Your company is paying someone who is not resident in India
This is for an Indian company, LLP or startup that is about to send money to a foreign vendor, contractor, licensor or lender. It is the payer's checklist. It is not the page for a foreign company that wants its own tax back.
Which situation are you in?
1. Is the sum chargeable to Indian tax?
If it is not, and Rule 220(3) applies (an individual remittance that needs no prior RBI approval, a remittance by an IFSC unit, or a specified RBI purpose code), Form 145 is not filed. If it is not chargeable and that rule does not apply, file Part D of Form 145. Form 146 is not required. Sale proceeds and most income can still be chargeable when the tax works out at nil.
2. Chargeable, and the payments to non-residents this tax year do not exceed ₹5 lakh in total?
Part A of Form 145. You file it. Form 146 is not required. The ₹5 lakh test is the aggregate for the tax year, not this one transfer.
3. Chargeable, over ₹5 lakh, and you hold an Assessing Officer certificate under section 395(1) or 395(2)?
Part B of Form 145. Form 146 is not filed. Section 395(1) is the certificate the payee applies for on Form 128 (formerly Form 13). Section 395(2) is the payer's determination on Form 129 (formerly Form 15E). A treaty rate on a TRC and Form 41 alone is not that certificate.
4. Chargeable, over ₹5 lakh, and you do not hold that certificate?
Form 146 first, from a chartered accountant, then Part C of Form 145 quoting the Form 146 acknowledgement. One Form 146 is consumed by one Form 145.
Old names and the names on the form now
Payments from 1 April 2026 use the Income-tax Act, 2025 and the Income-tax Rules, 2026. A remittance through 31 March 2026 was still Form 15CA and Form 15CB under Rule 37BB.
| What people still say | What the 2026 form note says |
|---|---|
| Section 195 | Section 393, and for this payment section 393(2) table serial 17 |
| Section 195(2) | Section 395(2), applied for on Form 129 |
| Section 197 | Section 395(1), applied for on Form 128. The new section 197 is long-term capital gains, not this certificate |
| Form 15CA | Form 145, Rule 220 |
| Form 15CB | Form 146, Rule 220 |
| Rule 37BB | Rule 220 |
| Form 15E | Form 129, Rule 214 |
| Form 10F | Form 41, section 159(8), Rule 75 |
The Form 145 note ties the form to section 393(2) table serial 17, which is interest not already covered by earlier rows, or any other sum chargeable under the Act that is not salary.
What you do with the answer
Use the part picker and switch it to a company payment. It asks the same Rule 220 questions and names the part. Read the company guide before you file Part C, the section 393 table before you decide the rate, and Form 129 if the whole invoice should not be taxed.
A net-of-tax contract is grossed up under section 393(10), formerly section 195A. Form 146 asks whether the tax was grossed up under that section.
Guides
- Form 145 and Form 146 for companiesWhich part, when the accountant's certificate comes first, and what the bank is given.
- Section 393 rates on non-resident paymentsThe rates printed in the Act, and the rows that stay at rates in force.
- Gross-up when the contract is net of taxSection 393(10), formerly section 195A, with a worked example.
- Form 129, the payer's applicationAsk the Assessing Officer to fix the taxable sum before you remit. Formerly Form 15E.
Tools
- Form 145 part pickerCompany or individual. It applies Rule 220 and says whether Form 146 comes first.
- DTAA rate lookupTreaty caps already tabulated by country. It does not compute section 393 withholding.
- Form 41 / Form 10F generatorThe treaty-information form the vendor files. Form 10F through 31 March 2026, Form 41 after.
Already on the site
Questions
Sources
Who does the work
Who prepares the working, who reviews it, and who signs or files it is stated in the written scope for that engagement.
Corrections
- . First published. Checked against the department note on 26 October 2026.