{"id":29237,"date":"2026-04-20T07:58:01","date_gmt":"2026-04-20T07:58:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tezgyan.com\/index.php\/2026\/04\/20\/travelling-out-of-india-you-may-need-to-file-form-157-in-these-cases\/"},"modified":"2026-04-20T07:58:01","modified_gmt":"2026-04-20T07:58:01","slug":"travelling-out-of-india-you-may-need-to-file-form-157-in-these-cases","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tezgyan.com\/index.php\/2026\/04\/20\/travelling-out-of-india-you-may-need-to-file-form-157-in-these-cases\/","title":{"rendered":"Travelling out of India: You may need to file Form 157 in these cases"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>If you\u2019re planning an overseas trip and think tax paperwork doesn\u2019t apply to you because you don\u2019t have a PAN or taxable income, think again. A new compliance requirement\u2014Form 157\u2014could become an essential part of your travel checklist.<\/p>\n<p>Under the updated framework of the Income Tax Act, Form 157 is designed as a simple declaration for certain Indian residents leaving the country.<\/p>\n<p>\nWhile it may sound procedural, missing it could complicate your departure process.<br \/><strong>What is Form 157\u2014and why it matters<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Form 157 is a certificate that must be furnished by individuals domiciled in India who are travelling abroad but do not have a Permanent Account Number (PAN) or do not earn income chargeable to tax in India.<\/p>\n<p>In practical terms, it acts as a declaration to tax authorities that you are not liable for income tax or PAN-related compliance. The form is submitted at the time of departure, making it directly relevant for travellers.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Who needs to file it<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>This requirement specifically targets:<\/p>\n<ul><\/p>\n<li>Individuals living in India who are leaving the country<\/li>\n<p><\/p>\n<li>Those who do not hold a PAN<\/li>\n<p><\/p>\n<li>Those who do not have taxable income in India<\/li>\n<p><\/ul>\n<p>\nIf you fall into this category, filing Form 157 is not optional\u2014it is mandatory, unless the government announces specific exemptions.<strong>When and how often to file<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Unlike annual tax returns, Form 157 is event-based. That means:<\/p>\n<ul><\/p>\n<li>You must file it each time you travel abroad<\/li>\n<p><\/p>\n<li>Frequent travellers without PAN may need to submit it multiple times a year<\/li>\n<p><\/ul>\n<p>\nThe form is currently designed as a manual submission, reflecting its focus on individuals outside the typical tax net.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Documents you\u2019ll need<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The process is straightforward and requires minimal documentation:<\/p>\n<ul><\/p>\n<li>Passport (or an emergency certificate if a passport is unavailable)<\/li>\n<p><\/p>\n<li>PAN details (if available, though typically not applicable here)<\/li>\n<p><\/ul>\n<p>\nImportantly, you do not need to attach proof of tax payments, since the form is only a declaration of non-taxability.<\/p>\n<p>Travellers must submit Form 157 manually to their jurisdictional Assessing Officer before leaving India. Since it is not yet fully digitised, planning ahead is key to avoid last-minute issues.<\/p>\n<p>Corrections can be made before submission, and even afterward with a formal request\u2014adding some flexibility to the process.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What travellers should do<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>If you\u2019re planning an international trip and don\u2019t have a PAN or taxable income:<\/p>\n<ul><\/p>\n<li>Check whether Form 157 applies to you<\/li>\n<p><\/p>\n<li>Prepare documents in advance<\/li>\n<p><\/p>\n<li>Factor in time for manual submission<\/li>\n<p><\/ul>\n<p><strong>ALSO READ | <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnbctv18.com\/personal-finance\/new-form-141-to-replace-multiple-tds-forms-income-tax-changes-how-works-ws-el-19887052.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>New Form 141 to replace multiple TDS forms: What changes, how it works<\/strong><\/a><\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnbctv18.com\/personal-finance\/travelling-out-of-india-abraod-you-may-need-to-file-form-157-how-ws-el-19889580.htm\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>If you\u2019re planning an overseas trip and think tax paperwork doesn\u2019t apply to you because you don\u2019t have a PAN or taxable income, think again. A new compliance requirement\u2014Form 157\u2014could become an essential part of your travel checklist. Under the updated framework of the Income Tax Act, Form 157 is designed as a simple declaration&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":29238,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[47],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-29237","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-travel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tezgyan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29237","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tezgyan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tezgyan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tezgyan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tezgyan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29237"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tezgyan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29237\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tezgyan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29238"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tezgyan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29237"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tezgyan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29237"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tezgyan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29237"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}