Foreign Liabilities and Assets Return (FLA Return)

Foreign Liabilities and Assets Return

FLA Return

The annual return on Foreign Liabilities and Assets (FLA) is required to be submitted by the following entities which have received FDI (foreign direct investment) and/or made FDI abroad (i.e. overseas investment) in the previous year(s) including the current year i.e. who holds foreign assets or/and liabilities in their balance sheets;

A Company within the meaning of section 1(4) of the Companies Act, 2013.
A Limited Liability Partnership (LLP) registered under the Limited Liability Partnership Act, 2008
Others [include SEBI registered Alternative Investment Funds (AIFs), Partnership Firms, Public Private Partnerships (PPP) etc.]

The Return is required to be submitted by July 15 every year.

Reporting data and submitting return to RBI:

Reporting data and submitting return to RBI can be done on the following link provided by RBI: https://flair.rbi.org.in/fla/faces/pages/login.xhtml
All the steps, one by one for online web-based reporting of annual return on FLA, are provided in user manuals. Entity should read
1. User manual on “FLA User Registration Form” and
2. User manual on “Filling Online FLA Form”

for step by step guidance on procedure of registration on the portal and filing the FLA return.

The entity has to register on the portal by clicking Registration for New Entity Users.
The entity has to fill the details in the FLA user registration form, upload the documents mentioned (Verification Letter and Authority Letter) and click submit to complete the registration.
After successful registration, user id and default password will be sent to the authorized person’s mail id. Using this user id and password, entities can login to the FLAIR portal and file the FLA Return.
The format and email-based reporting system has been replaced by the web-based format for submission of annual FLA return from June 2019 (refer to circular Annual Reporting of Foreign Liabilities and Assets (FLA) –Move to FLAIR web-portal dated June 28, 2019 available on RBI website https://rbi.org.in ).

When does an entity need to fill registration form?

the company is filing the FLA Returns for the first time.
If the details of authorized person has changed during the latest financial year.
If the Entity name/address has changed during the latest financial year.
If Corporate Identification Number (CIN) / LLP Identification Number (LLPIN) / Others (UIN) / Partnership Firm – as on latest financial year ending March has changed from that of previous year

Documents/ info required for registering on the FLAIR portal?

Entity details like entity type, entity name, PAN, registered address, email, mobile no, state, district, pin code, changes in CIN, LPIN, UIN and date of change if any
Authorized persons detail like Full name, PAN, mobile, email
Verification letter and authority letter

Who is an authorized person?

The person who is authorized by the entity to fill and manage FLA Returns is called an Authorized person.
The Entity needs to furnish the details of its authorized person in the authority letter available on the FLAIR portal.
Default password and OTP (every time, whenever the company logs-in to the FLAIR portal) is sent to the email of the authorized person furnished during registration.
RBI allows for revision in the current year. It also allows for submission of FLA returns of the previous year(s). For this, the reporting company needs to make request to RBI to enable the same in the portal. The portal has a provision to make such a request.

Procedure for revision of current year FLA return:

The reporting entity need to take approval from RBI in case of revision of duly submitted current year FLA return. Visit https://flair.rbi.org.in/fla —>Login to FLAIR —>Click on MENU tab on the left-hand side of the homepage —>ONLINE FLA FORM —>FLA ONLINE FORM—>”Please click here to get the approval to fill revised FLA form for current year after due date/previous year” —>select “Year” and click on —>Click “Request”. Your request status will be visible in the table below available on the screen. After sending request to RBI through FLA portal, entities need to wait for at least one working day for approval. Entities can check the status of their request in “Multiple Year Enable Screen” under menu on the left corner. Once approved by RBI, the entity can revise FLA return for current year.

Procedure for submission of previous year’s FLA return:

In case of submission of FLA returns for previous years, the reporting entity need to take approval from RBI. Visit https://flair.rbi.org.in/fla — Login to FLAIR — Go to “Menu” (upper left corner) — Go to “Multiple Year CIN Enable Screen” — select year 2022 (2021,2020,2019,2018, … 2012,2011). Click “–>” then Click “Request”. After sending request to RBI through FLA portal, entities need to wait for at least one working day for approval. Entities can check the status of their request in “Multiple Year CIN Enable Screen” under menu on the left corner in the table given in the screen. Once approved by RBI, the entity can submit FLA return for the requested previous year”. It may be noted that if FLA return for approved years is not submitted then request for submission other years will not be allowed.

P.S.

Confirm variation report at the end before the FINAL FLA submission.
RBI allows for revision in the current year. It also allows for submission of FLA returns of the previous year(s). For this, the reporting company needs to make request to RBI to enable the same in the portal. The portal has a provision to make such a request.

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