CBDT mandates residency certificate for foreign investors

27 Sep 2012 Evaluate

With an aim to make the claim for tax benefit easier, Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has made it compulsory for all foreign investors, whomever claiming tax benefit  under the double taxation avoidance agreements (DTAAs) , to furnish a Tax Residency Certificate (TRC) from their home country. The amendments will be in force with effective from April 1, 2013, and will be applied in relation to assessment year 2013-14 and subsequent years. TRC for availing tax benefits was proposed in the 2012-13 budget. Apart from foreign investors in India, Indian companies having overseas operations would also get benefited by this move. The prescribed format will also enable foreign residents to know the essentials required to claim tax credits, well in advance.

The TRC to be obtained by the assessee for claiming tax benefits is mandatory to have the name of the assessee along with status, that whether it is an individual or a company and the nationality, in case of individual and incase of company or firm, the country wherein it is registered or incorporated. Besides, the certificate should be incorporated with the tax identification number (TIN) of the assessee, its residential status for the purposes of tax, the period for which the TRC is applicable and the address of the assessee for that period.

Apart from that, assessee has to assure that the certificate is duly verified by the government of the country or the specified territory of which the assessee claims to be a resident for the purposes of tax. The main purpose of TRC is to ensure that the taxpayer, who is resident of one of the contracting countries to the treaty, can claim applicability of beneficial provisions of either of treaty or of the domestic law.

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