S0301: Business travel

When to use S0301

Use S0301 for money paid abroad: business travel. It sits under RBI head 03, travel.

Choose the code for what you are buying. The code decides the tax nature below, so a wrong code can mean the wrong rate of tax or a missing Form 145.

The same purpose in the other direction is P0301: Travel receipts – foreign currency bought by hotels, emporiums and institutions (money received).

Form A1 or Form A2

Form A2: the application for every payment abroad other than for goods imported into India. With it go the invoice, the agreement or purchase order and, unless the code is on the specified list, the Form 145 acknowledgement (and Form 146 for Part C).

Income tax

S0301 is on the specified list in Rule 220(3) of the Income-tax Rules, 2026: neither Form 145 nor Form 146 is needed, and no tax is withheld.

Form 145 / 146: Not needed: on the specified list.

GST

Not a supply on which GST is payable in India.

Reporting and closure

The bank reports the payment under its code. FxLayer keeps the invoice, the Form 145 / 146 acknowledgements and the treaty papers on the payment, so the request goes to the bank complete.

Other codes under head 03

• S0303Travel for pilgrimage
• S0304Travel for medical treatment
• S0305Travel for education (including fees and hostel expenses)
• S0306Other travel (holiday trips, international credit card settlement)

Questions

Guides

• RBI purpose codes: the five characters that classify every payment
• Form 145 and Form 146: which part applies to your foreign payment
• Paying a foreign vendor at the treaty rate: the papers that matter
• Form A1 or Form A2: which application does your bank need?