Do I file Schedule FSI 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 residents with any foreign-source income during the year.
What happens if I have missed Schedule FSI 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 Schedule FSI the same as the other reports I already file?
No. The schedule reporting income from outside India and the tax paid on it, country by country. Satisfying a different obligation, even one covering the same accounts or entity, does nothing for this one.
Why does Schedule FSI need to agree with both the foreign assessment and the asset schedule?
Because it is the arithmetic behind the foreign tax credit claim, and if the income or tax figures it reports do not match what the foreign country's own assessment shows, or are inconsistent with the assets disclosed elsewhere in the return, that mismatch is exactly the kind of internal inconsistency a review is likely to pick up on.
Does Schedule FSI need to be completed separately for each country income was earned in?
Yes — the schedule reports foreign-source income and the tax paid on it country by country, rather than as one combined global figure, because the credit computation and any treaty relief depend on the specific country and its own tax rate, not on an aggregated total.
What is the relationship between Schedule FSI and Form 67?
Schedule FSI reports the foreign income and tax figures within the return itself, while Form 67 is the separate statement that formally supports the resulting foreign tax credit claim — the two need to tell the same story, since the credit claimed through the form should trace back to the income and tax reported on the schedule.
Can foreign business income and foreign employment income be combined on Schedule FSI?
They are generally reported with the country and category of income distinguished within the schedule rather than blended together, since different categories of foreign income can carry different tax treatment and credit mechanics even within the same country.
Do NRIs have to file an Indian tax return?
If you have Indian-source income above the filing threshold, or you want a refund of tax withheld at source, or you are claiming treaty relief — then yes. Interest, rent, capital gains on Indian shares or property, and TDS deducted at a rate higher than your real liability all commonly force or reward a return. Filing is also how a lower-rate treaty claim and a foreign tax credit get onto the record. See NRI tax return filing.
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.
