discuss your own position.

Where double tax agreement India comes into this file

Readers arrive here searching for double tax agreement India, and Form 10FA / 10FB is what the page is about. Below: who it catches, what has to be filed, and what it costs — quoted in writing, before anything is done.

This is the outbound mirror of the inbound certificate: an Indian resident earning foreign income needs it before the foreign payer will apply a reduced rate, and the application has to match the income year in question.

The four phases of the work

  1. Share your documents

    A secure upload link arrives after the first call — send files in any state.

  2. A written fixed fee

    The quote is fixed from what you send; it does not move once accepted.

  3. Preparation, both sides at once

    The returns are drafted together, reconciled line against line.

  4. Approve, then file

    Nothing is filed until you have seen it and approved it.

The difference a dedicated cross-border team makes

Factor Legal Quotient Hourly billing model
Pricing A fixed fee, agreed in writing before work starts Hourly, billed as incurred
Experience 15+ years of cross-border work, 18,000+ clients Varies by file
Both sides of the border Prepared together by one team, so relief is claimed exactly once One country at a time, reconciled later
Who reviews it A named practitioner, published on the page Whoever the queue reaches
Where the work happens Our offices in India, the USA, Canada and the UAE Whichever single office you can travel to

Key terms behind this page, defined

Competent authority
The official body in each country empowered to apply and interpret a treaty, and to negotiate with its counterpart to resolve a case.
Form 3CEB
The Indian accountant's report on international related-party transactions, mandatory regardless of transaction size.
Change of use
The point at which a property stops being a home and becomes a rental, or the reverse. It is treated as a disposition unless an election defers the result.
Engagement letter
The document setting the scope, the fee and the boundary with any other adviser. In a cross-border file the boundary is the important part.
form 10fa / 10fb India: How we read this one

This is the outbound mirror of the inbound certificate: an Indian resident earning foreign income needs it before the foreign payer will apply a reduced rate, and the application has to match the income year in question.

Complexity changes the work, not the deal: the written fee and scope come first, a named practitioner signs off, and the filing follows your approval of the delivered file.

Fixed fees around form 10fa / 10fb India

The other half of the cost sits abroad. The foreign payer decides what it will accept before it applies a reduced rate, and some countries want the Indian certificate paired with their own form or a translation, which adds correspondence rather than computation. That correspondence is scoped and priced in writing at the start.

Estate & trust filing

$799fixed, before work starts

Covers: Trust and estate filings that reach across a border, including the reporting a foreign beneficiary or a foreign asset creates.

See this fee page

Foreign asset & information reporting

$349fixed, before work starts

Covers: Disclosure of assets and interests held abroad, built once from a single asset list and filed on every side that asks for it.

See this fee page

The difference a dedicated cross-border team makes

One team, not two firms billing separately

You are not the go-between for two sets of advisers with two sets of assumptions. One engagement covers each country the file touches.

We say early if it is not our work

If a file needs something this practice does not do, you hear that at the start rather than after a bill.

Every figure on a page is traceable

Where a rate or a threshold appears in our writing it names the tax year it belongs to. Where it could not be confirmed, the page describes the mechanism and quotes no number.

Filed with the authority, not just prepared

The engagement runs to submission and to the correspondence that follows it, including the queries that arrive months later.

The team reviewing a file together at a desk

How the engagement runs, phase by phase

Step 1

Establishing the facts

A short call to work out what actually applies to you and what does not

Step 2

Agreeing the fee

A written quote against a defined scope, with nothing billed by the hour

Step 3

Drafting and review

We prepare, a named reviewer checks it, and you see it before it goes

Step 4

Filing and follow-up

You approve, we file, and only then do you pay

Two of the firm’s advisers at the glass desk in the Delhi office

From first document to filed return

  • Step 1: Send the documents as they are – No tidying required — forward what you have and we tell you what is missing.
  • Step 2: Get a fixed quote in writing – Priced from your actual documents before any work begins, not estimated after.
  • Step 3: Both countries prepared together – One team builds the filings against each other so the relief lands exactly once.
  • Step 4: Review, then file – You approve the finished work before we file it.

