Tax season brings a familiar question for Indians living abroad: how much of what I earn back home actually stays mine? It was this question, among others, that shaped a recent webinar hosted by Ashutosh Financial Services, held on 13th June 2026 for a global audience of Non-Resident Indians. Sessions like these reflect something the firm has held onto for decades — the belief that sound financial decisions rarely begin with a product recommendation. They begin with understanding. Long before anyone is ready to invest, save, or plan for retirement, they need a clear picture of the rules that govern their money, and that clarity is what this session set out to provide.
Titled “Indian Income Tax Planning for NRIs,” the webinar was led by Daxesh Kothari and CA CFP Rajit Kothari, both closely involved in advising NRI families on cross-border financial matters. The choice of audience was deliberate. NRIs face a peculiar challenge: they are subject to Indian tax rules on income that arises here, while simultaneously answering to the tax authorities of their country of residence. Add to this a tax administration system that has moved almost entirely online, and the case for a dedicated, detailed briefing becomes obvious.
The session opened by walking attendees through how Indian tax administration actually works today. Every filing, assessment, and appeal now happens through faceless, electronic channels, with no scope for direct personal interaction with tax officials. All financial transactions are tracked against an individual’s Permanent Account Number, a shift that has pushed India toward far greater compliance even as tax rates have come down. Attendees were also introduced to the new Income Tax Act, which came into force from 1st April 2026 and largely carries forward the substance of the earlier 1961 law, but with simplified language and renumbered sections — a change worth knowing about simply because old references will no longer match.
A significant portion of the session addressed a question many NRIs never quite resolve: do I actually need to file a return in India? The speakers laid out the thresholds clearly — income exceeding four lakh rupees, high-value transactions such as large deposits or substantial electricity expenditure, and situations involving refunds or losses to be carried forward all trigger a filing obligation, regardless of income level in some cases.
Double taxation was the other major thread running through the session. When income arises in India for someone who is a tax resident elsewhere, both countries can lay claim to taxing it — India under the source rule, the country of residence under the residence rule. The Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement, which India has signed with 97 countries, exists precisely to prevent that overlap from becoming a real burden. NRIs can choose whichever tax treatment is more favourable — ordinary Indian rates or the concessional rates specified under the applicable treaty — and claim credit in their home country for taxes already paid in India. The speakers also touched on the practical route for claiming these benefits, including obtaining a Tax Residency Certificate and filing the relevant form with Indian tax authorities.
Planning strategies formed a natural extension of this. The session explained how families can use tools such as a Hindu Undivided Family structure, division of income and investments among family members, and the annual exemption available on long-term capital gains to reduce the overall tax burden — all within the bounds of the law. A case study on routing investments through resident relatives illustrated how funds can move, generate returns, and eventually be repatriated while remaining compliant with both taxation and foreign exchange regulations. For NRIs planning to return to India, the discussion turned to timing: assets liquidated abroad during the initial years of return often escape Indian tax altogether under residency transition rules, making the sequence of financial decisions as important as the decisions themselves.
The final stretch of the session moved into investment-linked tax planning, covering mutual funds, portfolio management services, real estate, and the GIFT City route in Gujarat — India’s international financial services centre, which offers NRIs a way to invest in Indian markets with simplified compliance and, in many cases, no Indian tax exposure at all.
Sessions of this kind are less about promoting any particular product and more about equipping people to ask better questions of their own finances. For NRIs managing money across borders, that kind of grounding matters, and it’s a reason Ashutosh Financial Services continues to organise these conversations across geographies, one audience at a time.
