Expert Financial Opinions

Ashutosh Financial Services has long held the view that sound financial decisions start with sound financial understanding, and its recurring sessions with the NRI community are a direct expression of that belief. Rather than simply explaining products, these gatherings are designed to walk participants through the rules, structures, and opportunities that actually govern their money in India, so that whatever choices they make afterward are informed ones.

This philosophy shaped the recent session titled “Changing Landscape of Taxation, Regulations and Investments in India,” held in Birmingham, UK, on 19 June 2024 for an audience of Non-Resident Indians. The session was led by Daxesh Kothari and CA Rajit Kothari, and it addressed a group whose relationship with India’s financial system is often shaped by outdated assumptions, since rules around banking, taxation, and investing for NRIs have shifted considerably in recent years.

The session opened with the fundamentals of NRI banking. Once an individual becomes a non-resident, they are required under FEMA (the Foreign Exchange Management Act) to convert or close any resident savings account and operate instead through NRO, NRE, FCNR, or RFC accounts, each with a different purpose. An NRO account holds non-repatriable rupee funds and is taxable, an NRE account holds repatriable rupee funds and is tax-exempt, and an FCNR account allows deposits to be held in foreign currency with tax-free interest. Understanding which account suits a particular need, whether it’s managing rental income, parking foreign earnings, or preparing to eventually move funds abroad, was presented as a foundational step for any NRI managing Indian finances.

From there, the discussion moved to repatriation, a recurring concern for NRIs wanting to move money out of India. Current rules allow up to USD 1 million per person per year to be transferred out of NRO accounts, provided applicable taxes have been settled and the funds aren’t from borrowed sources. Income such as rent or business earnings, by contrast, carries no such cap once the correct taxes have been paid. The session also touched on compliance essentials like PAN and Aadhaar, clarifying that while a PAN card is required for most financial transactions in India, NRIs and OCIs are not eligible for Aadhaar at all, which removes an obligation many attendees may have assumed still applied to them.

A significant portion of the session was devoted to India’s shift toward a fully digital, faceless tax administration, where filings, assessments, and appeals no longer require any in-person interaction with tax authorities. This was framed as part of a broader move toward transparency, alongside an explanation of the Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement, or DTAA, which India maintains with over 90 countries, including the UK, to prevent the same income from being taxed twice.

The presentation then walked through investment avenues available to NRIs, each with its own tax and repatriation treatment. Fixed deposits, real estate, direct equity, mutual funds, and Alternative Investment Funds, or AIFs, were each examined for how gains are taxed and whether proceeds can be freely moved abroad. Equity mutual funds and listed shares, for instance, attract different rates depending on the holding period, while a case study on Tata Technologies illustrated how early investment in unlisted shares, later followed by a public listing, produced substantial multi-year growth, a reminder that the potential upside comes with corresponding illiquidity and risk. Retirement planning also featured prominently, including the option for UK-based NRIs to transfer pension savings to India through the Qualifying Recognised Overseas Pension Scheme, or QROPS, offering a tax-efficient route for those planning retirement income across two countries.

Practical, real-world perspective ran throughout the session as well. Real estate was discussed candidly as an asset class that, despite its emotional appeal, often creates liquidity and management challenges for NRIs who no longer live in India, making financial assets a more flexible option for many. Attendees were also reminded that nearly every transaction, from banking to investing to filing taxes, can now be completed digitally from abroad, removing the need for physical presence in India. A dedicated panel discussion further explored GIFT City, India’s first International Financial Services Centre, outlining how units there operate outside standard FEMA restrictions while remaining subject to India’s broader legal and tax framework, opening a distinct set of opportunities for NRI investors.

Sessions like this one reflect a simple idea: that financial confidence comes from understanding the system, not just reacting to it. As India’s regulatory and investment landscape continues to change, staying informed remains one of the most valuable things an NRI can do for their long-term financial wellbeing. Ashutosh Financial Services intends to keep bringing these conversations directly to communities like the one in Birmingham, continuing its effort to make financial literacy accessible wherever its audience happens to live.

Every year, more Non-Resident Indians look at India’s growth story and wonder how to participate in it without wading through unfamiliar paperwork, tax filings, or banking hurdles back home. Ashutosh Financial Services has long believed that good investment decisions start with good information, which is why the firm regularly brings together practitioners and experts to walk NRIs through opportunities that are often talked about but rarely explained in plain terms. The webinar held on 11th May 2024, titled “GIFT CITY: An Emerging NRI Investment Opportunity,” was organised in that same spirit, aimed squarely at NRIs who wanted to understand what GIFT City actually offers them.

