Non-resident account

This query is : Open

Querist : Anonymous

Querist : Anonymous (Querist)

20 August 2017 I am US citizen with Overseas Citizenship of India living in India permanently after my retirement. Can I open and hold non-resident trading and bank accounts while being resident in India ?

Sunil

Sunil (Expert)
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20 August 2017 You are OCI and not NRI. Therefore you have to satisfy both RBI and income tax rules for Non Residents for opening bank accounts. RBI will be expecting you to declare all your accounts abroad and in India once you are resident overseas citizen. Once you become resident of India as per Income Tax, you will be expected to declare all your foreign bank accounts as well. However, as you are not an NRI and are OCI, all benefits of being OCI should still be available to you including opening of the bank accounts. Do not confuse Citizenship with Residence. A citizen of another country can open account while resident of India but you have the additional status of OCI and all benefits will continue by virtue of OCI. You have to follow rules of RBI only. They have definied and put restrictions on NRI and have defined NRI as Indian passport holder. You are not Indian passport holder so your OCI status still holds good even if you are in India for long duration on permanent stay. As far as Income Tax is concerned, the day your status changes from Non resident to Resident you will have to follow rule for taxation for all your income worldwide, declare foreign accounts and take advantage of tax treaty between India and US.

Without knowing your technical facts, I hope I have answered sufficiently for you to seek proper guidance according to your status. I am leaving this query unresolved in case someone has a better answer.

Querist : Anonymous

Querist : Anonymous (Querist)

21 August 2017 Thanks for your effort, Sunil. I have all resident accounts so far and an investment consultant advised me to open/convert my trading account from resident to non-resident so I am seeking expert opinion here.

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