Value-priced Form 15CB — CA certificate in India

Form 15CB — who files it, when it is due, what late filing costs, and what we charge to prepare it. India (Income Tax Department). Value-priced Form 15CB 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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Begin with the papers you already have. The engagement is priced from them, in writing, before the work.

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In 60 words

Form 15CB is a certificate or waiver: The chartered accountant's certificate on the taxability and withholding of a foreign remittance from India. Remitters whose payment falls into the categories requiring an accountant's certificate before the bank will release funds.

Do you need this?

Remitters whose payment falls into the categories requiring an accountant's certificate before the bank will release funds.

Read this first; the rest is procedure. The certificate states the nature of the payment, the treaty article relied on and the rate applied, and the accountant signing it takes responsibility for that analysis. It is a professional opinion delivered under a banking deadline.

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

What form 15cb India costs here

A certificate on a foreign remittance from India is priced on the analysis behind it: what the payment is for, which treaty article governs it, and whether the agreement, invoice and residency documents are already in hand. A routine service payment with complete papers sits well below a royalty or technical-services question.

15CA/15CB remittance certification — fixed-fee price

From $349

fixed, quoted before work starts

The remitter declaration and the accountant's certificate on an outward Indian remittance, prepared to the standard the bank will actually accept.
See the full fee page

Lower TDS certificate application (Form 13) — India desk price

From $349

fixed, quoted before work starts

The lower-deduction certificate application: the computation, the cost evidence, the treaty position, and the follow-through to issue before the transaction closes.
See the full fee page

Individual tax filing

From $349

fixed, quoted before work starts

A personal filing built from your own documents — employment, investment and rental income across borders, with the treaty position set out.
See the fee schedule

Foreign asset & information reporting

From $349

fixed, quoted before work starts

The reporting obligations that attach to owning something abroad, worked out from your holdings rather than from the tax return alone.
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

Company filings where income, ownership or operations cross a border, with the related-party disclosures that come with them.
See the fee schedule

Transfer pricing documentation

From $2,500

fixed, quoted before work starts

Local file, master file and benchmarking for groups trading across borders, documented to the standard the authority expects.
See the fee schedule

Payroll & mobility setup

From $999

fixed, quoted before work starts

What an employer owes when an employee works in another country: the registrations, the withholding and the reporting that follow.
See the fee schedule

All published fees on one page — one page, every published fee, nothing quoted as a vague bracket.

What the reporting test actually looks at

What decides whether Form 15CB applies
What the application establishesLead-time constraint
The obligationThe chartered accountant's certificate on the taxability and withholding of a foreign remittance from India.
Who it bindsRemitters whose payment falls into the categories requiring an accountant's certificate before the bank will release funds.
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. Relief exists for most of these situations, and it is conditional on how the correction is made. That is the part worth getting right.

The arithmetic, worked through

It is easier to see with numbers attached.

Gross withholding against a net-basis return

A non-resident receives C$28,000 in the year. Assume withholding at 20% on the gross amount, and assume deductible costs of C$18,200 against it.

Gross withholding against a net-basis return
ItemAmount
Gross amount receivedC$28,000
Withheld at source (assumed 20% of gross)C$5,600
Deductible costsC$18,200
Net amount actually earnedC$9,800
Tax on the net amount (assumed graduated result)C$2,450
Difference recoverable by filingC$3,150

Filing on a net basis recovers C$3,150 of the C$5,600 withheld. That difference is the entire reason the elective return exists, and it is lost by not filing. The shape of that result holds; the size of it depends entirely on your own numbers and dates.

Illustrative figures, not a client engagement: the amounts are chosen to make the mechanism legible, and the rates and thresholds are assumptions stated for the example only. We confirm every one of them against the issuing authority for your own tax year before anything is filed.

How we prepare and file it, and what it costs

Form 15CB is priced as part of the filing set it travels with, quoted in writing before any work begins. A change in scope is re-quoted rather than added to the invoice. See the India ↔ Singapore — DTAA for comparable engagements.

From first call to filed

  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
  • Every statutory figure in your file is verified for your own year at source.
  • Nothing is filed until you have read it.
  • Rated 5.0 out of 5 stars on Google, on a profile open for you to read.

One call is usually enough to know whether this is a filing or a project.

Checked and signed off for the 2025 and 2026 filing seasons by Udit Gupta, Cross-Border Tax Expert, Legal Quotient Consultants. General guidance only. Your own facts decide the answer, so bring them to a call before relying on this.

ITR group, in practice

If you came here for ITR group, this is where it is dealt with. The subject is Form 15CB, and the page covers who it reaches, what then has to be filed, and what we charge to do the work.

The certificate states the nature of the payment, the treaty article relied on and the rate applied, and the accountant signing it takes responsibility for that analysis.

The four phases of the work

  1. Start with a conversation about the facts

    Dates, residence, where the income arose. Fifteen minutes is usually enough to know what applies.

