Capital gains on Indian shares and mutual funds for NRIs — how much of this can I do myself?
Some of it, yes — and we will say so on the call if that is the honest answer. The parts that are worth paying for are the ones where a missed election, a missed deadline or an unverified threshold costs more than the fee: holding period determines whether a gain is long or short term, deduction at source applies on redemption for non-residents, and the return is where indexation, losses and treaty relief are applied.
What if I have already filed and got it wrong?
That is a common starting point. We re-derive the position, identify whether an amendment or a disclosure route is the right vehicle, and tell you which one preserves the relief that is still available. The order matters more than the speed.
How long will it take?
It depends on the documents rather than on us. Once the pack is complete most filings turn around inside a fortnight; anything that needs a certificate from a tax authority runs on that authority's timetable, which we tell you at the start rather than at the end.
Why did my mutual fund deduct tax before paying out my redemption?
Because for a non-resident the deduction happens at the fund or the platform, on redemption, before the money reaches your account. It is computed on the transaction in front of it, which means it takes no account of losses elsewhere in your portfolio, of indexation, or of any treaty position you may hold. That is a collection mechanism working as intended rather than an assessment of what you owe. Losses, indexation and treaty relief are applied on your Indian return, and until that return is filed the deduction stands as the only figure in the system.
Can I get tax back if I made losses on other Indian investments?
That is what the return is for. Deduction at source is applied redemption by redemption, so a year with gains on some holdings and losses on others is taxed at source as though only the gains existed. Filing brings the whole year together, sets the losses against the gains the rules allow them to be set against, and produces a refund where the deductions exceed the liability. It also establishes any loss left over for carry-forward, which is normally only preserved where a return is filed, so the year that looks not worth filing is often the one that matters later.
Do I still have to file an Indian return if tax was already deducted?
Deduction is not a substitute for filing. It is an advance collection against a liability that is only computed when you file, and in most non-resident portfolios it collects more than the final figure because it cannot see the rest of the year. Filing is also what puts your own characterisation on the record, covering holding period, cost and treaty position, rather than the platform's. And the Indian return is the document your Canadian or US return will be read against if a credit is claimed, so the order in which the two are prepared matters.
How do I report an Indian share sale on my Canadian tax return?
The same disposal is reported twice, on different cost bases, and that is not an error. The Indian computation starts from cost under Indian rules. The Canadian return reports the disposal on its own cost base, converted into Canadian dollars, and for someone who held the shares before becoming resident here that base may have been reset on arrival. The gains can therefore differ in size and occasionally in direction. Reconciling them, and documenting the deduction suffered in India, is what supports a credit claim. The brokerage statement alone rarely does.
Does my holding period restart when I become a non-resident?
No. How long an asset has been held runs from when you acquired it, and whether the gain is long or short term follows from that. What changes when you become non-resident is the collection: deduction applies at source on redemption, so a holding that used to reach your account in full now arrives net. Keep the original contract notes and statements of account. Acquisition date and cost are the two facts the whole computation depends on, and they are the hardest to recover once an old resident account has been closed.
Can I claim the Indian tax deducted as a credit at home?
A credit is generally given for foreign tax properly payable rather than for whatever was withheld, which is why the Indian return matters to a claim made in Canada or the United States. Where the deduction exceeded the Indian liability, the excess is a refund to be claimed from India, not a credit to be claimed at home, and a claim made on the deduction alone can be reopened years later. We prepare the Indian return first, establish the final liability, then support the foreign return with that return, the deduction records and the conversion used.
What is Schedule FA and who has to complete it?
It is the foreign asset disclosure in an Indian return, and the trigger is residential status rather than income: a resident discloses foreign bank accounts, custodial and equity holdings, foreign life insurance with a cash value, immovable property and other assets held at any time in the year, plus any beneficial interest. A non-resident does not. The obligation is disclosure-based, so it applies to an account that earned nothing, and the penalties under the black-money legislation are what make it worth getting right. See Schedule FA reporting.
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.
