What makes day traders different from an ordinary filing?
Frequent trading can convert investment activity into a business, which changes the inclusion rate on gains, the deductibility of losses and expenses, and sometimes the availability of registered-account treatment. An ordinary preparer applies the general rule and stops there, which is how the relief in the specific provision goes unclaimed.
Can you work with my existing accountant?
That is how most of these engagements run. They keep the domestic file, we take the cross-border piece, and the boundary is agreed in writing so nothing is done twice or missed.
What separates a day trader from an ordinary investor for tax purposes?
Volume of trades, how quickly positions are turned over, the time devoted to trading, and whether the activity is run in a business-like manner all factor into whether trading income is taxed as business income rather than as capital gains. We review your trading pattern in detail because the distinction changes both the applicable rate and which expenses can be deducted.
Can day-trading losses offset other income on my return?
Whether a loss can offset other types of income, or only future trading gains, depends on how your trading activity is classified, with business-classified losses generally having broader offset ability than capital losses do. We confirm the classification first, since assuming the wrong one can mean losses are claimed against the wrong category of income.
Does trading through a corporation change how gains are taxed?
Yes, trading through a corporate structure changes both the rate applied to gains and how those gains eventually reach you personally, compared with trading in your own name. We review whether incorporating suits your trading volume and cross-border situation before recommending a structure, rather than assuming one approach fits every trader.
Can I avoid capital gains tax on a foreign property?
Not by virtue of it being foreign — there is no exemption for that, and the "keep it offshore" advice you may have read is how people acquire penalties rather than savings. What genuinely reduces the gain is ordinary and legitimate: principal residence relief where the property qualifies and the designation is made correctly, a properly built cost base including acquisition costs and capital improvements, the timing of the disposition, the treaty rules for real property, and credit for the foreign tax paid. See principal residence and foreign property.
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.