The session was led by Daxesh Kothari and CA Rajit Kothari, and included a panel discussion featuring Manas Kumar of HDFC Asset Management Company, Ashish Mohnot of HDFC AMC International (IFSC) Limited, Vaibhav Shah of Mirae Asset Investment Managers India, and Ritesh Pathak of Motilal Oswal Asset Management Company. Given how many NRIs hold assets scattered across multiple countries and want simpler, more tax-efficient ways to invest in India, a session combining technical explanation with practitioner experience was particularly relevant for this audience.

The discussion began with the fundamentals of GIFT City itself. Gujarat International Finance Tec-City, located in Gandhinagar, has been notified as India’s first International Financial Services Centre, or IFSC. What makes this zone distinctive is its legal treatment: a unit operating within the IFSC is considered a person resident outside India under the Foreign Exchange Management Act, conducts business in foreign currency, and is not subject to India’s usual FEMA regulations. At the same time, other Indian laws, including the Income Tax Act, the Companies Act, and various trust and contract laws, continue to apply. This dual status is what allows GIFT City to function almost like an offshore financial hub while remaining firmly within India’s legal and regulatory framework. The speakers also clarified that GIFT City’s business platform is structured specifically for financial services such as asset management, banking, capital markets, insurance, and aircraft leasing, rather than manufacturing or trading activities, and that oversight sits with the International Financial Services Centre Authority, which draws its powers from India’s existing financial regulators: SEBI, RBI, PFRDA, and IRDA.

To help attendees understand why GIFT City matters for cross-border investing, the session touched on two basic principles of international taxation. Under the residence rule, a country can tax an individual on their worldwide income simply because they live or are domiciled there. Under the source rule, taxation happens in the country where the income is actually generated, regardless of where the investor resides. Because these two principles can overlap and lead to the same income being taxed twice, countries sign Double Taxation Avoidance Agreements, or DTAAs, to prevent this and to encourage cross-border investment. India currently has DTAAs with more than 94 countries, including the US, the UK, the UAE, Canada, Australia, Singapore, and several African nations, which matters directly to NRIs deciding where and how to invest.

The core of the session explained two practical routes through which NRIs can access Indian markets via GIFT City, both structured as Category III Alternative Investment Funds. The first route allows investment in units of Indian mutual funds through USD-denominated contributions, with no Indian tax at either the fund or investor level under Section 10(4) of the Income Tax Act, and a minimum investment of USD 150,000. The second route allows exposure to Indian equity shares or derivative strategies, where derivative income is similarly tax-exempt, while capital gains from equity shares attract 10% long-term or 15% short-term tax, with the same USD 150,000 minimum. Both routes were described as removing common friction points for NRIs, since they eliminate the need for a demat or bank account in India, involve simplified onboarding, and settle everything in US dollars.

The speakers were also candid about who these structures actually suit. They work best for NRIs based in jurisdictions that either don’t tax foreign investment income or face compliance challenges under domestic law, and for those who would rather avoid the ongoing burden of filing Indian tax returns and managing local accounts. Investors seeking derivative exposure specifically were pointed toward the second route, since it offers structured access to strategies not otherwise available through simpler routes.

Sessions like this reflect a simple idea: financial decisions made with clarity tend to hold up better than those made in a hurry or on hearsay. Ashutosh Financial Services will continue hosting conversations of this kind, aimed at helping NRIs make sense of evolving opportunities like GIFT City with the depth and accuracy the subject deserves.

Investment Opportunities in New Age India for UK NRIs

For many Non-Resident Indians in the UK, the question isn’t whether to stay financially connected to India, but how to do it well. Ashutosh Financial Services runs regular financial awareness sessions because the answers to that question keep changing, and people making decisions about their money deserve to work from current, accurate information rather than assumptions formed years ago. Helping NRIs understand what’s actually happening in India’s markets, and what it means for their own portfolios, is part of the firm’s broader commitment to financial education.

That thinking shaped the webinar “Investment Opportunities in New Age India,” held on 6th May 2024 exclusively for UK-based NRIs. The session was led by CA Rajit Kothari and was built around a straightforward premise: India’s economy has changed enough in recent years that many NRIs are working with an outdated picture of what’s available to them, and a clearer view can lead to better decisions.

