For NRIs
NRI tax and money — what this page will cover, and why it is not live yet
The second of the two pages on this site held back until a professional has signed it off — and the one that changes most often.
The short answer
This page is deliberately unpublished. Residency, tax on Indian income, TDS on property sales and repatriation all turn on facts about you and on rules that move with each year's budget, so we hold it until a practising chartered accountant has reviewed it.
Why this subject in particular
Three properties combine badly.
It moves. The Union Budget every February adjusts rates, thresholds and definitions. Residency rules for non-residents have themselves been amended in recent years.
It is personal. The answer depends on your day counts, your income sources, your account types, which country you are tax-resident in, and which treaty applies. There is no general answer that is also a useful one.
It is expensive to get wrong. Not embarrassing — expensive, in penalties, in tax deducted that could have been avoided, and occasionally in money that cannot be repatriated because the paperwork was not done at the time.
What the page will cover
- Residency: how it is determined, what the day counts mean, and why the answer can differ between two years
- Which Indian income is taxable for a non-resident, and how it is treated
- Account types — NRE, NRO, FCNR — and what each is for
- TDS on a property sale, and the certificate that can reduce it
- Repatriation: what a bank requires and in what order
- Double taxation relief and how treaties work in principle
- What to have ready before a first conversation with a CA
Each of those will describe the mechanism and stop. None of them will tell a reader what to do.
Choosing a chartered accountant, which you can do now
- Verify the membership. Chartered accountants in India hold an ICAI membership number, and it can be checked. Ask for it and check it.
- Ask about non-resident work specifically. NRI filing, TDS certificates, repatriation and treaty relief are a specialisation, not a general competence.
- Get the engagement in writing — what work, what fee, what documents required, what timeline.
- Ask what they need from you, and expect a real list: passport pages, travel dates, account statements, property documents, previous returns.
- Be wary of anyone who answers your specific question before seeing your documents. Confidence at that stage is a warning sign, not a qualification.
What to gather before that call
Your dates of entry into and exit from India for the last several years. Which accounts you hold in India and of which type. What income arises there — rent, interest, dividends, capital gains. Whether any tax has already been deducted at source. Copies of the last returns filed, if any.
Most of the cost of professional advice is spent reconstructing that. Arriving with it changes both the price and the quality of the answer.
Questions people ask
Why is tax the last thing you will publish?
Because it changes the most and forgives the least. India's budget adjusts rules every February, residency thresholds have been amended more than once in recent years, and a page that is right in March can be wrong in April. Publishing it means committing to review it annually, and we will not start what we cannot maintain.
Can you at least tell me if I am a resident this year?
No, and be sceptical of any web page that will. It depends on day counts across specific periods, on the financial year in question, and on categories that have been amended. A chartered accountant who can see your dates can answer it in minutes.
What should I read in the meantime?
The Income Tax Department's own material for non-residents, and the Reserve Bank's FAQs on remittances and accounts. Both are authoritative and neither is a substitute for advice on your own facts.
What will you publish when it is reviewed?
How the rules work, with the financial year stated, the reviewer named, and a review date on the page. If the review date passes without a re-check, the page comes down rather than sitting there wrong.
Sources (2)
- Income Tax Department of India, information for non-residents — The authoritative source, and the one to read for the current financial year
- Reserve Bank of India, FAQs on remittance facilities and NRI accounts — For account types and repatriation rules
This page has not yet been fact-checked by a second person. Due for review by 28 February 2027.
Something wrong here? Tell us — corrections are made in the open.
India,
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