NRI Income Tax Lawyer & Taxation Advisory
Selling property, earning rent, or receiving a Section 148 notice from the Indian tax department while you live abroad raises questions general accountants often cannot answer. We combine legal and tax expertise to keep NRI income compliant and notices resolved quickly.
Determining Your Residential Status Under Section 6
Your Indian tax liability starts with residential status, decided under Section 6 of the Income Tax Act, 1961 based mainly on the number of days you spend in India during the financial year — broadly, 182 days or more makes you a resident, with a shorter secondary threshold applying to certain individuals with substantial Indian income. Getting this classification right (Non-Resident, Resident, or Resident but Not Ordinarily Resident) matters enormously, since it determines whether your foreign salary, foreign investments, and overseas business income can be pulled into the Indian tax net at all.
What Income Is Actually Taxable for NRIs in India?
NRIs are taxed in India only on income that accrues, arises, or is received in India — typically rental income from an Indian property, capital gains from selling Indian real estate, shares, or mutual funds, and interest earned on NRO accounts and Indian fixed deposits (interest on NRE and FCNR accounts remains tax-free as long as the account holder's NRI status continues). Capital gains on property depend on the holding period: gains on property held over 24 months are generally treated as long-term and taxed at the applicable long-term rate, while shorter holding periods attract short-term capital gains tax at slab rates.
TDS on NRI Property Sales — Why It Feels So High
Under Section 195 of the Income Tax Act, 1961, a buyer purchasing property from an NRI seller is legally required to deduct tax at source at a materially higher rate than when buying from a resident Indian, and this deduction is commonly (and incorrectly, from the seller's perspective) applied on the entire sale consideration rather than only on the actual capital gain. The remedy is to apply in advance to the jurisdictional Assessing Officer under Section 197 for a lower or nil-deduction certificate based on the real computed gain, which meaningfully improves cash flow at closing rather than waiting to claim a refund after filing the return the following year. Our blog covers this in detail: NRI Property Selling Guide: TDS & Repatriation.
Using DTAA Benefits to Avoid Double Taxation
India has signed Double Taxation Avoidance Agreements (DTAAs) with the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, UAE, Singapore, and dozens of other countries, and under Section 90 of the Income Tax Act, 1961 an NRI can claim relief either as a tax credit for Indian tax already paid, or as an exemption on specific income categories, depending on the terms of the specific treaty and how the NRI's country of residence taxes that income. Correctly claiming DTAA relief requires a Tax Residency Certificate from your country of residence and careful matching of the treaty's income categories to your actual Indian income — errors here are one of the most common reasons NRIs end up paying more tax than legally required.
Responding to Income Tax Notices and Reassessment
A notice under Section 148 opens reassessment of income the department believes has escaped tax, and a Section 143(2) notice signals your return has been picked up for scrutiny; both carry firm response deadlines, and silence or a missed deadline can lead to an ex-parte order that is significantly harder and more expensive to reverse in appeal. NRIs frequently receive such notices over property transactions, large NRO account transfers, or mismatches flagged by TDS records, and we regularly represent clients before the Assessing Officer without them needing to travel to India, drafting the response, gathering supporting evidence, and where necessary pursuing appeal. See our related page on what to do after an NRI income tax notice.
Filing itself is straightforward once your position is clear: most NRIs without Indian business income file ITR-2 by the standard due date (usually 31 July of the assessment year, unless extended), reporting rental, capital gains, and interest income along with any DTAA claims. Property sale proceeds and their onward repatriation are closely linked to our banking practice — see Banking & Repatriation of Funds for NRIs for the RBI/FEMA side of moving sale proceeds abroad, and our NRI Property Dispute Resolution page if the property itself is contested.
Why NRIs Choose Advocate Naresh Kalra & Associates
Led by Naresh Kalra, an expert consultant on IT and PMLA e-filing matters for the Enforcement Directorate, our firm brings genuine depth on the intersection of tax and litigation, not just routine return filing. We coordinate directly with your accountant abroad where you have one, and represent you before Indian tax authorities so a notice never sits unanswered simply because you are in a different country and time zone.