How NRIs File an Income Tax Return in India (FY 2026-27)

As an NRI you pay Indian tax only on India-sourced income, and you file a return when that income crosses the basic exemption limit or when you want to reclaim TDS. Everything starts with Section 6: status turns on days in India in the financial year (1 April–31 March), not your passport. Broadly non-resident if in India under 182 days, with the tighter 120-day test and the deemed-resident rule for Indian-source income above ₹15 lakh. Everything else follows from this.

Only India-sourced income enters the Indian return: salary for services rendered in India, rent from Indian property, capital gains on Indian assets, and NRO interest. Foreign income stays out while you are non-resident, and NRE/FCNR interest is exempt under Section 10.

File if India income exceeds the basic exemption limit (₹4,00,000 new regime / ₹2,50,000 old regime for FY 2026-27). Also file to claim a refund of excess TDS (typical on a property sale) or to carry forward a loss. This guide covers the filing process; for the rate that applies to each type of income — slab rates, LTCG, STCG, dividends and NRO interest TDS — use the companion reference at NRI income tax slabs, LTCG & TDS rates.

NRIs cannot use ITR-1. Use ITR-2 for salary, house property, capital gains and other income, or ITR-3 if there is Indian business or professional income. Picking the wrong form is the single most common reason NRI returns get marked defective.

File on incometax.gov.in before the due date — every NRI deadline (non-audit, audit, belated and revised) is set out on our NRI ITR filing last date page. Reconcile income against Form 26AS and AIS, choose old or new regime, pay any balance tax, then e-verify. Aadhaar OTP works for NRIs with an Indian mobile linked; otherwise use net-banking or a DSC.

A Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement prevents the same income being taxed twice — via exemption or foreign tax credit. Claim it with a Tax Residency Certificate (TRC) from your country of residence and Form 10F filed on the portal. This is where NRIs in the US, UK and the Gulf save the most.

The filing obligation is driven by total India-sourced income before deductions, compared against the basic exemption limit of the regime you use — ₹4,00,000 under the new regime and ₹2,50,000 under the old regime for FY 2026-27 (confirm against the latest Finance Act). NRIs do not get the higher senior-citizen limits under the old regime; those are reserved for residents. Even where income is below the limit, filing is usually worth it — and sometimes necessary — in four situations: (1) TDS has been deducted and you want it refunded, which is the classic case after a property sale or on NRO interest deducted at 30%; (2) you have a capital loss (for example on listed shares or a property) that you want to carry forward, which is only possible if the return is filed by the original due date; (3) you want a filed return on record to support a lower-TDS certificate application, a visa or a loan; and (4) high-value transactions appear in your AIS that you need to explain. A frequent point of confusion is Schedule FA (foreign assets). Schedule FA is required only of a resident and ordinarily resident (ROR) taxpayer. A non-resident — and an RNOR — does not complete Schedule FA, because foreign assets and foreign income are outside the Indian tax net for them. It becomes relevant the year you turn ROR after returning.

Before choosing a form, settle your status for the year, because it decides whether foreign income enters the return at all. An individual is resident in a financial year if in India for 182 days or more, or for 60 days or more in the year and 365 days or more in the four preceding years. For Indian citizens leaving for employment abroad (or as crew of an Indian ship), and for Indian citizens or Persons of Indian Origin visiting India, the 60-day limb is relaxed — but for visitors whose India-sourced income exceeds ₹15 lakh, the relaxation shrinks to 120 days, and such a person who is resident only through that 120-day route is treated as RNOR. Separately, an Indian citizen with India-sourced income above ₹15 lakh who is not liable to tax in any other country by reason of domicile or residence is deemed resident (also RNOR). Days of arrival and departure are both normally counted as days in India, so keep passport stamps and travel records. A resident is further classified as ROR or RNOR; RNOR status, available for typically two to three years after return, keeps foreign income outside India. For the day-count rules with worked examples see NRI residential status under Section 6, and for the post-return window see RNOR planning or test your dates in the RNOR calculator.

ITR-1 (Sahaj) and ITR-4 (Sugam) are expressly unavailable to non-residents — both are restricted to resident individuals (ITR-4 also to resident HUFs and firms). That leaves two forms for almost every NRI. ITR-2 is the correct form if your Indian income consists of salary, income from house property (any number of properties), capital gains of any kind — property, listed or unlisted shares, mutual funds — and other sources such as NRO interest and dividends, with no business or professional income. ITR-3 is required where you have income from a business or profession in India — for example a consulting fee for work carried on through an Indian presence, a partnership firm remuneration, or futures-and-options trading on Indian exchanges, which is treated as business income. ITR-3 can also carry everything ITR-2 does. The form asks you to declare residential status at the start and, as a non-resident, to give your foreign address and taxpayer identification details; Schedule FA and the foreign-income schedules are not completed by a non-resident. Filing on the wrong form typically produces a defective-return notice under the defective-return provisions, which must be cured within the time allowed or the return is treated as invalid.

