Advice framed by where you actually live.
Regi Tom Antony, FCA — a practicing Chartered Accountant who advises NRIs, OCIs and returning founders on the same questions every week. Every page here is drawn from the book and live engagements, not stock copy.
Eleven playbooks. One framework.
United States
≈4.8M Indian origin
401(k) and IRA treatment
Open playbook →United Kingdom
≈1.9M Indian origin
India-UK DTAA
Open playbook →United Arab Emirates
≈3.5M Indian origin
Tax residency certificate for DTAA claims
Open playbook →Singapore
≈650k Indian origin
CPF withdrawal timing
Open playbook →Canada
≈1.4M Indian origin
RRSP and TFSA treatment on return
Open playbook →Australia
≈780k Indian origin
Australian Super withdrawal and India tax
Open playbook →Saudi Arabia
≈2.5M Indian origin
End-of-service benefit timing
Open playbook →Qatar
≈750k Indian origin
Compressed return-planning timelines
Open playbook →H1B Returning
US visa-holder returnees
RNOR + DTAA combined strategy
Open playbook →New Zealand
≈300k Indian origin
KiwiSaver withdrawal timing and India tax
Open playbook →Gulf / GCC
≈9M Indians across GCC
Tax-free salary repatriation
Open playbook →Primary sources behind every corridor.
- Income-tax Act, 1961 — Section 6 · residency tests for individuals (182 / 60+365 / deemed residency).
- CBDT — list of DTAAs · full-text treaties for every published corridor and the tie-breaker articles.
- RBI — FEMA Master Directions · NRE / NRO / FCNR accounts, remittance and asset rules.
- Form 67 · foreign tax credit claim for income taxed in the host country.
Answered, candidly.
- Why does my country corridor matter for Indian tax?
- Every corridor brings its own DTAA, residency tests, withholding regime and retirement-account rules. A US NRI, a UAE NRI and a UK NRI with identical Indian assets often land on completely different filing positions, TDS rates and repatriation paths.
- Which corridor's residency test takes priority?
- Each country tests residency on its own facts. If you're tax-resident in both India and your host country in the same year, the relevant DTAA tie-breaker (permanent home, centre of vital interests, habitual abode, nationality) decides which one taxes worldwide income.
- Does NRI status change when I switch countries?
- Your Indian residency under the Income-tax Act is recalculated each financial year based mainly on physical presence. Switching from one host country to another usually doesn't change your Indian status, but it can change which DTAA applies and how foreign tax credits flow.
- Do GCC NRIs really pay no tax on global income?
- Local salary-tax treatment does not decide Indian tax residency. Review Section 6 day-counts, applicable exceptions and deemed residency, then income source and first receipt. NR and RNOR have narrower Indian tax scope than ROR; overseas income is not automatically taxable just because you return from the GCC.
- How do US 401(k) / IRA accounts interact with Indian residency?
- Under the India-US DTAA, pension and retirement-account distributions are generally taxable only in the country of residence. The RNOR window after returning to India can be used to draw down these accounts at lower effective rates if sequenced correctly.
- My corridor isn't listed — can you still help?
- Yes. Our eleven published country and return corridors include Saudi Arabia, Qatar and New Zealand. For other jurisdictions, we use the same DTAA-and-FEMA framework with country-specific research as part of the engagement.
Your country isn't listed yet?
Tell us where you are. We'll send back a corridor-specific reply.
Discuss your country corridor.
Regional consultations are separate from the NRI Tax Discovery Call and the written scoped review. Check the event's terms before booking.
The NRI Blueprint briefing.
One email a fortnight. Corridor updates, deadline alerts, and one written framework worth your inbox.