FORM 158 - Application for Certificate under section 420(5) of the Act

A. PURPOSE

This form is application filed for Tax Clearance Certificate by persons required by the Assessing Officer to take clearance before leaving India. It is a requirement under Section 420(5) of the Income-tax Act, 2025 and prescribed in Rule 228 of Income-tax Rules, 2026.

B. WHO SHOULD FILE

Persons required to take clearance before leaving India under section 420(5) of the Income-tax Act, 2025 as specified by the Assessing Officer

C. FREQUENCY & DUE DATES

Filing of this form is event-based and is to be filed each time applicable domiciled person is leaving India. Thus, the frequency of filing is dependent on the number of journeys undertaken by a domiciled person outside India.

D. STRUCTURE OF FORM 158

• Details of the person leaving India including Name, PAN and Passport/Emergency Certificate Number details
• Details regarding address of all the places of business/profession in India, purpose of visit outside India, departure details estimated duration of stay outside India and passport related information

E. WHAT ARE THE DOCUMENTS REQUIRED TO FILE THE FORM 158?

1. Passport, PAN of the person leaving India
2. In absence of Passport, Emergency Certificate of the country issuing the same
3. Flight/Ship booking documents, as applicable

F. FILING COUNT

N.A. Being a manual form so far, centralised data is not available

G. WHAT IS THE PROCESS FLOW OF FILING FORM 158?

• The Form is to be filed electronically through the e-filing portal of the Income Tax Department
• It is to be digitally signed by the persons requiring the Tax Clearance Certificate

H. OUTCOME OF PROCESSED FORM 158

Form 159 providing the Tax Clearance Certificate is issued only on the processing of Form 158.

Consequences of Non-compliance: Without the requisite Tax Clearance Certificate as mandated by the department, the taxpayer cannot leave the country

I. BRIEF NOTE ON BROAD OR QUALITATIVE CHANGES PROPOSED

Key updates include the following

• Where information content is not single, but multiple times same kind of information can be filed, the same is indicated in the form
• Proposed to be e-form.

J. CHALLENGES AND SOLUTIONS

This was a manual form. The form is now being made into e-Form. This allows data compilation and monitoring

K. COMMON CHANGES MADE ACROSS FORMS

1. To make Forms system-friendly and enable e-filing and uploading, certain anomalies found due to grouping of Name, Designation, Address, PAN have been separated into different boxes.
2. Assessment / Financial / Previous year or years have been replaced with Tax year or years, wherever appearing in the Form/Annexure.
3. Sections, Clauses and Schedules changes as per the Income-tax Act, 2025.
4. Common verification statement.