Moving back to India does not create one universal “NRI tax” date. You must determine your status separately for each Indian tax year, then examine the source and receipt of each item of foreign income, your relationship to each overseas asset, and your separate obligations under foreign-exchange rules. A return during 2025–26 and a return during 2026–27 can fall under different residency statutes because the Income-tax Act, 2025 applies only to tax years beginning on or after 1 April 2026.
This guide is a framework, not an individual tax conclusion. Citizenship, arrival and departure dates, earlier days in India, where income arose and was received, grant and vesting dates for equity, treaty provisions, and FEMA facts can all change the result.
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Start with the correct Indian tax year
India’s tax-year boundary is 1 April to 31 March. Work out the answer for every year separately; do not combine a partial year abroad with the following year in one calculation.
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Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsFree Scan →Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesFind Drivers →Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsFix Now →| Indian tax year | Residency law | What the transition means |
|---|---|---|
| Years beginning before 1 April 2026 (including FY 2025–26) | Income-tax Act, 1961 | The 1961 Act continues to govern residential status even if an assessment or reassessment happens after the newer Act starts. |
| Years beginning on or after 1 April 2026 (including FY 2026–27) | Income-tax Act, 2025 | The 2025 Act applies prospectively; it does not rewrite an earlier year. |
The Income Tax Department states: “Residential status for any tax year beginning before 1 April 2026 will continue to be determined under section 6 of the Income Tax Act, 1961, even if the assessment or reassessment takes place after the commencement of the Income Tax Act, 2025.” It separately says that residential status under the 2025 Act applies only to tax years beginning on or after 1 April 2026.
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For a move that crosses 31 March 2026, calculate FY 2025–26 under the 1961 Act and FY 2026–27 under the 2025 Act. Earlier Indian-day history can still feed the look-back tests used in a later year, so keep the historical records rather than resetting the count on 1 April 2026.
How to determine when you become an Indian tax resident
Count your physical days in India
For each tax year, list every date you were physically in India, including arrival and departure dates according to the applicable counting convention. The Department’s current guidance describes these core individual tests:
- You are resident if you were in India for 182 days or more during the relevant year; or
- You were in India for at least 60 days during that year and at least 365 days during the four preceding years, subject to statutory exceptions.
Those numbers are not a safe “NRI allowance.” Special rules can replace the 60-day threshold or create residence in circumstances that the ordinary test would not capture. Check the full statutory wording for the year, your citizenship or PIO status, income category and travel pattern.
Apply the special visiting-citizen and PIO rules
The Department describes a modified 120-day relevant-year threshold for certain visiting Indian citizens or persons of Indian origin whose specified income exceeds ₹15 lakh. It also describes deemed residence for an Indian citizen above the specified income threshold who is not liable to tax in another country because of residence or a similar criterion. The ₹15 lakh figure belongs to those statutory special tests; it is not a general income limit for every returning worker.
Whether a person falls into one of these categories depends on the complete statutory definitions and facts, including the nature of income and residence elsewhere. A passport, an overseas work permit or an employer’s payroll location alone does not settle the question.
Check RNOR after you are resident
“Resident” is not the final classification. A resident individual may be resident and ordinarily resident (ROR) or resident but not ordinarily resident (RNOR). The Department’s guidance describes alternative RNOR tests including:
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- non-residence in nine of the ten preceding years; or
- presence in India for no more than 729 days in the seven preceding years.
The look-back remains relevant across the 2026 law change. A person returning after many years abroad may therefore become resident for the year but still qualify as RNOR. Preserve day counts for at least the preceding seven and ten years so both alternatives can be tested.
Why RNOR changes the practical work
Your resident category affects the scope of foreign income brought into the Indian return and the compliance work attached to foreign holdings. RNOR is not the same as non-resident, and it should not be treated as a permanent status: test it anew each year.