The session opened by laying out why India currently stands out among major economies. In 2023, India’s GDP grew by 6.8%, well ahead of the UK’s 0.4%, the US’s 1.5%, and China’s 4.2%, making it the fastest-growing economy among the world’s twenty largest. Growth on its own doesn’t guarantee good outcomes for investors, so the discussion also covered the structural factors that give that growth some staying power: a stable government, ongoing tax and regulatory reform, and credible institutions overseeing banking, capital markets, and insurance through the RBI, SEBI, and IRDA respectively. An independent judiciary was mentioned as another piece of that foundation, since legal certainty matters when capital is being deployed over years, not months.

A recurring theme was that India’s growth story isn’t only about numbers on a chart. The country’s demographics were highlighted as a genuine long-term asset, with nearly 1.5 billion people and 47% of the population under 25, giving India one of the youngest, largest, and increasingly well-educated workforces in the world. That demographic base feeds directly into consumption, and the session pointed to India’s rapid shift from unorganised to organised retail and services, alongside a fast-growing digital economy that now leads the world in UPI transactions and ranks second globally in internet users. The manufacturing sector was also discussed in this context, with global supply chains diversifying away from China and India positioned to capture some of that shift, supported by rising exports and steady private-sector capital investment.

One area the session addressed carefully was currency. Comparative inflation data from 2019 to 2023 showed the UK running notably hotter than India in the most recent year, 7.7% against 5.5%. The explanation offered was that currency depreciation tends to reflect two forces working together: the inflation gap between two economies and the pattern of foreign capital moving in and out. For NRIs converting between pounds and rupees, this is a practical consideration rather than an abstract one, since it affects the real value of returns over time.

From there, the session moved into the actual investment routes available to NRIs, explained with enough context that someone unfamiliar with Indian markets could follow the reasoning. Mutual funds were presented as the simplest entry point, low-cost and accessible from as little as £5, though the point was made that many investors pick funds randomly or chase new fund launches rather than building a portfolio around their own risk appetite and goals. Portfolio Management Services were explained as a step up for those wanting a more concentrated, professionally managed equity portfolio, typically requiring a larger commitment and a longer holding period.

The discussion then turned to less familiar territory for most attendees: unlisted and pre-IPO shares. The logic here is that investing before a company lists publicly can offer stronger returns, since a listed company’s growth story is already visible to the market and priced accordingly, whereas an unlisted investment carries more uncertainty and less liquidity. A case study on Tata Technologies illustrated this concretely, an investment made in early 2021 grew roughly sevenfold by the time of its IPO and subsequent listing, translating to an annualised return of around 88%, though such outcomes reflect a specific, favourable case rather than a typical one. The session was equally direct about the challenges here: deciding which companies are worth backing, and working out what a fair price actually is, both call for real diligence and comparison against listed peers. Alternative Investment Funds were introduced as a more structured way to access this space, run by experienced fund managers, with the added detail that AIFs handle their own tax compliance on gains from listed securities, so investors aren’t managing that reporting themselves.

Global diversification also had a place in the conversation, with a look at how UK-based NRIs can invest directly in US stocks and ETFs. Real estate, by contrast, was discussed more cautiously. The session noted that property in India can be illiquid, management-intensive from a distance, and slow to convert back into usable funds, particularly for a generation of NRIs less inclined to relocate and manage physical assets themselves.

Sessions like this one reflect a simple idea: NRIs make better financial decisions about India when they understand India as it actually is today, not as it was a decade ago. Ashutosh Financial Services continues to organise these conversations because financial literacy isn’t a one-time achievement but something that needs revisiting as markets, regulations, and opportunities evolve.

Investment decisions rarely fail because people lack ambition. They fail because people lack context — a clear, honest picture of where the money is going and why it matters. That belief is what regularly brings Ashutosh Financial Services to the table with communities who are trying to make sense of markets far from home, and it was the spirit behind “Investment Opportunities in New Age India for NRIs,” a webinar held on 16th March 2024 for the Non-Resident Indian community based in Singapore.

The session was led by Daxesh Kothari and CA CFP Rajit Kothari, and it was designed specifically for NRIs weighing how much of their savings should flow back into India, and through which channels. For this audience, the questions are rarely academic. Singapore-based Indians often have surplus capital, a genuine emotional connection to India, and a nagging uncertainty about whether the country’s growth story translates into safe, accessible investment options from abroad. The webinar set out to address exactly that gap.

