I work in Dubai and pay no income tax there — does India tax my salary?
It depends on your residence in India, and on almost nothing else. Where the other country charges nothing on salary there is no foreign tax to credit and no treaty argument to have, so the whole answer sits in India's residency tests, which are day counts run on the year in question and on the years before it. If those tests make you resident in India for a year, your worldwide salary belongs on the Indian return for that year, whatever Dubai does with it. If they do not, Indian tax follows Indian-source income only. So the real work is a travel record accurate enough to survive being checked.
How many days can I spend in India before I become resident again?
There is no single number that answers this for everybody, which is why the question causes so much trouble. India's tests count days in the year and also look back over earlier years, and a different combination applies to people returning after a long spell abroad. We run the counts on your actual travel history rather than on a rule of thumb, then tell you what the coming year looks like and how much room is left in it. Keep passport stamps, boarding passes and entry records. A day count you cannot evidence is not a position, it is a hope.
Is there a foreign tax credit to claim if the UAE takes nothing?
No. A credit relieves foreign tax actually paid on the same income, so where no tax has been charged there is nothing to relieve and nothing to claim. Clients sometimes arrive with a credit claim already prepared and a residence position that was never tested; the claim fails and the residence question is still waiting to be answered. Treat the order as fixed. Establish where you are resident, identify the source of each item of income, and only then look at relief. In this corridor the first step usually settles the whole matter.
Do I pay Indian tax on interest on my deposits in India while abroad?
Interest from deposits held in India is Indian-source income, so India can tax it whatever your residence, and banks generally deduct before paying you. What changes with residence is the type of account you are entitled to hold, how the interest is treated, and whether the deduction is the end of the matter or a payment on account to be reconciled on a return. Tell the bank when your status changes. An account that was correct while you were resident and then stayed open unchanged is a common source of both wrong deductions and awkward correspondence.
What changes in the year I move back to India from the UAE?
The year of return is usually the year that costs money, because your status can change while your income has not. A period abroad can end with India treating you as resident for that whole year, which brings worldwide income into the Indian return, and people coming back after a long absence may have a transitional status that treats foreign income differently for a limited window. Which applies depends on the day counts and on how long you were away. Settle that before the move if you can, because the same income can fall inside or outside the Indian net depending on the date you land.
Does selling my flat in India while I live in Dubai change anything?
The gain is Indian-source because the property is in India, so India taxes it whether or not you are resident. What your residence changes is how the tax reaches the authority and what follows: sales by non-residents are generally settled with tax withheld at the transaction, and that is rarely the same as the tax finally due. The difference is recovered on an Indian return, not at the closing table. So prepare the paperwork before the sale, and keep the full cost history, because without it the gain is computed against you.
What is RNOR status and why does it matter to a returning NRI?
Resident but Not Ordinarily Resident is a transitional Indian status that can apply for a limited period after you return, based on how long you were non-resident before. While it lasts, certain foreign income stays outside the Indian net that would be taxed once you become an ordinary resident — which makes the timing of a return date, and of realising foreign gains, a genuine planning decision rather than an administrative one. See the RNOR window.
What is TCS on foreign remittance?
Tax collected at source. When a resident individual remits money abroad under the Liberalised Remittance Scheme — or buys an overseas tour package — the bank or seller collects an amount of tax on top and deposits it against your PAN. It is not a cost and it is not a final tax: it appears in your annual tax statement and is set off against the tax on your return, with the excess refunded. The rates and the purposes they attach to have been amended repeatedly, so we confirm them for the remittance year. See LRS limits and TCS.
