So, you’ve decided to return home? We hope you get a warm welcome. We’ll talk about the tax liabilities, custom duty, baggage rules that you can use as a checklist for your relocating to India. 

A Non-Residential Indian (NRI) is an Indian Citizen who stays in India for less than 182 days, amid the course of the going preceding financial year, or who has gone out of India for the reason of work, for carrying on commerce or livelihood outside India, or for any other reason demonstrating their purpose to remain outside India for an uncertain period.

Now that you’ve decided to return to India, Have you wondered what is the right thing to do with your assets? 

The tax liabilities of your overseas income coming from assets like stocks, life insurance policies, bonds, residential properties largely depends on your residential status in India. 

While you are still an NRI, you may want to try and sell your abroad assets as a returning NRI. If you sell any abroad assets and get the proceeds outside of India as an NRI, you do not require to pay any taxes in India. 

If you need to buy a house in India with the profits from the sale, you can deposit the money in an overseas bank account first and then transfer part or all of the proceeds back to India without incurring any Indian tax penalty.

You have a lot of tax benefits to reap from by claiming you’re an NRI, to know more about it in detail visit this article on Tax Planning for NRI’s. 

Customs Duty and Baggage Rules For NRI’s

For an NRI returning to India permanently, understanding customs and baggage rules is important before you start packing. If you didn’t already know Non-residential Indians who stayed overseas for over two years are allowed to bring back the used household items if they’re returning for good. 

NRIs returning home are allowed to bring their used vehicles back to India, and new/used vehicles with a displacement of less than 1600 cc can be acquired immediately before leaving for India and brought back.

You need to accurately declare all the contents of your bag. 

If you are not carrying articles that invite duty, international travelers arriving at any Indian airport must proceed through the Green Channel. If you are carrying articles that invite duty, they must go through the Red Channel.

Green channel travelers must submit the customs portion of the disembarkation card before exiting the airport terminal. If a passenger is found carrying duty liable items while moving through the green channel will be fined. 

If the value of the foreign money being carried is the equivalent of USD 5000 or an aggregate of USD 10,000 in the case of all types of foreign exchange, a Currency Declaration Form must be submitted upon arrival.