Affordable Form ITR-1 (Sahaj) — who can and cannot use it in India

Form ITR-1 (Sahaj) — who files it, when it is due, what late filing costs, and what we charge to prepare it. India (Income Tax Department). Affordable ITR-1 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
  • 5.0Google rating
  • 4Global offices — India, USA, Canada & UAE

Secure a fixed quote

Start by sending whatever paperwork exists — a written fixed quote comes back before any work begins.

24-hour helpline: +1 (416) 619-0068
  • Google rating 5.0 out of 5
  • 15+ years of cross-border experience
  • 18,000+ clients served
In 60 words

Form ITR-1 (Sahaj) is an annual return: The simplest Indian return form, and the eligibility conditions that exclude most non-residents from using it. Resident individuals with straightforward income within the eligibility conditions — and, importantly, not non-residents.

Does this bind you?

Resident individuals with straightforward income within the eligibility conditions — and, importantly, not non-residents.

Here is the part that decides your answer. The eligibility conditions are the content. A non-resident or a filer with foreign assets, capital gains or more than one house is outside this form, and filing it anyway produces a defective return notice rather than a completed filing.

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

What ITR-1 (sahaj) India costs here

Pricing ITR-1 (Sahaj) starts with the eligibility check, because that is what decides the work: one salary, one house and interest income keeps the return short, while a second property, capital gains, foreign assets or non-resident status puts you outside Sahaj and into a fuller return. We quote in writing once we know which it is.

NRI Indian return (ITR-2) — fixed-fee price

From $349

fixed, quoted before work starts

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.
See the full fee page

India–Canada dual filing (ITR + T1) — India desk price

From $349

fixed, quoted before work starts

Both returns as one engagement across two mismatched fiscal years, with the Indian deduction at source reconciled and the Canadian credit claimed where it is usable.
See the full fee page

Individual tax filing

From $349

fixed, quoted before work starts

One engagement for a personal return that touches more than one country: the income, the assets held abroad and the relief claimed against them.
See the fee schedule

Foreign asset & information reporting

From $349

fixed, quoted before work starts

The information returns that carry the heaviest penalties — foreign accounts, foreign property, foreign affiliates — prepared from one asset list.
See the fee schedule

Non-resident & departure filings

From $349

fixed, quoted before work starts

Returns for the year you leave, the year you arrive, and the years you earn rental or pension income from a country you no longer live in.
See the fee schedule

Estate & trust filing

From $799

fixed, quoted before work starts

The returns an estate or trust owes on each side, prepared together so relief for tax paid abroad is actually claimed.
See the fee schedule

Catch-up & voluntary disclosure

From $349

fixed, quoted before work starts

Bringing an unfiled history current: which years are still open, which programme applies, and what the exposure is before you commit.
See the fee schedule

Corporate cross-border filing

From $999

fixed, quoted before work starts

Returns for companies with foreign subsidiaries, foreign income or foreign shareholders, and the schedules each of those triggers.
See the fee schedule

All published fees on one page — each engagement priced as one number on one list, with nothing left as a range.

What the reporting test actually looks at

What decides whether Form ITR-1 (Sahaj) applies
What the return reportsWhere the data comes from
The obligationThe simplest Indian return form, and the eligibility conditions that exclude most non-residents from using it.
Who it bindsResident individuals with straightforward income within the eligibility conditions — and, importantly, not non-residents.
Jurisdiction and authorityIndia — Income Tax Department
Category of filingEntity return

When it is due

The return is due on the entity's own filing timetable, measured from its year end rather than the calendar. Extensions may be available for the return and rarely cover the payment, and in a cross-border group the binding constraint is usually the date the foreign accounts close. The deadline is set out in writing with the engagement, along with what has to be in our hands to meet it.

What late or missed filing costs

Late filing penalties are computed by reference to the tax owing and the length of the delay, and separate penalties attach to the information returns filed alongside. In a group the second category is normally the larger one. Where years are already missed, the route chosen for the earliest year affects the relief available for the rest — so the sequence is decided before anything is filed.

