Economical FLA return — foreign liabilities & assets in India

FLA return — who files it, when it is due, what late filing costs, and what we charge to prepare it. India (Income Tax Department). Economical FLA return with a fixed fee agreed in writing before any work starts. Call the 24-hour helpline on +1 (416) 619-0068, or request a written quote today.

  • 15+Years of cross-border experience
  • 18,000+Clients served
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  • 4Global offices — India, USA, Canada & UAE

Secure a fixed quote

Your own file sets the fee. Send it over, and a written quote arrives before anything is prepared.

24-hour helpline: +1 (416) 619-0068
  • 15+ years of cross-border experience
  • 18,000+ clients served
  • Fixed fee agreed before work starts
In 60 words

FLA return is an information return: The annual return of foreign liabilities and assets filed with India's central bank. Indian companies and LLPs that received foreign investment or made overseas investment in any year.

Whether this is your situation

Indian companies and LLPs that received foreign investment or made overseas investment in any year.

Read this first; the rest is procedure. It is a regulatory filing rather than a tax one, and it is due annually for as long as the foreign investment exists — including for years with no new transaction, which is when it is forgotten.

Two of the firm’s advisers at a desk in the Delhi office

Transparent, fixed pricing for fla return India

The FLA return is priced on how many years of foreign liabilities and assets have to be brought current and on whether the accounts behind them are audited or still provisional. A company with one foreign shareholder and finalised figures is a small job; several investors and overseas subsidiaries across missed years is larger. Fixed fee in writing first.

Individual tax filing

From $349

fixed, quoted before work starts

Personal returns for individuals, expats and non-residents — foreign income, foreign property and treaty relief handled in one engagement.
See the fee schedule

Corporate cross-border filing

From $999

fixed, quoted before work starts

The corporate return and its cross-border schedules as one engagement, so the group files a consistent position everywhere.
See the fee schedule

Foreign asset & information reporting

From $349

fixed, quoted before work starts

Accounts, property and company interests held outside the country of residence, reported on the schedules that carry penalties whether or not tax is owed.
See the fee schedule

Payroll & mobility setup

From $999

fixed, quoted before work starts

Payroll set up for a workforce split across countries, including the relief that stops the same salary being withheld on twice.
See the fee schedule

Catch-up & voluntary disclosure

From $349

fixed, quoted before work starts

Missed years brought current under the disclosure programme that fits, with the penalty position worked out before anything is filed.
See the fee schedule

Non-resident & departure filings

From $349

fixed, quoted before work starts

Non-resident filings and the two part-year returns a move produces, sequenced so neither country taxes the same income twice.
See the fee schedule

Transfer pricing documentation

From $2,500

fixed, quoted before work starts

Intercompany pricing documented before it is questioned — the functional analysis, the benchmarking and the files that support it.
See the fee schedule

Estate & trust filing

From $799

fixed, quoted before work starts

Estates and trusts with assets or beneficiaries in more than one country, with both sides prepared together.
See the fee schedule

All published fees on one page — one page, every published fee, nothing quoted as a vague bracket.

What the reporting test actually looks at

What decides whether FLA return applies
What the test looks atWhere the figure comes from
The obligationThe annual return of foreign liabilities and assets filed with India's central bank.
Who it bindsIndian companies and LLPs that received foreign investment or made overseas investment in any year.
Jurisdiction and authorityIndia — Income Tax Department
Category of filingInformation return

When it is due

Information returns are generally due with — or on the same timetable as — the return they accompany, so the deadline is the filing deadline of the underlying return unless the rules set a separate date. Where an extension covers the return, confirm whether it also covers this form; several information returns keep their own date. The date is confirmed for your year at the start of the engagement, not assumed from last year's.

What late or missed filing costs

The penalty on an information return is charged per form and per year, and it does not depend on tax being owed. That is the whole risk profile: a filer with no tax to pay can still accumulate a substantial liability across unfiled years, and the exposure compounds with each additional entity or account that should have been reported. Relief exists for most of these situations, and it is conditional on how the correction is made. That is the part worth getting right.

