15CA, 15CB, Purpose Codes, $1M Limits — The NRI Money Maze.

Form 15CA is an online declaration YOU fill on the income tax portal. It tells the government: “I'm sending X amount abroad for Y purpose, and Z tax has been paid.”

Form 15CB is a certificate YOUR CA issues after verifying that all taxes on the amount have been paid. Banks won't process the remittance without it.

Here's where people trip: 15CA has four parts. Part A for amounts under ₹5 lakh (self-certify). Part B if you have an Assessing Officer certificate. Part C for remittances covered by Section 195. Part D for everything else. Pick the wrong part and the bank bounces it back. Start over.

Penalty for incorrect filing: ₹1 lakh per form. Not per transaction. Per form. Get the part wrong on both 15CA and 15CB? That's ₹2 lakh in penalties. For a paperwork error.

CAs charge ₹5,000-15,000 per 15CB certificate. They need your past ITRs, 26AS, bank statements, and source verification before signing. Timeline: 1-3 weeks from document collection to submission.

RBI caps NRO repatriation at $1 million per financial year. Sold a ₹2.5 crore property? That's roughly $300K. Fine, fits under the limit.

But what if it's a ₹5 crore property in Bangalore? Now you're looking at $600K. Still fits. But add your NRO FD maturity proceeds, rental income accumulation, and mutual fund redemptions — suddenly you're bumping against the ceiling.

For amounts above $1M: apply for prior RBI approval. That means a written application to your bank's authorized dealer, with justification, tax clearance certificates, and patience. Takes 2-4 weeks.

Pro tip: if you originally bought the property with NRE funds and can prove it (bank statements showing the transfer), the original purchase amount is freely repatriable — no $1M limit. It's only the gain portion and NRO-funded amounts that face the cap.

Every international transfer from India needs a FEMA purpose code. It's a specific code that tells RBI why money is leaving the country. Property sale proceeds, investment returns, salary savings, gift to family — each has its own code.

Use the wrong one and your bank's compliance team freezes the transfer. Not rejects — freezes. It sits in limbo while they figure out what went wrong. That can take weeks.

Your bank won't help you pick the right code. They'll hand you a list of 50+ codes and say “choose.” Your CA should know which code to use, but many generalist CAs don't deal with repatriation regularly.

Common codes NRIs need: S0012 for salary savings, S0005 for investment income, S0017 for property sale proceeds, S0003 for personal gifts. Get this right the first time. The second attempt after a freeze involves even more documentation.