Tools · NRI Banking & Remittance
Repatriation Headroom Tracker
How much can you still remit out of India this financial year — and what paperwork does it need? Set out where the funds sit and what they are, and see whether the annual facility applies to them at all, how much capacity is left, when it resets, and the document trail your bank will ask for.
This tool gives you a position and a document list, not a tax computation. It states no rate and no section number, because India's tax legislation has been recast and form references and section numbers have moved — figures quoted in a tool age badly. Where the rules have no fixed threshold, it says so rather than inventing one.
Headroom remaining this Indian financial year
USD 1,000,000
of a USD 1,000,000 annual facility · USD 0 already used
Why this is the answer
Capital held in an NRO account — sale proceeds, inherited assets, accumulated balances — falls inside the annual remittance-of-assets facility. The ceiling is personal rather than per account or per household, so a spouse holding assets in their own name has separate capacity. Unused capacity does not carry forward.
What the annual facility does not constrain
- NRE and FCNR balances, and the interest they earn — freely repatriable, with no annual ceiling.
- Current income such as rent, dividends, interest and pension — generally repatriable outside the annual facility, provided the Indian tax has been paid or deducted and the position is certified.
The paperwork this transfer needs
Your own declaration to the tax portal (Form 15CA)
Filed electronically by you as remitter. It records the remittance, the recipient and the tax position claimed. It is your statement, not your bank’s and not your accountant’s. Form numbering has changed under the 2025 Act in other areas, so confirm the current form reference before filing.
A chartered accountant’s certificate (Form 15CB), where required
A certificate from a practising chartered accountant stating the nature of the payment, the rate at which tax has been deducted and whether a treaty rate has been applied. It exists so that a professional stands behind the characterisation before the money leaves. Whether it is required for your transfer is not a fixed rule — see the point above.
Evidence of the source of the funds
Your authorised dealer bank is not simply executing an instruction: under the foreign exchange framework it carries the regulatory responsibility for satisfying itself the transaction is permissible. Banks differ in what they accept, and a set cleared by one may be queried by another.
A declaration that the remittance falls within your annual capacity
The ceiling is per person and per Indian financial year, and the bank will want it stated. Remittances stall routinely because an earlier transfer in the same year had been forgotten — keep a running record of what you have used.
Title documents and the funding trail behind the purchase
Sale deed, chain of title, and the remittance advices or foreign inward remittance certificate showing how the purchase was funded. How the property was acquired is one of the conditions the regulations attach.
Capital gains tax settled before release, not afterwards
India collects the tax first and remits the balance. The certification is in substance confirmation that the correct deduction has already been made, so the tax position cannot be left to be resolved after the funds have moved.
Points to settle before you instruct the bank
- The funding route behind the purchase changes what may leave India. Retrieve the remittance advices and the bank’s foreign inward remittance certificate from the time of purchase — reconstructing that trail a decade later is unpleasant work, and the bank will ask for it.
- Whether a chartered accountant’s certificate is needed for your specific transfer depends on the nature and value of the payment, and certain categories of remittance are exempt from the reporting requirement altogether. Those thresholds and exemption lists are revised periodically, so this tool does not state a figure. Confirm the current position with your authorised dealer bank and a chartered accountant.
Educational only — this is not advice. This tool tracks one annual limit and lists the documents commonly required; it does not compute any tax, state any rate, or confirm that a particular transfer will be permitted. The USD 1,000,000 annual figure, the reporting thresholds and the exemption lists all change, and India's tax legislation has been recast, so form references and section numbers move. Global Investments is not authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority or by the Securities and Exchange Board of India. Confirm your position with a qualified Indian tax adviser and your authorised dealer bank before remitting anything.
Plan the transfer before you need it
Most repatriation problems are structural rather than procedural. Our advisers can review how your Indian accounts and assets are held, sequence transfers across financial years where the annual facility is the constraint, and coordinate the certification with an Indian chartered accountant.
How this tool works
Identify the account
NRE and FCNR balances are freely repatriable. NRO funds run through an annual ceiling. This is the decision that drives everything else.
Classify the funds
Current income such as rent or interest is treated differently from capital such as sale proceeds or inherited assets — the classification matters as much as the amount.
See the headroom and the dates
Where the facility applies, you get the capacity left, the day the Indian financial year ends, and the date capacity resets. Unused capacity does not carry forward.
Collect the paperwork
A document list tailored to your funds — declaration, accountant certificate where required, source evidence, and the succession or title chain where relevant.
Frequently asked questions
How much can I remit out of India in one financial year?
Funds held in an NRO account fall under an annual remittance-of-assets facility of USD 1 million per Indian financial year, running 1 April to 31 March. The ceiling is held per individual rather than per account or per household, so spouses holding assets in their own names each have their own capacity, and unused capacity does not carry forward to the following year.
Does the annual limit apply to money in my NRE or FCNR account?
No. NRE and FCNR accounts may only be funded from foreign sources, so the money is treated as having entered India from abroad. Both the principal and the interest are freely repatriable without an annual ceiling and without engaging the facility that applies to NRO funds. Your bank will still apply its own identification and source-of-funds checks before executing the transfer.
Is rental income counted against the annual limit?
Current-income items such as rent, dividends, interest and pension are generally treated as repatriable outside the annual facility, provided the applicable Indian tax has been paid or deducted and the position is certified. The regulations draw a line between remitting income and remitting capital, so the practical task is being able to evidence that what you are sending is genuinely current income rather than sale proceeds or an accumulated balance.
What paperwork does a remittance from India need?
In general terms: your own declaration filed electronically on the income tax portal, a certificate from a practising chartered accountant where one is required, evidence of the source of the funds, and — for remittances under the annual facility — a declaration that the transfer falls within your remaining capacity. Whether the accountant certificate is required turns on the nature and value of the payment and on an exemption list that is revised periodically, so confirm the current position with your authorised dealer bank rather than assuming what applied last time.
Why do banks refuse or delay a remittance?
The recurring causes are a mismatch between the name or details on the supporting documents and the account records, an incomplete declaration acknowledgement, a chartered accountant certificate that does not cover the exact amount being sent, a tax deduction not yet reflected against the permanent account number, or an annual capacity already partly consumed by an earlier transfer that had been forgotten. Banks act as authorised dealers under the foreign exchange framework and carry the regulatory responsibility, so they check thoroughly before releasing anything.
Not sure which account your money is actually in?
Our advisers can review how your Indian accounts and assets are held before a remittance is needed, rather than after a bank has queried it.