We are the Indian subsidiary of a foreign parent. Do we have to file a country-by-country report ourselves, or only tell the department who does, and by when?
Two obligations, and they fall on different people. Under s.286(1), EVERY constituent entity resident in India whose parent entity is not resident in India must notify the prescribed authority whether it is the alternate reporting entity of the international group, or else give the details of the parent entity or alternate reporting entity and the country of which they are resident. Rule 10DB(2) requires that notification in Form No. 3CEAC, and it must be made TWO MONTHS PRIOR to the due date for furnishing the report under s.286(2). Under s.286(2), a parent entity or alternate reporting entity RESIDENT IN INDIA must furnish the report itself, "within a period of twelve months from the end of the said reporting accounting year", and Rule 10DB(3) prescribes Form No. 3CEAD for it. Under s.286(4), the burden shifts on to an Indian constituent entity that is not the reporting entity where the parent is resident in a country that does not require such a report, or with which India has no exchange agreement, or where a systemic failure has been intimated; Rule 10DB(4) gives it twelve months from the end of the reporting accounting year, or six months from the end of the month in which a systemic failure was intimated. The proviso to s.286(4) lets a group with several Indian constituent entities designate one to file, and Rule 10DB(5) requires that designation to be conveyed in Form No. 3CEAE. Section 286(5) provides a complete escape from sub-section (4) where an alternate reporting entity has filed the report with its own country's tax authority and five conditions are all satisfied, including that the said country has an exchange agreement with India and that the prescribed authority here has been informed under sub-section (1). Section 286(6) lets the prescribed authority call for information to test the accuracy of the report, by notice, within thirty days, extendable by a further period not exceeding thirty days on an application.
Decided by the CBDT Circulars & Instructions (Not applicable — statutory text), reported as Section 286 of the Income-tax Act, 1961, transcribed from incometaxindia.gov.in/w/section-286-60 (heading "Furnishing of report in respect of international group", Year: 2022) and incometaxindia.gov.in/w/section-286-62 (Year: 2024 (No. 1)), with sub-section (7) read again on incometaxindia.gov.in/w/section-286-64 (Year: 2025); Rule 10DB transcribed from incometaxindia.gov.in/w/rule-10db (Income-tax Rules, 1962, no "Year:" stamp). It bears on section 286, section 286(1), section 286(2), section 286(3), section 286(4), section 286(5), section 286(6), section 286(9), section 271GB, section 92D, section 92F, section Rule 10DB of the Income Tax Act 1961, in Assessment & Scrutiny and How Tax Law Is Read matters.
The commonest and most expensive mistake is treating the s.286(1) notification as optional or as something that follows the report. It does not: it is a stand-alone obligation on every Indian constituent entity of a foreign-parented group, it falls due TWO MONTHS BEFORE the report date, and s.286(5)(e) makes compliance with it a CONDITION of the escape route in sub-section (5) — an Indian constituent entity that has not filed Form 3CEAC cannot rely on the alternate reporting entity's foreign filing to get out of the sub-section (4) obligation to file the report here. The second trap is s.286(4)(aa), which was added to the original text: it is not enough that the parent's country requires a report; India must actually have an agreement providing for exchange of it. Groups parented in a country whose exchange relationship with India has lapsed find the filing obligation landing on the Indian subsidiary. Third, the s.286(6) notice carries its own thirty-day clock with a single extension of not more than thirty days, and the penalty for missing it under s.271GB(2) is a daily one.
Binding on the department, not on the assessee or the courts. An assessee may rely on a circular that is beneficial to them.