  2. Scope and price, both written down

    You get the scope and the fixed fee together, so there is no question later about what was included.

  3. Prepared by one team, reviewed by a named practitioner

    The same people see both sides of the file, and the reviewer signs their name to it.

  4. Filed, then followed through

    Submission is not the end of the engagement — the queries that arrive afterwards are part of it.

How form 15cb India is handled here

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

The vocabulary this page leans on

183-day rule
The common shorthand for a treaty employment article's presence test. There is no single rule — each treaty measures its own period on its own basis.
Section 94 trust
A trust deemed resident in Canada because of a resident contributor or beneficiary, bringing its income into the Canadian base.
Notice of objection
The formal Canadian dispute of an assessment. The deadline is the whole ball game: inside it the assessment is disputed, outside it the routes narrow sharply.
Physical presence test
One of the two US qualifying tests for the exclusion, satisfied by days of presence in a foreign country during a twelve-month period.
form 15cb India: Our analysis

The certificate states the nature of the payment, the treaty article relied on and the rate applied, and the accountant signing it takes responsibility for that analysis.

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.

The published fees closest to form 15cb India

The fees below are quoted per certificate. Where a business remits to the same supplier every quarter, the first one carries the work — reading the contract, settling the treaty position — and those that follow draw on an analysis already on file, with only the amounts and dates changing.

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

Non-resident & departure filings

$349fixed, before work starts

Covers: For anyone taxed by a country they do not live in — rent, pensions and investment income reaching across a border after the move.

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.

The reporting penalties get named early

The heaviest exposure on a cross-border file is usually a disclosure form, not the tax. We identify which ones apply before a deadline turns into a penalty.

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.

Residence is tested, not assumed

Where you are resident for treaty purposes is a question with a method. We work through it and write down the answer, with the facts it rests on.

The team at work in the open-plan office

Form 15cb India — the four phases

Step 1

First conversation

A call to the 24-hour helpline to find out whether this is a filing or a project

Step 2

Written quote

A fixed fee for a written scope — re-quoted if the scope changes, never invoiced silently

Step 3

Preparation and sign-off

Preparation against the evidence, with the positions documented as we go

Step 4

Submission

Your approval, then the filing — in that order

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

From first document to filed return

  • Step 1: Send what you already have – Slips, statements, prior returns — in any order. We list what is still needed after reading them.
  • Step 2: A fee agreed in writing – Quoted from those documents, before the work starts, and it does not move once you accept it.
  • Step 3: Each side drafted against the other – The returns are built together rather than in sequence, so relief is claimed once and in the right country.
  • Step 4: You approve before it is filed – The finished return comes to you first. Nothing is submitted on your behalf unseen.

Quoted up front, in writing.

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

Keep reading, sideways

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

Core services for this situation

Personal services business risk Everything on personal services business risk, at the same depth as this page.
Form 3520 — foreign gifts & trusts Form 3520 foreign gifts trusts — the guide, the FAQ and the fixed fee.
Which treaty wins when three countries apply The full guide to which treaty wins three countries, with the fee fixed before any work starts.
EU VAT for Canadian sellers Its own page: eu vat for Canadian sellers — mechanism, deadlines and published fees.
UK VAT registration Everything on UK vat registration, at the same depth as this page.
Form 15CA — remitter declaration (India) Form 15ca India — the guide, the FAQ and the fixed fee.
Social security & totalization certificates The full guide to social security & totalization certificates, with the fee fixed before any work starts.
Filing 10 years of missed returns Its own page: filing 10 years of missed returns — mechanism, deadlines and published fees.
Form T1142 — distributions from a non-resident trust Everything on t1142 distributions non-resident trust, at the same depth as this page.

Clients who arrive with this exact page

Construction & contracting — your filing calendar Everything on construction & contracting your filing calendar, at the same depth as this page.
Tax for airline pilots Airline pilots tax — the guide, the FAQ and the fixed fee.
Family holding companies cross-border tax The full guide to family holding companies cross border tax, with the fee fixed before any work starts.
Twitch & live streamers — your filing calendar Its own page: twitch & live streamers your filing calendar — mechanism, deadlines and published fees.
Professors & lecturers — what you owe in each country Everything on professors & lecturers what you owe in each country, at the same depth as this page.
Tax for short-term rental hosts Short-term rental hosts tax — the guide, the FAQ and the fixed fee.
Investors & property owners cross-border tax The full guide to investors & property owners cross border tax, with the fee fixed before any work starts.
Professors & lecturers — relief you're probably missing Its own page: professors & lecturers relief you're probably missing — mechanism, deadlines and published fees.
Tax for offshore vessel crew Everything on offshore vessel crew tax, at the same depth as this page.

