For NRIs in the Gulf, US, UK, Singapore, Australia — and Indian businesses with foreign subsidiaries. FEMA, DTAA, foreign company structures, transfer pricing, repatriation, residency planning. The full cross-border CA practice in one place.
Working in Dubai, Singapore, US, UK. Salary abroad, ESOPs / RSUs / RSAs from foreign employer, Indian rental property, mutual funds at home. You need ITR + DTAA + Schedule FA done right.
Moving back to India after 5-10 years abroad. RNOR window planning, foreign asset declaration, ESOP exercise timing, capital gains on foreign holdings. The 24-month transition window decides your next 3 years of tax.
Setting up US LLC, UK Ltd, Singapore Pte, or UAE FZ company — with FEMA implications, ODI filings, transfer pricing for Indian operations, and DTAA structuring.
Foreign parent, Indian subsidiary or branch — needs transfer pricing study, Form 3CEB, master file, country-by-country reporting if applicable, and ongoing FEMA compliance.
Your residency status determines what India taxes you on, how much, and at what rate. Get it wrong and you either pay tax twice (on income already taxed abroad) or you pay tax in the wrong country (and face penalties when the mismatch surfaces). This decision is made every financial year — and the test is more nuanced than the 182-day rule alone.
Returning NRI declared ROR in Year 1 — RNOR benefits lost. A US-returning client filed as Resident in his first FY back in India. RNOR status was applicable but missed. Consequence: $80K of US capital gains (already taxed in US) got reported and partly taxed again in India. Could have been entirely outside Indian tax net.
Cost: ~₹14 L additional Indian taxNRI status assumed despite 60-day + 365-day trigger. A Dubai-based founder spent 100 days in India during the year, plus had been visiting often over the previous 4 years totalling 380 days. Combined test triggered Resident status. He filed as NRI. Reassessment notice + interest + penalty.
Cost: ₹4.5 L tax + 1.5 L penaltyForeign assets not disclosed in Schedule FA. Resident with US 401(k), brokerage account, and ESOP holdings missed Schedule FA in ITR. Triggered under Black Money Act. Penalty under Section 43 of BMA = ₹10 L per failure. Schedule FA non-disclosure is a separate offence regardless of whether tax was due.
Cost: ₹10 L+ statutory penaltyIf you are returning to India, planning a long visit, or unsure about your status — book a 60-minute residency review → Done before March 31 of the FY, the savings are real. Done after, options narrow.
Every cross-border line item — from a routine NRI ITR to an outbound subsidiary structuring — handled by the same practice.
Early-morning IST for Gulf clients, late-evening IST for US clients. 30-60 minute call, often free for first-time NRI consultations.
Encrypted cloud upload — no email back-and-forth with passport / Aadhar / financial data. We provide a checklist; you upload once.
The CA who handled your first ITR is the same CA on your residency call three years later. Continuity matters when you live abroad and cannot drop in.
Annual deadline calendar emailed in March — ITR, advance tax, foreign asset reporting dates. You plan around it, not chase it.
US, UK, UAE, Singapore, Australia, Canada, Germany, Netherlands. We have filed DTAA refund claims, Form 67s, and TRC-supported relief for clients across all of them. No "let me check the treaty" — we know which articles apply.
FEMA penalties are not on the income — they are on the transaction. ODI without APR, late FC-GPR, missed Form 15CA/CB — all compoundable but expensive. We pre-clear every cross-border transaction.
Most CAs file the ITR for returning NRIs without checking RNOR eligibility. We map the 7-year and 10-year tests, structure the year of return, and document RNOR status defensibly. That single check has saved clients ₹10-50 L individually.
7am IST calls for UK clients before they start work. 9pm IST calls for US East Coast clients after their business day. We are not a 10-to-7 office for cross-border clients. Continuity over a decade requires this.
We co-ordinate with local incorporation agents (US RA, UK accountant, Dubai PRO) while keeping the FEMA/ODI/RBI side air-tight in India. One single point of contact, two-country compliance.
Schedule FA compliance is a Black Money Act exposure, not just an income tax matter. We disclose foreign assets correctly the first time — penalty under BMA can be ₹10 L per failure regardless of whether tax was due.
The client's Indian subsidiary provided technical and back-office services to his Dubai parent — but the previous CA had never filed Form 3CEB or maintained transfer pricing documentation. Transfer pricing scrutiny notice arrived for AY 2021-22, with a likely upward adjustment of ₹4.8 Cr based on the AO's preliminary view.
We took over. Reconstructed three years of arm's length pricing using TNMM with comparable Indian companies, prepared the master file, filed Form 3CEB for all three years (with belated filing rationale), and represented before the Transfer Pricing Officer through 4 hearings. Closed all three years without any adjustment. Form 3CEB compliance now ongoing.
Yes, if you have any Indian-source income — rental from Indian property, FD interest, capital gains on Indian shares/mutual funds, or NRO account interest — and the total exceeds the basic exemption limit (₹2.5 L). Even below the limit, filing is recommended if TDS has been deducted and you want a refund. Foreign salary earned in Dubai is not taxable in India for an NRI.