Quoted up front, in writing.

Contact Us 24-hour helpline +1 (416) 619-0068

Where to go next

Every link below is a full page of its own — the same depth as this one, for its own subject.

Services these clients use most

Reporting a foreign trust (3520 / 3520-A) Its own page: reporting a foreign trust (3520 / 3520-a) — mechanism, deadlines and published fees.
FC-GPR & FC-TRS — inbound investment (India) Everything on fc-gpr & fc-trs India, at the same depth as this page.
Canadian subsidiary — cross-border compliance red flags Cross-border tax compliance red flags Canadian subsidiary — the guide, the FAQ and the fixed fee.
Leaving Canada — departure (emigration) tax The full guide to Canada emigration tax, with the fee fixed before any work starts.
TP for small and mid-size groups Its own page: tp for small and mid-size groups — mechanism, deadlines and published fees.
Step-up in cost base on arrival Everything on step-up in cost base on arrival, at the same depth as this page.
Canadian with foreign inheritance Foreign inheritance tax Canada — the guide, the FAQ and the fixed fee.
India ↔ Australia — DTAA The full guide to India ↔ Australia — DTAA, with the fee fixed before any work starts.
MLI & the principal-purpose test Its own page: MLI principal purpose test — mechanism, deadlines and published fees.

Who we bring this work to

Tax for defence contractors Its own page: defence contractors tax — mechanism, deadlines and published fees.
Professors & lecturers — your filing calendar Everything on professors & lecturers your filing calendar, at the same depth as this page.
Tax for individual athletes — tennis, golf Individual athletes — tennis, golf tax — the guide, the FAQ and the fixed fee.
Tax for data scientists & ai engineers The full guide to data scientists & ai engineers tax, with the fee fixed before any work starts.
Software developers — what you owe in each country Its own page: software developers what you owe in each country — mechanism, deadlines and published fees.
Non-resident landlords — your filing calendar Everything on non-resident landlords your filing calendar, at the same depth as this page.
Tax for professors & lecturers Professors & lecturers tax — the guide, the FAQ and the fixed fee.
Tax for coaches & trainers The full guide to coaches & trainers tax, with the fee fixed before any work starts.
Mining & energy cross-border tax Its own page: mining & energy cross border tax — mechanism, deadlines and published fees.

Where our clients live and work

US–United Kingdom tax corridor Its own page: US United Kingdom tax — mechanism, deadlines and published fees.
Canada–India tax corridor Everything on Canada India tax, at the same depth as this page.
Canada–Philippines tax corridor Canada Philippines tax — the guide, the FAQ and the fixed fee.
China tax for expats — country guide The full guide to China tax for expats, with the fee fixed before any work starts.
Lebanon tax for expats — country guide Its own page: lebanon tax for expats — mechanism, deadlines and published fees.
US–UAE tax corridor Everything on US UAE tax, at the same depth as this page.
Switzerland tax for expats — country guide Switzerland tax for expats — the guide, the FAQ and the fixed fee.
Jamaica tax for expats — country guide The full guide to Jamaica tax for expats, with the fee fixed before any work starts.
Austria tax for expats — country guide Its own page: Austria tax for expats — mechanism, deadlines and published fees.

The people on your file

Five named practitioners, each with the part of a cross-border file they carry. Every page on this site says who reviewed it, and the reviewer is one of these people rather than an unnamed team.

Udit Gupta

Udit Gupta

Cross-Border Tax Expert

CA (ICAI), In-Depth Tax Trained

Reviews and signs off the practice's cross-border positions, and carries final responsibility for the treaty analysis on every file that leaves the office.

Abhinav Gupta

Abhinav Gupta

Canada Tax / International Tax

Canada Tax, International Tax, Cross-Border Tax, Transfer Pricing

Canadian returns with foreign income, non-resident filings, and the transfer-pricing documentation that runs alongside intercompany work.

