Under the IT Act, 2025, Indian citizens without Permanent Account Number (PAN) or taxable income must file Form 157 before departing from India. According to the IT Department, this certificate is mandatory for persons domiciled in India leaving India, specifically those without PAN, without chargeable income, or not required to take PAN. The form replaces the old Form 156 that was mandatory under the previous tax regime and could be filed online.
Form 157 must be filed manually at the time of departure before the respective Jurisdictional Assessing Officer. As reported by the IT Department, the required documents include passport or PAN (if available), or the Emergency Certificate of the country issuing the passport. The form is a simple declaration that certifies the person has no income chargeable to tax in India or is not required to have PAN. Tax payments are not part of the details to be given in the form.
According to the IT Department, Form 157 is event-based and must be filed each time the applicable domiciled person is leaving India. The frequency of filing depends on the number of journeys undertaken by a domiciled person outside India. The form is mandatory subject to exceptions notified by the government from time to time, with the IT Department noting that exceptions may be notified in the future.
Since Form 157 is manual, it can be corrected before submission to the Assessing Officer and later with a request to account for the rectified form. According to the IT Department, there is no need to submit Aadhaar details, but providing mobile number details ensures faster communication and verification. The form cannot be processed online and must be submitted manually by the person leaving India before the respective Jurisdictional Assessing Officer.
