Form 41 replaces Form 10F from FY 2026-27 — what NRIs claiming DTAA benefits need to know

Indian tax law was re-codified in 2025. The Income-tax Act 1961 — which had been amended hundreds of times over six decades — was replaced by the Income-tax Act 2025, effective for tax events from Assessment Year 2026-27 (i.e., income earned in FY 2025-26 onwards). The new Act re-numbered most sections and created a parallel set of rules.

One practical consequence: every form that the old Act prescribed needed to be re-notified under the new Act. Form 10F — which non-residents file to claim DTAA-rate TDS reduction — was renumbered as Form 41 under the new Income-tax Rules 2026.

The substance of what the form does has not changed. You're still self-declaring information that supports your Tax Residency Certificate (TRC) — your status, period of stay, country of residence, address, taxpayer identification number in your home country, and PAN. The deductor (your bank, AMC, or property buyer) still uses your TRC + Form 41 to apply the DTAA rate at source instead of the default 30% / 20%.

What HAS changed is the citation and the routing. Pre-1 April 2026: Rule 21AB of the Income-tax Rules 1962 + Form 10F. Post-1 April 2026: Rule 75 of the Income-tax Rules 2026 + Form 41, both notified via CBDT Notification G.S.R. 198(E) dated 20 March 2026 issued under Section 533 of the new Act. Section 159(8) of the new Act is the new statutory anchor (the old anchor was Section 90(4) read with Rule 21AB).

If you're an NRI claiming treaty benefits, you don't need to do anything different in concept — but you do need to use the correct form for the correct period.

Form 10F is a self-declaration filed by a non-resident taxpayer when claiming DTAA-rate TDS at source. It supplements the Tax Residency Certificate (TRC) issued by the home country.

The form was originally introduced by CBDT Notification 03/2012 on 19 September 2012. The fields it captures are the basics that an Indian deductor needs to confirm you're a treaty-eligible resident of the other contracting state:

• Status (Individual / Company / Firm / etc.) • PAN (mandatory for all NRIs since FY 2023-24, with limited exceptions for certain non-resident investors) • Nationality and country of incorporation if not individual • Tax identification / unique number in your home country (e.g., Saudi Iqama-linked Tax ID, US SSN/ITIN, UK National Insurance number) • Residential status for the period claimed • Period for which residence is claimed • Address in the home country

The form is filed electronically on the Income Tax e-filing portal (incometax.gov.in) since 2022. Before that it was a paper-based filing — many NRIs still don't realise the e-filing requirement and submit paper copies that aren't accepted.

The TRC + Form 10F combination is what activates the treaty rate. Without both, the deductor must apply the default Indian rate. With both, they apply the DTAA rate (typically 10%-15% for interest, 5%-15% for dividends).

Form 10F has been operative through 31 March 2026 (the last day of FY 2025-26). It remains valid for income earned in periods up to and including AY 2026-27 — so most claims relating to FY 2025-26 income (filed in 2026) still use Form 10F.

Form 41 is the new Form 10F under the Income-tax Act 2025 + Income-tax Rules 2026 framework. The fields are substantially the same. The form layout has been modernised slightly — some labels reworded, a new declaration paragraph reflecting the new Act's wording, and the statutory citation references are updated.

Same as Form 10F:

• Self-declaration nature — you're certifying the information yourself • PAN required (where you have one) • TIN/equivalent unique number from your home country • Period of residence claimed • Status, nationality, address • Annual filing per financial year (a single Form 41 covers an FY for all your Indian income)

Different in Form 41:

• Statutory anchor: Section 159(8) of the Income-tax Act 2025, read with Rule 75 of the Income-tax Rules 2026 • Form name: Form 41 (was Form 10F) • Updated declaration text reflecting the new Act • Slightly cleaner layout with explicit fields for treaty article being invoked (Article 11 for interest, Article 10 for dividends, Article 13 for capital gains, etc.) • Optional fields for unique tax-residency proof from countries that don't use the OECD TRC standard (relevant for some Gulf states)

TRC requirement is unchanged. You still need a Tax Residency Certificate from your home country's tax authority. The TRC + Form 41 work together — neither alone is sufficient.

