Form 44 & Form 45 vs Form 67: Foreign Tax Credit Transition Guide After 1 April 2026

Reviewed through: 12 August 2026

Finin2min Summary

Form 44 is the new foreign-tax-credit statement corresponding to legacy Form 67 for the Income-tax Act, 2025 framework.
Do not say “Form 67 is abolished for every filing after 1 April 2026.” Legacy periods can still require the old form.
Form 45 is a distinct new intimation used where a foreign-tax dispute is later settled and the taxpayer seeks the related credit under the prescribed route.
The Income Tax Department's Form 44/45 FAQ states that Form 44 is generally due within the prescribed period linked to the tax year/return framework; Form 45 has its own six-month-from-settlement-month deadline.
FTC is not simply “foreign tax paid converted into rupees.” Compute the Indian tax and foreign tax attributable to the same doubly taxed income and apply the statutory/treaty limitation.
Keep assessment orders, foreign returns, tax-payment evidence, settlement documents and currency-conversion workings.

The Two-Minute Answer

Foreign tax credit prevents the same income from being taxed twice to the extent allowed by Indian law and the applicable tax treaty. The 2026 procedural change is a form-number transition, but the substantive work remains a source-by-source and country-by-country matching exercise.

For a new-regime Tax Year, Form 44 is the core FTC statement. If a foreign tax amount was disputed and is later finally settled, Form 45 can become relevant for the later-credit route. For an old-law assessment year, Form 67 may still be the correct form.

Form 67 vs Form 44: Transition, Not Erasure

The official 2026 mapping treats Form 44 as the counterpart of Form 67. However, the e-Filing transition supports old and new statutory forms in parallel.

Before filing:

identify the Indian tax year/assessment year;
determine which Act governs;
determine whether the claim belongs to the ordinary FTC route or a later foreign-dispute settlement;
select Form 67, Form 44 or Form 45 accordingly.

What Form 44 Does

Form 44 records the taxpayer's foreign income and foreign tax credit claim under the new framework. The filing should be supported by documentary evidence, not merely an AIS/foreign-broker number.

A professional FTC file should include:

country and income source;
gross foreign income;
Indian-tax treatment of that income;
foreign tax paid/deducted;
whether foreign tax is final or disputed;
treaty article, if relevant;
conversion rate and date rule;
Indian tax attributable to the doubly taxed income;
credit limitation;
supporting tax certificate/payment proof;
foreign return or assessment evidence where relevant.

What Form 45 Does

Form 45 addresses a different problem: the foreign tax was under dispute and the amount became final only after the ordinary period.

The Department's FAQ describes a specific intimation route: Form 45 is to be furnished within six months from the end of the month in which the foreign-tax dispute is finally settled, with settlement/payment evidence and the required Form 44 trail.

Do not use Form 45 as a generic late-FTC cure.

Filing-Time Control

The Department's current Rule 76/Form 44–45 guidance should be treated as the primary procedural source. Form 44 is generally furnished within 12 months from the end of the relevant tax year, subject to the return and updated-return rules. A safe workflow is:

complete the Indian return computation;
prepare Form 44 within the prescribed deadline;
attach/retain required foreign-tax evidence;
ensure accountant verification where the current rule/form requires it;
if foreign tax remains disputed, clearly mark the uncertainty in the working;
when a qualifying dispute is later settled, test Form 45 promptly rather than waiting until the next return cycle.

The 2026 Rule 76 control requires accountant verification for every company and, for other assessees, where foreign tax paid outside India for the tax year is ₹1 lakh or more. Form 45 carries the linked verification requirement where the relevant Form 44 required accountant verification. Recheck the live rule/form before filing.

How to Compute FTC Conceptually

A useful control is:

Eligible credit for an income stream ≈ lower of:

foreign tax qualifying for credit on that doubly taxed income; and
Indian tax attributable to that same income,

subject to domestic rules, treaty provisions, country/source aggregation and prescribed mechanics.

Example

A resident taxpayer earns foreign professional income. Foreign tax of ₹3,00,000 is finally paid. Indian tax attributable to the same doubly taxed income, after the Indian computation, is ₹2,40,000.

The starting conceptual cap is ₹2,40,000, not ₹3,00,000. If part of the foreign levy is not an eligible income tax, or part relates to income not taxed in India, the eligible amount can be lower.

The actual filing should apply Rule 76/Form 44 and the relevant treaty rather than this simplified illustration.

The Currency-Conversion Trap

Foreign tax and income may be reported in different currencies and on different dates. A spreadsheet using a single year-end FX rate can produce a wrong credit.

Document:

the prescribed conversion rule;
source of exchange rate;
relevant date;
currency;
formula;
rounding.

This is especially important for multiple countries and broker statements.

Disputed Foreign Tax

Do not claim an amount as finally paid merely because a foreign authority issued a demand if the taxpayer is actively disputing it and the Indian rule treats disputed tax differently.

Create a separate schedule:

Foreign jurisdiction	Tax amount	Status	Date paid	Dispute status	Final settlement date	Form 45 review

That table turns a future settlement into a controlled trigger rather than a missed credit.

Common Errors

Filing Form 44 for an old-law period solely because submission occurs after 1 April 2026.
Claiming all foreign withholding without matching it to Indian-taxed income.
Ignoring treaty limitations or source classification.
Using one FX rate for every transaction.
Claiming disputed tax as final without testing the rule.
Forgetting the Form 45 clock after a foreign dispute settles.
Assuming foreign tax credit can create credit for a levy that is not an eligible foreign income tax.
Failing to retain foreign tax-payment evidence.

Practical Checklist

[ ] Governing period and Act confirmed.
[ ] Form 67 vs Form 44 route selected.
[ ] Each country/income stream separately mapped.
[ ] Foreign tax evidence retained.
[ ] Indian tax attributable to same income computed.
[ ] Treaty reviewed where relevant.
[ ] FX conversion documented.
[ ] Disputed-tax status recorded.
[ ] Accountant verification requirement checked.
[ ] Form 45 trigger calendar maintained where relevant.

Article-Specific Q&A

Has Form 67 disappeared?

No. It remains relevant to old-law periods. Form 44 is the new-regime counterpart.

Is Form 45 a replacement for Form 67?

No. Form 45 is a separate later-dispute-settlement intimation route.

Can foreign tax credit exceed Indian tax on the same income?

The credit is subject to the statutory/treaty limitation; it is not a rupee-for-rupee refund of every foreign levy.

Do I need proof of foreign tax payment?

Yes. Maintain the evidence prescribed by the rule/form and sufficient records to support the computation.

What if foreign tax is still under appeal?

Track it separately and apply the disputed-tax rules. Do not assume it is final.

Can one Form 44 number be copied from a broker tax report?

No. Reconcile foreign reporting to the Indian return, eligible tax and the prescribed conversion rule.

Official Sources

Relevant Finin2min Links

Finin2min Review Trigger

Refresh after any Rule 76 amendment, Form 44/45 FAQ change, treaty development or portal change affecting FTC submission/verification.

Disclaimer

Foreign tax credit is fact-, treaty- and evidence-dependent. This guide is general and cannot determine the eligible credit for a particular taxpayer without the underlying foreign and Indian tax records.