1. GST basics for NRIs — when an NRI is in scope
Direct answer: GST follows the supply, not the person. An NRI's salary abroad, interest, dividends and capital gains are outside GST entirely. But any taxable supply of goods or services sourced from India — commercial rent, professional fees billed to Indian clients, digital services to Indian consumers — can pull you into GST regardless of where you live.
The two questions to ask, in order, are: is the supply taxable under GST, and is the place of supply in India? If both are yes, registration thresholds, reverse charge and NRTP rules come into play. Investment income and employment income are not "supplies" for GST and stay out of scope.
2. Renting out Indian property: residential vs commercial
Direct answer: residential rent paid by an individual tenant is generally exempt from GST. Commercial rent above the registration threshold attracts GST, and where the tenant is a registered business it is usually collected under reverse charge.
For an NRI landlord, the practical pattern is this: residential lets to individuals carry no GST. Commercial lets — office, shop, warehouse — to a GST-registered business tenant typically fall under reverse charge, so the tenant pays GST directly to the government and you do not need to register for that supply alone. If your commercial tenant is unregistered and rent crosses the threshold, the obligation flips back to you and you must register. Separately, repatriating the net rent abroad runs through Form 15CA/15CB — see our property repatriation guide.
3. Non-Resident Taxable Person (NRTP) registration
Direct answer: an NRTP is anyone without a fixed place of business in India who makes taxable supplies here. NRTPs must register at least five days before starting the activity and deposit GST in advance for the registration period.
NRTP registration is short-dated (initially up to 90 days, extendable) and requires an advance deposit equal to the estimated GST liability for the period. There is no threshold exemption — even a single taxable supply triggers registration. Typical NRI use-cases are exhibitions, one-off consulting engagements delivered in India, and event-based supplies. Input tax credit for an NRTP is restricted to GST on goods imported for the activity.
4. OIDAR and digital services supplied to India
Direct answer: if you supply Online Information and Database Access or Retrieval services — SaaS, online courses, downloadable content, streaming — to Indian consumers from outside India, you are liable to register and pay GST in India under the OIDAR regime.
OIDAR shifts the GST burden onto the foreign supplier when the recipient is a non-business consumer in India; B2B supplies are handled under reverse charge by the Indian business recipient. For an NRI running a small SaaS or online-course business with Indian users, the practical choice is between a simplified OIDAR registration or routing consumer sales through an Indian intermediary that takes on the GST obligation.
5. Export of services — zero-rating and the NRI freelancer
Direct answer: services exported out of India are zero-rated under GST, which is the regime most NRI freelancers and consultants billing overseas clients fall under when they retain an Indian presence.
A supply qualifies as export of services if the supplier is in India, the recipient is outside India, the place of supply is outside India, payment is received in convertible foreign exchange (or INR where permitted by RBI), and the two parties are not merely establishments of the same person. Exporters can either pay IGST and claim a refund, or supply under a Letter of Undertaking (LUT) without paying IGST and claim refund of input tax credit. A dedicated NRI freelancer guide is on the way; in the meantime scope your facts against the export-of-services tests.
6. Compliance calendar and common errors
- Monthly returns. Registered persons file GSTR-1 (outward supplies) and GSTR-3B (summary and payment) monthly; QRMP scheme is available for smaller taxpayers.
- Annual return. GSTR-9 (and GSTR-9C reconciliation where turnover crosses the threshold) is due by 31 December following the financial year.
- Common error: ignoring reverse charge. NRI landlords with commercial tenants often assume the tenant has handled GST and never check — the burden flips back to you if the tenant is unregistered.
- Common error: invoicing in INR for "exports". Without convertible foreign exchange and the right paperwork, the supply is not zero-rated and full IGST applies.
- Common error: missing LUT renewal. LUT is annual. Exporters who forget to renew end up paying IGST and chasing refunds. Our NRI tax advisory engagement covers GST positions alongside income-tax filings.