Am I an NRI this year?
Your residential status decides what India can tax. It turns on the days you spend in India in the tax year, April to March, and for higher earners on the four years before it.
Moving back to India: when to start planning58:41
NRI status, explained
For income tax, “NRI” means non-resident. Your status is set for each tax year, April to March, from the days you spend in India.
- When is a visiting Indian citizen or OCI holder non-resident?
- When you spend fewer than 182 days in India in the tax year. If your Indian income is above ₹15 lakh (foreign income left out), the line is 120 days in the year plus 365 days over the four years before.
- What changes if I am resident?
- A resident is either RNOR or ROR, and that decides whether foreign income is taxed in India. The RNOR calculator works that out year by year.
- I am leaving India for a job abroad. Which rule applies?
- In the year you leave for employment abroad, or as ship crew, only the 182-day test applies. This calculator leaves that rule out; the RNOR calculator includes it.
- Is tax NRI status the same as NRI status for bank accounts?
- No. Bank accounts follow FEMA, which looks at your purpose and length of stay, not this day count. You can be non-resident for tax and resident under FEMA, or the other way round.
- How are days counted?
- The day you land and the day you leave both count as days in India.