The discussion opened with a look at India’s macroeconomic position. The speakers pointed to GDP growth rates of 7.8%, 7.6%, and 8.4% across the first three quarters of the 2023-24 financial year, figures that stood well above those of Singapore, China, and the United States for the same year, and used this to frame India as the fastest-growing major economy among the world’s top twenty. Rather than treat that statistic as a headline, the session unpacked what sits behind it: a stable democratic government, a wave of tax and insolvency reforms, increasingly independent regulators across banking, capital markets, and insurance, and a judiciary seen as functioning independently of political pressure. These are the quieter structural factors that determine whether growth is durable rather than cyclical.

Demographics featured prominently too. With a population nearing 1.5 billion, of which 47% is under the age of 25, India has an unusually young, English-speaking, increasingly skilled workforce, paired with rising per-capita income and a rapid shift toward digital and formal financial participation. The speakers connected this to India’s high volume of digital payment transactions and its expanding internet base, arguing that consumption and financialisation are reinforcing each other. Naturally, an honest session on opportunity also has to sit with risk, and the speakers did not shy away from it. They discussed political continuity risk, elevated valuations in Indian equities and real estate, corporate governance standards, and the long-term trajectory of the rupee, noting that its depreciation against the US dollar and Singapore dollar has been fairly gradual over the past several years, and is expected to remain measured rather than sharp.

A significant portion of the session was devoted to GIFT City, India’s first International Financial Services Centre, located in Gujarat. For NRIs, its appeal lies in structure: investments can be made in US dollars, without the need to open a demat or bank account in India, and transactions routed through GIFT City are not subject to Indian tax implications in the way domestic investments are. The speakers also walked through the Family Investment Fund structure available within GIFT City, along with its tax concessions, for those looking to consolidate family wealth management under one formal vehicle.

Beyond GIFT City, the webinar covered the fuller landscape of routes available to NRIs — mutual funds, Portfolio Management Services, unlisted or pre-IPO equity, and Alternative Investment Funds — each explained in terms an investor could actually act on: minimum ticket sizes, liquidity, whether a demat account is required, and a realistic time horizon. A real example was used to illustrate how unlisted equity can perform: an investment in Tata Technologies shares made in February 2021, which grew close to sevenfold by March 2024. Tax treatment for Singapore-based investors was also addressed directly, including how the India-Singapore tax treaty applies to gains from Indian mutual funds and the documentation involved in claiming relief under it. Real estate, by contrast, was presented candidly as a less favoured option for most NRIs today, given its liquidity constraints and the practical difficulty of managing property from overseas.

What came through across the session was less a sales pitch for any single product and more an attempt to give attendees a framework: understand the macro backdrop, understand the specific mechanics of each investment route, and understand your own tax and repatriation obligations before committing capital. That kind of grounding is what separates informed decisions from hopeful ones. Sessions like this reflect an ongoing effort to keep that knowledge accessible to Indians abroad, one conversation at a time.

Every year, as more Indian families spread across continents while keeping deep financial and emotional ties to home, the questions around managing money across borders only grow more complicated. Ashutosh Financial Services has long held the view that good financial decisions start with good financial understanding, which is why the firm regularly brings together tax experts, fund managers, and bankers to walk NRIs through the rules, risks, and opportunities that shape their financial lives in India. The NRI Financial Conclave 2023, part of a series now in its seventh edition, continued that tradition with sessions held across Rajkot, Jamnagar, Ahmedabad, Anand, and Vadodara, alongside virtual sessions for a global audience.

Titled “Amrit Kaal for NRIs in India,” the conclave was led by Daxesh Kothari and CA Rajit Kothari, and covered two connected themes: NRI taxation and regulatory compliance, and NRI investments and insurance. The audience of Non-Resident Indians is a particularly relevant one for this kind of session, since NRIs sit at the intersection of two or more tax systems, two sets of banking rules, and often two different life stages of planning, one abroad and one back home.

The taxation portion of the session began with a practical concern many NRIs share: how to earn a fixed, predictable return on money parked in India. The speakers walked through the three main account types available to NRIs, the NRO account, which holds taxable, non-repatriable funds, the NRE account, where both the principal and interest are tax-free and can be freely moved out of India, and the FCNR deposit, held in foreign currency and also tax-free. Since NRIs cannot hold a regular resident Indian account, understanding how funds move between these accounts, including the option to remit up to one million US dollars a year from an NRO account to an NRE account, becomes central to managing money efficiently.

