CORAA

Form 61A Checklist — Statement of Financial Transactions (SFT) Reporting

The Section 285BA reportable-transaction categories checked one by one against this entity's activity for the year — cash deposits, high-value purchases, property registrations, and the rest of the notified SFT list.

Free · CORAA original — SA-aligned
Updated 28 Jul 2026
Statutory basis
Section 285BA, Rule 114E
Filed by
"Reporting persons" — banks, companies, registrars, mutual funds, etc.
Filed with
Income-tax e-filing portal (Form 61A)
Due date
31 May following the financial year (verify for the relevant year)
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What’s inside

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FORM 61A / STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL TRANSACTIONS (SFT) — APPLICABILITY CHECKLIST

Entity: ___ · PAN: ___ · Previous year ended: ___ · Assessment Year: ___

Purpose: to test, category by category, whether this entity — as a "reporting person" (a bank, company, registrar, mutual fund, or other specified entity under Rule 114E) — has entered into any transaction of a kind and value that triggers a Statement of Financial Transactions filing obligation under Section 285BA, and to document the conclusion for each category. Verify the current threshold for each row against Rule 114E before concluding — several have been revised over the years.

Note: Rule 114E also prescribes categories applicable specifically to banks, registrars/sub-registrars, mutual funds, and companies issuing bonds/debentures/shares — this checklist covers the categories most commonly relevant to a company/firm being audited, not the full reporting-person-specific list. Confirm whether this entity itself is a "reporting person" under any additional category before concluding no SFT obligation exists.

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About this template

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This template follows the format published by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) in the AASB Audit Working Paper Templates (June 2023), the authoritative reference for Indian statutory-audit documentation. Fill in your firm’s letterhead and the engagement details on the form above, click Download Word file, and you’ll get a fully formatted .docx ready to use.

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Common questions

FAQs.

Does every company need to file Form 61A?
No — only entities that qualify as a "reporting person" under Rule 114E for at least one notified category, and have actually entered into a reportable transaction at or above the prescribed threshold for that category during the year, have a filing obligation. Many companies have no SFT obligation at all in a given year; this checklist documents that conclusion category by category rather than assuming it.
What happens if Form 61A is not filed when required?
The income-tax authority can issue a notice under Section 285BA(5) requiring the statement within a specified period; if not furnished even after that, Section 271FA prescribes a penalty for each day of continuing default (verify the current per-day amount). A defective or inaccurate statement can attract further scrutiny of the underlying transactions.
Is SFT data cross-verified against the taxpayer's own return?
Yes — SFT data reported by third parties (banks, registrars, mutual funds, etc.) feeds directly into the taxpayer's Annual Information Statement (AIS) and Form 26AS, and is used by the department to flag high-value transactions inconsistent with the income disclosed in the return. This is a common source of scrutiny-notice triggers.
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