Form 154: Undertaking under section 420(1)
Source checked 21 October 2026 · Original author: Finin2min Editorial Desk
Purpose, person and period
Undertaking under section 420(1).
The employer or other qualifying person furnishes the undertaking in Form 154 for the applicable section 420 departure-clearance route; the authority’s resulting certificate is a separate document.
Period gate: This numbered form belongs to the Income-tax Rules, 2026, effective 1 April 2026. The predecessor 30A is a concordance, not permission to change an earlier-year filing into a new-law form. For earlier periods, use the applicable 1961 Act form and saved procedure.
Controlling rule and source pages
Rule 228; Section 420(1), Section 420(4), Section 420(5). Physical PDF pp 850-851; printed Gazette pp 2382-2383.
Rule 228 — connected rule text
228. Forms and certificates for the purposes of section 420. — (1) An undertaking to be furnished to the prescribed authority by a person not domiciled in India from the persons referred to in clause (i) or (ii) of the longline in section 420(1), as the case may be, shall be in Form No. 154. (2) A no-objection certificate to be issued by the prescribed authority under section 420(1) shall be in Form No. 155 and shall be valid for the period mentioned therein. (3) The information to be furnished by a person domiciled in India shall be in Form No. 156. (4) Every application under section 420(4) shall be made in Form No. 157. (5) Every application under section 420(5) may be made in Form No. 158. (6) A tax clearance certificate issued under section 420(5) shall be in Form No. 159 and shall be valid for the period mentioned therein. (7) A copy of the undertaking referred to in sub -rule (1) and the no -objection certificate referred to in sub -rule (2) shall be forwarded to the Chief Commissioner of Income -tax or Director General of Income -tax, as the case may be, having jurisdiction over the persons referred to in section 420(1).
Completed field illustration
Fictional data, not for filing. A fictional employer’s unsigned undertaking illustrates the continuing tax obligation associated with a non-citizen employee’s departure-clearance application.
| Form field / block | Completed fictional entry |
|---|---|
| Addressee / employer / PAN / address / contact | Model prescribed authority / Example Employer Ltd / synthetic ZZZCE0000Z / 10 Model Road Pune / payroll@example.invalid |
| Part B: departing person / parent / PAN | Alex Morgan Example / Jordan Morgan Example / synthetic ZZZPM0000Z |
| Passport / issued / country / place / contact | MODEL-PASSPORT-154 / 1 June 2024 / UK / London / employee@example.invalid, +44 0000000000 |
| Undertaking paragraph 1 | Employer would accept taxes payable on income earned during employment or received from it under the listed applicable enactments |
| Paragraphs 2-4 | Actual AO certification of amount treated as conclusive under the undertaking; continuing obligation survives dissolution/death; recovery against undertaking need not first exhaust proceedings against employee |
| Execution / date | 21 October 2026 / NOT SIGNED; no actual undertaking accepted and no NOC issued |
This illustrates the named fields, not every possible schedule. Use the complete official extract for additional applicable fields, annexures and verification. “Not signed” means no professional certification or authority action has occurred.
Reconcile the example
- Employer and employee are distinct parties; the undertaking is not described as the employee’s self-issued clearance.
The undertaking has substantive recovery consequences and requires an authorised real undertaking. This model does not establish that every traveller needs tax clearance; the specific section 420 category must be determined first.
Prepare, furnish and retain
- Use the form identity and period above, then determine the person who prepares, issues or verifies it from Rule 228. An authority-issued order is not an applicant filing.
- Collect the records that support the actual fields in the example; keep any mandatory schedules and annexures specified in the complete source form.
- Reconcile dates, amounts, units and identifiers to the underlying records. Preserve the applicable rule version and any later correcting notification.
- Where the rule prescribes electronic furnishing, use the current official utility/schema and authorised verification. A local PDF does not produce a portal acknowledgement.
- Retain the submitted version, supporting schedules and actual acknowledgement or issued certificate/order, as applicable. This fictional model supplies none of those evidential outcomes.
Download the correct documents
Official Form 154 source extract Filled sample — fictional field illustration
The official extract preserves source pages; later amendments are supplied with affected forms. Read the April corrigendum where its printed-page corrections apply. The filled field illustration is an educational model and cannot be filed.
Primary sources
Questions readers ask
Does this sample prove approval, filing or a professional conclusion?
No. It completes the named fields using synthetic facts. It has no real signature, DSC, approval or acknowledgement.
Can I use the legacy form number for a current tax-year obligation?
Establish the governing period first. A predecessor number is a cross-reference; earlier-year procedures and current-year forms must be kept distinct.