Raghav Gupta

Raghav Gupta

International Tax

International Tax, Transfer Pricing Specialist

Benchmarking, method selection and the local-file and master-file sets that support a group's pricing policy under examination.

Anmol Mittal

Anmol Mittal

Canada and US tax

CPA Canada, CPA USA, CA (ICAI)

Files that have to be right on both sides of the border at once — dual filings, streamlined catch-ups, and the foreign tax credit reconciliation between them.

Vinayak Indolia

Vinayak Indolia

CFO advisory

CPA, CA. Fractional CFO and Senior Advisory Specialist

Groups that need the tax position and the finance function to agree: structure reviews, intercompany policy, and the reporting a board can act on.

Meet the whole team

Cross-border situations we are engaged for

Case study 1

Moving Money Out of India and the Certificates It Needs

A remittance out of India needs its tax position certified before the bank will process it. The file establishes the character of the funds, produces the certification, and keeps the position consistent with the returns already filed.

Read how this one runs
Case study 2

A Trust Abroad With a Canadian Connection

Contributions or beneficiaries in Canada can bring a foreign trust inside the Canadian net entirely. The analysis is who contributed what and when, because the answer decides whether the trust files here at all.

Read how this one runs
Case study 3

An Indian Company Paying a Foreign Supplier

Payments abroad carry deduction at source and a certification filed before the money moves. Whether the treaty reduces the rate depends on what is being bought, and the classification is the decision the whole filing rests on.

Read how this one runs
Case study 4

Tax Deducted When Buying From an NRI

Withholding on a sale by a non-resident is applied to the sale value rather than to the gain, so it routinely exceeds the tax due. A lower-deduction certificate obtained before completion avoids locking the difference up.

Read how this one runs
Case study 5

Gains on Indian Shares Held From Abroad

Holding period and instrument decide the character of the gain, and the deduction at source applies before any of that is considered. The return is where the position is corrected.

Read how this one runs
Case study 6

Accounts Reported Late When the Income Already Was

Where the income was on the return and only the account report was missed, a narrow route allows late filing with a reason attached. It is open only while no income is unreported and no examination has begun, which is why it is checked first.

Read how this one runs
Case study 7

A Retirement Plan That Grows Tax-Deferred in Only One Country

Cross-border retirement accounts are recognised by treaty, but the deferral usually has to be elected rather than assumed. The engagement checks whether the election was made, makes it where it was missed, and reports the account on whichever side requires it.

Read how this one runs
Case study 8

Paid for Work Done in Canada While Living Elsewhere

Employment carried out in Canada is taxable here even where the employer and the bank account are not. The engagement establishes how many of the days were worked in Canada, applies the treaty employment article, and deals with the withholding the payer has already taken.

Read how this one runs

All case studies — every published engagement in one place.

Core International & Cross-Border Tax Services

International Tax Planning & Advisory

Strategy and compliance for income, assets and families spread across borders.

One coordinating team: filings on every side of the border are sequenced so treaty relief and foreign tax credits are claimed once — and in the right country.

U.S. & Cross-Border Tax Returns

Dual filers: U.S. citizens in Canada and Canadians with U.S. income run two parallel systems — we prepare both, in the right order, every year.

Expat & Emigration Tax

The move year is its own project: the elections and valuations filed that year decide the next decade of both countries’ returns.

Non-Resident Canadian Tax

Default withholding is 25% of gross: elective returns routinely turn over-withheld rent and pensions into refunds.

Transfer Pricing & BEPS

Documentation prepared with the return is the cheapest insurance in international tax; reconstructing it during an audit is the most expensive.

Cross-Border Estates & Trusts

Wills drafted for one country routinely misfire in the other — deemed disposition here, estate tax there, credits in between.

Cross-Border Corporate Tax

Expansion raises the same four questions every time — entity, PE, repatriation, payroll. We answer them before the tax authorities do.

India Tax for NRIs & Returning Residents

The deduction is taken on the sale price, not the gain — which is why an NRI property sale strands cash unless the certificate is applied for before closing.