Two tests: (1) Stay in India ≥ 182 days in the financial year (April 1 to March 31) — automatically Resident. (2) Stay ≥ 60 days in current FY plus ≥ 365 days cumulatively over the previous 4 FYs — also Resident. There are exceptions for Indian citizens leaving for employment abroad (only test 1 applies, with 182 days). The day-count includes the day of arrival and day of departure.
RNOR — Resident but Not Ordinarily Resident — is a transitional status for returning NRIs. You are Resident under the day-count test but fail one or both "ordinarily resident" tests: resident in 2 of the last 10 FYs, AND ≥ 730 days in India in the last 7 FYs. RNOR status means foreign income is not taxed in India. For most returning NRIs, RNOR applies for the first 2-3 years after return — a window where foreign capital gains, foreign dividends, and ESOP exercise can be planned tax-efficiently.
NRIs cannot file ITR-1 (Sahaj). Use ITR-2 if your income is from salary, house property, capital gains, or other sources (no business income). Use ITR-3 if you have business or professional income from India. Schedule FA disclosure is mandatory for Residents (not for NRIs in pure NRI status).
Two stages. (1) At exercise: The "spread" — difference between exercise price and FMV of the share — is taxed as salary perquisite in the country of employment (US). If you are RNOR or NRI when you exercise, India does not tax this. If you are ROR, India taxes worldwide salary, with DTAA relief for tax paid in US. (2) At sale: Capital gains on sale of the share. For ROR, gain on the difference between sale price and FMV at exercise is taxed in India. RNOR / NRI: typically not taxed in India unless the broker/account is structured in India.
Yes — if you are Resident in India and have already paid tax on the same income in the foreign country. File Form 67 (online, before ITR filing) declaring the foreign income, foreign tax paid, and DTAA article relied upon. You will need a Tax Residency Certificate (TRC) from the foreign country and (often) Form 10F. The credit is limited to the lower of foreign tax paid or Indian tax on that income.
Schedule FA (Foreign Assets) is a section of ITR for Residents (ROR), declaring all foreign assets held during the previous calendar year. Includes: foreign bank accounts, foreign brokerage accounts, foreign immovable property, foreign trust beneficial ownership, foreign retirement accounts (401(k), IRA, UK pension), and foreign company shares. Mandatory regardless of whether income arose. Non-disclosure attracts penalty under Black Money Act — ₹10 L per failure plus prosecution. NRIs and RNORs are not required to file Schedule FA.
NRO repatriation: up to USD 1 million per FY (post-tax balance) is allowed under FEMA. Process: (1) Compute final tax payable on income credited to NRO during the year. (2) Obtain Form 15CB (CA certificate) confirming tax has been paid. (3) File Form 15CA (online by remitter) referencing the 15CB. (4) Submit to your AD bank along with FEMA declaration. We handle the full pack — typically 5-7 working days.
Buyer must deduct TDS under Section 195 at: 20% (with surcharge and cess) on Long Term Capital Gains, or 30% on Short Term. The TDS is on capital gains, not on sale value — but most buyers (and their CAs) deduct on full sale value to be safe, leaving you to claim a refund. Typical refund time: 12-15 months. Far better solution: apply for a Lower TDS Certificate under Section 197 before sale.
Yes — Section 197 application can be filed before sale, computing actual capital gains and the actual tax liability. The Assessing Officer issues a certificate authorising the buyer to deduct TDS at a lower rate (often 1-3% of sale value instead of 20%+). Time required: 4-6 weeks. Mandatory documentation: sale agreement, prior purchase deed, indexation calculation, capital gains computation, exemption claims (54/54F/54EC if any). This single step saves cash flow and a year of refund wait.
Indian residents setting up foreign entities trigger ODI (Overseas Direct Investment) rules under FEMA. Process: (1) Determine the route — automatic or approval-based. (2) Submit Form ODI Part I before remittance through your AD bank. (3) Annual filing of Form ODI Part II / APR (Annual Performance Report). (4) Maintain records of foreign entity financials. Setting up "informally" without FEMA filing creates compounding exposure later. Even a US LLC for consulting work needs ODI compliance if you hold ownership.
Ideally 6-12 months before return. Decisions to make before crossing back: ESOP exercise timing (large unrealised gains may want to be exercised while still NRI), transfer of foreign brokerage accounts, capital gains on foreign holdings (often best realised in NRI year), bringing back funds (use up the NRO repatriation limit), and structuring the return month to maximise RNOR window. Some of these have hard deadlines tied to your departure date from the foreign country and your day-count in India. We model your specific situation.
FEMA contraventions (e.g., undisclosed ODI, late filings) typically attract compounding fees rather than fixed penalties — calculated as 200% of the contravention amount over the period of default, often negotiable down through compounding application. Separately, undisclosed foreign assets fall under the Black Money Act — penalty of ₹10 L per failure plus 120% of tax on the asset value plus possible prosecution. The two regimes overlap. Both are triggered by the same non-disclosure.
FBAR (FinCEN Form 114) and FATCA (Form 8938) are US filings — we co-ordinate with US-based CPAs we have working relationships with for these. Our practice is the Indian side: ITR, Schedule FA, DTAA relief, tax position documentation that supports the US filings. For US tax returns, retainer is structured between us and our US CPA partner — single point of communication, two countries handled.
Returning to India? Going abroad? Already abroad and unsure? We will map your residency, your foreign asset position, and the optimal tax path — across both jurisdictions.