If your Indian bank is deducting tax at 30% on your NRO fixed deposit interest, a Tax Residency Certificate and Form 10F can pull that rate down to the lower figure your country's tax treaty allows. This guide walks an NRI through exactly how that works and how to file Form 10F online, even without a PAN.
Real scenario. Kashvi Pathak, an Indian citizen working in the United States, holds an NRO fixed deposit in Bengaluru that earns ₹4,00,000 of interest a year. Her bank deducts TDS at 30% plus surcharge and cess under Section 195, roughly ₹1,24,800. After she submits her US Tax Residency Certificate, Form 10F and a self-declaration, the bank applies the India-USA treaty interest rate of 15% under Article 11. The deduction drops to ₹60,000. She saves about ₹64,800 in the year, recovering the rest as a refund only if she files an Indian return. The treaty rate is flat, with no surcharge or cess added on top.
A Tax Residency Certificate (TRC) is a certificate issued by the tax authority of the country where you live, proving you are a tax resident there. Under Section 90(4) (and Section 90A(4) for specified associations), a non-resident cannot claim Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA) relief in India without a valid TRC.
Form 10F is a self-declaration that supplies the treaty particulars your foreign TRC may not contain. Under Section 90(5) read with Rule 21AB(1), if your TRC is missing any prescribed detail, you must furnish that information in Form 10F. The prescribed particulars are: your status (individual, company, firm); your nationality or country of incorporation; your tax identification number in your home country; the period for which the residential status applies; and your address abroad.
So the pair works together: the TRC is the proof of residence, and Form 10F fills the gaps the TRC leaves. A payer in India, your bank, tenant or Indian client, needs both before it can deduct tax at the lower treaty rate instead of the full domestic rate.
The DTAA benefit is real money. On interest, royalty and fees for technical services, treaties commonly cap the source-country rate well below India's domestic 20% to 30%. For an NRI, the most common case is NRO interest, where the gap between 30% and a treaty rate of 10% to 15% is large.
| Situation | TDS on NRO interest | What unlocks it |
|---|---|---|
| No treaty claim | 30% + surcharge + cess (Section 195) | Nothing filed |
| Treaty claim, with PAN | Treaty rate, e.g. 15% (India-USA Article 11) | TRC + Form 10F |
| Treaty claim, no PAN | 15% preserved | TRC + Form 10F + Rule 37BC details |
A word on PAN. Without a PAN, Section 206AA normally forces a minimum 20% deduction, which would override a 15% treaty rate. Rule 37BC rescues you: because interest, royalty, fees for technical services, dividend and transfer of a capital asset are covered, furnishing your name, address, country, TIN and TRC lets the treaty rate survive even without a PAN. Rule 37BC exists precisely to escape the 206AA floor.
Since DGIT(Systems) Notification No. 3/2022 dated 16 July 2022, Form 10F must be filed electronically on the income tax e-filing portal. The earlier relaxation that let non-residents file on paper ran to 31 March 2023, was extended to 30 September 2023, and has since lapsed. The portal now has a registration category for non-residents who do not hold and are not required to hold a PAN, so e-filing without a PAN is possible.
Note that Form 10F is valid for the period stated on your TRC, usually one financial year, so most NRIs refile each year.
For residents of India who need the mirror document, a TRC from the Indian authority, you apply in Form 10FA to your Assessing Officer under Rule 21AB(3), and the officer issues the certificate in Form 10FB. That is the reverse direction and is not Form 10F.
No. The income tax portal now has a registration category for non-residents who neither hold nor are required to obtain a PAN. You register with your home-country tax details, generate a User ID and file Form 10F online. Rule 37BC then preserves your treaty rate against the Section 206AA floor.
No. Form 10F only supplies particulars missing from your TRC. You must hold a valid Tax Residency Certificate first, because Section 90(4) makes the TRC the precondition for any DTAA relief. Form 10F plus the TRC together unlock the treaty rate.
It is valid for the period covered by the TRC it accompanies, which is normally one financial year. Most NRIs obtain a fresh TRC and file a new Form 10F each year before giving the documents to their Indian bank or payer.
Yes. NRO interest is otherwise taxed at 30% plus surcharge and cess under Section 195. With a TRC and Form 10F, your bank applies the treaty rate, often 10% to 15% depending on your country, as the India-USA treaty's 15% under Article 11 shows.
Form 10F is filed by you, the non-resident receiving Indian income, to claim treaty relief. Form 15CA and Form 15CB are filed by the Indian remitter or its chartered accountant when money is sent abroad. They are separate compliances for different people.
A resident of India applies in Form 10FA to the Assessing Officer under Rule 21AB(3). The officer, once satisfied, issues the Indian TRC in Form 10FB. That certificate helps the resident claim treaty relief in the other country.