Am I Indian tax resident, RNOR or non-resident? The short answer
India's residential status test produces one of three outcomes, not two. You can be resident and ordinarily resident, taxable on worldwide income; resident but not ordinarily resident (RNOR), taxable on Indian-source income and income from a business controlled in India but sheltered from other foreign income; or non-resident, taxable on Indian-source income only. Most tests elsewhere in the world stop at resident or non-resident — India's third category is what makes the test worth working through carefully rather than assuming.
Residence itself turns on two basic conditions under section 6: spending 182 days or more in India in the tax year, or spending 60 days or more in the tax year together with 365 days or more across the four preceding tax years. Meeting either makes you resident. Whether that residence is ordinary or RNOR then depends on a separate pair of carve-outs, addressed below, and the answer changes what portion of your income India can tax.
Interactive test
Check your India residence position
Answer the questions below to see where you stand and, just as importantly, which part of the test decided it. Nothing you enter is sent anywhere unless you choose to contact us.
- Day count
- Your circumstances
- Ordinarily resident test
Stage 1 of 3 · Day count
Day count
How many days were you in India during the tax year?
The Indian tax year runs from 1 April to 31 March, not the calendar year. Count each day of physical presence.
The three residential statuses and what each is taxed on
The practical difference between the three statuses is entirely about scope of charge, not rate.
| Status | Taxed on |
|---|---|
| Resident and ordinarily resident | Worldwide income, including foreign investment returns and overseas employment income |
| Resident but not ordinarily resident (RNOR) | Indian-source income, plus income from a business controlled in or a profession set up in India |
| Non-resident | Indian-source income only |
RNOR sits between the other two, and the gap between it and full residence is usually the largest variable in a returning non-resident's Indian tax position. Getting the day counts and carve-outs right is therefore worth more than getting the basic resident-or-not question right on its own.
The basic conditions: 182 days, or 60 days and four years
The first route to residence is straightforward: 182 days or more of physical presence in India during the tax year makes you resident, on its own, regardless of anything else.
The second route combines a shorter current-year presence with a longer look-back: 60 days or more in the tax year, together with 365 days or more spent in India across the four tax years immediately before it. This is the limb that catches people out, because a period of extended presence in India several years ago can make a comparatively short stay in the current year sufficient to trigger residence. It is not enough to check this year's diary; the preceding four years matter just as much.
The modified thresholds: 182, 120 and the visiting-citizen trap
The 60-day figure in the second basic condition is not fixed. It moves depending on citizenship and circumstance, and the movement runs in both directions.
| Circumstance | Day threshold applying to the second limb |
|---|---|
| Standard case | 60 days |
| Indian citizen leaving India for employment, or crew of an Indian ship | 182 days |
| Indian citizen or person of Indian origin visiting India, with India-source income above INR 15 lakh | 120 days |
The extension to 182 days effectively disables the second limb for genuine emigrating workers and ship's crew, leaving the 182-day first limb as the only route to residence for them. The reduction to 120 days works the opposite way: it was designed to bring high-income visiting citizens and persons of Indian origin into residence sooner than the standard 60-day rule would. Anyone in that visiting category with India-source income above the INR 15 lakh threshold needs to count days against 120, not 60, and a visit that would be safe under the standard rule can be enough to create residence under the modified one.
The deemed-residence rule
Separately from the day-count tests, an Indian citizen with India-source income above INR 15 lakh is deemed resident where they are not liable to tax in any other country by reason of domicile, residence or a similar criterion. This rule exists to prevent high-income Indian citizens from being tax resident nowhere at all, and it can apply regardless of how few days were actually spent in India during the year.
The rule only reaches Indian citizens; foreign nationals are outside it entirely. Where it does apply, deemed residents are automatically treated as RNOR rather than ordinarily resident, which limits the practical impact to Indian-source and India-controlled-business income rather than exposing worldwide income to the Indian charge.
RNOR: the transitional status that matters most
There are three routes into RNOR rather than ordinarily resident status once you are resident at all: being a deemed resident, being caught by the 120-day visiting-citizen limb, or satisfying one of two further carve-outs — non-residence in nine or more of the preceding ten tax years, or 729 days or fewer spent in India across the preceding seven tax years.
RNOR is transitional by design. It typically applies to someone returning to India after a substantial period abroad, and it can shelter overseas investment and employment income from Indian tax for a limited run of years before ordinarily resident status begins. Our RNOR planning guide works through how to calculate the date that window closes, and the wider NRI investor hub covers what to settle before it does. Because the carve-outs are measured against fixed look-back periods, the point at which RNOR ends is usually predictable years in advance — which means foreign income planning has a genuine deadline attached to it, rather than being an open-ended question. The shelter does not, however, extend to income from a business controlled in India or a profession set up in India, even where that income physically arises abroad.
The Income-tax Act 2025 and continuity of the rules
The Income-tax Act 2025 replaced the 1961 Act for tax years beginning on or after 1 April 2026. The basic residence conditions in section 6 were carried over unchanged into the new Act — the day thresholds, the RNOR carve-outs and the deemed-residence rule all continue to operate as before. The change is one of legislative structure rather than substance, and nothing above should be read as describing a shift in the rules themselves.