Where our clients live and work

Slovenia tax for expats — country guide Everything on slovenia tax for expats, at the same depth as this page.
US–India tax corridor US India tax — the guide, the FAQ and the fixed fee.
Malaysia tax for expats — country guide The full guide to Malaysia tax for expats, with the fee fixed before any work starts.
Peru tax for expats — country guide Its own page: Peru tax for expats — mechanism, deadlines and published fees.
Bermuda tax for expats — country guide Everything on Bermuda tax for expats, at the same depth as this page.
South Africa tax for expats — country guide South Africa tax for expats — the guide, the FAQ and the fixed fee.
Croatia tax for expats — country guide The full guide to croatia tax for expats, with the fee fixed before any work starts.
Spain tax for expats — country guide Its own page: Spain tax for expats — mechanism, deadlines and published fees.
Luxembourg tax for expats — country guide Everything on Luxembourg tax for expats, at the same depth as this page.

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 tax case studies

Case study 1

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 2

A Foreign Property Form Filed Late, With Penalties Running Daily

The foreign asset return carries a penalty that accrues per day rather than per return, so the exposure grows quietly. Relief is discretionary and it is granted on the reasons given, which means the request is the work rather than the form.

Read how this one runs
Case study 3

A US Citizen Settled in India, Filing on Both Sides

Residence in India and citizenship in the United States produce two annual returns for one income. The order decides the credit, and the Indian financial year and the US calendar year have to be reconciled before either is prepared.

Read how this one runs
Case study 4

A Foreign Affiliate Return Filed Years Late

The reporting obligation on a company held abroad runs separately from the corporate return and carries its own exposure. The work is reconstructing the surplus position across the open years before any filing goes in.

Read how this one runs
Case study 5

Coming Back to Canada After Years Abroad

Returning restarts Canadian residence and re-values what you own on the day you arrive. Foreign pensions, employer plans and accounts opened abroad each land differently, and the reporting thresholds are tested against the whole portfolio rather than each account.

Read how this one runs
Case study 6

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 7

Indian Rent Collected While Resident Somewhere Else

Rent from Indian property is taxed in India and again where you live, with relief on one side only. The file gets the Indian deduction right first, then claims the credit on the home return against what was actually paid.

Read how this one runs
Case study 8

Canadian Pension Paid Abroad and Taxed at the Flat Rate

Pension and annuity payments to a non-resident carry a flat withholding that often exceeds what a return would produce. The alternative filing is elective, and whether it helps depends on the total income for the year rather than on the payment alone.

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

Professional Services Firms

Firms and partners working across borders meet Regulation 105 withholding, PE risk on long engagements and per-country payroll for travelling staff.

A partnership is taxed in the hands of its partners, so one engagement abroad can reach every partner's personal return. The order matters: the waiver is applied for before the invoice, the presence is tracked before it becomes an establishment, and the payroll is registered before the first day worked in the other country.

  • Reg 105 / 102 waivers
  • Permanent establishment risk
  • Partner mobility planning
  • Cross-border withholding recovery
Explore Professional Services

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 15CB — questions we are asked

Do I file Form 15CB 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. Remitters whose payment falls into the categories requiring an accountant's certificate before the bank will release funds.

What happens if I have missed Form 15CB 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 15CB the same as the other reports I already file?

No. The chartered accountant's certificate on the taxability and withholding of a foreign remittance from India. Satisfying a different obligation, even one covering the same accounts or entity, does nothing for this one.

What is TCS on foreign remittance?

Tax collected at source. When a resident individual remits money abroad under the Liberalised Remittance Scheme — or buys an overseas tour package — the bank or seller collects an amount of tax on top and deposits it against your PAN. It is not a cost and it is not a final tax: it appears in your annual tax statement and is set off against the tax on your return, with the excess refunded. The rates and the purposes they attach to have been amended repeatedly, so we confirm them for the remittance year. See LRS limits and TCS.

What is DTAA?

DTAA — a Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement — is India's term for a tax treaty. It allocates taxing rights between India and the other country, caps withholding on cross-border payments, and gives relief for income taxed twice by either exempting it or crediting the foreign tax. Relief is claimed, and from the Indian side that normally means a tax residency certificate, Form 10F and Form 67. See DTAA relief.

What are Forms 15CA and 15CB for?

They clear a payment out of India. Form 15CA is the remitter's declaration of the payment and the tax withheld on it; Form 15CB is an accountant's certificate on the taxability of the amount, the treaty article relied on and the correct withholding rate. The bank generally will not execute the transfer without them, in the categories where they are required. The work is deciding the rate correctly, because the certificate is the record of that decision. See 15CA and 15CB certification.

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

A fixed fee for Form 15CB

Describe what happened and which countries are involved; the fee comes back in writing before anything begins.

  • Re-quoted, never silently invoiced
  • Your existing accountant keeps the domestic file
  • A named reviewer signs off every filing

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.

Request a Quote +1 (416) 619-0068