From there, the discussion moved into how NRIs can invest and do business in India, covering real estate, private companies, listed shares, mutual funds, and alternative investment funds, each with its own tax treatment and repatriation rules. For instance, long-term gains on property sold after two years are taxed at 20 percent, while equity investments carry different holding-period thresholds and rates. A recurring theme was that repatriation, meaning the ability to send money back out of India, depends heavily on how the original investment was funded and structured, which makes early planning worthwhile.

Because many attendees hold tax residency in more than one country, the session gave real weight to double taxation. India has tax treaties, known as Double Taxation Avoidance Agreements, with more than 90 countries, and these agreements determine which country has the right to tax a given stream of income when someone qualifies as a resident of both. For Green Card and US passport holders in particular, the speakers explained how the tie-breaker rules within the India-US treaty work, and what disclosures, such as Form 8938 for foreign assets or Form 8621 for mutual fund holdings, may be required to stay compliant on both sides. A practical point that often catches people off guard is that India’s financial year runs from April to March while the US tax year runs January to December, so income has to be carefully segregated by date to claim the right tax credits in each country.

The investment portion of the day looked at how NRIs might participate in India’s current growth phase, sometimes referred to as its “Amrit Kaal,” a period marked by relatively strong GDP growth, a young workforce, and rising domestic investment. The session covered routes ranging from equity mutual funds and portfolio management services to unlisted shares and alternative investment funds, along with a look at insurance-linked products such as ULIPs and guaranteed return plans, which combine market exposure or fixed returns with a life cover. A recurring piece of guidance was that real estate, while a common instinct for NRIs, often comes with liquidity and management challenges that financial assets do not, making it worth weighing carefully against other options.

The day closed with a panel discussion on Gujarat’s GIFT City, India’s first International Financial Services Centre, featuring Amit Doshi of HDFC Asset Management and Chintan Patel of Kotak Mahindra Bank. The panel discussed how GIFT City operates under its own regulatory framework, offers tax concessions under Section 80LA, and allows structures like Family Investment Funds for those looking to consolidate and manage wealth in one place.

Sessions like this one reflect why financial literacy remains an ongoing conversation rather than a one-time lesson, particularly for NRIs navigating rules that shift with geography and circumstance. Ashutosh Financial Services continues to organise these conclaves each year as part of its broader effort to help individuals understand their options and make informed decisions about their financial lives in India.

Every few years, global events reshape the plans of thousands of Indian families abroad. In 2023, the civil conflict in Sudan forced many Indian residents there to return home, often with little notice and even less clarity about what their return meant financially. It was this reality that shaped a session Ashutosh Financial Services organised in Rajkot on 17th July 2023, bringing together returning NRIs to address a question far more complicated than it first appears: what happens, financially, when you come back to India for good? The event reflected the company’s continuing belief that sound financial decisions start with clear information, and that families facing sudden transitions deserve practical, well-explained guidance rather than generic advice.

The session, led by Daxesh Kothari and CA CFP Rajit Kothari, was designed specifically for NRIs who had returned from Sudan and now intended to stay in India indefinitely. For this audience, residency isn’t just a matter of geography. It determines tax liability, which bank accounts they can legally hold, how their overseas assets are treated, and what compliance obligations suddenly apply to them. Getting these classifications wrong can be costly, so the session began by unpacking exactly how the law defines who counts as a resident.

Under the Income Tax Act, a person becomes a resident of India if they spend 182 days or more in the country during a financial year, or 60 days or more in that year combined with 365 days or more across the preceding four years. Residents are further split into two categories: “Resident and Ordinarily Resident” and “Resident but Not Ordinarily Resident,” a distinction that matters because it decides whether foreign income is taxed in India at all. Only those who are Resident and Ordinarily Resident have their global income taxed here; others are taxed only on Indian income. The session also touched on the Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement India holds with over 90 countries, including Sudan, which allows taxpayers to choose whichever set of provisions, the DTAA or the Income Tax Act, works out more favourably for them.

