NRI Residency Status
Days in India decide if your global income is taxable — check which rule applies
Reviewed by the PaisaTools Editorial Team · Last reviewed September 2026
How to use: Enter the days you were physically in India this year and across the previous 4 and 7 years, then answer a few questions about your situation.
ExampleLiving in Dubai, 45 days in India → Non-Resident: India taxes only your Indian income
This applies the day-count tests in Section 6 of the Income-tax Act for FY 2026-27 and shows you which test decided the outcome, so you can check the reasoning yourself. It is an educational indicator — not tax advice, and not a substitute for a chartered accountant.
Your status
This matters: the visiting-India relaxation covers citizens and PIOs, but the deemed-residency rule in Section 6(7) applies to Indian citizens only.
Living abroad and visiting India?
The usual NRI case — you're based overseas and come to India for trips.
Left India this year for employment abroad?
Includes taking up a business or profession abroad, and crew of Indian ships.
Indian-source income above ₹15 lakh this year?
Counts Indian income only — rent, interest, capital gains here. Not your foreign salary.
Liable to tax in another country (by residence/domicile)?
UAE and other zero-tax countries: usually NO — which can matter under Section 6(7).
Were you a Non-Resident in 9 of the last 10 years?
Decides RNOR — the status that keeps foreign income outside the Indian net.
Count every day you were physically in India. Arrival and departure dates normally both count — check your passport stamps rather than estimating.
Indicated status
Non-Resident (NRI)
Neither basic condition met — Section 6(2)
As a Non-Resident, India taxes only income that accrues, arises or is received IN India — your foreign salary and overseas investments stay outside the Indian net.
• You were in India 45 days — under the 182-day limit that applies to you, and neither basic condition in Section 6(2) is met.
• You get the relaxed 182-day limit because you left India for employment, or are an Indian citizen/PIO visiting India.
Check these with a professional
- • If you're tax-resident in another country too, a Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA) 'tie-breaker' — permanent home, centre of vital interests, habitual abode, nationality — decides which country taxes you. That overrides a simple day count and needs professional advice.
- • This uses full-year day counts. If you moved mid-year, changed jobs across borders, or hold dual residence, the outcome can turn on facts a calculator can't capture.
Runs entirely in your browser — nothing is uploaded. Residency decides whether your global income is taxable in India, so confirm the outcome with a chartered accountant before filing or restructuring anything.
For anyone living abroad, this is the question everything else hangs on. Your residency status under Section 6 of the Income-tax Act decides whether India taxes only your Indian income — or your worldwide income, including your overseas salary, investments and property.
And it isn't decided by your passport, your visa, or where you feel you live. It's decided by days physically present in India, run through a set of tests that most people have never read. The rules also changed materially in 2020: a 120-day threshold for higher-income visitors, and a "deemed residence" rule for Indian citizens who aren't tax-resident anywhere.
There are three outcomes. Non-Resident (NRI) — only Indian income is taxed. RNOR — the valuable middle status where foreign income still stays out, which returning NRIs often hold for two to three years. ROR — worldwide income is taxable, and foreign assets must be disclosed. This tool shows which of the statutory tests applies to your day counts, and names the section, so you can verify the reasoning rather than take it on trust.
Logic follows Section 6 of the Income-tax Act, 2025, which replaced the 1961 Act for tax years from 1 April 2026, as applicable to FY 2026-27 (AY 2027-28): the basic conditions in Section 6(2) (182 days, or 60 days plus 365 days across four preceding years), the exceptions substituting 182 days for Indian citizens leaving for employment and for citizens/PIOs visiting India, the substitution of 120 days where Indian-source income exceeds ₹15 lakh, deemed residence under Section 6(7), and the not-ordinarily-resident conditions in Section 6. The day-count tests themselves are unchanged from the 1961 Act — only the numbering moved, so if you are still finishing an FY 2025-26 return the answer here is the same, but that year's provisions are cited as Section 6(1), 6(1A) and 6(6). Tax law is amended annually and residency turns on facts a day count cannot capture — dual residence, DTAA tie-breakers, mid-year moves and seafarer rules among them. This is an educational indicator, not tax advice: confirm your status with a qualified chartered accountant before filing or acting on it.
- Deemed-residency and RNOR edge cases depend on income and citizenship specifics.
- Day counts must be exact; a tax treaty (DTAA) can override the outcome.
- How many days can an NRI stay in India without becoming a resident?
- Usually up to 181 days. An Indian citizen or PIO visiting India keeps the relaxed 182-day limit — but since the Finance Act 2020, if your Indian-source income exceeds ₹15 lakh, that limit drops to 120 days when you've also spent 365+ days in India across the previous four years. Someone who left India for employment abroad also gets the 182-day limit.
- What is RNOR and why does it matter?
- Resident but Not Ordinarily Resident is the middle status under the not-ordinarily-resident tests in Section 6. An RNOR pays Indian tax on Indian income and on income from a business controlled in India — but NOT on foreign income. Returning NRIs typically qualify for RNOR for two to three years, which is often the best window to bring money back or restructure overseas assets.
- Can I be a non-resident and still be taxed in India?
- Yes. Non-Residents are taxed on income that accrues, arises or is received in India — Indian rent, Indian capital gains, interest on NRO deposits. Being an NRI shelters your foreign income, not your Indian income.
- What is deemed residency under Section 6(7)?
- Introduced by the Finance Act 2020: an Indian citizen with Indian-source income above ₹15 lakh who is not liable to tax in any other country by reason of domicile or residence is deemed resident in India (and treated as RNOR). It targets people who arrange their affairs to be tax-resident nowhere. 'Liable to tax' is a legal test, so this one genuinely needs professional advice.
- I'm tax resident in two countries. Which one taxes me?
- A Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA) settles it through tie-breaker tests applied in order — permanent home, centre of vital interests, habitual abode, then nationality. These override a simple day count, and applying them correctly requires a professional who can look at your full facts.
- Do arrival and departure days count as days in India?
- Generally yes — both the day you arrive and the day you leave are normally counted as days of presence. Since a single day can flip your status near a threshold, count from passport stamps rather than memory.