NRI tax filing India: the RNOR window, FEMA account conversion, Schedule FA, and TDS on India income — all in one place.

After returning to India, most people become Resident but Not Ordinarily Resident (RNOR) for 2–3 years before becoming Resident. RNOR status under section 6(6) applies when you were NRI for 9 of the last 10 years or spent fewer than 729 days in India in the last 7 years. While RNOR, your foreign income (from overseas employment, interest, capital gains) is not taxable in India — only India-sourced income is. Once you no longer qualify for RNOR, all global income becomes taxable. The exact classification requires a day-count analysis for each financial year separately.

Yes — both. Any Indian tax resident (including RNOR) who holds a beneficial interest in a foreign bank account or foreign brokerage/security account must declare it in Schedule FA of the ITR every year. The obligation exists even if the accounts earned no income that year and even if the assets are fully compliant under FEMA. Non-disclosure in Schedule FA is treated as an undisclosed foreign asset under the Black Money (Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets) Act, 2015, carrying penalties up to three times the value of the asset. NRE accounts in India are not foreign assets — but an account in a US or UK bank is.

The buyer must deduct TDS at 20% (plus surcharge and cess, which can bring the effective rate to 22-23%) under section 195 on the capital gains arising to you as a non-resident seller. This is different from resident sellers where the buyer deducts 1% under section 194IA. If you have a valid DTAA claim (e.g., you are a resident of the UAE where the India-UAE DTAA applies), the buyer can deduct at the DTAA rate, but only after you obtain a Tax Residency Certificate from your country of residence and provide a Form 10F declaration. Without a DTAA certificate, 20% applies regardless. You can also apply for a lower-deduction certificate from the Income Tax department if your actual gains are lower than the gross sale value.

Not while you are an NRI. Interest on NRE accounts is exempt from Indian income tax under section 10(4)(ii) for non-residents. However, once you return to India and are classified as Resident (not RNOR), the NRE account interest becomes taxable. During the RNOR period, the exemption continues until you become a full Resident. This is one reason why timing the NRE account conversion to RFC or resident savings account matters — the conversion should happen at the right point in the residential status transition to avoid unnecessary taxation.

Repatriation from NRO accounts is subject to a limit of USD 1 million per financial year per individual, net of applicable taxes. The repatriation requires your Authorised Dealer (AD) bank to obtain Form 15CA (a declaration by the remitter) and Form 15CB (a certificate from a Chartered Accountant confirming tax compliance on the funds). The CA certificate in Form 15CB must certify that taxes on the NRO funds have been paid and the repatriation complies with FEMA. Funds in NRE accounts are freely repatriable — no form or limit required.