Canadian Tax with a Foreign Element

Residency is decided on facts, not on a form — and the year you arrive or leave is the one where the largest amounts turn on the smallest details.

UAE Tax for Expats & Their Home Country

A zero-tax country is only half the answer — the question that decides the bill is whether the country you came from still treats you as resident.

Industries & Client Types We Serve Worldwide

Global E-commerce & Marketplaces
Technology & SaaS
Professional Services Firms
Cross-Border Real Estate
Importers, Exporters & Manufacturers
Athletes, Artists & Entertainers
Remote Workers & Digital Nomads
Investment Funds & Holding Companies

Global E-commerce & Marketplaces

  • Foreign VAT / GST / sales tax registrations
  • Marketplace withholding reviews
  • Inventory nexus & PE analysis
  • Multi-currency books reconciled
Explore E-commerce & Marketplaces

Technology & SaaS

  • Cross-border revenue sourcing & withholding
  • IP structuring with real substance
  • Equity for cross-border teams
  • U.S. expansion: entity & PE setup
Explore Technology & SaaS

Cross-Border Real Estate

Foreign property income and sales are taxed in both countries by default; Section 216, FIRPTA and treaty credits are the standing toolkit.

Property is taxed where it sits, which is the one rule no treaty overrides. What the treaty does decide is the credit, the rate on the rent and what happens on the sale — and the clearance certificate on a disposition is applied for before closing, not after the buyer has already held the money back.

  • Section 216 rental returns
  • FIRPTA withholding recovery
  • Section 116 clearance
  • Treaty credit optimization
Explore Real Estate

Importers, Exporters & Manufacturers

  • Transfer pricing documentation (s.247)
  • Customs value vs transfer price
  • Foreign affiliate reporting (T1134)
  • Country-by-country reporting
Explore Trade & Manufacturing

Athletes, Artists & Entertainers

  • Reg 105 & U.S. CWA agreements
  • Multi-state & country calendars
  • Touring income allocation
  • Royalty & image-rights withholding
Explore Athletes & Entertainers

Remote Workers & Digital Nomads

  • Residency analysis before moving
  • Employer payroll exposure
  • Totalization & social security
  • Foreign tax credits
Explore Remote Workers

Investment Funds & Holding Companies

  • Treaty access & PPT reviews
  • FAPI & surplus computations
  • Withholding-efficient routing
  • Governance & substance
Explore Funds & Holdcos

Form 10FA / 10FB — questions we are asked

Do I file Form 10FA / 10FB even if no tax is owed?

Certificate or waiver obligations of this kind are generally required on the facts rather than on the tax result, so a nil position does not remove one. Indian residents who need to prove Indian residency to another country to claim treaty relief there.

What happens if I have missed Form 10FA / 10FB for several years?

Missed years are dealt with as a package rather than one at a time, because the route chosen for the first year affects the relief available for the rest. We map the years and the obligations before anything is filed.

Is Form 10FA / 10FB the same as the other reports I already file?

No. The application by an Indian resident for a residency certificate, and the certificate that issues. Satisfying a different obligation, even one covering the same accounts or entity, does nothing for this one.

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.

Is dividend income from Indian shares taxable for an NRI?

Yes. Dividends are taxed in the shareholder's hands, and the paying company withholds on payment to a non-resident. The treaty can reduce that withholding, but only if the documents are with the company before it pays: a tax residency certificate from your country, Form 10F, and a PAN on the register. Without them the domestic rate applies and your route back to the difference is a refund claim on an Indian return. See residency certificates and Form 10F.

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.

24-hour helpline: +1 (416) 619-0068

Let us take Form 10FA / 10FB off your desk

Send us the facts. You will get a scope and a fixed fee in writing, and nothing starts until you agree to both.

  • 18,000+ clients served
  • Fixed fees agreed before work starts
  • Re-quoted, never silently invoiced

Our practitioners are alumni of leading accounting and tax institutions

Where our partners studied — CPA Canada (In-Depth Tax Program), AICPA, the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India and the Malaysian Institute of Accountants.

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