Do I have to file an Indian tax return as an NRI?
Often yes, and frequently for a reason people do not expect. India taxes non-resident Indians only on Indian-source income, but that income is usually collected at source before any exemption or cost is taken into account. The return is where the deduction is reconciled against what is actually due. So the filing is commonly a recovery rather than a payment, and not filing means leaving the deducted amount where it is. Whether an obligation exists in your case depends on what Indian income you have; the practical question is usually whether filing brings money back.
Why was tax deducted from my Indian rent or interest?
Because India collects before it computes. A payer — a tenant, a bank, a company — is required to deduct from the amount it pays you, and it does so on the gross figure, ahead of any exemption, cost or allowance you may be entitled to. That is why the deduction so often exceeds the tax finally due. Nothing has gone wrong. The sequence is simply deduction first, computation later. The computation happens in your return, which is where the difference between what was taken and what was owed gets settled.
Am I an NRI if I moved abroad part way through the year?
It depends on the day counts, not on the move itself. Status is decided by India's presence tests applied to the year, so a departure in the middle of a year can leave you resident for that year and non-resident for the next. That matters because the two answers carry different scopes of taxable income. The year of the move is therefore the year to get right, and it is settled from a record of dates rather than from the fact of having relocated. Keep the travel record for that year; it is the evidence the position rests on.
Is my overseas salary taxable in India as an NRI?
As a non-resident you are within the Indian charge on Indian-source income, so income arising outside India generally sits outside it. The care is needed at the edges. Whether a payment has an Indian source is not always obvious from who paid it or which account received it, and an employer's arrangements can put part of a package on the Indian side. It is worth sorting each element of your remuneration by where it arises rather than treating the whole package as foreign because you live abroad.
How do I get back tax deducted at source in India?
Through the return, supported by the payer's records. The deduction sits against your name in the payer's reporting, so the first step is to reconcile what each payer says it deducted with what you actually received. Then the income is computed properly, with the exemptions and costs the deduction ignored, and the excess is claimed. Two things slow this down more than anything else: a mismatch between the payer's reporting and your own figures, and missing details for the account the money is to be paid into. Both are worth checking before filing.
Does NRI status depend on my passport or my days?
The days. Non-resident Indian status is decided by India's presence tests, so it is a function of where you physically were and for how long, not of citizenship, visa class or where you consider home to be. People are caught out in both directions: assuming status follows the passport, or assuming that a long absence settles a year the day count does not. Because the answer changes year by year, it is checked year by year, from a record of dates kept as you travel rather than assembled at filing time.
I have not filed for several years while living abroad — what are my options?
Both countries have routes back, and using one before they contact you is what preserves the relief. On the US side there are procedures aimed at taxpayers whose failure was not wilful, including one designed for people living outside the country, and separate procedures for late account reports and information returns alone. Canada has its voluntary disclosures programme and taxpayer relief for penalties and interest. Filing quietly and hoping is the one approach with no protection attached to it. See catch-up filing.
Is double taxation legal?
Yes. Nothing prevents two countries from taxing the same income under their own domestic law — each is exercising its own jurisdiction. What treaties and credit systems do is relieve the outcome rather than prohibit the charge, and relief is generally something you must claim on a return or a form, not something applied automatically. Miss the claim and the double charge stands. Double taxation explains the mechanism.
