Is 2011-2012 Tax filing required for non-residents if income from India is less than 1.8 lacs/year?

POSTED BY Rajeev ON July 17, 2012 6:47 pm COMMENTS (4)

My income from India is interest from savings bank accounts, fixed deposits, dividends from
equity mutual funds. All of these are around 1.6 lacs.

1. Since I am working overseas, I do have bank accounts in that country. Are these(bank accounts) considered foreign assets due to which I have to mandatorily file income tax?

2. Does the mandatory filing rule for income over 10 lacs/year apply to non-residents like me?

3. I realize if I am getting any refunds like tax deducted from non-resident ordinary accounts or if I wish
to avail indexation benefits, a tax return is required for me to get those, but it is not
necessary as per the Income tax law to file tax returns. Is my understanding correct?

4. Any other factors I need to be aware of?

Thanks

4 replies on this article “Is 2011-2012 Tax filing required for non-residents if income from India is less than 1.8 lacs/year?”

  1. Rajeev says:
    July 18, 2012 at 9:34 pm

    Thanks Ashal,

    12 hours is typical since I have 5 savings bank accounts in India, 5 mutual funds so

    1. I need to find out how much was interest from savings account, dividends from mutual funds I need to determine income from them for Mar 31, 2011 to Apr 1, 2012

    2. If I need to report foreign bank accounts, it would mean another large chunk since here too I need to determine income from them for Mar 31, 2011 to Apr 1, 2012. I have to look through each statement to find that, then convert it into rupees before reporting it.

    3. Then, reporting from overseas employer as that too may be required.

    Services like cleartax don’t assist in getting the information. They just simplify it when submitting to Income Tax office.

    A tax preparer told me for my case it is optional since I am non-resident for tax purposes. It is mandatory if you are resident for tax purposes and have more than 10lacs income per year or foreign bank account. He told me that I can do it if I want the refund of 142rs else I am not required to do it. Hope this bit is helpful to someone.

    Reply
  2. Rajeev says:
    July 17, 2012 at 9:26 pm

    Thanks Ashal,

    Yes, income tax of 142rs was deducted. But, to gather all relevant documents and file would mean 12 hours or more.

    Can you please advise on below?

    1. Since I am working overseas, I do have bank accounts in that country. Are these(bank accounts) considered foreign assets due to which I have to mandatorily file income tax?

    2. Does the mandatory filing rule for income over 10 lacs/year apply to non-residents like me or no since our income is from working overseas?

    Thanks

    Reply
    1. Ashal Jauhari says:
      July 18, 2012 at 8:52 am

      Dear P Rajeev, the time of 12 Hrs. is very high for you. this not the case, if the docs are ready, the time to fill the ITR is not more than 5-10 min. Actually it’s a breeze. I’m filing online for myself & so many others.

      In case of short on time, you may take help of several online portal like taxspanner, taxsmile, taxyogi, cleartax.

      As you do have foreign bank account due to your Job, reporting of the same in your ITR is mandatory.

      Thanks

      Ashal

      Reply
  3. Ashal Jauhari says:
    July 17, 2012 at 7:56 pm

    Dear P.rajeev, had income tax been deducted from your indian income? If yes, you should file your ITR. As you ‘ll file your ITR, the reporting of your foreign bank accounts ‘ll be mandatory.

    Thanks

    Ashal

    Reply

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