NRI Residential Status Calculator

A Non-Resident (NR) pays Indian tax only on income received or accruing in India. A Resident but Not Ordinarily Resident (RNOR) additionally pays on foreign income ONLY if it comes from a business controlled in India or a profession set up in India – other foreign income is exempt, and no Schedule FA disclosure is needed. A Resident and Ordinarily Resident (ROR) pays Indian tax on worldwide income and must report every foreign asset in Schedule FA.

An Indian citizen or Person of Indian Origin who lives abroad and visits India becomes resident at 120 days (instead of 182) if their total income other than foreign sources exceeds Rs 15 lakh and they have spent 365-plus days in India in the preceding 4 years. The rescue: at 120 to 181 days they are automatically RNOR, so foreign income still escapes Indian tax. This rule came from the Finance Act 2020 (from FY 2020-21) – websites describing it as a new rule from April 2026 are wrong; the Income-tax Act 2025 merely re-enacted it.

Total income OTHER THAN income from foreign sources – broadly your Indian-source income (rent, interest, dividends, capital gains, Indian salary) plus any foreign income derived from a business controlled in India or a profession set up in India. Pure foreign salary and foreign investment income are excluded. The Rs 15 lakh is computed before comparing, per the definitions in the Explanation to section 6.

An Indian citizen whose non-foreign income exceeds Rs 15 lakh and who is not liable to tax in ANY other country by reason of residence or domicile is deemed resident – but always as RNOR, never ROR. The CBDT clarified (press release of 2 February 2020) that it is an anti-abuse rule and bona fide workers in the Gulf are not the target – a UAE resident is generally “liable to tax” there by residence even though the UAE levies no personal income tax, so the deeming does not normally apply. Foreign income of a deemed resident is still not taxable unless from an Indian-controlled business.

The safe, widely-followed position (from an Authority for Advance Rulings decision) is that both count – a part of a day is a full day. Some Tribunal decisions have excluded the arrival day using the General Clauses Act. This calculator counts both. If your total lands within a day or two of 60, 120, 182 or 729, treat the result as borderline and take professional advice with your passport stamps.

In the year of departure, an Indian citizen leaving for employment outside India (which courts read to include self-employment and business) or as crew of an Indian ship becomes resident only if they spend 182 days or more in India that year – the 60-day test does not apply. Practical rule of thumb: leave by 28-29 September and you are non-resident for that year, so your foreign salary after departure is not taxable in India.

For Indian-citizen crew on an eligible international voyage (Indian port to foreign port or vice versa), the period from the joining date to the sign-off date entered in the Continuous Discharge Certificate is treated as OUTSIDE India (Rule 126 of the 1962 Rules; Rule 8 of the Income-tax Rules 2026 from FY 2026-27). Do not add those periods in the day counter.

A resident individual is RNOR if ANY of these holds: (1) non-resident in India in 9 of the 10 preceding years, OR (2) in India for 729 days or less in the 7 preceding years, OR (3) deemed resident under section 6(1A), OR (4) an Indian citizen or PIO visitor with non-foreign income above Rs 15 lakh who stayed 120 to 181 days. Fail all of them and you are ordinarily resident.

Typically 2 to 3 years, driven by the two section 6(6)(a) tests. Someone abroad for many years satisfies “non-resident in 9 of 10 preceding years” for the first 2 years after return, and the 729-day test often extends RNOR to a third year depending on visit history. Each year is tested independently – run this calculator for each year. The RNOR window is the time to reorganise foreign assets, redeem FCNR deposits and re-designate NRE accounts.

Watch this trap: NRE interest exemption under section 10(4)(ii) depends on being a person resident outside India under FEMA – and FEMA residency ends the day you return with intent to stay, even while you remain NR or RNOR under the Income-tax Act. So NRE interest can become taxable immediately on return. FCNR(B) interest is different – exempt under section 10(15)(iv)(fa) for both NR and RNOR, so it survives until you become ordinarily resident.

No. Schedule FA applies only to a resident who is ordinarily resident. NR and RNOR individuals do not report foreign assets – one of the biggest practical benefits of the RNOR window. Once ROR, every foreign account, shareholding, RSU and property must be reported; non-disclosure attracts a Rs 10 lakh per year penalty under the Black Money Act.

ITR-1 is not available to non-residents. An NRI with salary, house property, capital gains or other sources files ITR-2; with business or professional income in India, ITR-3. Check our ITR form selector. Due date for AY 2026-27: 31 July 2026 (ITR-1/2) or 31 August 2026 (ITR-3/4 without audit).

No. Every threshold is identical – 182, 120, 60, 365 and 729 days and the Rs 15 lakh limit. Only the section numbers changed: section 6(1) became 6(2), Explanation 1 became 6(3)-(5), deemed residency 6(1A) became 6(7), and the RNOR clauses moved to 6(13). This calculator cites the correct sections for whichever year you select.

Partly. A PIO (you, either parent or any grandparent born in undivided India) gets the visitor relaxations – the 182-day threshold and the 120-day rule – just like a citizen. But two rules are citizen-only: the departure-for-employment relaxation in the year of leaving, and deemed residency under section 6(1A).

Both, for different purposes. The Income-tax Act day-count tests decide how your income is taxed. FEMA residency (intent-based, changes immediately on relocation) decides what accounts you may hold – NRE/NRO/FCNR rules, property and investment permissions. It is normal to be FEMA-resident but income-tax NR (or vice versa) in the year of moving; this calculator determines only the income-tax status.