ITR Filing for NRIs
India-source income, DTAA relief and the 30% NRO TDS you keep gifting the government — handled remotely by a team that does cross-border tax all year, not just in July.
Starts at ₹1,499 property-sale and 197-certificate packs quoted separately
Do NRIs need to file an income tax return in India?
An NRI must file an Indian income tax return when India-source income — rent, capital gains on Indian assets, NRO interest, salary earned in India — exceeds the basic exemption limit, and should usually file even below it, because NRO income suffers TDS at 30%+ that only a return can recover. Filing is due 31 July and happens in ITR-2 for most NRIs (ITR-1 is not available to non-residents).
NRI taxation is decided before the return, by two determinations most portals never make properly. First, residency status under Section 6 — the 182-day rule, the 60/365-day rule and its NRI relaxations, the 120-day rule for high-income visiting NRIs, and the deemed-residency rule for Indian citizens untaxed elsewhere. Get this wrong and everything downstream is wrong. Second, treaty position — which DTAA article covers each income, what rate it caps, and the TRC and Form 10F paperwork that makes the relief stick.
Our NRI desk sits inside LexVerge LLP’s cross-border practice: the same team handles the India return, the treaty relief, and — when money needs to move home — the 15CA/CB certification. Everything is remote: documents by upload, signatures by e-verification, calls in your timezone.
What a specialist NRI filing gets you
Day-count analysis across the relevant years, including the 120-day and deemed-residency traps introduced for high-income NRIs — documented in the file.
Banks deduct 30%+ on NRO interest and buyers deduct on full property value. Slab rates and treaty caps are usually far lower — the difference is your refund, claimable only by filing.
Treaty rates applied with TRC and e-filed Form 10F in place — not claimed bare and hoped for.
Indian equity, mutual funds and property with the post-2024 rate rules applied correctly — the single most error-prone area in DIY NRI returns.
Foreign-asset Schedule FA applies to ordinarily residents — not to NRIs or RNORs. We file what the law requires, nothing extra, nothing missing.
Moving back? The RNOR window can keep foreign income out of Indian tax for up to three years — but only if planned before the move.
Documents required
Identity & status
- PAN (and Aadhaar if held)
- Passport with travel stamps / entry-exit summary for day counts
- Tax residency certificate (TRC) of your country, for treaty claims
- Overseas address and contact for the return
Income evidence
- NRO/NRE bank statements and interest certificates
- Rent receipts / tenant TDS details (Form 16A), if property is let
- Broker capital-gains statements for Indian equity/MF
- Sale deed and buyer TDS certificate (Form 16A/26QB) for property sales
- Form 26AS / AIS — we pull these from the portal
Not sure which package fits?
A specialist will map your situation to the right plan in one call.
The NRI filing sequence
- Residency & scope callDay 0–1
Day counts verified, residency fixed (NR / RNOR / ROR), incomes listed, treaty positions identified. You get a written summary of what will be filed and why.
- Document uploadDay 1–3
A checklist tailored to your incomes — most NRI clients finish uploads in one sitting. We pull 26AS/AIS ourselves.
- Computation & DTAA applicationDay 3–5
Slab vs special rates vs treaty caps computed per income head; TDS mapped; refund quantified. Draft shared in plain English.
- Filing & e-verificationDay 5
ITR-2 filed; e-verification via Aadhaar OTP, net-banking or DSC — we walk you through the option that works from abroad.
- Refund tracking to your bankWeeks 2–8
Refunds land in your pre-validated Indian account (NRO works). We track until credited, not until filed.
Transparent pricing
Standard NRI
₹1,499
NRO/NRE interest, one let property, salary — ITR-2
- Residency determination with day-count workings
- NRO interest and rental income
- TDS reconciliation (26AS/AIS)
- Refund computation and tracking
- Remote e-verification support
- Capital gains schedules
- DTAA relief with TRC/10F
Investor NRI
₹2,999
adds capital gains and treaty relief
- Everything in Standard NRI
- Equity / mutual fund capital gains
- DTAA relief with TRC + Form 10F e-filing
- Dividend treaty-rate reconciliation
- Advance-tax planning for next year
- Property sale TDS recovery pack
Property Sale Pack
₹4,999
the full sale-to-repatriation journey
- Everything in Investor NRI
- Lower/nil TDS certificate (Section 197, Form 13) filing
- Capital gains computation with exemptions (54/54EC/54F)
- Buyer TDS compliance guidance
- 15CA/15CB coordination for repatriation
- Repatriation documentation (up to USD 1M/year route)
All prices are professional fees exclusive of GST at 18%. Government fees and stamp duty are charged at actuals and shown before you pay.
NR, RNOR or ROR — what India taxes in each status
| Status | Who, roughly | India taxes | Schedule FA (foreign assets) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Non-Resident (NR) | Under 182 days (and outside the 60/120-day traps) | Only India-source income | Not required |
| RNOR | Recent returnees; deemed residents; 120–181 day visitors with ₹15L+ India income | India-source income + foreign income from a business controlled in India | Not required |
| Resident & Ordinarily Resident | Settled residents | Worldwide income | Mandatory |
The 87A rebate (zero tax up to ₹12 lakh under the new regime) is available only to residents — NRIs pay from the first slab rupee. Residency planning is not paperwork; it is the tax rate.
