In this article
Law reviewed as at 19 October 2026. References to the Income-tax Act, 2025 are to the Act as amended by the Finance Act, 2026.
Your Indian income-tax residential status is determined separately for each tax year. The principal tests examine how many days you spent in India during that year and, in certain cases, during preceding years. Your citizenship, purpose of travel, relevant income and liability to tax in another country can also change the result.
You must first establish whether you are Resident or Non-Resident (NR). If you are resident, a second test determines whether you are Resident but Not Ordinarily Resident (RNOR) or Resident and Ordinarily Resident (ROR).
The commonly quoted 182-day rule is important. But it is not the only rule. A person can become an Indian income-tax resident with fewer than 182 days in India. Certain Indian citizens may also be treated as deemed residents without satisfying the ordinary day-count tests.
Your NRI label does not decide your income-tax residential status
Suppose you live in Dubai, work there, maintain an NRE account in India and visit your family in India several times during the year.
You may describe yourself as an NRI. Your Indian bank may also classify you as a non-resident for banking purposes.
Neither establishes your residential status under the Indian Income-tax Act.
The same issue arises if you hold an OCI card, have a foreign permanent residence visa or have been working outside India for several years.
For Indian income-tax purposes, the relevant questions begin elsewhere.
Which year are you examining? How many days were you physically present in India? What was your presence during the preceding years? Are you covered by a special provision for Indian citizens or persons of Indian origin? Does your relevant income cross a statutory threshold?
An answer given for last year cannot simply be carried forward.
You may be non-resident in one year and resident in another, even if your passport, employer and overseas address remain unchanged.
Which Income-tax Act applies to the year you are examining?
India’s residential-status provisions have continued under the Income-tax Act, 2025, which came into force on 1 April 2026.
The applicable legislation depends on the income period concerned.
| Income period | Applicable legislation | Residential-status provision |
|---|---|---|
| FY 2025-26, 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2026 | Income-tax Act, 1961 | Section 6 |
| Tax Year 2026-27, 1 April 2026 to 31 March 2027 | Income-tax Act, 2025 | Section 6 |
| Subsequent tax years | Income-tax Act, 2025, subject to applicable amendments | Section 6 |
The principal tests have been retained, although the provisions have been reorganised.
For example, the ordinary tests now appear in section 6(2) of the 2025 Act, specified departure exceptions in section 6(3), visitor provisions in sections 6(4) and 6(5), and RNOR classification in section 6(13).
The change in legislation does not reset your residential history.
When determining status for Tax Year 2026-27, you may still need to count days spent in India during FY 2025-26 and earlier years. Those earlier periods remain relevant even though the law governing the current tax year has changed.
Likewise, an assessment concerning FY 2025-26 continues to use the applicable 1961 Act provisions, even if proceedings take place after 1 April 2026.
Step 1: Are you resident or non-resident in India?
Under the ordinary rule, an individual is resident in India if either of the following conditions is satisfied.
| Test | Days in the relevant year | Additional condition |
|---|---|---|
| Test A | 182 days or more | No preceding-year day-count condition |
| Test B | 60 days or more | 365 days or more in aggregate during the preceding four years |
These are alternative conditions. You do not need to satisfy both.
Consider two hypothetical situations.
Situation 1: You spend 190 days in India during a tax year.
You satisfy Test A. Your current-year presence establishes residence under the ordinary rule.
Situation 2: You spend 100 days in India during a tax year and 400 days in aggregate during the preceding four years.
You satisfy ordinary Test B. You would therefore be resident unless a specific statutory exception changes the applicable test.
That qualification matters.
The law contains special provisions for Indian citizens leaving India for specified purposes and for qualifying Indian citizens or persons of Indian origin visiting India. These can materially change the result.
Consequently, a day-count calculation must identify the applicable statutory category before producing the final classification.
For an Indian citizen, failing the physical-presence tests does not necessarily end the analysis. Deemed residence must also be considered where relevant under section 6(1A) of the 1961 Act or section 6(7) of the 2025 Act.
Indian citizens leaving India for employment
An Indian citizen who leaves India during the year for the purpose of employment outside India receives special treatment under the residential-status provisions.
