Living abroad / NRI
Moving abroad, living abroad or coming back, with income, accounts or property still in India: what changes, and where we come in.
How people usually arrive.
You moved abroad during the year and do not know which return applies to you.
You still have rent, interest or dividends arriving in India.
You want to move money out of an Indian account and the bank has asked for the tax position first.
You are moving back to India and want to know what changes in the first years.
Where we come in.
What you can engage us to help with here, how it usually begins, and what is useful to have.
- Your status for the year
- We work out your residential status for the tax year from your days in India and your history, and separately your status under the exchange-control rules, which is a different test. Both are settled first, because everything else follows from them. You get a short written note of the position and what it changes.
- Indian income and the return
- We prepare and file the Indian return for the rent, interest, dividends and gains arising here, claim back withholding taken at more than is due, and settle which return applies.
- Treaty relief
- Where the same income is looked at by both countries, we establish what the treaty between India and where you live allows, and what has to exist for it: the residency certificate from the other country, the declarations and the timing.
- Accounts and money moving out
- We settle how your accounts should be designated, what can go where, and what the bank needs before money leaves India. Some remittances need a certificate from a Chartered Accountant in practice, which is a separate step; we tell you when one arises.
- Coming back
- If you return, we work out the transitional status that may apply, what it changes and for how long, and what happens to the accounts.
It begins with your dates of travel for the last few years and the statements for the Indian accounts. If you are about to move, before the move is the most useful time.
Useful to have, if you have it
- Dates of arrival in and departure from India for the last few years
- NRE and NRO account statements
- Certificates for tax deducted from payments made to you
- A tax residency certificate from where you live, if you have one
Where this needs another specialist
We handle the Indian side. Where you also have to file where you live, we work with or refer you to a practitioner licensed there, and we make sure the two sets of figures agree.
What becomes relevant, and when.
Each consideration at the stage it tends to arrive, explained once. The ones shared with other matters say so.
Before you act
- Residency
Residential status is worked out year by year from time spent in India and a few other tests. It decides which income India looks at, and it is the first thing settled.
Shared with five other matters. See them on the map →
- Where the income arises
At the move
- NRE / NRO accounts
Which accounts you hold, and how they are designated, follows your status under the exchange-control rules, which is a different test from the tax one. It affects what can be deposited, what can be moved out and how the income on them is looked at.
- What stays in India
- What moves
Every year
- Indian income
Income that arises in India, rent, interest, dividends or gains, stays reportable here while you live abroad. What is withheld on it is often the starting point.
- Withholding (TDS)
Payers in India often withhold on payments to someone living abroad, at rates that can differ from a resident’s. Reconciling that withholding, and claiming what is due back, is a regular part of the return.
Shared with five other matters. See them on the map →
- Capital gains
Selling Indian shares or property while living abroad raises a capital gains question here, with withholding by the buyer often involved.
Shared with seven other matters. See them on the map →
- Treaty position
Where the same income is looked at by both countries, the treaty between them decides how the two positions interact. The documents it needs have to exist in time.
Shared with 06 International taxation · 07 ESOPs & employee equity · On the map →
When money moves
- Repatriation
Moving money out of India follows a route with limits, paperwork and reporting of its own, and the bank usually wants the tax position confirmed first, sometimes by a certificate.
- Reporting
Relevant here too. Explained under Every year.
At filing
- Which return
Which return applies, and what it has to show, follows from your residential status and the kinds of income involved.
- Foreign asset reporting
Depending on residential status for the year, foreign assets and accounts may need to be reported in the Indian return.
Shared with 02 Tax returns · 06 International taxation · 07 ESOPs & employee equity · On the map →
- Income-tax return
Indian income, withholding, treaty relief and any foreign asset reporting come together in the return. Which return, and what it shows, is decided by status.
Shared with nine other matters. See them on the map →