Category: Uncategorized
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CRS & FATCA: Overview and Implications for US-based NRI/OCIs
Today I am going to discuss about the broad provisions of CRS & FATCA, which are two of the most important recent developments in recent history w.r.t. cross border taxation. Unfortunately, there has been a lot of panic reaction over the past few years with people taking knee jerk reaction & selling assets in India.…
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Benami Prohibition Act: An Analysis
Benami Prohibition Act is an Act which was enacted way back in 1988; however it did not have any teeth in terms of adjudication and other provisions so effectively it was a paper law. In 2016, given the seriousness with which the present BJP government has been chasing black money, they’ve modified this 1988 Act…
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Retuning NRI/OCI’s Guide to India’s Black Money Act
In 2015, a very important and less known law had come in place, with the name of Black Money (Undisclosed Income and Assets) and Imposition of Tax Act, 2015 (BMA). In my regular work with returning NRI clients, I generally find them blissfully ignorant of the provisions of this Act. For that little who do…
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Can a UAE-based NRI claim relief under India-UAE DTAA?
In the course of my work with NRI families from the Middle East (especially UAE), I recently came across a peculiar issue whereby a UAE resident earned considerable income in India through various investments, and wish to claim a relief from taxability of that income in India, under the India UAE DTAA. However, the very…
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FEMA Implications w.r.t. Purchase/Sale of Immovable Property Outside India
Purchasing immovable property outside India involves consideration from multiple angles as follows: In this post, I am only discussing the FEMA law on such transactions and whether it is allowed or not. In subsequent posts, I will be covering the other angles and post a link here. Please note that following acronyms have been used…
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NRI Guide to claiming lower deduction tax certificate from Income Tax Department
Some time back, I wrote a post on TDS rates for payment to NRI. In that post, I’ve discussed why in most of the times especially in property transactions, the NRI seller will face TDS @ 20.60%/ 30.90% (or 23.07%/ 35.535% in case property value > 1 CR) on the FULL SALE CONSIDERATION of the…
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International Investing by Resident Indians: An Analysis
Disclaimer: Over a period of time in my work as an investment adviser, I have realised the importance of diversification & asset allocation (not only between asset classes but geographically as well) and the importance of super low cost investment avenues like index funds. In case of NRI portfolios, a huge chunk of the portfolio…
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Indian mutual fund investments by US-based NRIs: Tax implications & Options
A lot of skilled workforce from India migrates to the USA every year in search of better career opportunities. Given the US government’s policy stance of having in place a culturally diverse population, a sub-set of migrant Indian community do apply & qualify for a US citizenship after a few years of stay in the…
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IRS Form 8938 Reporting – An Overview
In an earlier post, we have discussed about FATCA and CRS and why US NRI need not fear these new developments as long they are assessing their tax residency properly, offering full income in their tax returns and filing proper reports with the IRS. Speaking of reports, there are two main reports that a US…
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NRI Definition: FEMA Act VS Income Tax Act
It is common knowledge that in the Indian legal system, there are a different set of rules for NRIs. Then, there are different laws that apply to NRIs and each law defines NRI differently. A big confusion then, is what exactly the definition of NRI is, do I qualify as NRI in the first place…