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Section 286(1) requires "Every constituent entity resident in India" that is a constituent of an international group whose parent entity is not resident in India to "notify the prescribed income-tax authority (herein referred to as prescribed authority) in the form and manner, on or before such date, as may be prescribed,— (a) whether it is the alternate reporting entity of the international group; or (b) the details of the parent entity or the alternate reporting entity, if any, of the international group, and the country or territory of which the said entities are resident". Section 286(2) requires "Every parent entity or the alternate reporting entity, resident in India" to furnish, for every reporting accounting year, a report to the prescribed authority "within a period of twelve months from the end of the said reporting accounting year, in the form and manner as may be prescribed". Section 286(3) prescribes the contents of the report: aggregate country-by-country information on revenue, profit or loss before income-tax, income-tax paid, income-tax accrued, stated capital, accumulated earnings, number of employees and tangible assets not being cash or cash equivalents; the details of each constituent entity including where it is incorporated and where it is resident; the nature and details of the main business activity of each constituent entity; and any other prescribed information. Section 286(4) shifts the obligation on to an Indian constituent entity other than the entity referred to in sub-section (2) where the parent entity is resident of a country "(a) where the parent entity is not obligated to file the report of the nature referred to in sub-section (2); (aa) with which India does not have an agreement providing for exchange of the report of the nature referred to in sub-section (2); or (b) there has been a systemic failure of the country or territory and the said failure has been intimated by the prescribed authority to such constituent entity", with a proviso allowing a designated entity to file where there is more than one such Indian constituent entity. Section 286(5) disapplies sub-section (4) where an alternate reporting entity has filed the report with its own country's tax authority on or before the date specified by that country and five conditions in clauses (a) to (e) are satisfied. Section 286(6) empowers the prescribed authority, for determining the accuracy of the report, to require the entity by notice in writing to produce information and documents "within thirty days of the date of receipt of the notice", with a proviso allowing an extension "by a further period not exceeding thirty days". Rule 10DB(1) makes the income-tax authority for the purposes of s.286 "the Joint Director as may be designated by the Principal Director General of Income-tax (Systems) or the Director General of Income-tax (Systems)"; Rule 10DB(2) requires the s.286(1) notification in Form No. 3CEAC "two months prior to the due date for furnishing of report as specified under sub-section (2) of said section"; Rule 10DB(3) requires the s.286(2) report in Form No. 3CEAD; Rule 10DB(4) gives twelve months from the end of the reporting accounting year for the s.286(4) report, with a proviso giving six months from the end of the month in which a systemic failure was intimated; and Rule 10DB(5) requires the designation under the proviso to s.286(4) to be conveyed in Form No. 3CEAE.
Not a judgment. The statutory position is that every Indian constituent entity of a foreign-parented international group must notify the prescribed authority in Form No. 3CEAC two months before the report due date; that an Indian-resident parent entity or alternate reporting entity must furnish the report in Form No. 3CEAD within twelve months from the end of the reporting accounting year; that where the parent's country does not require the report, or has no exchange agreement with India, or has been notified as having a systemic failure, an Indian constituent entity must file the report itself within twelve months, or six months from intimation of a systemic failure; that a designated Indian entity may file for the group if that designation is conveyed in Form No. 3CEAE; that a foreign alternate reporting entity's filing relieves the Indian entity only if all five conditions in s.286(5) are met, including the s.286(1) notification; and that the prescribed authority may call for information under s.286(6) within thirty days, extendable by not more than thirty days.
Not a judgment; no judicial reasoning is stated for the section.
(2) The notification under sub-section (1) of section 286 shall be made in Form No. 3CEAC two months prior to the due date for furnishing of report as specified under sub-section (2) of said section.
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Handle my notice → Ask a CA on WhatsAppTwo obligations, and they fall on different people. Under s.286(1), EVERY constituent entity resident in India whose parent entity is not resident in India must notify the prescribed authority whether it is the alternate reporting entity of the international group, or else give the details of the parent entity or alternate reporting entity and the country of which they are resident. Rule 10DB(2) requires that notification in Form No. 3CEAC, and it must be made TWO MONTHS PRIOR to the due date for furnishing the report under s.286(2). Under s.286(2), a parent entity or alternate reporting entity RESIDENT IN INDIA must furnish the report itself, "within a period of twelve months from the end of the said reporting accounting year", and Rule 10DB(3) prescribes Form No. 3CEAD for it. Under s.286(4), the burden shifts on to an Indian constituent entity that is not the reporting entity where the parent is resident in a country that does not require such a report, or with which India has no exchange agreement, or where a systemic failure has been intimated; Rule 10DB(4) gives it twelve months from the end of the