New Delhi, April 20 -- If you do not have any taxable income and do not have PAN (Permanent Account Number) but are planning to leave the country, you have to file a 'Form 157' certificate with the Income Tax (IT) department. This is a declaration form that is mandatory (with some exceptions) under the IT Act, 2025. This replaces forms such as 156 under the old tax regime and is aimed at better compliance by getting details of outbound travellers who are outside the tax bracket.

Under the old IT regime, PAN was mandatory for filing 'Form 156' that was required to be filed by outbound travellers. While 'Form 156' could be filed on the e-filing portal of the IT department in the old regime, 'Form 157' can be done only manually under the IT...