Procedure to transfer money

abroad from your NRO account

When is Form 15 CA and/or Form 15 CB NOT required to send money from NRO account abroad? Rules have been relaxed over the last few years by the Government of India and money held in NRO accounts can now be transferred abroad usually without the requirement of even having to submit Form 15 CA/15CB if the purpose of transferring money is on the List of payments mentioned in Rule 37 BB. There are 33 items on this list. Click HERE to view list • Form 15CA and 15CB is not required for remittances where RBI approval is NOT required under its Liberalised Remittance Scheme [LRS] • CA certificate in Form No. 15CB will be required to be furnished only in respect of such payments made to non-residents which are chargeable to tax and the amount of payment during the year exceeds Rs. 5 lakh. Overview of what documents may be required to send money abroad from your NRO account The documents required to send money abroad from your NRO account depends on the purpose for which the money is being sent abroad. Check the list below to see if your purpose of sending money abroad is included on the list. If the your purpose of remitting money abroad is mentioned on the purpose list below, then: The documents required by the bank to transfer money from your NRO account could be any ONE of the following: 1. Certificate from Chartered Accountant that funds in NRO accounts are tax compliant (i.e. post TDS or tax provided/paid for) 2. Any other documentary evidence to this effect to the satisfaction of the bank Purpose list:  Remittance by non-residents towards family maintenance and savings  Indian investment abroad -in equity capital (shares)  Indian investment abroad -in debt securities  Indian investment abroad -in branches and wholly owned subsidiaries  Indian investment abroad -in subsidiaries and associates  Indian investment abroad -in real estate  Loans extended to Non-Residents  Payment for operating expenses of Indian shipping companies operating abroad  Operating expenses of Indian Airlines companies operating abroad  Remittance towards personal gifts and donations  Booking of passages abroad - Airlines companies  Remittance towards donations to religious and charitable institutions abroad  Remittance towards business travel  Remittance towards grants and donations to other governments and charitable institutions established by the governments.  Travel under basic travel quota (BTQ)  Travel for pilgrimage  Travel for medical treatment  Travel for education (including fees, hostel expenses etc.)  Postal services  Payments by residents for international bidding  Construction of projects abroad by Indian companies including import of goods at project site  Freight insurance - relating to import and export of goods  Payments for maintenance of offices abroad  Maintenance of Indian embassies abroad  Remittances by foreign embassies in India  Contributions or donations by the Government to international institutions  Remittance towards payment or refund of taxes  Refunds or rebates or reduction in invoice value on account of exports Purpose of sending money abroad not mentioned on the list? In case the purpose of remittance in your case is other than any of the purposes mentioned in the list above AND Amount of transfer request is less than Rupees 50,000/- AND Aggregate of such transfers during the current financial year does not exceed Rupees 2,50,000/- Then the documents required to remit funds abroad are:  Part A of Form No. 15 CA  Any ONE of the following: o Certificate from Chartered Accountant that funds in NRO accounts are tax compliant (i.e. post TDS or tax provided/paid for) o Any other documentary evidence to this effect to the satisfaction of the bank All other purposes of sending money abroad In case none of the two situations mentioned above apply in your case, then the documents that would need to be submitted to remit funds abroad would be:  Part A and Part B of Form No. 15 CA  Any ONE of the following: o Form 15 CB from a Chartered Accountant o A certificate from the Assessing Officer under section 197 o An order from the Assessing Officer under sub-section (2) or sub-section (3) of section 195 Remittance Form When NRIs transfer funds abroad from their NRO bank accounts, they are required to fill their banks remittance form which will include a page showing the various purposes of remittance mentioned above in this article. Each purpose to remit is assigned a code. If the purpose for which you are remitting funds is listed then select the appropriate purpose code when filling in the remittance form. For example, for the purpose of ‘Remittance by non-residents towards family maintenance and savings’ the assigned code is S1301. Updated rules on Form 15CA, 15CB requirement >>