Interestingly, the Foreign Exchange Management Act, or FEMA, defines residency differently from the Income Tax Act, and this gap trips up many returning NRIs. Under FEMA, intent matters as much as days spent in India. Someone who comes back planning to settle permanently is treated as a resident from that point, regardless of the 182-day threshold, and this immediately affects which bank accounts they can hold. NRE, NRO, and FCNR accounts are meant for non-residents; once residency status changes, these need to be converted, either into ordinary resident accounts or into RFC (Resident Foreign Currency) accounts, which let returnees continue holding foreign currency without penalty. The tax treatment of interest earned differs across these account types, and the session walked through how RFC deposits, for instance, remain exempt from tax until a person becomes Ordinarily Resident.

Beyond compliance, the discussion moved into investment strategy for a person rebuilding their financial base in India. The speakers pointed to India’s comparatively strong economic growth and stock market performance relative to other major economies as reasons to weight a portfolio toward Indian equities, while also making the case for global diversification through US equities, given how much of the world’s most recognised companies and market capitalisation sit there. The conversation distinguished between direct stock picking, which demands time and carries a less favourable tax treatment, and investing through mutual funds or portfolio management services, which offer built-in diversification and professional oversight. Fixed income options, gold bonds, and even unlisted shares, for investors comfortable with a longer holding period, were discussed as ways to round out a balanced portfolio rather than concentrate risk in any single asset class.

Insurance planning received equal attention, with a distinction drawn between pure term cover for protection, guaranteed-income plans that can double as a retirement or children’s corpus, and whole-life policies that function more as estate-planning tools, passing assured value on to nominees. The session closed by introducing a wealth-creation approach that pairs equity mutual fund investing with a systematic withdrawal plan, aiming to generate a monthly cash flow similar to a fixed deposit while allowing the underlying investment to keep growing.

For anyone navigating the aftermath of an abrupt return home, the value of a session like this lies less in any single rule and more in seeing how tax law, foreign exchange regulation, and investment planning fit together. Ashutosh Financial Services continues to organise sessions of this kind because financial transitions, however difficult the circumstances that trigger them, go far more smoothly when people understand the choices in front of them.

For millions of Indians living abroad, financial decision-making back home often relies on assumptions passed down through family conversations, forum posts, or advice that may have been accurate years ago but no longer holds true. Ashutosh Financial Services conducts financial awareness sessions precisely to close this gap between belief and fact, working on the premise that sound financial choices are only possible when they rest on current, accurate information rather than inherited assumptions.

This philosophy shaped the “NRI Taxation & Regulations and NRI Investment Opportunities – Myths & Truths” conclave, held on 25th December 2022 across Rajkot, Ahmedabad, and Mumbai for an audience of Non-Resident Indians. The session was led by Daxesh Kothari and CA CFP Rajit Kothari, who structured the discussion around common misconceptions NRIs carry about their financial obligations and opportunities in India, correcting each one with the relevant law or regulation.

The regulatory portion of the session began by dismantling the idea that a single law governs NRI finances. In reality, the Income Tax Act determines taxability based on days of stay in India, the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) governs banking and investment activity, and the Citizenship Act and OCI provisions determine legal status and rights. This distinction matters because each law triggers different obligations. For instance, NRIs are not permitted to hold resident savings accounts under FEMA and must convert them to NRO accounts, while returning NRIs need to formally update their status with banks, insurers, and mutual funds and convert their NRO, NRE, and FCNR holdings into appropriate resident accounts.

Several misconceptions around repatriation and cross-border compliance were also addressed. Funds can be moved out of India up to USD 1 million per person per year from NRO accounts, with special RBI permission required beyond that. On the taxation side, the session explained the Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA), which India holds with over 94 countries, and how residence-based and source-based taxation principles interact to prevent the same income from being taxed twice. A related point of confusion, particularly relevant for the US-based audience, concerned Green Card holders: holding a Green Card makes a person a US tax resident regardless of location, and if they simultaneously qualify as an Indian tax resident, a tie-breaker test involving permanent home and center of vital interest decides which country’s rules take precedence.

The session also worked through practical compliance mechanics, including how Tax Deducted at Source (TDS) applies differently to NRIs under Section 195, how lower or nil TDS certificates can be obtained, and how NRIs can legitimately reduce their tax liability through deductions under Sections 80C, 80D, 80G, 80TTA, and 24, along with capital gains exemptions under Sections 54, 54EC, and 54F. On succession, the speakers clarified that inheritance of assets in India follows Indian succession law rather than the NRI’s country of residence, that a nominee is only a custodian and not the legal owner of an asset, and that a valid Will can be executed abroad if properly witnessed and notarised.