What this looks like with numbers

The arithmetic is more persuasive than the description, so:

Deduction on the price against tax on the gain

An NRI sells Indian property for ₹24,300,000 with an indexed cost of ₹16,767,000. Assume the buyer must deduct at 22% of the consideration, and assume tax on the gain at 14%.

Deduction on the price against tax on the gain
ItemAmount
Sale consideration₹24,300,000
Cost taken into account₹16,767,000
Gain actually arising₹7,533,000
Deduction on the consideration (assumed 22%)₹5,346,000
Tax on the gain (assumed 14%)₹1,054,620
Cash held back beyond the real tax₹4,291,380

₹4,291,380 more is deducted than the transaction actually owes. A lower-deduction certificate obtained before closing is what releases it at the table; without one it sits with the department until a return recovers it. The shape of that result holds; the size of it depends entirely on your own numbers and dates.

These amounts illustrate the mechanism only. The rates and thresholds are assumptions of the example, not your numbers: each is checked against the issuing authority for your specific tax year before any return is filed.

How we prepare and file it, and what it costs

FLA return is priced as part of the filing set it travels with, quoted in writing before any work begins. A change in scope is re-quoted rather than added to the invoice. See the inheriting property or money in India for comparable engagements.

How we handle it

  1. 1Establish whether the reporting test is met, on the correct measure
  2. 2Assemble the holdings, accounts or entities that fall inside it
  3. 3Prepare the return and reconcile it to the tax return it travels with
  4. 4File, and set the calendar entry so next year is not a catch-up
  • Fixed fees agreed before any work starts, so the number in the quote is the number on the invoice.
  • Your existing accountant keeps the domestic file; we take the cross-border piece, with the boundary in writing.
  • Consultations scheduled to your working day rather than ours.

One call is usually enough to know whether this is a filing or a project.

Reviewed against current guidance for the 2025 and 2026 filing seasons by Udit Gupta, Cross-Border Tax Expert, Legal Quotient Consultants. This is general information rather than advice about your file — a short call is the way to get the second.

Foreign asset declaration India, in practice

Read this page for foreign asset declaration India. It works through FLA return from the beginning — whether it applies to you at all, what has to be filed if it does, and what the engagement costs, priced up front.

It is a regulatory filing rather than a tax one, and it is due annually for as long as the foreign investment exists — including for years with no new transaction, which is when it is forgotten.

How the engagement runs, phase by phase

  1. Send the documents as they are

    No tidying required — forward what you have and we tell you what is missing.

  2. Get a fixed quote in writing

    Priced from your actual documents before any work begins, not estimated after.

  3. Both countries prepared together

    One team builds the filings against each other so the relief lands exactly once.

  4. Review, then file

    You approve the finished work before we file it.

What you are actually buying with fla return India

Factor Legal Quotient Hourly billing model
Pricing A fixed fee, agreed in writing before work starts Hourly, billed as incurred
Experience 15+ years of cross-border work, 18,000+ clients Varies by file
Both sides of the border Prepared together by one team, so relief is claimed exactly once One country at a time, reconciled later
Who reviews it A named practitioner, published on the page Whoever the queue reaches
Where the work happens Our offices in India, the USA, Canada and the UAE Whichever single office you can travel to

Key terms behind this page, defined

Effective tax rate
Tax as a proportion of a defined measure of profit. Under the minimum tax rules it is computed per jurisdiction from adjusted accounting figures.
FC-GPR
The Indian reporting of shares issued to a foreign investor, due within days of the transaction and compounding if late.
Comparable uncontrolled price
The most direct transfer-pricing method, using the price in a genuinely comparable third-party transaction. Reliable when a close comparable exists, and rarely available.
Form 3520
The US return reporting transactions with foreign trusts and the receipt of large foreign gifts and bequests — an obligation missed precisely because the receipt is not income.
fla return India: Our analysis

It is a regulatory filing rather than a tax one, and it is due annually for as long as the foreign investment exists — including for years with no new transaction, which is when it is forgotten.