Step 1 — PAN and portal access: you need an active PAN registered on incometax.gov.in. Check that your residential status in the PAN database reflects non-resident; a PAN that is inoperative because it was not linked to Aadhaar can cause higher TDS, although NRIs not required to hold Aadhaar are exempt from linking — update your status with the department if needed. Step 2 — choose your regime: the new regime is the default; an NRI without business income can choose the old regime in the return itself each year, which helps only if deductions such as Section 80C, 80D or home-loan interest outweigh the lower new-regime slabs. Step 3 — download pre-filled data: the portal pre-fills salary, interest, dividends and TDS from Form 26AS and the Annual Information Statement (AIS). Treat it as a starting point; correct anything wrong and give feedback on the AIS. Step 4 — report each India income head: salary for services rendered in India, house property (annual value less municipal tax, then the 30% standard deduction and loan interest), capital gains schedule-by-schedule with dates of acquisition and sale, and other sources (NRO interest, dividends). Foreign salary, foreign rent and foreign investment income are not reported as income by a non-resident. NRE and FCNR interest is exempt and can be shown as exempt income. Step 5 — compute tax and pay any balance as self-assessment tax through the e-Pay Tax facility, then enter the challan details. Step 6 — pre-validate a bank account for the refund: an Indian NRO or savings account is the norm; the portal also allows a foreign account for non-residents in limited cases, but an Indian account is far more reliable. Step 7 — submit and e-verify within the prescribed window (currently 30 days of filing) using Aadhaar OTP, net-banking, a bank-account EVC or a DSC; an unverified return is treated as not filed.

Almost every payment to a non-resident is subject to tax deduction at source under Section 195, which requires the payer to deduct at the rates in force (plus surcharge and cess) unless a lower-deduction certificate is obtained. On a property sale by an NRI, the buyer deducts under Section 195 on the capital gain — not the 1% under Section 194-IA, which applies only when the seller is resident. Because buyers often deduct on the full sale value rather than the gain, NRIs routinely suffer TDS far above their actual liability. You have two remedies. Before the transaction, apply for a lower or nil deduction certificate (Section 197, Form 13) so the buyer deducts only on the real gain. After the transaction, file the return and claim the excess as a refund. Either way, credit is given only for TDS that the deductor has deposited and reported, so reconcile your figures against Form 26AS and the AIS before filing; if TDS is missing, ask the deductor to file or correct its TDS return (and to issue Form 16A). NRO interest is typically deducted at 30% plus cess; if your total income is low or a DTAA rate is lower, the difference comes back only by filing. Our step-by-step guide on the lower-TDS route is at ways to reduce TDS on an NRI property sale.

The treaty can help in two different directions, and the paperwork differs. Where India is the source country — for example on dividends, interest or royalties paid to you in India — the treaty may cap the Indian rate below the domestic rate. To claim that, you furnish a Tax Residency Certificate from your country of residence, and Form 10F filed electronically on the Indian portal, to the payer (to reduce TDS) or in your return (to claim the lower rate and a refund). Where you are resident in India and have paid tax abroad — relevant in your RNOR or ROR years after returning, and for residents with foreign income — you claim a foreign tax credit in the Indian return, which requires Form 67 to be filed on the portal (with proof of foreign tax paid) on or before the due date for filing the return, as prescribed in the foreign tax credit rules (confirm the current deadline against the latest CBDT notification). A non-resident claiming relief in India therefore needs TRC and Form 10F; Form 67 is for a resident claiming credit for foreign tax. Treaty relief is limited to what the specific treaty article allows, and the Indian domestic rate applies where it is more beneficial. The US-specific mechanics are covered in our India-US DTAA guide and the general framework in DTAA relief for NRIs.

This guide deliberately does not repeat the calendar. Original, audit, belated and revised return deadlines, together with advance-tax instalment dates, are maintained in one place on our NRI tax calendar, which is updated whenever CBDT extends or notifies a date. Two points are worth knowing here: a loss can be carried forward only if the return is filed by the original due date, and a belated return attracts a late-filing fee and interest on unpaid tax.

The same handful of errors drive most notices to NRIs. Filing as a resident by default, or the reverse, without checking the Section 6 day-count. Using ITR-1 or ITR-4, which are not open to non-residents. Claiming the Section 87A rebate, which is available only to residents, or setting the basic exemption against capital gains taxed at special rates under Section 111A or 112A, which non-residents cannot do. Omitting NRO interest, dividends or a capital gain that appears in the AIS, which triggers an automated mismatch communication. Claiming TDS that does not appear in Form 26AS. Not e-verifying within the deadline, so the return is treated as never filed. Claiming a DTAA rate without a valid TRC and Form 10F. And continuing to hold NRE or FCNR deposits after becoming resident without redesignating them, which turns exempt interest into taxable interest. If a notice does arrive, respond on the portal within the time given; our guide to NRI income tax notices explains the process.

Confirm non-resident status under Section 6, list only India income, check it against the exemption limit (file anyway for a refund), use ITR-2 (or ITR-3 with Indian business income), reconcile TDS against Form 26AS and AIS, file by the due date on our tax calendar, e-verify, and claim DTAA relief with a TRC and Form 10F. For the rate on each income head, jump to NRI income tax rates; for a full advisory engagement, see NRI tax advisory services.