For a foreign salary, bonus, restricted stock unit (RSU), option, dividend, interest payment or sale of securities, identify at least four facts before deciding what India requires:
- When the service was performed and where you were physically working;
- When the amount was earned, vested, paid or sold;
- Where it was first received and which account later held it; and
- Whether a treaty or foreign tax was involved.
These facts can differ within a single equity award. Grant, vesting, settlement and sale may occur in different tax years and countries. The general residency classification does not, by itself, determine the sourcing or timing of every award. Foreign retirement plans and employer benefits can require a separate country-and-treaty analysis; the general guidance does not settle their Indian treatment.
Foreign salary, RSUs and investment income after your move
Salary and bonuses
Do not decide the Indian result solely from the employer’s country or the currency in which you were paid. Map the workdays and the receipt of the compensation to each Indian tax year. If you continued working for an overseas employer after arriving in India, the service period and the place where duties were performed become central facts. Keep payslips, employment contracts, travel calendars, withholding certificates and bank-credit records.
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Retain the grant agreement, vesting schedule, payroll statement, broker transaction history and any foreign tax withheld. An award can create separate questions at vesting and sale, and a move between countries can split the relevant service period. The available departmental guidance does not provide a universal RSU sourcing formula, so obtain advice that covers the particular award plan and treaty before filing.
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Interest, dividends and capital gains
Foreign bank interest, brokerage dividends, sale proceeds and gains must be sorted by source, date and account. A nil tax payment in India does not automatically remove a reporting obligation. Foreign tax paid may be relevant for relief, but the credit process requires the correct income details and proof of payment.
Use the treaty carefully
A treaty can affect taxing rights and relief, but it does not replace the Indian residence calculation or eliminate record keeping. Keep the foreign return, assessment or withholding evidence, payment confirmations and the treaty-country details for the year in question. The Department’s guidance does not settle an individual treaty position without those facts.
Foreign bank, brokerage and property reporting
Income taxation and asset disclosure are separate analyses. The Department’s Schedule FA guide covers qualifying foreign assets and accounts held at any time during the relevant calendar year ending 31 December. It addresses overseas depositary and custodial accounts, equity or debt interests, insurance or annuity contracts, financial interests, real property, other capital assets, signing-authority accounts, trusts and foreign-source income.
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The Department states: “Schedule FA need not be completed if the taxpayer is classified as ‘not ordinarily resident’ or a ‘non-resident.’” Apply that statement to the classification for the relevant return year and to the current form instructions. Do not infer that exemption from Schedule FA means the underlying income is automatically outside every Indian tax rule.
Choose an income-tax return with the required schedules
Schedule FSI reports foreign-source income, while Schedule TR summarizes foreign-tax relief. The Department’s filing brochure says ITR-1 and ITR-4 do not contain Schedules FA, FSI and TR. Select the return applicable to your income and status for that assessment year, and verify the year’s electronic-filing form and schedule rules before submitting.
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| Situation to check | Schedule or form implication |
|---|---|
| Foreign-source income or foreign tax paid | Review Schedule FSI and, where relief is claimed, Schedule TR. |
| Qualifying foreign accounts, securities, property or interests | Review Schedule FA, including legal, beneficial and beneficiary relationships. |
| Considering ITR-1 or ITR-4 | These forms do not contain FA, FSI or TR; check whether another applicable return is required. |
| RNOR or non-resident classification | The current Department guide says Schedule FA need not be completed, but confirm the applicable year’s instructions and examine income schedules separately. |
Return forms and schedule rules can change by assessment year. Treat a tax-software prompt as a starting point, not as proof that a schedule is unnecessary.
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Income-tax residence and FEMA residence are different questions
Changing your Indian tax status does not automatically answer how your bank accounts should be classified under the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA). The Department’s FAQ notes that the exemption for interest on an NRE account is tied to FEMA’s definition of a “person resident outside India” or to permission from the Reserve Bank of India, not simply to an Income-tax Act residence label.