The three NRI tax traps we defuse most often
Trap one: the day-count you didn’t know changed. The classic 182-day rule has company now. An Indian citizen or PIO visiting India with India-source income above ₹15 lakh becomes RNOR at just 120 days (with 365+ days over the prior four years). And a citizen with India income above ₹15 lakh who is not liable to tax in any other country is deemed RNOR with zero days in India — aimed at Gulf-based professionals. RNOR is survivable (foreign salary stays untaxed), but it changes filings, and discovering it during scrutiny rather than planning is expensive.
Trap two: property TDS arithmetic. When an NRI sells Indian property, the buyer must deduct TDS on the full sale consideration — not the gain — at the long-term rate of 12.5% plus surcharge and cess (post-July-2024 rules, no indexation). On a ₹2 crore sale with a ₹40 lakh actual gain, that is ~₹29 lakh withheld against a true liability near ₹5 lakh. The fixes, in order: a Section 197 lower-deduction certificate obtained before the sale (Form 13 — takes a few weeks, saves the wait), exemptions under 54/54EC/54F where reinvested, and a filed return to recover the balance. Our Property Sale Pack runs all three plus the repatriation paperwork.
Trap three: treaty relief claimed bare. DTAA caps — 10–15% on interest and dividends for most treaties — are not self-executing. Without a valid TRC from your country of residence and an e-filed Form 10F, the payer deducts at domestic rates and the department can deny the claim in processing. We file the paperwork before the relief is claimed, which is the difference between a treaty position and a treaty hope. One myth to retire while we are here: NRE account interest is already exempt for NRIs under Section 10(4)(ii) — if you have been paying tax on it, that is a refund claim, not a rule.
Beyond the return: the money and the move
Filing is one leg of NRI finance. Moving sale proceeds or accumulated income abroad runs through the USD 1 million per year remittance route with Form 15CA/15CB certification — we coordinate it with your bank. Planning a return to India? The RNOR window (up to three years for long-term expats) is the one chance to restructure foreign assets before worldwide taxation applies — see NRI tax services for the planning side. And if a notice arrives on a past year — NRI returns attract them, usually on property TDS — the notice desk handles it remotely too.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need to file an ITR in India if TDS was already deducted?
Almost always yes, and usually to your benefit. NRO TDS at 30%+ and property TDS on full sale value routinely exceed your actual liability — the excess is refundable only through a filed return. Filing also preserves loss carry-forwards and creates the income proof consulates and banks ask for.
Which ITR form applies to NRIs?
ITR-2 for most NRIs (salary, property, capital gains, interest). ITR-1 is not available to non-residents. NRIs with business income in India file ITR-3. We pick the form as part of the engagement — wrong-form filings are treated as defective.
How is my residency status determined?
Primarily by day counts under Section 6: 182+ days makes you resident; 60+ days with 365+ over four prior years can too, though NRIs get relaxations that generally lift the 60 to 182 — except high-income visiting NRIs (₹15L+ India income), where 120 days triggers RNOR. Indian citizens untaxed in any country with ₹15L+ India income are deemed RNOR with zero days. We compute this from your passport stamps, not assumptions.
Is my NRE account interest taxable?
No — interest on NRE and FCNR deposits is exempt for NRIs (Section 10(4)). NRO interest, by contrast, is fully taxable and suffers 30%+ TDS. If tax was paid on NRE interest in past returns, a refund claim may be possible for open years.
I sold property in India. Why did the buyer deduct so much tax?
Buyers must deduct TDS on the entire sale price when the seller is an NRI — at 12.5% plus surcharge/cess for long-term holdings — regardless of your actual gain. Recovery routes: a Section 197 lower-deduction certificate before sale, reinvestment exemptions (54/54EC/54F), and a filed return for the balance. Done in that order, the cash-flow damage is largely avoidable.
How do I claim DTAA benefits?
Three pieces: a Tax Residency Certificate from your country, Form 10F filed electronically on the Indian portal, and the treaty article correctly applied in the return. We prepare all three. Without them, treaty rates can be denied in processing even when you genuinely qualify.
Do I have to report my foreign assets in the Indian return?
Not as an NRI or RNOR — Schedule FA applies only to Resident and Ordinarily Resident filers. This matters in the other direction too: in your first years back in India (RNOR), foreign assets still stay out; once you become ROR, disclosure is mandatory and non-disclosure carries severe Black Money Act penalties. We time this transition with you.
Can everything really be done remotely?
Yes — documents upload to a checklist, computations are reviewed on a call in your timezone, filing is electronic, and e-verification works via Aadhaar OTP (Indian mobile), net-banking, or DSC. Our NRI clients file from the UAE, US, UK, Singapore and Australia without visiting India.
Does the ₹12 lakh zero-tax rebate apply to me?
No — the Section 87A rebate is available only to resident individuals. NRIs pay tax from the first rupee above the basic exemption. This is also why deduction and treaty planning matter more for NRIs than for residents at the same income.
Official references
The statutory sources behind this page. We keep our guidance aligned to them — verify anything time-sensitive directly.
- Income Tax DepartmentReturns, forms, rates and e-filing utilities
- TRACESTDS certificates and justification reports
- Ministry of Corporate AffairsCompanies Act filings, forms and fee schedules
Content on this page is reviewed by a chartered accountant or advocate at LexVerge LLP. It is general guidance, not advice on your specific facts.