reporting accounting year, or six months from the end of the month in which a systemic failure was intimated. The proviso to s.286(4) lets a group with several Indian constituent entities designate one to file, and Rule 10DB(5) requires that designation to be conveyed in Form No. 3CEAE. Section 286(5) provides a complete escape from sub-section (4) where an alternate reporting entity has filed the report with its own country's tax authority and five conditions are all satisfied, including that the said country has an exchange agreement with India and that the prescribed authority here has been informed under sub-section (1). Section 286(6) lets the prescribed authority call for information to test the accuracy of the report, by notice, within thirty days, extendable by a further period not exceeding thirty days on an application. This was decided by the CBDT Circulars & Instructions (Not applicable — statutory text) and bears on section 286, section 286(1), section 286(2), section 286(3), section 286(4), section 286(5), section 286(6), section 286(9), section 271GB, section 92D, section 92F, section Rule 10DB of the Income Tax Act 1961. It is reported as Section 286 of the Income-tax Act, 1961, transcribed from incometaxindia.gov.in/w/section-286-60 (heading "Furnishing of report in respect of international group", Year: 2022) and incometaxindia.gov.in/w/section-286-62 (Year: 2024 (No. 1)), with sub-section (7) read again on incometaxindia.gov.in/w/section-286-64 (Year: 2025); Rule 10DB transcribed from incometaxindia.gov.in/w/rule-10db (Income-tax Rules, 1962, no "Year:" stamp). The commonest and most expensive mistake is treating the s.286(1) notification as optional or as something that follows the report. It does not: it is a stand-alone obligation on every Indian constituent entity of a foreign-parented group, it falls due TWO MONTHS BEFORE the report date, and s.286(5)(e) makes compliance with it a CONDITION of the escape route in sub-section (5) — an Indian constituent entity that has not filed Form 3CEAC cannot rely on the alternate reporting entity's foreign filing to get out of the sub-section (4) obligation to file the report here. The second trap is s.286(4)(aa), which was added to the original text: it is not enough that the parent's country requires a report; India must actually have an agreement providing for exchange of it. Groups parented in a country whose exchange relationship with India has lapsed find the filing obligation landing on the Indian subsidiary. Third, the s.286(6) notice carries its own thirty-day clock with a single extension of not more than thirty days, and the penalty for missing it under s.271GB(2) is a daily one. If it applies to you, the first step is this: Diarise the Form 3CEAC notification two months before the Form 3CEAD due date, not on it. Rule 10DB(2) fixes it by reference to the report's due date, so for a group whose reporting accounting year ends on 31 March the notification falls due at the end of January.
Section 286(1) requires "Every constituent entity resident in India" that is a constituent of an international group whose parent entity is not resident in India to "notify the prescribed income-tax authority (herein referred to as prescribed authority) in the form and manner, on or before such date, as may be prescribed,— (a) whether it is the alternate reporting entity of the international group; or (b) the details of the parent entity or the alternate reporting entity, if any, of the international group, and the country or territory of which the said entities are resident". Section 286(2) requires "Every parent entity or the alternate reporting entity, resident in India" to furnish, for every reporting accounting year, a report to the prescribed authority "within a period of twelve months from the end of the said reporting accounting year, in the form and manner as may be prescribed". Section 286(3) prescribes the contents of the report: aggregate country-by-country information on revenue, profit or loss before income-tax, income-tax paid, income-tax accrued, stated capital, accumulated earnings, number of employees and tangible assets not being cash or cash equivalents; the details of each constituent entity including where it is incorporated and where it is resident; the nature and details of the main business activity of each constituent entity; and any other prescribed information. Section 286(4) shifts the obligation on to an Indian constituent entity other than the entity referred to in sub-section (2) where the parent entity is resident of a country "(a) where the parent entity is not obligated to file the report of the nature referred to in sub-section (2); (aa) with which India does not have an agreement providing for exchange of the report of the nature referred to in sub-section (2); or (b) there has been a systemic failure of the country or territory and the said failure has been intimated by the prescribed authority to such constituent entity", with a proviso allowing a designated entity to file where there is more than one such Indian constituent entity. Section 286(5) disapplies sub-section (4) where an alternate reporting entity has filed the report with its own country's tax authority on or before the date specified by that country and five conditions in clauses (a) to (e) are satisfied. Section 286(6) empowers the prescribed authority, for determining the accuracy of the report, to require the entity by notice in writing to produce information and documents "within thirty days of the date of receipt of the notice", with a proviso allowing an extension "by a further period not exceeding thirty days". Rule 10DB(1) makes the income-tax authority for the purposes of s.286 "the Joint Director as may be designated by the Principal Director General of Income-tax (Systems) or the Director General of Income-tax (Systems)"; Rule 10DB(2) requires the s.286(1) notification in Form No. 3CEAC "two months prior to the due date for furnishing of report as specified under sub-section (2) of said section"; Rule 10DB(3) requires the s.286(2) report in Form No. 3CEAD; Rule 10DB(4) gives twelve months from the end of the reporting accounting year for the s.286(4) report, with a proviso giving six months from the end of the month in which a systemic failure was intimated; and Rule 10DB(5) requires the designation under the proviso to s.286(4) to be conveyed in Form No. 3CEAE. It was decided by the CBDT Circulars & Instructions (Not applicable — statutory text). On those facts the CBDT Circulars & Instructions held as follows. Not a judgment. The statutory position is that every Indian constituent entity of a foreign-parented international group must notify the prescribed authority in Form No. 3CEAC two months before the report due date; that an Indian-resident parent entity or alternate reporting entity must furnish the report in Form No. 3CEAD within twelve months from the end of the reporting accounting year; that where the parent's country does not require the report, or has no exchange agreement with India, or has been notified as having a systemic failure, an Indian constituent entity must file the report itself within twelve months, or six months from intimation of a systemic failure; that a designated Indian entity may file for the group if that designation is conveyed in Form No. 3CEAE; that a foreign alternate reporting entity's filing relieves the Indian entity only if all five conditions in s.286(5) are met, including the s.286(1) notification; and that the prescribed authority may call for information under s.286(6) within thirty days, extendable by not more than thirty days.
Not a judgment; no judicial reasoning is stated for the section. In the words reproduced by the source cited on this page: "(2) The notification under sub-section (1) of section 286 shall be made in Form No. 3CEAC two months prior to the due date for furnishing of report as specified under sub-section (2) of said section."
It was decided by the CBDT Circulars & Instructions and is reported as Section 286 of the Income-tax Act, 1961, transcribed from incometaxindia.gov.in/w/section-286-60 (heading "Furnishing of report in respect of international group", Year: 2022) and incometaxindia.gov.in/w/section-286-62 (Year: 2024 (No. 1)), with sub-section (7) read again on incometaxindia.gov.in/w/section-286-64 (Year: 2025); Rule 10DB transcribed from incometaxindia.gov.in/w/rule-10db (Income-tax Rules, 1962, no "Year:" stamp). Binding on the department, not on the assessee or the courts. An assessee may rely on a circular that is beneficial to them. A CBDT circular or instruction binds officers of the department but not the assessee and not the courts. Where a circular helps you, you may hold the department to it. Where it hurts you, it cannot override the Act or a judgment. On section 286, section 286(1), section 286(2), section 286(3), section 286(4), section 286(5), section 286(6), section 286(9), section 271GB, section 92D, section 92F, section Rule 10DB, the practical question is whether the facts of your own notice match the facts of this case closely enough for the same rule to apply.
It cuts both ways and is cited by both sides. Not a judgment. The statutory position is that every Indian constituent entity of a foreign-parented international group must notify the prescribed authority in Form No. 3CEAC two months before the report due date; that an Indian-resident parent entity or alternate reporting entity must furnish the report in Form No. 3CEAD within twelve months from the end of the reporting accounting year; that where the parent's country does not require the report, or has no exchange agreement with India, or has been notified as having a systemic failure, an Indian constituent entity must file the report itself within twelve months, or six months from intimation of a systemic failure; that a designated Indian entity may file for the group if that designation is conveyed in Form No. 3CEAE; that a foreign alternate reporting entity's filing relieves the Indian entity only if all five conditions in s.286(5) are met, including the s.286(1) notification; and that the prescribed authority may call for information under s.286(6) within thirty days, extendable by not more than thirty days. It arises in Assessment & Scrutiny and How Tax Law Is Read matters, on section 286, section 286(1), section 286(2), section 286(3), section 286(4), section 286(5), section 286(6), section 286(9), section 271GB, section 92D, section 92F, section Rule 10DB of the Income Tax Act 1961, and was decided by Not applicable — statutory text. Before relying on it, read the source linked on this page and check whether it has since been distinguished, overruled or overtaken by an amendment to the Income Tax Act. In practice the steps that follow from it are these. Establish, in writing and for the file, that India has an agreement in force providing for exchange of the report with the parent's country. Section 286(4)(aa) makes the absence of such an agreement, by itself, enough to shift the filing obligation on to you. If you propose to rely on s.286(5) because an alternate reporting entity has filed abroad, check all five conditions in clauses (a) to (e), and in particular clause (e) — that the prescribed authority in India has been informed by you under s.286(1). Without that, the escape fails. Where the group has more than one Indian constituent entity, get the designation conveyed in Form No. 3CEAE under Rule 10DB(5), and keep the board or group approval that supports it. Treat a s.286(6) notice as a thirty-day clock and apply for the further period, which cannot exceed thirty days, before the first period expires; the penalty under s.271GB(2) accrues daily from the day after the period expires. Identify the prescribed authority correctly. Rule 10DB(1) makes it the Joint Director designated by the Principal Director General or Director General of Income-tax (Systems), and the departmental footnotes to s.286 name the Director General of Income-tax (Risk Assessment).