When you return, contact each bank and ask how it will treat NRE, NRO and other accounts under current FEMA and RBI requirements. Ask about redesignation, remittance routes, interest treatment and documentation. Do this separately from the tax-residency calculation; one label cannot be substituted for the other.
A year-by-year workflow for a returning worker
- Draw the tax-year boundary. Mark 1 April and 31 March for every year in which you were abroad, visiting India or returning. Identify whether the year begins before or after 1 April 2026.
- Build the day count. Reconcile passport stamps, immigration records, tickets, calendar entries and work-travel records. Record India days for the relevant year and the preceding four, seven and ten years.
- Run the ordinary tests. Apply the 182-day test and the 60-days-plus-365-days test under the statute governing that year.
- Test exceptions and deemed residence. Check the 120-day rule for the specified visiting citizens or PIOs, the ₹15 lakh condition, and the deemed-residence provision for an Indian citizen not liable to tax elsewhere. Obtain a fact-specific review if any special rule may apply.
- Classify resident status. If resident, test RNOR using the nine-of-ten-year and 729-days-in-seven-year alternatives. Record the conclusion and the evidence supporting it.
- Inventory every foreign item. List salary, bonus, RSUs, options, dividends, interest, sales, retirement plans, bank accounts, brokerages, insurance, property, trusts and signing authority. Add grant, vesting, payment, sale, acquisition and ownership dates.
- Map source and receipt. For each item, note where the work or asset generated value, where money was first received, and where it was held afterward. Separate Indian and foreign tax years.
- Prepare schedules and evidence. Check whether FA, FSI and TR are relevant and choose a return form that actually contains them. Preserve foreign-tax payment proof if claiming relief.
- Resolve FEMA actions. Ask banks about NRE and other account treatment and follow current RBI/FEMA requirements independently of the tax return.
Records to assemble before filing
The following set is practical preparation rather than a universal Department-mandated document list:
- Passport pages, immigration history, travel tickets and a consolidated India-day calendar;
- India presence totals for the preceding seven and ten years;
- Employment contracts, payslips, bonus statements and employer equity-compensation records;
- RSU or option grant, vesting, settlement and sale statements;
- Foreign bank, brokerage, retirement, insurance and property statements;
- Ownership, beneficial-interest, beneficiary and signing-authority records;
- Foreign tax returns, withholding certificates and payment receipts; and
- Treaty-country details and correspondence relevant to residence or relief.
Common mistakes and how to correct them
Using one arrival date as the answer
Residence is tested by tax year and day count, not by the date you changed your address or joined an Indian payroll. Recalculate every year separately.
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Stopping after the 182-day test
The alternate 60-plus-365 test, special 120-day rule and deemed-residence provision can change the result. Run all applicable tests.
Calling every returning resident an ROR
Test RNOR first. A returning worker can be resident for the year while meeting one of the historical non-residence or day-count conditions.
Assuming no tax means no disclosure
Asset reporting and tax payable are different. Review Schedule FA categories and the legal, beneficial or beneficiary relationship to each asset.
Using a convenient return form
ITR-1 and ITR-4 lack FA, FSI and TR. Choose the form for the year’s facts, not the shortest form displayed by software.
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Treating tax residence as FEMA residence
Ask the bank to apply current FEMA rules to account status. The income-tax label alone does not determine NRE treatment.
A simple example of the transition
Suppose a worker spends several months abroad, returns to India during FY 2025–26, and remains in India through FY 2026–27. The first year is tested under the 1961 Act; the second begins under the 2025 Act. The worker must count days for each year, carry the required earlier-year history into the look-back tests, and then test RNOR separately in each year. Foreign salary earned while performing duties in different countries, an RSU vesting after the move, and a brokerage account held on 31 December each require their own timing, source and reporting analysis.
That example does not produce a predetermined tax result. It shows why a single “return date” calculation misses the legal transition and the separate income and asset questions.
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