Indian tax residency depends on days spent in India, not citizenship. Section 6 sets two tests: 182 days in the year, or 60 days plus 365 in the prior four years. A 2020 amendment raises the threshold to 120 days if Indian-source income exceeds ₹15 lakh. The video includes a free calculator to determine if you're ROR, RNOR, or NRI.
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Last year, NRIs sent over $100 billion back to India. But here's what most of them get wrong. Their tax status. You can hold a foreign passport, live abroad for years, and still end up being taxed in India on your global income. Why? Because in India, tax residency has nothing to do with citizenship. It's decided purely by one thing: how many days you spend in India. Today, we will show you exactly how to check your status, and we will give you a free calculator tool that does it in seconds. Now let's see quick basics. There are 2 kinds of taxpayers: resident and non-residents. If you are an NRI, your foreign income is never taxed by India. Only your Indian source income gets taxed. But, and this is the trap, if your status changes for a year, even your foreign income can become taxable. So knowing your status isn't optional, and there is no direct definition of NRI in the Income Tax Act. The law only defines who a resident is, who Whoever isn't a resident is an NRI. So we work it backwards. Section 6 gives us 2 basic tests. You are resident if either one is true. Test 1: you were in India for 182 days or more this financial year. Test B: you were here for 60 days or more this year and 365 days or more across the previous 4 years. Added together, meet either one and you are a resident. That is the foundation, but— and this is where people get confused— these tests बैंड डिपेंडिंग ऑन हु यू आर देर आर फोर सिनेरियोस। लेट्स सी सिनेरियो वन। यू लीव इंडिया फॉर अ जॉब, एन इंडियन सिटीजन गोइंग अब्रॉड फॉर एम्प्लॉयमेंट, इंक्लूड्स अ बिजनेस और सेल्फ एम्प्लॉयमेंट तू। किस ओनली टेस्ट ए अप्लाईज? जस्ट अ 182 डे रूल। टेस्ट बी इस स्विच NRI visiting India. This also covers OCI cardholders. Normally only the 182-day test applies to you. But after the 2020 rule change, if your Indian income crosses ₹15 lakh, that 60-day figure in Test B drops to 120 days. This caught a lot of NRIs during COVID when they got stuck in India longer than planned. Now let's see scenario number 3. Any other individual including foreign nationals. Here both tests are like Test A or Test B. Either one makes you a resident foreign national on Project 200 days becomes ROA. Now let's see scenario number 4, deemed residency. This is for Indian citizens who arrange their travel so they are non-tax residents anywhere. If you are an Indian citizen, your Indian income is above ₹15 lakh and you are not liable to tax in any other country, India deems you a resident, but a lighter kind called RNOR. You only pay tax on Indian source income, not global. Nowhere ₹30 lakhs tax nowhere. Let me show you this in action. I have built a sheet. Fill only the yellow cells. You watch. I will take an NRI visiting India. Profile is visiting in India 130 days this year, 400 days over the past 4 years, annual income 20 lakhs. Notice what happens because income is over 15 lakhs, the threshold automatically becomes 120 days. What India can tax? 130 is over 120 and 400 is over 365, so test B clears. Result: resident but not ordinary resident, RNOR. And the sheet even tells me what India can tax. I dropped the days to 90 from 130. Now it's changed to NRI. That's the whole point. Your status is decided fresh every single year. If you don't want to touch a spreadsheet, we will build the same thing as a free tool on our website. Link is in the description. Pick who you are, choose the financial year, enter your days in India, and hit calculate. It instantly tells you whether you are an ROR, RNOR, or NRI. The exact Section 6 rules that apply and what India can tax. No login, no documents, completely free. One last piece, the difference between the 2 resident types. An ordinary resident pays tax on their entire global income. An RNOR, resident but not ordinary resident, only pays on Indian income plus foreign income from a business controlled in India. You are RNOR if you were non-resident in 9 of the last 10 years or spent 729 days or fewer in India over the last 7 years. This is the sweet spot returning NRIs land for their first couple of years back, and it's worth protecting. So 3 statuses, 4 scenarios, 2 tests. Check your tax residency before the financial year end, because once your days are counted, they are counted. If you found this helpful, subscribe to VisaMent for simple NRI tax, OCI card, Indian visa, and immigration guides. See you in the next one.
