In brief
An NRI's Indian tax is a question of residence, of which income accrued here, and of whether a treaty already gives a credit the return is not claiming. We file, we plan, and we deal with the certificates a bank or a buyer will ask for before money can move.
Discuss this matter
Residence
Which Indian rules apply to you this year, and which do not.
The return
Filing, and planning that uses the statute rather than a guess.
The treaty
DTAA relief, property, and the tax on money sent home.
The brief
What clients ask us
Choose a question. The answer sets out the work we actually take in this practice, in plain language.
Answer
Residence is the hinge. Days in India, the source of the income, and the account it sits in decide whether a sum is taxable here at all.
- How Indian tax law applies to a non-resident
- Income earned in India
- Income earned abroad, and when India still wants to see it
Which Indian tax rules apply to an NRI?
Answer
Residence is the hinge. Days in India, the source of the income, and the account it sits in decide whether a sum is taxable here at all.
- How Indian tax law applies to a non-resident
- Income earned in India
- Income earned abroad, and when India still wants to see it
Will you file the return and plan the year?
Answer
Filing is the compliance. Planning is the conversation before a sale, a gift, or a transfer that will be reported next year.
- Income-tax returns for NRIs
- Planning and the legitimate reduction of the liability
- Advice timed to the transaction, not to the notice
How does a tax treaty work in practice?
Answer
A DTAA does not apply itself. The return has to claim the article, and the foreign tax credit has to be evidenced. We do that claim properly.
- Reading the relevant double taxation avoidance agreement
- Treaty benefits, claimed rather than assumed
- The documents the department asks for when a credit is claimed
What about property, investments, and money sent home?
Answer
A sale of Indian property is the most common NRI tax instruction we see. The rate, the deduction, and the repatriation are three linked questions.
- Tax on Indian property and investments
- Repatriation, and the tax that travels with it
- Coordination with the property work, where title and tax arise together
Which certificates do people usually need?
Answer
Banks, buyers, and the authorised dealer ask for certificates before they will move the money. Obtaining the right one, in the right name, is part of the brief.
- Tax certificates and related documentation
- What a buyer or a bank typically insists on seeing
- The filings those certificates depend on
The path
How a matter moves
01
Days and source
Residence and the source of each receipt are established before a computation is attempted.
02
The treaty
If another country has also taxed the sum, the article and the evidence of that tax are collected.
03
File
The return is prepared and filed with the claims the facts support.
04
The certificate
Whatever the bank or the buyer needs in order to release the money is applied for against that return.
Before you instruct us
Questions on this practice
I was in India for part of the year. Am I still an NRI for tax?
Maybe. The test is the number of days and the statutory conditions, not the stamp in everyday speech. We count the days from your travel record before anyone calls you a resident.
Tax was already paid in the country where I work. Do I pay again in India?
Not twice on the same sum, if a treaty applies and the credit is claimed with evidence. The return has to say so. The treaty does not operate in the background.
I am selling a flat in Kolkata from abroad. What should I ask first?
The tax on the gain, the rate of deduction, and whether the buyer's payment can be repatriated. Title is a separate question, and we will tell you if you need that advice as well.
Can the return be filed without my travelling?
Usually yes, with the documents and the authority to file. A few verifications still need you. We will list them rather than discover them at the deadline.
Is this different from the general income-tax practice?
Yes. That practice is domestic assessment, appeal, and prosecution. This one is the non-resident: residence, treaty, Indian-source income, and the certificates that unlock a remittance.
These answers describe the practice. They are not advice on the facts of your matter.
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