What happens if there is an error in Form 15CB? Can it be revised?

Last updated 3 August 2026

Full Answer

A Chennai-based IT services company had a $14,000 invoice from a UK development partner. Their CA issued 15CB in USD when the invoice was in GBP. The client filed 15CA against the certificate and submitted to SBI. The bank's payment instruction was in GBP. The currency mismatch caused the bank's system to flag a documentation inconsistency. The bank put the transfer on hold. By the time the issue was identified and a revised 15CB was issued, the 7-day 15CA withdrawal window had closed. A fresh 15CA had to be filed after withdrawal was no longer possible, creating a compliance gap that required a CA's opinion letter to explain to the bank.

Currency errors, name mismatches, and wrong payment purpose are the three most common errors in 15CB, and catching them before 15CA is filed saves days of rework.

The revision process for Form 15CB (now Form 146) is straightforward when caught early. Once the CA identifies the error, they log into the Income Tax e-filing portal, navigate to the 15CB filing, and upload a corrected certificate. The revised certificate generates a new acknowledgement number. You then use this new number when filing Part C of Form 15CA. The original 15CB remains on the portal but is effectively superseded by the revised version.

The complication arises when the error is not caught until after 15CA (now Form 145) has been filed. Under the Income Tax Rules, a filed 15CA can be withdrawn on the portal within seven days of the filing date, provided the bank has not yet processed the remittance. If both conditions are met, the remitter logs in, locates the filed 15CA, uses the withdrawal option, and the form is revoked. The CA then issues a corrected 15CB, and the remitter files a fresh 15CA using the new 15CB acknowledgement number.

If seven days have passed since the 15CA filing, withdrawal is no longer available on the portal regardless of whether the bank has processed the transfer. At this point, the documents stand as filed. The practical response is to prepare an accurate internal record of the actual transaction, ensure the ITR and tax filings for the year reflect the correct nature and amount of the payment, and maintain a reconciliation note in case the transaction is queried in scrutiny.

The errors that create the most serious long-term problems are not the arithmetic ones. Wrong beneficiary name, where the 15CB names a trading name rather than the registered legal entity, causes bank rejection at processing. Wrong nature of payment, particularly when a consulting payment is described as an export of goods or when a royalty is described as a service fee, creates a classification mismatch that the Income Tax department can use to challenge the TDS treatment years later. Wrong country, where the registered entity is in Ireland but the 15CB lists the UK, can affect the DTAA claimed.

The UDIN requirement introduced by ICAI for all CA certificates including 15CB creates a useful verification mechanism. Every 15CB carries a Unique Document Identification Number that is registered on the ICAI UDIN portal at the time of issuance. If you receive a 15CB, you can verify its authenticity independently at udin.icai.org using this number. Banks increasingly check UDINs as part of their 15CB verification. A 15CB without a valid UDIN will be rejected by the bank.

To minimise errors before they become problems: before your CA uploads the 15CB, ask them to share a preview or verbally confirm the key fields: beneficiary name as it appears on the bank account, the currency and amount as they appear on the invoice, and the stated nature of payment. Cross-check these against your wire instruction to the bank. This takes five minutes and prevents the scenarios described above.

This article is for general information only. For your specific remittance, consult a practicing CA.