Payroll & statutory · Updated October 2026
Form 10F is the self-declaration a non-resident files to claim a tax treaty (DTAA) benefit in India, such as a lower TDS rate, when their tax residency certificate (TRC) does not carry all the details Indian rules ask for. It goes hand in hand with Form 27Q reporting by the Indian payer. Under the Income-tax Act, 2025 and the Income-tax Rules, 2026, the same role is played by Form 41 from 1 April 2026.
The TRC is issued by the tax authority of the payee’s home country. Indian law makes it a precondition: a non-resident can claim treaty relief only with a TRC from that government. Form 10F then fills the gaps, giving the payee’s status (individual, company and so on), nationality or country of incorporation, tax identification number, period of residence and address. Without a TRC, Form 10F alone does not get the payee the treaty rate; without Form 10F where it is needed, payers usually fall back to the domestic rate.
Since the 2022 CBDT notification, Form 10F has been filed electronically on the income tax e-filing portal, with an exemption for PAN-less non-residents that ran to 30 September 2023. Payees without a PAN can register on the portal in a non-resident category, though practitioners still report friction there.
| Item | FY 2025-26 (1961 Act) | Tax year 2026-27 (2025 Act) |
|---|---|---|
| Treaty relief provision | Section 90 and 90A | Section 159 |
| TRC condition | Section 90(4) | Section 159(8)(a) |
| Form and rule | Form 10F, Rule 21AB | Form 41, Rule 75 |
The section mapping is from the ICAI tabular mapping, and its footnote to section 159(8) cites Rule 75 and Form 41. Secondary sources also describe Form 41 as replacing Form 10F from 1 April 2026; for payments made in FY 2025-26 the old Form 10F remains the reference.
Most HR teams meet Form 10F through overseas vendors: a foreign training firm, an assessment platform or a recruiter abroad. Before applying a treaty rate on such a payment, collect the TRC and the filed form for the relevant year. For employees on secondment or multi-country payroll, treaty questions about salary are settled in the employee’s own return, not by Form 10F in your salary TDS.
Generally yes, because a TRC covers a defined period and treaty eligibility is tested year by year, so ask for a fresh TRC and form for each tax year in which you apply a lower rate.
No, it is only for non-residents claiming treaty relief in India; a resident taking credit for tax paid abroad uses a different form (Form 67 under the 1961 Act), and salary TDS for residents follows Section 192.
The payer usually deducts at the domestic rate, reports it in the quarterly statement, and the non-resident claims the excess back as a refund in their Indian return; the credit shows in their Form 26AS.
Once the treaty rate is settled, the deduction is reported quarterly; the Form 27Q and Form 144 guide covers that step.