One counting point causes more errors than the legislative change ever will: the Indian tax year runs from 1 April to 31 March, not the calendar year most other jurisdictions use. Tracking days against a calendar year rather than the Indian tax year is the most common source of miscounted residence positions.
Foreign asset disclosure and other obligations
Residents holding foreign assets carry a disclosure obligation on the Indian return that exists independently of any tax actually due. The penalties for omitting foreign assets or accounts are substantial and are not reduced simply because the underlying income was legitimately untaxed in India. This matters particularly for RNOR taxpayers, whose foreign income may sit outside the Indian charge while the assets generating it can still need to be disclosed — the two questions should be confirmed separately rather than assumed to travel together.
Where another country also treats you as resident for the same period, a double tax treaty tie-breaker may determine which country's claim prevails, but it has to be actively claimed and is typically supported by a Tax Residency Certificate from the other country. Non-residents relying on treaty relief to reduce tax deducted at source on Indian interest, rent or capital gains face the same requirement.
Compliance caveat
This page and the accompanying tool apply the basic conditions, the modified day thresholds, the deemed-residence rule and the RNOR carve-outs of section 6 to the information you provide. They do not address foreign asset disclosure requirements in detail, treaty tie-breaker analysis where two countries both claim residence, the taxation of specific categories of income, or the transitional questions arising from the replacement of the 1961 Act. This is a simplified guide, not tax advice, and should not be treated as a substitute for it. Always confirm your position with a qualified Indian tax adviser before filing or making decisions based on it.
How Global Investments can help
RNOR status shelters foreign income for a limited number of years, and the point at which it ends is usually predictable well in advance — which is exactly when foreign income planning needs to be settled, not after the transition has already happened. Our advisers work with clients returning to India after time abroad to establish precisely how many RNOR years remain, review day counts against both the basic and modified thresholds, and coordinate with Indian tax specialists on foreign asset disclosure and treaty positions where more than one country has a competing claim to residence.
Frequently asked questions
What is RNOR status and why does it matter?
RNOR stands for Resident but Not Ordinarily Resident, the intermediate status between full residence and non-residence. It taxes you on Indian-source income and income from a business controlled in or a profession set up in India, but shelters your other foreign income from the Indian charge. For someone returning to India after years abroad, RNOR typically protects overseas investment and employment income for a limited number of years before ordinarily resident status begins, which makes it the single most valuable status to understand and plan around.
How many days can I spend in India without becoming resident?
There is no single safe number, because it depends on your citizenship, your reason for being in India and your presence in earlier years. The basic rule is 182 days or more in the tax year, or 60 days or more together with 365 days or more across the preceding four years. That 60-day figure is extended to 182 days for Indian citizens leaving for employment and Indian ship crew, and reduced to 120 days for visiting Indian citizens and persons of Indian origin with India-source income above INR 15 lakh.
What is the deemed-residence rule and who does it affect?
The deemed-residence rule treats an Indian citizen as resident, regardless of day count, where their India-source income exceeds INR 15 lakh and they are not liable to tax in any other country by reason of domicile, residence or a similar criterion. It targets Indian citizens who would otherwise be tax resident nowhere at all. Foreign nationals fall outside the rule entirely, and deemed residents are automatically treated as RNOR rather than ordinarily resident.
Does becoming resident in India mean my worldwide income is taxed?
Only if you are resident and ordinarily resident. That status taxes worldwide income and gains, including foreign investment returns and overseas employment income, with foreign tax credit relief available where a treaty applies. If you are RNOR rather than ordinarily resident, your other foreign income stays outside the Indian charge, so the distinction between the two resident statuses matters as much as the resident versus non-resident question itself.
What foreign asset disclosure obligations apply to Indian residents?
Residents holding foreign assets have a separate disclosure obligation on the Indian tax return, distinct from any tax actually owed on that income. The penalties for omitting foreign assets and accounts are severe and apply independently of whether tax is due, so the exposure exists even where the underlying income was legitimately outside the Indian charge. RNOR status does not automatically remove this reporting obligation, and it should be confirmed rather than assumed.
Has the Income-tax Act 2025 changed the residence rules?
No. The Income-tax Act 2025 replaced the 1961 Act for tax years beginning on or after 1 April 2026, but the basic residence conditions were carried over unchanged. The change is one of legislative structure and numbering, not of the day-count thresholds, the RNOR carve-outs or the deemed-residence rule, all of which continue to operate as before under the new Act.
Is the interactive test on this page a substitute for advice?
No. It applies the basic conditions, the modified day thresholds, the deemed-residence rule and the RNOR carve-outs to the answers you give, and shows the reasoning behind the result. It does not address foreign asset disclosure requirements in detail, treaty tie-breakers where another country also claims you as resident, or the taxation of specific income types. Confirm your position with a qualified Indian tax adviser before acting on it.
This guide is general information only and does not constitute financial, legal or tax advice. Tax residence rules change and individual circumstances vary. Always seek advice from a qualified adviser in the relevant jurisdiction before acting.