Validity check could not be completed. Validity check could not be completed. The section text is verified across three departmental pages with different "Year:" stamps (2022, 2024 (No. 1) and 2025), all carrying the heading "Furnishing of report in respect of international group", and the rule text from the departmental rule page. But I located no footnote on any of those pages dating the insertion of the present s.286, and departmental rule pages carry no "Year:" stamp, so neither instrument could be dated from the page. I found no judicial decision construing s.286 and did not check judicial treatment. No source could be cited for that finding. Checking whether an authority still stands matters as much as knowing what it held: a decision may be overruled on one point and survive on another, or the provision it interprets may have been amended since. Read the source and the editor's note on this page before relying on it in a reply to an Assessing Officer or in an appeal.
THE SLUG /w/section-286 IS A TRAP. The bare departmental page, and every suffix I probed in the low range and the twenties, thirties and forties (-1, -2, -4, -10, -18, -25, -32, -35, -40), serves the OLD section 286 — "Information by companies respecting shareholders to whom dividends have been paid", omitted by the Finance Act, 1987 with effect from 1 June 1987 — with "Year:" stamps ranging from 1969 to 2009 in no discernible order. The number 286 was reused. The current section is at /w/section-286-60 (Year: 2022), /w/section-286-62 (Year: 2024 (No. 1)) and /w/section-286-64 (Year: 2025), all three carrying the heading "Furnishing of report in respect of international group". That is a live instance of the "low sixties" cluster. Sub-sections (1) to (4) and (7) were transcribed from the Year 2022 page and sub-sections (5) to (9) from the Year 2024 (No. 1) page; sub-section (7) was transcribed a second time from the Year 2025 page and came back in identical words. Rule 10DB was transcribed from incometaxindia.gov.in/w/rule-10db, which prints "Income-tax Rules, 1962"; departmental rule pages carry NO "Year:" stamp and I have not dated the rule from the page. `decided_on` is null: no departmental page I read carries a footnote dating the insertion of the present s.286, and I did not verify its commencement from any government instrument, so no start date is stated. Rule 10DB's own footnotes, transcribed verbatim, date sub-rules (1) and (2) to the IT (Second Amdt.) Rules, 2020 with effect from 6 January 2020 and sub-rule (4) to the IT (Fourteenth Amdt.) Rules, 2018 with effect from 18 December 2018. This library shows the verification state of every entry openly. This entry has not yet been read in full by a chartered accountant. The summary reflects the sources listed on this page. Read the source before you rely on it in a reply to an Assessing Officer or in an appeal before the Commissioner (Appeals) or the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal.
Not a judgment. The statutory position is that every Indian constituent entity of a foreign-parented international group must notify the prescribed authority in Form No. 3CEAC two months before the report due date; that an Indian-resident parent entity or alternate reporting entity must furnish the report in Form No. 3CEAD within twelve months from the end of the reporting accounting year; that where the parent's country does not require the report, or has no exchange agreement with India, or has been notified as having a systemic failure, an Indian constituent entity must file the report itself within twelve months, or six months from intimation of a systemic failure; that a designated Indian entity may file for the group if that designation is conveyed in Form No. 3CEAE; that a foreign alternate reporting entity's filing relieves the Indian entity only if all five conditions in s.286(5) are met, including the s.286(1) notification; and that the prescribed authority may call for information under s.286(6) within thirty days, extendable by not more than thirty days.
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