The engagement terms hold no matter what the analysis finds — fee and scope agreed in writing up front, a named reviewer on the output, your approval before the finished work is filed.

Fla return India — what the published fees look like

Quiet years cost something too. The return falls due for as long as the foreign investment sits on the balance sheet, including years with no transaction at all, so part of the work is establishing which group companies and LLPs were in scope in each of them. That scoping is priced in writing.

Corporate cross-border filing

$999fixed, before work starts

Covers: Corporate returns with foreign income, related-party reporting and cross-border structures, for companies of any size.

See this fee page

Foreign asset & information reporting

$349fixed, before work starts

Covers: Accounts, property and company interests held outside the country of residence, reported on the schedules that carry penalties whether or not tax is owed.

See this fee page

Why clients bring fla return India to us

18,000+ clients served

Individuals, expats and corporations across India, the USA, Canada and the UAE have filed with us — 15+ years of cross-border work.

Cross-border is the whole practice

International and cross-border tax is all we do — not a sideline next to domestic work. The edge cases on this page are our ordinary Tuesday.

We say early if it is not our work

If a file needs something this practice does not do, you hear that at the start rather than after a bill.

Both sides prepared together

Two returns built against each other by one team, so relief is claimed exactly once and nothing falls between the two systems.

The firm’s founder at his desk in the Delhi office

Fla return India — the four phases

Step 1

First conversation

We establish what happened and when, because every position here is anchored to a date

Step 2

Written quote

A written scope and a fixed price, so you know the cost before committing

Step 3

Preparation and sign-off

The filings are prepared, cross-checked against each other, and reviewed by name

Step 4

Submission

You see the result, approve it, and we file it

The team at work in the open-plan office

How the work runs — quote first, then the work

  • Step 1: Hand over the paperwork in any state – Sorting it is our job. Send what exists and we identify what is missing from it.
  • Step 2: Priced before a single form is opened – The fee comes from the documents, agreed in writing, and stays where it was agreed.
  • Step 3: One position across every return – The same facts, filed consistently on each side, so nothing contradicts anything else.
  • Step 4: Filed after you have read it – The completed work reaches you before it reaches an authority.

Quoted up front, in writing.

Contact Us 24-hour helpline +1 (416) 619-0068

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Who we bring this work to

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Where our clients live and work

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The people on your file

Five named practitioners, each with the part of a cross-border file they carry. Every page on this site says who reviewed it, and the reviewer is one of these people rather than an unnamed team.

Udit Gupta

Udit Gupta

Cross-Border Tax Expert

CA (ICAI), In-Depth Tax Trained

Reviews and signs off the practice's cross-border positions, and carries final responsibility for the treaty analysis on every file that leaves the office.

Abhinav Gupta

Abhinav Gupta

Canada Tax / International Tax

Canada Tax, International Tax, Cross-Border Tax, Transfer Pricing

Canadian returns with foreign income, non-resident filings, and the transfer-pricing documentation that runs alongside intercompany work.

Raghav Gupta

Raghav Gupta

International Tax

International Tax, Transfer Pricing Specialist

Benchmarking, method selection and the local-file and master-file sets that support a group's pricing policy under examination.

Anmol Mittal

Anmol Mittal

Canada and US tax

CPA Canada, CPA USA, CA (ICAI)

Files that have to be right on both sides of the border at once — dual filings, streamlined catch-ups, and the foreign tax credit reconciliation between them.

Vinayak Indolia

Vinayak Indolia

CFO advisory

CPA, CA. Fractional CFO and Senior Advisory Specialist

Groups that need the tax position and the finance function to agree: structure reviews, intercompany policy, and the reporting a board can act on.