What this looks like with numbers

This is what the rule produces when you put figures through it.

Credit relief on one stream of income

Take C$179,000 of income taxed in both countries. Assume the other country charged 28% on it and the home country would charge 32% on the same amount.

Credit relief on one stream of income
ItemAmount
Income taxed in both countriesC$179,000
Tax paid abroad (assumed 28%)C$50,120
Home tax on the same income (assumed 32%)C$57,280
Credit available (lesser of the two)C$50,120
Home tax still payableC$7,160

The credit absorbs C$50,120 and leaves C$7,160 payable at home, because the home rate on this income is the higher of the two. The balance is real cash and it is due on the home timetable, which is why instalments get raised in the first meeting. Change any one of those inputs and the answer moves, which is why we run it on your own figures rather than on an illustration.

An illustration, not a client file. The sums are chosen for legibility and the thresholds are stated for the example alone — nothing reaches a filing until it has been confirmed at source for your own year.

How we prepare and file it, and what it costs

Form ITR-1 (Sahaj) is quoted with the rest of the year's filings so you see one number rather than a list of add-ons. If the scope changes we come back to you before doing the work. See the NRI joint accounts and clubbing for comparable engagements.

How the engagement runs

  1. 1Fix the year end and map every filing that hangs off it
  2. 2Convert the accounts to the basis the return requires
  3. 3Prepare the return with its schedules and cross-border disclosures
  4. 4File, and reconcile the schedules against the slips and information returns
  • A change of scope is re-quoted before the work, never added to the invoice after it.
  • Your existing accountant keeps the domestic file; we take the cross-border piece, with the boundary in writing.
  • 18,000+ clients served across 4 global offices: India, the USA, Canada and the UAE.

Whatever you have is enough to start the conversation, including nothing but the dates.

Reviewed for the 2025 and 2026 filing seasons by Udit Gupta, Cross-Border Tax Expert, Legal Quotient Consultants. Published as general information. For a position on your own file, call the 24-hour helpline.

ITR group, in practice

If you came here for ITR group, this is where it is dealt with. The subject is ITR-1, and the page covers who it reaches, what then has to be filed, and what we charge to do the work.

The eligibility conditions are the content.

How the engagement runs, phase by phase

  1. Upload the file as it stands

    A secure link arrives after the first call. Incomplete is fine; that is what the review is for.

  2. The number is settled up front

    Priced from your own documents and confirmed in writing before any preparation begins.

  3. Both returns on one desk

    One engagement covers every country the file touches, reconciled line against line.

  4. Your approval, then the filing

    The return is yours to check first. We file once you say so.

The difference a dedicated cross-border team makes

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

Four terms worth pinning down

Form 67
The Indian statement of foreign income and foreign tax that supports a foreign tax credit claim, complicated by India's fiscal year not matching most others.
Streamlined domestic offshore
The US catch-up route for non-willful filers resident in the United States, which carries a penalty computed on the unreported asset values.
T106
Canada's information return of non-arm's-length transactions with non-residents, and the first document a transfer-pricing auditor reads.
Tax residency
The connection that gives a country the right to tax your worldwide income. It is decided by facts — where you live, where your family is, where your home is — not by citizenship or by the address on your post.
ITR-1 (sahaj) India: How we read this one

The eligibility conditions are the content.

However the file develops, three things stay fixed: a written scope and fee before work begins, a named practitioner reviewing the result, and your approval before anything is filed.

The published fees closest to ITR-1 (sahaj) India

The published fees further down cover the cases that arrive after the fact: a Sahaj return filed by someone who was never eligible for it, a defective return notice to answer, or a year or two to be brought current. Each is priced on what is actually there. Call +1 (416) 619-0068.

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

Non-resident & departure filings

$349fixed, before work starts

Covers: The filings that follow a move: the departure year, the arrival year, and the income that keeps arriving from the country behind you.