E-filing path is the same. Login to incometax.gov.in (the e-filing portal) → e-File menu → Income Tax Forms → File Income Tax Forms → search 'Form 41' (will show up alongside Form 10F until full transition is complete) → fill and submit. The portal will accept Form 41 from 1 April 2026 onwards; Form 10F submission remains valid for FY 2025-26 claims filed during the AY 2026-27 cycle.

The cleanest way to think about this is by FY of the income, not by the date you file:

• Income earned in FY 2024-25 or earlier (AY 2025-26 and earlier): Form 10F. Even if you're filing the claim today (in 2026), if it relates to income from a prior FY, you use the form that was operative then. Most NRO TDS-refund claims via Form ITR-2 + Form 67 follow this rule.

• Income earned in FY 2025-26 (AY 2026-27): Form 10F is still operative for this period. Your TRC + Form 10F combination filed during 2026 (when you claim TDS at source on FY 2025-26 income or file ITR-2 for AY 2026-27) is the correct paperwork.

• Income earned in FY 2026-27 (AY 2027-28) and onwards: Form 41 takes over. Any new TDS claim by your bank, AMC, or property buyer for income arising on or after 1 April 2026 should reference Form 41, not Form 10F.

Practical implications for NRIs:

If you're filing your AY 2026-27 return in 2026 (for FY 2025-26 income): use Form 10F. The new Act's procedural rules apply, but the form for that income period is still 10F.

If you're claiming a treaty rate on, say, an NRO FD interest credit happening in May 2026 (which falls in FY 2026-27): use Form 41. Your bank should ask for Form 41 for credits from 1 April 2026 onwards.

If your bank gives you a request for Form 10F today — they're still using the old terminology. Confirm with them whether they're set up to accept Form 41 for FY 2026-27 income; many smaller bank branches will lag the transition.

Form 10F filed during the transition (April 2026 to March 2027) for FY 2026-27 income may be accepted by some deductors as a stop-gap, but is technically not the correct form. Best practice is to file Form 41 once the e-filing portal accepts it.

Both forms file the same way through the Income Tax e-filing portal at incometax.gov.in. Steps:

1. Have your TRC ready before filing. The TRC must cover the same period for which you're claiming treaty benefit. Most countries issue TRCs valid for one calendar year (UAE FTA, US IRS, UK HMRC). The TRC is uploaded as PDF during the filing.

2. Login to the e-filing portal. Use your PAN as user ID. NRIs without PAN cannot file Form 41 directly online; in that case, the deductor (your bank or AMC) typically files on your behalf using your supporting documents in physical form — but this is becoming rare. PAN application is recommended.

3. Navigate: e-File → Income Tax Forms → File Income Tax Forms → search 'Form 41'.

4. Fill the fields: • Status: Individual (for most NRIs) • PAN: yours • Nationality: country of citizenship • Country of residence: where you currently live • TIN / Tax Identification Number in your home country (Saudi: the Iqama-linked Tax ID; US: SSN or ITIN; UK: National Insurance number; UAE: Emirates ID number for natural persons) • Period of residence: e.g., 1 April 2026 to 31 March 2027 for the FY • Address abroad: full physical address; PO Box not accepted • Treaty article being invoked: Article 11 for interest, Article 10 for dividends, etc. • Type of income: NRO interest / dividend / capital gains / royalty / professional fees / etc.

5. Upload TRC (PDF). The portal accepts PDF up to 5 MB. If your TRC is on a foreign-language form, attach a translated version as well (notarised by an authorised translator if your country is not English-medium).

6. Submit and download acknowledgement. The portal generates a unique Acknowledgement Number. Share this with your deductor (bank, AMC, or property buyer's representative). They then apply the DTAA rate from the next applicable transaction.

Filing frequency: Once per financial year. If your treaty rate applies to multiple income types (interest + dividends + capital gains), one filing covers all. If you have income flowing through multiple deductors (HDFC NRO FD + ICICI NRO savings + a Mumbai property buyer + an AMC redemption), the same Form 41 acknowledgement is shared with each deductor.

