What is included in the fee for NRI Indian return (ITR-2)?
The Indian return on India's own year, reconciled against the department's information statement, with treaty relief and the deduction-at-source credits properly claimed.
What would make NRI Indian return (ITR-2) cost more than the standard tier?
Property and capital gains together. Rent with deduction at source is routine; a property sale in the same year brings computation, indexation and often a certificate application.
Is the fee really fixed?
Yes, for the scope quoted. If the scope changes — another year appears, an entity turns up, a certificate becomes necessary — we re-quote before doing the work, so there is never an invoice you have not already agreed to.
Do I need to file an Indian tax return if I live in Canada?
It depends on what India-sourced income you have rather than on where you live. Rent from an Indian property, interest on Indian accounts, dividends, capital gains on Indian assets and a pension paid from India can each bring a filing requirement, and a return is often worth filing even where none strictly arises. It is how tax deducted at source above the eventual liability is recovered, and how a position is put on record before anyone queries it. Being non-resident narrows what India taxes; it does not by itself remove the obligation to report what remains within the charge.
Why does my Indian tax statement show income I do not recognise?
The department's information statement is assembled from what third parties report against your account number, not from what you have told it. So it picks up interest credited on accounts you may have forgotten, transactions on a jointly held account reported in full against one holder, fund activity reported gross, and occasionally an entry belonging to somebody else whose details were misquoted. The return has to be reconciled against that statement item by item, with an explanation where a figure is not yours or is not taxable in your hands. Filing without reconciling is what produces the query letter.
How do I get back tax deducted at source on Indian interest?
By filing the return and claiming credit for what was deducted. Deduction at source is an advance collection rather than a final tax, and for a non-resident it is frequently applied at a rate above the eventual liability, particularly where a treaty rate could have been applied and was not. The credit is set against the tax the return computes and the balance is refunded. Two things delay it in practice: deduction reported against a different account number from the one filing, and bank details on the return that no longer match an active account.
Which Indian return form should a non-resident individual use?
ITR-2 is the form for an individual without business or professional income, which covers most non-residents holding property, deposits and investments in India. The choice of form is not a formality. It determines which schedules are available for reporting residential status, the treaty position and the assets held, and filing on the wrong form is treated as a defective return rather than a minor slip. The residential status schedule is the part worth care. It is where the days of presence and the basis of non-residence are set out, and where most self-filed returns go wrong.
How much do you charge to file an NRI return in India?
A fixed fee, agreed in writing before any work begins. A standard engagement is one year, a complete set of documents, and no second jurisdiction in the same piece of work. It becomes a larger engagement where there is a property sale to compute, a certificate application to make, several years to bring current, or a Canadian return whose credit depends on the Indian outcome. We ask for the account statements and the deduction certificates before quoting, so the figure holds. If the scope changes once we are into the work, we stop and re-quote before going further.
Do I report my Canadian salary on my Indian return?
Generally not, if your residential status for the Indian year is non-resident, because India then taxes India-sourced income only and employment exercised in Canada is not that. The care needed is in the status itself, which turns on presence and on the pattern of earlier years rather than on your visa or your intentions. Status is determined year by year, so the year you left and the year you return are the ones to examine closely. A year that looks non-resident on a casual count can fall the other way once the earlier years are taken into account.
Is dividend income from Indian shares taxable for an NRI?
Yes. Dividends are taxed in the shareholder's hands, and the paying company withholds on payment to a non-resident. The treaty can reduce that withholding, but only if the documents are with the company before it pays: a tax residency certificate from your country, Form 10F, and a PAN on the register. Without them the domestic rate applies and your route back to the difference is a refund claim on an Indian return. See residency certificates and Form 10F.
What are Forms 15CA and 15CB for?
They clear a payment out of India. Form 15CA is the remitter's declaration of the payment and the tax withheld on it; Form 15CB is an accountant's certificate on the taxability of the amount, the treaty article relied on and the correct withholding rate. The bank generally will not execute the transfer without them, in the categories where they are required. The work is deciding the rate correctly, because the certificate is the record of that decision. See 15CA and 15CB certification.