See this fee page

What working with us on ITR-1 (sahaj) India looks like

Residence is tested, not assumed

Where you are resident for treaty purposes is a question with a method. We work through it and write down the answer, with the facts it rests on.

The quote comes from your documents

Nothing is priced from a phone call. We read what you have first, then the fee is set — so the scope and the number are agreed on the same evidence.

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.

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.

The team reviewing a file together at a desk

From first call to filed return

Step 1

The opening call

A call to the 24-hour helpline to find out whether this is a filing or a project

Step 2

Scope in writing

A fixed fee for a written scope — re-quoted if the scope changes, never invoiced silently

Step 3

Prepared and checked

Preparation against the evidence, with the positions documented as we go

Step 4

Filed, then supported

Your approval, then the filing — in that order

Two of the firm’s advisers and the team in the open-plan office

A fixed quote first, in writing

  • Step 1: Documents first, questions second – We read the file before asking anything, so the questions we do ask are the ones that matter.
  • Step 2: A quote you can hold us to – Fixed in writing against a defined scope. No hourly meter, and no revision after the fact.
  • Step 3: The order of filing decided deliberately – Which return goes first can decide whether relief is available at all. That is planned, not discovered.
  • Step 4: Nothing filed without your sign-off – You see the completed work, ask what you need to, and approve it before submission.

Quoted up front, in writing.

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

Where to go next

Each of these carries its own guide, pricing pointers and FAQ.

The work we do for clients like this

Second opinion on a filed return The full guide to second opinion on a filed return, with the fee fixed before any work starts.
IRS streamlined foreign offshore Its own page: IRS streamlined foreign offshore — mechanism, deadlines and published fees.
Part XIII withholding review Everything on part xiii withholding review, at the same depth as this page.
Form T2036 — provincial foreign tax credit T2036 provincial foreign tax credit — the guide, the FAQ and the fixed fee.
Schedule FA — reporting foreign assets in an Indian return The full guide to schedule fa — reporting foreign assets in an Indian return, with the fee fixed before any work starts.
UK VAT registration Its own page: UK vat registration — mechanism, deadlines and published fees.
Form T1244 — election to defer departure tax Everything on t1244 election defer departure tax, at the same depth as this page.
Form A2 — LRS remittance (India) Form a2 India — the guide, the FAQ and the fixed fee.
Form RC1 — business number registration The full guide to rc1 business number registration, with the fee fixed before any work starts.

Who we help

Franchise owners — relief you're probably missing The full guide to franchise owners relief you're probably missing, with the fee fixed before any work starts.
Tax for dentists Its own page: dentists tax — mechanism, deadlines and published fees.
Tax for construction workers abroad Everything on construction workers abroad tax, at the same depth as this page.
Individuals & families abroad cross-border tax Individuals & families abroad cross border tax — the guide, the FAQ and the fixed fee.
Non-resident landlords — relief you're probably missing The full guide to non-resident landlords relief you're probably missing, with the fee fixed before any work starts.
Crypto traders — your filing calendar Its own page: crypto traders your filing calendar — mechanism, deadlines and published fees.
Professors & lecturers — what we charge Everything on professors & lecturers what we charge, at the same depth as this page.
Management consultants — what we charge Management consultants what we charge — the guide, the FAQ and the fixed fee.
Nurses working abroad — relief you're probably missing The full guide to nurses working abroad relief you're probably missing, with the fee fixed before any work starts.

The corridors we work every week

US–India tax corridor The full guide to US India tax, with the fee fixed before any work starts.
Jordan tax for expats — country guide Its own page: jordan tax for expats — mechanism, deadlines and published fees.
Kazakhstan tax for expats — country guide Everything on kazakhstan tax for expats, at the same depth as this page.
Botswana tax for expats — country guide Botswana tax for expats — the guide, the FAQ and the fixed fee.
France tax for expats — country guide The full guide to France tax for expats, with the fee fixed before any work starts.
Lithuania tax for expats — country guide Its own page: lithuania tax for expats — mechanism, deadlines and published fees.
Zambia tax for expats — country guide Everything on zambia tax for expats, at the same depth as this page.
Panama tax for expats — country guide Panama tax for expats — the guide, the FAQ and the fixed fee.
Canada–India tax corridor The full guide to Canada India tax, with the fee fixed before any work starts.