Meet the whole team

Files that look like this one

Case study 1

The Two-Year Window After Returning to India

Returning residents pass through a transitional status in which foreign income is largely outside the Indian net. The engagement establishes when the window opens and closes, and puts the transactions that benefit inside it.

Read how this one runs
Case study 2

A Family Trust Abroad With Reporting on Both Sides

A trust settled in one country and a beneficiary living in another produces reporting for the trust, the settlor and the beneficiary, on different forms and different dates. The engagement maps who files what before anything is prepared.

Read how this one runs
Case study 3

A Distribution From a Trust Set Up Abroad

A distribution can be capital in the trust's country and income here, and the reporting attaches to the beneficiary rather than the trustee. The work is characterising the payment before it is received where possible.

Read how this one runs
Case study 4

Inheriting Property in India While Living Abroad

India does not tax the inheritance itself, but the later sale and the money leaving the country both have positions of their own. The file establishes the cost base to use on that sale and what the remittance will require.

Read how this one runs
Case study 5

Accounts Reported Late When the Income Already Was

Where the income was on the return and only the account report was missed, a narrow route allows late filing with a reason attached. It is open only while no income is unreported and no examination has begun, which is why it is checked first.

Read how this one runs
Case study 6

An Estate Using Its Graduated Rates in Time

The favourable rate treatment an estate can access is time-limited and conditional, and it is lost by administration rather than by decision. The file identifies the window and the filings that keep it open.

Read how this one runs
Case study 7

Fifteen Per Cent Held Back From a Fee for Services in Canada

A payer must withhold from fees paid to a non-resident for services rendered in Canada, whether or not any tax is ultimately owed. A waiver applied for before the work is invoiced avoids the withholding; after it, the money comes back through a return.

Read how this one runs
Case study 8

A Secondment Whose Paperwork Decided the Tax

Who employs, who directs and who bears the cost are the facts a treaty article turns on, and an assignment letter is where they are recorded. Drafting it with the tax position in view prevents an argument later.

Read how this one runs

All case studies — every published engagement in one place.

Core International & Cross-Border Tax Services

International Tax Planning & Advisory

Strategy and compliance for income, assets and families spread across borders.

One coordinating team: filings on every side of the border are sequenced so treaty relief and foreign tax credits are claimed once — and in the right country.

U.S. & Cross-Border Tax Returns

Dual filers: U.S. citizens in Canada and Canadians with U.S. income run two parallel systems — we prepare both, in the right order, every year.

Expat & Emigration Tax

The move year is its own project: the elections and valuations filed that year decide the next decade of both countries’ returns.

Non-Resident Canadian Tax

Default withholding is 25% of gross: elective returns routinely turn over-withheld rent and pensions into refunds.

Transfer Pricing & BEPS

Documentation prepared with the return is the cheapest insurance in international tax; reconstructing it during an audit is the most expensive.

Cross-Border Estates & Trusts

Wills drafted for one country routinely misfire in the other — deemed disposition here, estate tax there, credits in between.

Cross-Border Corporate Tax

Expansion raises the same four questions every time — entity, PE, repatriation, payroll. We answer them before the tax authorities do.

India Tax for NRIs & Returning Residents

The deduction is taken on the sale price, not the gain — which is why an NRI property sale strands cash unless the certificate is applied for before closing.

Canadian Tax with a Foreign Element

Residency is decided on facts, not on a form — and the year you arrive or leave is the one where the largest amounts turn on the smallest details.

UAE Tax for Expats & Their Home Country

A zero-tax country is only half the answer — the question that decides the bill is whether the country you came from still treats you as resident.