The investment section moved from compliance to opportunity, using comparative economic data to question the assumption that NRIs invest in India purely out of sentiment. The presentation cited India’s 6.8% GDP growth rate for 2022, among the highest of major economies, alongside resilient stock market performance and currency movement relative to global peers. Beyond traditional NRE and NRO deposits, the session introduced alternatives such as Target Maturity Funds, FCNR deposits, corporate fixed deposits, and guaranteed-return insurance plans, each carrying different liquidity and tax characteristics. It also covered routes beyond listed equity and mutual funds, including Portfolio Management Services, unlisted shares, and Alternative Investment Funds, as well as REITs as a way to gain real estate exposure without direct property ownership. A recurring theme was that most banking, investment, and even real estate transactions can now be conducted digitally, without requiring the NRI’s physical presence in India.

The conclave closed by reinforcing that sound NRI financial planning rests on asset allocation, risk mitigation, capital protection, and goals that evolve with life stages, rather than on outdated assumptions. Sessions like this reflect a broader effort to ensure that the NRI community makes financial decisions grounded in current law and verified data, an effort Ashutosh Financial Services intends to continue through similar educational initiatives in the future.

Financial literacy doesn’t stop at a country’s borders, and for the growing community of Non-Resident Indians managing money across two economies, that literacy often needs to work harder. It was with this in mind that Ashutosh Financial Services continues to organise sessions that break down complex investment decisions into practical, understandable choices, believing that sound financial planning begins with clear, honest information rather than assumptions carried across borders.

On 3rd December 2022, the firm hosted a webinar titled “NRI Financial Planning – Investment Aspects,” bringing together Daxesh Kothari and CA CFP Rajit Kothari to speak with an audience of Non-Resident Indians. For NRIs, investment decisions carry an added layer of complexity: currency movement, taxation in two jurisdictions, and the challenge of staying updated on Indian markets from a distance. This session was built around exactly those concerns, aiming to give attendees a clearer sense of where and how to allocate money back home.

The session opened by placing India within a global context. Comparing growth rates across the world’s twenty largest economies, India’s expansion stood out as one of the strongest, trailing only Saudi Arabia and comfortably ahead of developed economies such as the US, UK, and Germany. This was paired with a look at interest rate movements through 2022, where India’s rate increases were shown to be more measured than the sharp hikes seen in economies like Brazil or the UK. Stock market performance told a similar story: while major indices in the US, China, and South Korea posted double-digit declines over the year, India’s Sensex was among the very few to close in positive territory. Even on currency, the rupee’s depreciation against the US dollar was notably smaller than that of the British pound, Japanese yen, or South Korean won. Taken together, these comparisons were used to make a broader point: India’s relative economic stability, even during a difficult global year, is a meaningful reason for NRIs to keep the country on their investment radar.

From there, the discussion moved into what was driving confidence in Indian equities specifically. Several structural factors were highlighted, including a revival in domestic manufacturing, the “China plus one” shift in global supply chains that is redirecting investment toward India, and a services sector that, despite pressure on IT-enabled exports, was seeing strong recovery in contact-driven businesses. Government finances were described as being in good shape, supported by record direct and indirect tax collections, while rising participation from local investors through monthly SIP contributions was pointed to as a sign of sustained domestic demand for equities. The speakers were careful to balance this optimism with genuine caution: rich valuations in certain sectors, the risk of imported inflation, and the possibility that global recessionary pressures could still spill over into Indian markets were all flagged as risks worth watching.

On the practical side, the webinar walked through the range of routes available to NRIs looking to invest in India. Equity-oriented mutual funds were presented as an accessible starting point, offering professional fund management and portfolio diversification without the need for a demat account, though attendees were reminded that US tax rules under PFIC can create notional taxation that direct stock or PMS investments do not. For those with larger amounts to deploy, Portfolio Management Services and Alternative Investment Funds were discussed as ways to access unlisted companies and more customised strategies, albeit with higher minimum investment thresholds and longer holding periods. On the fixed income side, the session was candid about compressed returns in debt mutual funds and government bonds, instead pointing to options like corporate fixed deposits, tax-free bonds, and guaranteed return insurance plans as ways to secure more attractive, predictable yields. Current FD rates across NRE, NRO, and FCNR deposits with major banks and NBFCs were shared to give attendees a real sense of where returns currently stand. Real estate was covered too, not only through direct property ownership but through listed instruments like REITs and InvITs, which allow exposure to income-generating real estate and infrastructure assets without the responsibilities of direct ownership.