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

Cross-border situations we are engaged for

Case study 1

A US Citizen Settled in India, Filing on Both Sides

Residence in India and citizenship in the United States produce two annual returns for one income. The order decides the credit, and the Indian financial year and the US calendar year have to be reconciled before either is prepared.

Read how this one runs
Case study 2

Coming Back to Canada After Years Abroad

Returning restarts Canadian residence and re-values what you own on the day you arrive. Foreign pensions, employer plans and accounts opened abroad each land differently, and the reporting thresholds are tested against the whole portfolio rather than each account.

Read how this one runs
Case study 3

Documentation Built to the US Standard

The US requirements differ from the OECD-aligned ones in what has to exist at the time of filing, and a file prepared for one regime can leave the other unprotected. The engagement builds to whichever governs.

Read how this one runs
Case study 4

US Estate Tax on Assets a Canadian Did Not Know Were Exposed

US shares and US real estate sit inside the US estate tax net regardless of where the owner lives. The treaty provides relief that is proportionate rather than automatic, and the calculation depends on the worldwide estate.

Read how this one runs
Case study 5

A Foreign Affiliate Return Filed Years Late

The reporting obligation on a company held abroad runs separately from the corporate return and carries its own exposure. The work is reconstructing the surplus position across the open years before any filing goes in.

Read how this one runs
Case study 6

Getting Sale Proceeds Out of India

Repatriation runs on certification from an accountant and on the account the funds sit in, and the banking rules and the tax rules are separate gates. Both are cleared in sequence rather than together.

Read how this one runs
Case study 7

An NRI Selling Indian Property With Tax Withheld on the Price

Withholding on a sale by a non-resident is applied to the sale value rather than to the gain, so it routinely exceeds the tax due. A lower-deduction certificate obtained before completion avoids locking the difference up until a return is assessed.

Read how this one runs
Case study 8

Whether the Year Made Someone an NRI

Indian residence is decided by presence tests applied to the financial year, and a single trip can change the answer for the whole of it. The status is established before any return or exemption is considered.

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

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

Cross-Border Real Estate

Foreign property income and sales are taxed in both countries by default; Section 216, FIRPTA and treaty credits are the standing toolkit.

Property is taxed where it sits, which is the one rule no treaty overrides. What the treaty does decide is the credit, the rate on the rent and what happens on the sale — and the clearance certificate on a disposition is applied for before closing, not after the buyer has already held the money back.

  • Section 216 rental returns
  • FIRPTA withholding recovery
  • Section 116 clearance
  • Treaty credit optimization
Explore Real Estate

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

Form ITR-1 (Sahaj) — questions we are asked

Do I file Form ITR-1 (Sahaj) even if no tax is owed?

Annual 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. Resident individuals with straightforward income within the eligibility conditions — and, importantly, not non-residents.

What happens if I have missed Form ITR-1 (Sahaj) 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 Form ITR-1 (Sahaj) the same as the other reports I already file?

No. The simplest Indian return form, and the eligibility conditions that exclude most non-residents from using it. Satisfying a different obligation, even one covering the same accounts or entity, does nothing for this one.

Do foreign shares, ESOPs and RSUs count as foreign assets in an Indian return?

Yes. Equity held directly, shares acquired under an employee plan once they have vested to you, units in foreign funds, the custodial account they sit in and the foreign bank account that funds it are all disclosable by a resident — separately, with acquisition cost, peak value and income for the year. This is where returning employees of multinational groups most often have a gap, because the plan administrator reports to the employer, not to you. See Schedule FA reporting.

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.

15+ years of cross-border experience

Form ITR-1 (Sahaj), quoted before we start

Describe what happened and which countries are involved; the fee comes back in writing before anything begins.

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

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