Shall appreciate your expert advice based on the following facts:
Am 59 years old & came back to India on 6th November ’20 after my stint with an MNC overseas, for 14 years & 9 months. What is going to be my status for the previous financial year viz. 2020-21 as well as current financial year i.e. 2021-22? All my overseas salary up to 5th of November ’20 were transferred to my NRE Rupee or US $ fixed deposits.
I do have some small income in the form of dividend on shares, interest on ordinary rupee FDs, house rent etc. Most probably, I will not be working abroad any more. What will be the tax treatment of my NRE deposits which are going to mature in future or have been renewed after my return to India in November’20? As per my standard instructions to the banks, the same are being auto-renewed on due dates.
I would like to know if there are any specific investment products other than NRE/RFC FDs, for the NRIs whose status has changed in the current fiscal year or is going to change in near future.
Most all my savings are in INR only, but classified under NRE deposits.
Ans: The status of FY2020-21 would be NRI and the status in FY2021-22 would be RNOR (Resident but not ordinarily resident). So you need to convert the NRE to resident account immediately after returning to India. If you fail to convert your NRE account within 3 months of the return, it will be considered as a violation of Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) and attract a penalty.
After you return to India, any interest earned on NRE account will be taxable. You can opt to transfer your funds from NRE account to RFC account upon return
Though there are no specific products for returning NRIs, there are a whole range of investment options available for you apart from Bank Deposits. The most common are mutual funds, bonds, stocks, insurance, etc. You can choose to invest based on factors that suit you including risk, return, liquidity, etc. Options like PPF that are not available for NRIs become available when your status changes to Resident Indian.