Do I file Form ITR-2 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. Non-resident individuals with Indian capital gains, rental income or multiple sources, and residents with foreign assets to disclose.
What happens if I have missed Form ITR-2 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-2 the same as the other reports I already file?
No. The Indian return used by most NRIs — capital gains, more than one property, foreign assets and residency schedules all live here. Satisfying a different obligation, even one covering the same accounts or entity, does nothing for this one.
Why is ITR-2 described as the default form for most NRIs?
Because it is built to handle the situations most NRIs actually have — capital gains, more than one property, foreign assets to disclose and the residency schedules that establish non-resident status — none of which the simpler forms accommodate. An NRI without unusually complex business income will generally find this is the form that fits their facts.
In what order should the schedules on ITR-2 actually be completed?
The residency schedule typically needs to be settled first, because it establishes the status the rest of the return depends on, followed by the capital-gains computation and then the treaty-relief schedule that applies relief against whatever the earlier schedules have established. Working through them out of order is a common reason treaty relief ends up computed incorrectly or not claimed at all.
Does ITR-2 require reporting foreign assets even if the NRI has no Indian income from them?
The foreign asset disclosure in this form applies based on residency status and the nature of the assets, and depends on the specific rules governing what a resident must disclose — an NRI's own disclosure obligations differ from a resident's, so what needs to be reported depends on getting the residency position right first.
Can rental income and capital gains both be reported on the same ITR-2 filing?
Yes, the form is built to hold both alongside each other in the same return, along with the residency schedules — it is precisely this combination of income types that makes it the form most NRIs with more than one kind of Indian income actually need, rather than needing to choose between different forms for different income streams.
How does an NRI prove residence to get the treaty rate?
With a tax residency certificate issued by the country you are resident in, plus Form 10F giving the details the certificate does not carry, plus a PAN in the payer's records. The certificate has to cover the period of the payment, and the payer needs it before paying, not afterwards. Missing any of the three and the deductor is obliged to withhold at the domestic rate, which turns a rate reduction into a refund claim. See TRC against Form 10F.
What is the Liberalised Remittance Scheme?
The Reserve Bank of India framework under which a resident individual may remit up to an annual ceiling for permitted purposes — education, medical treatment, travel, maintenance of relatives, investment in shares or property abroad — with gifts and loans to non-residents inside the same ceiling. You declare the purpose to the bank on Form A2. The ceiling and the excluded purposes are set by the RBI and have changed more than once, so the figure to work from is the one current at the date of the transfer. See Form A2 and LRS remittances.