What came through across the session was less a single recommendation and more a framework: understand the macro picture, weigh it against personal tax exposure and liquidity needs, and diversify across asset types rather than relying on any one option. For NRIs, that kind of grounded, comparative thinking matters more than chasing any single high-return opportunity. Sessions like this one reflect why Ashutosh Financial Services continues to invest in financial education, recognising that informed investors, wherever they are based, make better long-term decisions.

Financial decisions rarely go wrong because people lack money — they go wrong because people lack the right information at the right time. This belief has shaped much of the outreach work carried out by Ashutosh Financial Services over the years, particularly for audiences whose financial lives span more than one country and, as a result, more than one set of rules.

On November 19, 2022, Ashutosh Financial Services hosted a webinar titled “NRI Financial Planning – Taxation & Regulation Aspects,” designed specifically for Non-Resident Indians navigating the complexities of managing money across borders. The session was led by Daxesh Kothari and CA CFP Rajit Kothari, both of whom brought a practitioner’s perspective to a subject that often overwhelms even financially literate individuals. For NRIs, the challenge is rarely a lack of income or assets. It is the layering of two tax systems, two sets of regulations, and often two currencies, all of which need to work together without triggering unnecessary tax outgo or compliance lapses.

The session opened with a foundational question that many NRIs quietly struggle with: if I earn income both in India and abroad, how exactly am I taxed? The speakers explained that taxation across countries generally follows one of two principles — the residence rule, where a country taxes a person’s global income simply because they live there, and the source rule, where a country taxes only the income generated within its borders. For NRIs, this distinction matters enormously. Depending on residential status, whether “resident and ordinarily resident,” “resident but not ordinarily resident,” or “non-resident,” the taxability of Indian income versus foreign income changes significantly. Indian income is always taxable, while foreign income is only taxed for those who qualify as ordinarily resident.

A significant portion of the discussion focused on the Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement, or DTAA, a mechanism India has established with over ninety countries to prevent the same income from being taxed twice. The speakers walked through how an NRI can choose whichever is more favourable, the DTAA or the domestic Income Tax Act, when calculating their tax liability. They also illustrated this with concrete numbers, showing how dividend and interest income is taxed differently depending on the country of residence. An NRI based in the UAE, for instance, faces a notably lower withholding rate on interest income than one based in the US or Canada, a distinction that can meaningfully affect investment planning.

The session also addressed a special tax regime under Chapter XII-A of the Income Tax Act, which applies to income from specified assets, such as shares of Indian companies, deposits with public limited companies, or government securities, purchased using convertible foreign exchange. Long-term capital gains on such assets can even be exempted from tax if the proceeds are reinvested in similar assets within six months and held for three years, a provision that rewards patient, structured investing over impulsive withdrawals.

Tax Deducted at Source, commonly referred to as TDS, was another area covered in depth. The speakers clarified that any payment to an NRI, barring salary, is subject to TDS under Section 195, and that this deduction generally applies to the entire sale consideration, not just the profit portion, in property transactions. This is a detail many NRIs overlook until they find a much larger amount withheld than expected. The webinar also touched on advance tax obligations, noting that most NRIs are required to pay tax in quarterly instalments if their liability crosses a modest threshold, and that capital gains must be accounted for in the very next instalment after they arise.

On the regulatory side, the session offered practical guidance on how NRIs should structure their banking relationships in India, distinguishing between NRO, NRE, FCNR, and RFC accounts, and explaining which account suits which purpose, from holding rupee income to parking foreign currency safely against exchange rate fluctuations. The speakers also outlined the rules around repatriating funds abroad, including the well-known one million dollar limit on NRO transfers, and clarified that current income such as rent or interest generally faces no such ceiling, provided applicable taxes have been settled. Restrictions around real estate, including the inability of NRIs to purchase agricultural land, were also addressed, along with the option to inherit such property even where direct purchase is not allowed.

The breadth of topics covered in this session reflects a simple reality: NRIs are often making financial decisions blind, relying on assumptions rather than current regulation. Sessions like this one are part of a broader effort by Ashutosh Financial Services to close that gap, one clear explanation at a time, reinforcing the idea that sound financial decisions begin not with product choices, but with genuine understanding.