Leaving India rarely means leaving it behind. A savings account from your first job, a flat that is now let out, mutual funds bought years ago, parents who still visit the bank for you, a power of attorney signed in a hurry before a flight: each of these is an India connection, and each comes with rules that change once you become a non-resident. The trouble is that no one sends a reminder. Most NRIs find out about tenant TDS, an unconverted resident account or an inoperative PAN only when a payment is held up or a refund doesn’t arrive.
The checklist below starts from what you actually have. You answer yes, no or not sure to a short list of facts, with no amounts and no account numbers, and it shows the checks that may apply because of them, grouped into tax, accounts, property, family and documents, and moving back. Each check says why it is on your list, gives the usual condition, links to the guide that explains it, and shows the next date where there is one.
How to read your list
A check on your list is a prompt to look into something, not a finding. “Indian income tax return” appears when you have Indian income or accounts that earn it, because a return is usually needed above the basic exemption and is the way to claim back excess TDS; whether one is due for you depends on the year’s full figures. Our guide to filing an ITR as an NRI and the TDS refund estimator are the next step for that check, just as the rent TDS calculator is for a let flat.
Tick a check “Done” once you have dealt with it, or “Not relevant” if it doesn’t fit your situation, and add a short note if that helps you remember what you found. When the rules behind a check change, it comes back unticked and says it was updated.
What it doesn’t cover
The checklist counts no days and calculates no tax. Your days in India decide your residential status, so the NRI day tracker is the companion to this page, and the DTAA estimator works through Indian income taxed where you live. Passport, OCI and KYC dates belong in the renewals tracker, and pensions in India and abroad in the pension tracker. If you are planning to move back, the RNOR tracker estimates your first years as resident but not ordinarily resident.
For anything on the list that turns out to apply, the questions section gives you a starting point for a conversation with a chartered accountant in India or a tax adviser where you live. Copy the summary and decide for yourself who sees it.
