15CA, 15CB, Purpose Codes, $1M Limits. The NRI Money Maze.

Form 15CA is an online declaration YOU fill on the income tax portal. It tells the government: “I'm sending X amount abroad for Y purpose, and Z tax has been paid.”

Form 15CB is a certificate YOUR CA issues after verifying that all taxes on the amount have been paid. Banks won't process the remittance without it.

Here's where people trip: 15CA has four parts. Part A for amounts under ₹5 lakh (self-certify). Part B if you have an Assessing Officer certificate. Part C for remittances covered by Section 195. Part D for everything else. Pick the wrong part and the bank bounces it back. Start over.

Penalty for incorrect filing: ₹1 lakh per form. Not per transaction. Per form. Get the part wrong on both 15CA and 15CB? That's ₹2 lakh in penalties. For a paperwork error.

CAs charge ₹5,000-15,000 per 15CB certificate. They need your past ITRs, 26AS, bank statements, and source verification before signing. Timeline: 1-3 weeks from document collection to submission.

RBI caps NRO repatriation at $1 million per financial year. Sold a ₹2.5 crore property? That's roughly $300K. Fine, fits under the limit.

But what if it's a ₹5 crore property in Bangalore? Now you're looking at $600K. Still fits. But add your NRO FD maturity proceeds, rental income accumulation, and mutual fund redemptions, suddenly you're bumping against the ceiling.

For amounts above $1M: apply for prior RBI approval. That means a written application to your bank's authorized dealer, with justification, tax clearance certificates, and patience. Takes 2-4 weeks.

Pro tip: if you originally bought the property with NRE funds and can prove it (bank statements showing the transfer), the original purchase amount is freely repatriable, no $1M limit. It's only the gain portion and NRO-funded amounts that face the cap.

Every international transfer from India needs a FEMA purpose code. It's a specific code that tells RBI why money is leaving the country. Property sale proceeds, investment returns, salary savings, gift to family, each has its own code.

Use the wrong one and your bank's compliance team freezes the transfer. Not rejects, freezes. It sits in limbo while they figure out what went wrong. That can take weeks.

Your bank won't help you pick the right code. They'll hand you a list of 50+ codes and say “choose.” Your CA should know which code to use, but many generalist CAs don't deal with repatriation regularly.

Common codes NRIs need: S0012 for salary savings, S0005 for investment income, S0017 for property sale proceeds, S0003 for personal gifts. Get this right the first time. The second attempt after a freeze involves even more documentation.