How to transfer money from your NRO account to your NRE account/ Overseas account?

NRI clients are always confused about what are Form 15CA and Form 15CB and how they can remit money outside India. We answer these questions in this post.

First, important point - NRE accounts are freely repatriable. This means that you don't need to submit any forms to your Bank to transfer money from an NRE account to your foreign bank account outside India.

However, to transfer money from your NRO account to NRE account, you will need the following documents:

• Form 15CA – a self-declaration

• Form 15CB – a Chartered Accountant’s Certificate

• Form A2 and Application for outward remittance

• Documentary proof of the sources of the funds

We'll get to each of the above documents shortly. But first, let's understand what funds can be transferred outside India.

Practical Issue: While current income and cost price of immovable property can be transferred without any limit, Banks have been skeptical about allowing such remittances. Our suggestion to clients has been to transfer these amounts under the USD 1 million scheme (which is usually a sufficient amount for people to make remittances outside India). If however, you wish to make a remittance greater than USD 1 million in a year, we will have to discuss it with your bank representatives.

We've created some FAQs on repatriation of fund as well. You can view them here.

Now, coming to the Forms. Let's address them in the order that they will be filed:

1. Form 15CB This is a Chartered Accountants certificate that specifies the nature of remittance, source of funds and verifies that the due taxes are paid on the funds being transferred.
   

2. Form 15CA This is a self declaration that essentially replicates the information in the Form 15CA. Basically, you are certifying the source of funds and that taxes are paid.
   

3. Form A2 and Application for outward remittance This form is required only when remitting from NRO to overseas account and not NRE. But some inexperienced bank reps have asked for this form even for NRO to NRE. Alongwith the information from the Form 15CB, you will have to fill information regarding your foreign bank account viz. Account holder, Account number, SWIFT/ SORT code, etc.
   

4. Documentary proof of the sources of the funds This depends on the source of funds being remitted. For example,

• Rent - Rental agreement, bank statements

• Fixed Deposit & Interest - Interest Certificates

• Sale of shares - Contract Note, Demat Transaction Statements, Bank Statements

• Dividend - Bank statements and TDS certificate

• Sale of Immovable Property - Sale agreement, Original Purchase Agreement, Bank Statements, Proof of tax payment.

Practical Note: As a practice, we generally fill all the above forms for our clients ourselves and the client is just required to review the forms and sign. It's usually too cumbersome for NRIs to handle all these Indian regulatory requirements so we handle it for them. We generally co-ordinate with the bankers too to ensure quick completion and to understand their requirements (every bank is different and unfortunately, every banker in a bank is different too)

Obviously, this is a simplified write up on the forms and process to be followed for transfer of funds from NRO to NRE/ Overseas account. The practical scenarios usually require a lot more time and effort to determine the source of funds and taxability of the same.

Hope this helps!

If you need help with such transfer from NRO to NRE/ Overseas account or if your bank has asked you to submit a CA certificate, feel free to contact us at the following email ID:

support@thegalacticadvisors.com.