The second quarter of the tax year closes today, and with it the first full season of TCS paperwork under India's new income tax law begins in earnest. Tax calendars for October 2026 published this week show that the quarterly TCS statement for July to September is now due on 31 October, and that the certificate banks hand to their customers, now called Form 133, is due by 15 November rather than the old October date. For any client who has sent money abroad under the Liberalised Remittance Scheme since April, Form 133 is the document that proves the tax was collected and allows them to claim it back, as our guide to TCS on foreign remittance explains.
The change looks administrative, and in one sense it is. The Income-tax Rules, 2026 renumbered almost every form that taxpayers and their CAs know by heart, so Form 27D became Form 133 while its purpose stayed the same. Even so, the new name is already causing confusion in client inboxes. Advisors who understand how the certificate is produced, when it should arrive and what to check on it will save their clients a good deal of trouble when returns are filed next year.
What Form 133 is and who issues it
Form 133 is the certificate of tax collected at source prescribed under section 395(4)(a) of the Income-tax Act, 2025, according to Taxguru's summary of the new rules. It is issued by the collector, meaning the person who collected the tax, to the collectee, meaning the person on whose behalf it was collected. In a foreign remittance, the collector is the authorised dealer bank that sent the money abroad and the collectee is the client. The Income Tax Department's guidance note describes Forms 130 to 133 as the revised certificates that replace those issued under the 1961 Act, each with its own timeline and structure, as reported by TaxTMI.
The certificate can only be generated from TRACES, the department's portal for TDS and TCS returns, after the bank has filed its quarterly TCS statement, which is now Form 143 in place of the old Form 27EQ. That sequence explains why a client cannot receive a certificate the day after a remittance. The bank first collects the tax, then deposits it with the government by the seventh of the following month, then reports it in the quarterly statement, and only after that can the certificate be produced.
How Form 133 differs from Form 27D
In substance, very little has changed. ClearTax notes that the format and provisions remain largely as they were, with only the form number and its references updated. The certificate still records who collected the tax, whose PAN it belongs to, how much was collected and how it reached the government, which is what a CA needs in order to claim the credit.
What has changed is the timetable. Under the new rules, the quarterly TCS statement is due at the end of the month after each quarter, which for July to September means 31 October 2026. Form 133 must then be issued within 15 days of that due date, and that is why the certificate for the second quarter now falls due on 15 November. For the first quarter, which ran from April to June, the statement was due on 31 July, so those certificates should have reached clients by the middle of August.
The legal references printed on the form have moved as well. A certificate now cites the 2025 Act rather than section 206C of the old law, and it refers to the tax year rather than the assessment year. Clients who compare this year's certificate with last year's Form 27D sometimes assume they have been sent the wrong document, although a short explanation from their advisor usually settles the matter.
What to check on a Form 133 certificate
A certificate is only useful if its details match the client's own records, so it is worth reading every line before it goes into the file. The client's name and PAN should be correct, because TCS credit follows the PAN and nothing else. The amount on which tax was collected should match the remittance advice from the bank, and the tax shown should match the amount debited at the time of the transfer. The tax year and the quarter should also line up with the date on which the money was sent.
A worked example shows why this care matters. Suppose a client remitted ₹40 lakh in August 2026 to invest overseas and had made no other LRS remittances this tax year. TCS applies at 20 per cent on the amount above ₹10 lakh, so the bank would have collected ₹6 lakh. That remittance falls in the second quarter, which means the Form 133 covering it is due by 15 November, and the ₹6 lakh should appear on it exactly. If the certificate shows a different figure, or records the tax against the wrong PAN, the client's credit will be delayed until the bank corrects its statement.
Matching the certificate with the annual tax statement
The certificate is only one half of the evidence. The other half is the client's annual tax statement and Annual Information Statement on the income tax portal, where the department records the TCS reported against each PAN once the bank's quarterly statement has been processed. When the two agree, the client can claim the credit in their return with confidence. When they do not, the return is likely to show a mismatch, and the credit may be held back while the difference is resolved.