The same provision covers an Indian citizen leaving India as a member of the crew of an Indian ship, subject to the statutory conditions.
For a person qualifying under this provision, the ordinary alternative test involving 60 days in the current year and 365 days in the preceding four years does not apply.
The relevant physical-presence threshold becomes 182 days during that year.
For Tax Year 2026-27 onwards, this rule appears in section 6(3) of the Income-tax Act, 2025.
There is an important factual distinction between going abroad for employment and making a foreign trip for another purpose.
The provision cannot be applied merely because a person subsequently obtains a foreign address or begins receiving income from outside India.
The nature and timing of departure must support the statutory condition.
Complex situations involving foreign assignments, self-employment, business activities and repeated changes of location require separate examination rather than automatic application of the departure exception.
What happens when an Indian citizen or PIO visits India?
This is particularly relevant for NRIs who live overseas but spend considerable time in India visiting family, managing affairs or attending to personal commitments.
The law provides a special residence test for qualifying Indian citizens and persons of Indian origin (PIOs) who, being outside India, come on a visit to India.
Under the Income-tax Act, 2025, the applicable provisions are sections 6(4) and 6(5).
The result depends partly on whether the person’s total income, excluding income from foreign sources as defined by the statute, exceeds ₹15 lakh during the relevant tax year.
If relevant income does not exceed ₹15 lakh
For a qualifying visitor, the 60-day plus 365-day alternative test does not apply.
The principal physical-presence test is 182 days or more during the relevant year.
For example, assume an Indian citizen who ordinarily lives in Singapore visits India for a total of 150 days during a tax year.
Assume the person qualifies under the statutory visitor provision and has relevant income of ₹12 lakh.
The person would not become resident merely because of those 150 days, even if aggregate presence during the preceding four years exceeded 365 days.
The visitor exception changes the ordinary calculation.
If relevant income exceeds ₹15 lakh
For a qualifying Indian citizen or PIO visitor whose relevant income exceeds ₹15 lakh, the alternative test changes.
The person can become resident by satisfying both conditions:
- Presence in India for 120 days or more during the relevant tax year.
- Aggregate presence in India for 365 days or more during the preceding four years.
The 182-day test continues to apply independently.
Consider a qualifying visitor who spends 150 days in India during Tax Year 2026-27 and 400 days in aggregate during the preceding four years.
If the relevant income is ₹18 lakh, the modified 120-day plus 365-day test is satisfied.
That person becomes resident under Indian income-tax law. The special RNOR classification applicable to this visitor category must then be considered.
Now change only one fact.
Suppose the relevant income is exactly ₹15 lakh.
The modified 120-day rule is not triggered because the statute requires income exceeding ₹15 lakh. Assuming the same qualifying visitor facts and no other applicable residence provision, the person does not become resident on the basis of 150 days.
The travel history has not changed. The income figure has changed the applicable test.
What counts toward the ₹15 lakh threshold?
This amount is not a general tax slab, salary threshold or measure of money remitted to India.
The statutory expression concerns total income excluding income from foreign sources.
Under section 6(14) of the Income-tax Act, 2025, income from foreign sources means income accruing or arising outside India, except income derived from a business controlled in India or a profession set up in India, and which is not deemed to accrue or arise in India.
Therefore, you cannot establish the threshold simply by asking how much money was deposited in an Indian bank account or how much salary was paid abroad.
The character, source and tax treatment of the income must be examined.
Does holding an OCI card settle the visitor test?
No.
Citizenship and person-of-Indian-origin status must be considered under the relevant income-tax definitions.
For the 2025 Act, section 2(78) defines a person of Indian origin by reference to the birth in undivided India of the individual, either parent or any grandparent.
Holding an OCI card is not itself a substitute for applying the statutory definition and other conditions.
A permanent relocation to India should not be treated as a visit merely because the individual was living outside India immediately before returning.
A genuine temporary visit by someone based abroad and a return intended to resume living in India are factually different situations.
For example, an Indian citizen returning after ending overseas employment may spend fewer than 182 days in India during the year but still become resident if the ordinary 60-day plus 365-day test applies.
