What We Offer:

Determining residential status for tax and regulatory purposes and understanding the tax benefits on returning to India

Your residential status for tax purposes shall be determined based on your period of stay abroad and is governed by the Income tax Act, 1961. Whereas residential status for regulatory purposes is determined based on your intent of stay in India and is governed by the Foreign Exchange Management Act 1999. Knowing your residential status enables you to plan your finances and taxes to avail benefits available to returning NRIs.

Planning the time (date/month) of arrival in India to mitigate global tax exposures

A tax resident in India is taxed on his global income irrespective of its source. Upon return to India, you may have the benefit of offering only that income to tax which is sourced in India for a certain period. Your income sources from abroad shall not be taxable in India till such time that you attain the residency status of an “Ordinary resident” for tax purposes. Determining when you will become an ordinary resident is based on the time of your arrival in India and this allows for planning of your finances and investments so as to minimize the tax impact on your return to your home country.

Holding and operating of non-resident Banking accounts on return to India and taxability thereof

As a Non-resident Indian you may hold either a Non-Resident Ordinary Rupee Account (NRO A/c), Non-Resident External Rupee Account (NRE A/c) or Foreign Currency Non-Resident Account (FCNR A/c). Each of these accounts have to be re-designated to either resident Rupee Account or Resident Foreign Currency Account (RFC A/c) within a stipulated period of your arrival in India.

Holding/ disposing off foreign assets including immovable property and investments

Depending on your period and intent of stay in India, it is critical to plan the future course of action in relation to your foreign investments. Once you become a tax resident of India, your global income shall be liable to tax in India. That being said, it is well within the regulatory scheme to retain foreign acquired assets abroad. Understanding the tax and regulatory implications will assist you in determining whether to hold or dispose off your current and proposed investments abroad.

Managing foreign sourced income and assets from an Indian regulatory standpoint

Although you may henceforth be residing in India, in case you have foreign sources of income such as professional fees, royalty, honorarium, management consulting fees etc., it is critical to understand the resultant tax impact in India. Planning up ahead will allow you to understand the benefits that you can avail through double taxation treaties Furthermore, investment of foreign sourced income may also be planned parallelly.

Retirement planning including managing retirement funds held abroad and taxability of social security benefits availed abroad

If you are returning to India for retirement purposes, plan your investments and know your annual tax liabilities so as to ensure that your retirement benefits are secure and flow smoothly to you. Further, we assist in analysing the taxability of social security, medical and retirement benefits that accrue to you abroad. Understand the implications of taxation on retirement funds held abroad to ensure compliance with Indian tax regime.

Filing of returns in India and abroad and claiming tax treaty benefits to avoid double taxation of income

We assist in filing of your income tax returns in India, Australia, US and Singapore. In case you are resident in one of these locations and intend to return to India, we shall be in a position to guide and advise you through various tax planning measures and compliance requirements including availing relevant treaty benefits to avoid double taxation. If you are a resident of any other country, understand how DTAA with your country of residence can be availed in India.