Form 41 and the tax residency certificate

Form 41 is the information under section 159(8) of the Income-tax Act, 2025, prescribed by Rule 75. It was Form 10F under section 90(5) and Rule 21AB.

The note says it is for a non-resident individual, company or other entity that is receiving income from India and wants the treaty, including someone who does not have a PAN, or who is not required to file an Indian return, but whose payment is subject to Indian withholding. PAN on the form is optional if you have one.

The note says the form is furnished whenever treaty benefits are claimed, and only once in a tax year. Where a return is filed, the form is also required for the treaty claim in that return to be processed.

The note's process is: register on the e-filing portal; a non-resident without a PAN registers in the category for non-residents without PAN; log in and submit Form 41; upload the tax residency certificate. Verification is by EVC, net banking, ATM or DSC, depending on the profile. For a registration without PAN, the note says the OTP goes to the phone number and the email.

The certificate has to be issued by the tax authority of the country of residence and be valid for the relevant Indian year. The note also asks for the tax identification number in that country.

The note's outcome line is blunt: the treaty benefit is available only when Form 41 is filed. Without a valid electronically filed Form 41, together with the certificate, the Indian payer deducts at the applicable rate and the income is taxed at Indian rates.

Those are not fields on Form 41 in the department's note. They show up beside it.

The Form 146 note, which is the Indian client's accountant, lists a certificate or self-declaration of no permanent establishment from the remittee where the payment is business income. That declaration is what the accountant uses when the treaty article taxes business profits only if there is a permanent establishment. It is a separate document from Form 41.

Many treaties also give the reduced rate on dividends, interest, royalties or technical fees only to the beneficial owner. The Form 41 note does not prescribe a beneficial-ownership form. A sentence in a contract is not a substitute for reading the article that applies to the payment.

A pack of those declarations, ready to download, is not published here.