Corrections are possible, but only through the bank. A certificate cannot be amended on its own, because it is generated from the quarterly statement, so the bank has to file a revised statement on TRACES. The rules allow generous time for this, and Taxguru notes that a correction statement for the second quarter of tax year 2026-27 can be filed up to 31 March 2029. Even so, it is far easier to ask for a correction in November than to chase one after the client has already filed.
What advisors should do before 15 November
The practical work is straightforward, and it is best done in order so that nothing is missed. Each step takes only a few minutes per client, and together they prevent most of the mismatches that hold up TCS credit at filing time.
- List every client who has remitted money abroad under LRS since 1 April 2026, including payments for tuition and travel, since all of them count towards the same ₹10 lakh threshold.
- Request the first-quarter certificates from the bank for any client who has not yet received them, because they were due by the middle of August.
- Mark 15 November in the diary for the second-quarter certificates, and follow up with the bank if they have not arrived by then.
- Check each certificate against the remittance advice and the annual tax statement, and raise any mismatch with the bank straight away.
- Keep the certificate, the remittance advice and the investment documents together, because they form the paper trail for the credit claim.
This matters most for clients who invest abroad in larger amounts, since that is where TCS becomes a meaningful sum of money. Advisors who introduce clients to US commercial real estate through the Raveum partner program will recognise the pattern, because each investment remittance above the threshold produces a certificate that has to be tracked until the credit is claimed.
When the tax department renumbered its forms this year, it did not change what TCS is or how it is recovered. It changed the names, the references and some of the dates, and that has been enough to unsettle clients who had grown used to Form 27D. The advisors who come through this season well will be those who explained the change before the certificates arrived, kept a clear record of which client is owed what, and treated 15 November as a working deadline rather than a date on somebody else's calendar. For the wider rules on rates, thresholds and planning, our complete guide to TCS on foreign remittance sets them out in full.
This article is for general education and is not tax, legal or investment advice. Rules change and depend on individual circumstances. All investing involves risk, including loss of capital, illiquidity and currency movements. Offerings on Raveum are available to eligible investors only and are not open to the general public.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Form 133 in income tax?
Form 133 is the certificate of tax collected at source under the Income-tax Act, 2025 and the Income-tax Rules, 2026. It replaced Form 27D from 1 April 2026. The collector, such as the bank handling a foreign remittance, issues it to the person whose tax was collected, who uses it to claim TCS credit in their return.
Is Form 133 the same as Form 27D?
Form 133 serves the same purpose as Form 27D, which was the TCS certificate under the Income-tax Act, 1961. The number, the legal references and the issuing timetable have changed under the new rules, but the certificate still shows who collected the tax, the client's PAN, the amount collected and how it was deposited.
When will my client receive Form 133 for July to September 2026?
Form 133 for the July to September 2026 quarter is due by 15 November 2026. Banks must file the quarterly TCS statement in Form 143 by 31 October, and the certificate must be issued within 15 days of that due date. Certificates for April to June were due by the middle of August.
Where does Form 133 come from?
Form 133 is generated only from TRACES, the Income Tax Department's portal for TDS and TCS, after the collector files its quarterly TCS statement. For a foreign remittance, the client receives it from the authorised dealer bank that collected the tax. Clients should ask their bank for it if it has not arrived by the due date.
What should my client do if Form 133 shows the wrong amount?
If Form 133 shows the wrong amount or the wrong PAN, the client should ask the bank to correct it straight away. The certificate cannot be edited on its own, so the bank must file a revised quarterly TCS statement on TRACES. Once the correction is processed, a fresh certificate can be issued.
Does Form 133 apply to remittances made before April 2026?
No. Form 133 applies to tax collected from tax year 2026-27, which began on 1 April 2026. Compliance for earlier years continues on the old forms, so a remittance made in March 2026 is covered by a Form 27D certificate issued under the Income-tax Act, 1961.
