Blogs Frequently Asked Questions

In India, you can only have one NRE account with a designated bank of India authorized by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). As per its guidelines, the NRIs are restricted from investing in certain industries, such as tobacco, railways, etc.

Yes, NRIs are eligible to invest in the primary and secondary capital markets in India. They need to invest through the portfolio scheme of investments within the limits prescribed in it.

The mandatory information that an NRI investor needs to provide is Know Your Customer (KYC) compliance, International tax compliance such as FATCA/CRS, and the banking regulations under FEMA (Foreign Exchange Management Act).

Yes, OCIs can open both resident bank accounts and non-resident bank accounts in India by meeting certain conditions and providing the required documents for identification.

There are certain categories in which the NRIs are not allowed to invest, such as agricultural land, currency and commodity derivatives, and Sovereign Gold Bonds (SGBs). Some other restrictions include investing in foreign currency, intraday trading in cash, etc.

It is filed by the payer in India who is sending money abroad. They need to select the correct part of the Form 15CA.

Form 15CB and Part C are needed only when the payment is taxable, and you have not prepared your AO certificate. You should use Part B with a 197 or 195(2)/(3) certificate.

All four parts of Form 15CA have different conditions; you can choose as per your situation: Part A: <,= Rs 5 lakhs, chargeable Part B: > Rs 5 lakhs with AO certificate Part C: > Rs 5 lakhs with 15CB Part D: not chargeable

The purpose codes are very important as they are the way by which the banks report to RBI, and decide whether they want Form 15CA/15CB.

You can visit the Official Income Tax e-filing portal to file Form 15CA. Navigate to e-file, then click on Income Tax Forms, and then on 15CA.

Yes, there are payments where Form 15CA and Form 15CB are not required. You can check out the specified list under Rule 37BB and your bank's page for the official list.

No, you cannot have both a resident and an NRI account simultaneously. This is because the FEMA Act doesn’t allow NRIs to have savings accounts in India. So, you must convert your resident account to an NRI account if you are an Indian resident and became a Non-resident Indian (NRI). You can either close your resident account or get it converted into an NRO account.

An NRI can face several disadvantages including financial challenges, tax consequences, and regulatory obstacles. An NRI is not allowed to open new accounts in popular investment options like Public Provident Funds and NSC, they also face the challenge of currency fluctuation, and some banking services in India are restricted for an NRI.

The account you should open depends on the source of your income and financial goals. An NRE account is a good choice for those NRIs who wish to invest in India and repatriate foreign earnings, the interest earned in the NRE account is tax-free and there are no limits on the repatriating funds. On the other hand, the NRO account is good for those NRIs who earn income in India such as rent, dividends, etc. The interest earned in an NRO account is taxable and there is a limit of $1 million per fiscal year for repatriating funds.

Yes, it is mandatory to convert to an NRI account if you wish to move abroad. You need to convert your resident savings account to a Non-resident ordinary or an NRO account to manage your Indian income and to send your foreign earnings to India. It is required by the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA). If you fail to do the same, you may face penalties and may be forced to pay a fine of up to three times the amount in your savings account.

NRE or Non-resident external accounts have several limitations. NRIs are not allowed to deposit money that is earned in India into an NRE account, there may be restrictions on how much and how often can an NRI withdraw money from an NRE account, It doesn't permit domestic transactions, and the value of deposit may vary due to currency fluctuations.

No, OCI and NRI are not the same thing. OCI stands for Overseas Citizen of India while NRI stands for Non-resident Indian. Every Indian citizen who stays outside India for any purpose temporarily or long-term is an NRI. In contrast, a foreign national of Indian origin who is registered as an OCI cardholder is an OCI. Both these terms refer to people of Indian origin who stay outside India. However, both have different statuses of citizenship and rights.

No, the OCI/PIO does not have to declare the foreign bank account in India, as they are still considered foreign nationals.

A PIO/OCI becomes an eligible tax resident of India if they meet the specific criteria based on the number of days they have stayed in India. They have to stay at least 182 days in the past 12 months.

Yes, the OCI/PIO needs to convert their NRE account to a resident savings account after becoming a resident of India. They can also transfer the funds to an RFC account.