1. Filing Form 10F for FY 2026-27 income. This will technically be the wrong form, even if accepted as a stop-gap. Banks and AMCs are gradually rejecting Form 10F for post-1-April-2026 income periods. Use Form 41.

2. Filing Form 41 without a current TRC. The TRC must cover the same period as the Form 41 declaration. A TRC issued in 2025 doesn't cover income from FY 2026-27. Renew your TRC annually before the Indian FY rollover (March is the right month).

3. PAN-Aadhaar linkage status. Resident PAN holders had to link Aadhaar by 30 June 2023 or pay penalties. NRI PAN holders are exempt from this linkage under CBDT Notification 37/2017 dated 11 May 2017, but the e-filing portal sometimes flags NRI PANs as 'inoperative' if the exemption status isn't recorded correctly. If your e-filing fails for this reason, file an exemption request via the portal: Profile → My Profile → Update Aadhaar Linkage Status → 'I am an NRI exempt under Notification 37/2017'.

4. TIN field left blank. Your home-country tax identification number is mandatory. If you don't have one (e.g., UAE residents working on visa-only basis with no Emirates ID-Tax-ID linkage), you can use Emirates ID number directly with a note. Saudi residents without a Saudi tax registration use the Iqama number (resident permit). The portal accepts most internationally-recognised numbers.

5. Wrong treaty article cited. Each income type maps to a specific DTAA article. Interest (NRO FD, savings bond) = Article 11. Dividends (Indian listed company shareholding) = Article 10. Capital gains on shares = Article 13. Royalty = Article 12. Pension = Article 18. Property income = Article 6. The e-filing portal validates this against your declared income type.

6. Missing the e-filing window for the FY. Form 41 must be filed BEFORE the deductor applies your treaty rate. If your bank credits NRO interest on 1 May 2026 and you only file Form 41 on 1 July 2026, the bank deducts at default 30% for the May credit. You can recover via ITR-2 refund, but the cash-flow drag is real. File Form 41 in April for the upcoming FY.

The TRC is issued by your home country's tax authority. The format and process vary materially by country. Some highlights for the largest NRI segments:

UAE. Federal Tax Authority (FTA) at tax.gov.ae issues TRCs to natural-person tax residents. Cost AED 800 (~₹18,000), processing 5-15 working days. Requires Emirates ID, valid residence visa, 183-day physical-presence proof from ICA Smart Services entry/exit log. Valid one calendar year. The cleanest TRC process of any major NRI jurisdiction.

United States. IRS Form 6166 issued via Form 8802 application. Cost USD 85 per request, processing typically 4-8 weeks. Requires US tax residency in the calendar year claimed. Mailed in PDF form to your registered email. The IRS does not issue TRCs in advance — you apply after the calendar year has accumulated enough resident days.

United Kingdom. HMRC Letter of Confirmation of UK Tax Residence — applied via online HMRC account or in writing. Free of charge. Processing 2-4 weeks. UK NRIs sometimes confuse the older 'Certificate of UK Residence' with the modern letter; both are accepted.

Singapore. Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS) Certificate of Residence — applied via mytax.iras.gov.sg. Free for individuals. Processing 7-14 days. Requires demonstration of Singapore tax residency for the calendar year (typically 183-day stay).

Saudi Arabia. Zakat, Tax and Customs Authority (ZATCA) issues TRCs for residents holding Iqama (residence permit). Application via ZATCA portal. Cost SAR 0 typically (free). Processing varies.

Canada. CRA NR302 Certificate / Letter of Eligibility for Canadian Tax Treaty — applied via your Canadian tax residency status, free.

Australia. ATO Certificate of Australian Residency — applied via myGov, free.

All TRCs share the requirement that they cover the SAME period as your Indian Form 41 declaration. A 2025 TRC does not cover FY 2026-27 income — you must renew annually. Plan TRC renewal for February-March each year so your Indian FY (April-March) is covered without a gap.