Industries & Client Types We Serve Worldwide

Global E-commerce & Marketplaces
Technology & SaaS
Professional Services Firms
Cross-Border Real Estate
Importers, Exporters & Manufacturers
Athletes, Artists & Entertainers
Remote Workers & Digital Nomads
Investment Funds & Holding Companies

Global E-commerce & Marketplaces

  • Foreign VAT / GST / sales tax registrations
  • Marketplace withholding reviews
  • Inventory nexus & PE analysis
  • Multi-currency books reconciled
Explore E-commerce & Marketplaces

Technology & SaaS

Software revenue crosses borders by default — sourcing rules, withholding on licence-like payments and IP location decide the effective rate.

Software revenue is rarely taxed where the team sits. Licence, subscription and service income are characterised differently by each side, and the answer decides withholding at source, treaty relief and whether a foreign customer creates a taxable presence at all — questions that are cheap to settle before the contract and expensive afterwards.

  • Cross-border revenue sourcing & withholding
  • IP structuring with real substance
  • Equity for cross-border teams
  • U.S. expansion: entity & PE setup
Explore Technology & SaaS

Importers, Exporters & Manufacturers

  • Transfer pricing documentation (s.247)
  • Customs value vs transfer price
  • Foreign affiliate reporting (T1134)
  • Country-by-country reporting
Explore Trade & Manufacturing

Athletes, Artists & Entertainers

  • Reg 105 & U.S. CWA agreements
  • Multi-state & country calendars
  • Touring income allocation
  • Royalty & image-rights withholding
Explore Athletes & Entertainers

Remote Workers & Digital Nomads

  • Residency analysis before moving
  • Employer payroll exposure
  • Totalization & social security
  • Foreign tax credits
Explore Remote Workers

Investment Funds & Holding Companies

  • Treaty access & PPT reviews
  • FAPI & surplus computations
  • Withholding-efficient routing
  • Governance & substance
Explore Funds & Holdcos

FLA return — questions we are asked

Do I file FLA return even if no tax is owed?

Information return obligations of this kind are generally required on the facts rather than on the tax result, so a nil position does not remove one. Indian companies and LLPs that received foreign investment or made overseas investment in any year.

What happens if I have missed FLA return for several years?

Missed years are dealt with as a package rather than one at a time, because the route chosen for the first year affects the relief available for the rest. We map the years and the obligations before anything is filed.

Is FLA return the same as the other reports I already file?

No. The annual return of foreign liabilities and assets filed with India's central bank. Satisfying a different obligation, even one covering the same accounts or entity, does nothing for this one.

Do NRIs pay tax on money sent to India?

Sending your own funds to India is a transfer of capital, not income, so the remittance itself is not taxed. What is taxable is income the money then earns in India — interest, rent, capital gains — under the rules for the account type it sits in. Sending money out of India is the direction that needs certification before the bank will act. See NRE, NRO and FCNR accounts.

Is money received in India from abroad taxable?

Receiving your own money is not income, and a gift from a specified relative is exempt however large. Two things do bite. A gift from someone outside that relative list is taxable to the recipient once the year's receipts pass the threshold in the gift provisions. And money that is really payment for something — fees, rent, interest, a share of profit — is taxed as that income whatever the bank narration says. The paperwork should match the substance. See gifting money to family in India.

Who is an NRI for tax purposes?

Residence in India is decided by days present in the tax year, with a second limb that also counts days over the preceding four years, and separate rules for Indian citizens leaving for employment. Fall outside the tests and you are non-resident, taxed in India only on Indian-source income. Between full residence and non-residence sits RNOR — resident but not ordinarily resident — which shelters foreign income for a limited window after returning. See RNOR status.

Meet us in person at any of our offices

FLA return, quoted before we start

Send us the facts. You will get a scope and a fixed fee in writing, and nothing starts until you agree to both.

  • 18,000+ clients served
  • Your existing accountant keeps the domestic file
  • Rated 5.0 out of 5 stars on Google

Our practitioners are alumni of leading accounting and tax institutions

Where our partners studied — CPA Canada (In-Depth Tax Program), AICPA, the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India and the Malaysian Institute of Accountants.

Request a Quote +1 (416) 619-0068