- India introduced Forms 46 and 47 for multi-year arm’s length price determinations under the 2026 rules.
- Chartered accountant certification is mandatory, confirming transactions meet Rule 82(5) conditions across the block period.
- Both forms must be filed online by 30 June after the third tax year through the e-Filing portal.
(INDIA) — India introduced Forms 46 and 47 under the Income-tax Rules, 2026 to let eligible taxpayers seek a consolidated arm’s length price determination for multiple years in a single proceeding, tying the option to mandatory chartered accountant certification.
The new forms sit within section 166(9) of the Income-tax Act, 2025, which allows a multi-year option for determining the arm’s length price, or ALP, for international transactions or specified domestic transactions. The framework applies where a reference has already gone to a Transfer Pricing Officer under section 166(1).
Under the new system, the assessee files Form 46 to opt for consolidated ALP determination for two consecutive tax years, covering the second and third tax years after the initial year in which the Transfer Pricing Officer received the reference. Form 47, filed alongside it, serves as the accountant’s certificate confirming that the transactions meet the prescribed conditions.
The design marks a procedural change under the 2026 rules. The forms are new and have no equivalent in the 1962 rules, creating a formal route for businesses to fold related transfer pricing questions for a block of years into one process instead of facing separate proceedings for each year.
That block assessment period covers the tax year under scrutiny and the two following tax years. The arrangement matters most for companies with cross-border dealings or specified domestic transactions that already fall within transfer pricing review.
Form 46 carries the election itself. It is the document through which the taxpayer asks to extend the ALP determination beyond the initial year and into the next two years covered by the option structure set out in section 166(9).
The form is divided into two parts. Part A captures general details, while Part B records transaction-specific information, including the initial tax year, the subsequent years, the dates of income tax return filing, the dates of filing Form 48, and particulars of the transactions.
Taxpayers do not need to attach a bundle of supporting records to Form 46. The only accompanying document required is the certificate in Form 47.
Filing also moves entirely online. Form 46 must be furnished only through the Income Tax e-Filing portal, with no physical submission route contemplated in the new process.
Form 47 gives the certification that underpins the election. A chartered accountant issues it to confirm that the transactions satisfy the conditions in Rule 82(5) of the Income-tax Rules, 2026.
Those conditions focus on whether the transactions remain comparable across the block assessment period. The certification addresses similarity of transactions, the arm’s length price methods applied, contractual terms, functions, assets and risks, often described as FAR, and the business model followed across the relevant years.
That makes the accountant’s role more than clerical. The certificate is the document that establishes eligibility for the multi-year ALP option under section 166(9), and the new framework makes that certification mandatory rather than optional.
Like Form 46, Form 47 does not call for extra supporting papers beyond the certification itself. It also must be filed online through the e-Filing portal and submitted alongside Form 46.
The filing window is fixed. Both forms must be furnished within the period beginning from the end of the third tax year and ending on 30 June immediately succeeding the third tax year.
That timing rule sits alongside separate filing obligations for the earlier years in the block. For the first and second years, taxpayers must file Form 48, the accountant’s report under section 172, by the due dates and file the Return of Income under section 263(1).
The sequence matters because the multi-year option does not replace the ordinary return and reporting framework for those years. It adds a route for consolidated ALP determination after the required filings for the first and second years are in place.
Businesses considering the new route will have to test their facts against Rule 82 before filing. The 2026 framework does not open the door to every taxpayer with transfer pricing exposure; it applies where the underlying transactions can support the chartered accountant certification required in Form 47.
That means consistency across years will sit at the center of many decisions. If the nature of the transaction, the pricing method, the contractual setting, the FAR profile, or the business model changes across the block assessment period, the basis for certification becomes harder to sustain.
For companies with stable arrangements, the structure aims to reduce repeated proceedings over similar issues. Instead of running a separate ALP exercise for each year under review, the forms create a single procedural path for the initial year and the two following years covered by the option.
The change also places more emphasis on coordination between taxpayers and their accountants. The assessee controls the election through Form 46, but the filing cannot stand alone because the mandatory certificate in Form 47 must align with the Rule 82(5) conditions.
That coordination will likely begin well before the filing window opens. Accountants will need the transaction profile for the relevant years, the method used for ALP determination, the contractual terms, and the FAR analysis to match the certification language required under the rules.
Practitioners also face a tighter operational shift because the process is digital from end to end. The e-Filing portal is the sole submission channel for both forms, and the rules do not call for physical filing or separate paper attachments beyond the certificate itself.
In practical terms, taxpayers that want to use Forms 46 and 47 will need to keep an eye on two tracks at once: the ordinary due dates for Form 48 and Return of Income filings for the first and second years, and the later window that closes on 30 June immediately after the third tax year. Missing that prescribed period would shut off the election.
The new forms also sharpen the compliance line between eligibility and convenience. A single proceeding may reduce duplicated transfer pricing review, but the relief exists only if the taxpayer can support the multi-year approach with a valid accountant’s certificate under the Income-tax Rules, 2026.
With Forms 46 and 47, the tax administration has set out a more formal mechanism for multi-year ALP review, linking the option to online filing, defined timelines and mandatory chartered accountant certification. Taxpayers already before a Transfer Pricing Officer now have a structured path to seek one consolidated determination across a three-year block, provided their transactions hold steady enough to meet Rule 82(5).