The purpose of entry, circumstances of relocation and relevant evidence must be examined. The conclusion cannot rest only on the individual’s previous NRI status or arrival date.
Can you be treated as resident even without sufficient days in India?
Yes, in the case of certain Indian citizens.
The deemed-residence provision is contained in section 6(1A) of the Income-tax Act, 1961 and section 6(7) of the Income-tax Act, 2025.
Under the 2025 Act, it applies where an individual:
- Is an Indian citizen.
- Has total income excluding the statutorily defined income from foreign sources exceeding ₹15 lakh during the tax year.
- Is not liable to tax in any other country or territory because of domicile, residence or similar criteria.
This provision is examined where the individual is not already resident under the applicable physical-presence provisions.
Unlike the ordinary residence tests, deemed residence does not depend on satisfying a minimum number of days in India.
But it would be wrong to conclude that every Indian citizen living in a country without personal income tax automatically becomes an Indian deemed resident.
Liability to tax and actual payment of tax are different questions.
Under section 2(66) of the Income-tax Act, 2025, the expression “liable to tax” concerns an income-tax liability on the person under the law of the relevant country. It includes a person subsequently exempted from that liability under that country’s law.
An exemption concerning one particular item of income should not automatically be equated with the foreign tax-liability status of the person.
Consequently, a finding that no foreign income tax was paid is not enough, on its own, to establish that the person was not liable to tax abroad.
The foreign legal position must be examined from the applicable country’s law and the person’s actual circumstances.
The deemed-residence provision is also limited to Indian citizens. It is not a general deemed-residence rule for every OCI or foreign citizen with income connected to India.
Step 2: If you are resident, are you RNOR or ROR?
Determining that you are resident completes only the first stage.
Indian income-tax law then distinguishes between:
- Resident but Not Ordinarily Resident (RNOR)
- Resident and Ordinarily Resident (ROR)
The distinction matters because it affects the scope of foreign income that India may tax.
For individuals, the principal historical RNOR conditions include either of the following:
- You were non-resident in India in at least nine of the ten preceding tax years.
- Your aggregate stay in India during the preceding seven tax years was 729 days or less.
These are alternative tests. Satisfying either is sufficient for the historical RNOR condition.
There are also specific RNOR categories for qualifying higher-income Indian citizen or PIO visitors who become resident through the modified 120-day rule, and for Indian citizens who are deemed residents.
These provisions are contained in section 6(6) of the 1961 Act and section 6(13) of the 2025 Act.
A person who is resident but does not qualify as RNOR is classified as ROR.
Is RNOR automatically available for two or three years after returning to India?
No fixed RNOR period can be promised merely from the date on which someone returns.
Consider a person who has lived outside India for many years and returns to India permanently.
The return date matters, but so do the preceding years of non-residence and the cumulative days spent in India.
Frequent visits before return can affect the calculation.
Another person returning on the same date may have a different RNOR history because their preceding travel records are different.
The correct answer comes from the statutory historical tests applied year by year, not a standard number of RNOR years assigned to every returning Indian.
How do you calculate and document your days in India?
The day-count exercise should begin with an actual travel history.
A statement such as “I normally spend four months in India” is not a reliable substitute for computing presence during the specified statutory period.
A practical record should contain the following information.
| Information | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Arrival and departure dates | Establish travel chronology |
| Total days in India in the current year | Ordinary residence tests |
| Aggregate days during the preceding four years | 365-day look-back test |
| Aggregate days during the preceding seven years | RNOR historical stay test |
| Residential status in the preceding ten years | RNOR historical residence test |
| Citizenship and ancestry facts | Special visitor eligibility |
| Nature and purpose of departure or visit | Statutory exceptions |
| Relevant income computation | ₹15 lakh threshold |
| Foreign tax-liability documentation | Deemed-residence analysis |
Passport endorsements, immigration movement records, travel itineraries and employment or assignment documents may help establish the underlying facts.
This is a practical evidence checklist, not a prescribed statutory form for every taxpayer.
Where there is a conflict between travel records and a previously declared residential status, it should be reconciled before relying on that status for another year.
The calculation should also distinguish an ordinary traveller from someone covered by a specialised rule.
For example, section 6(6) of the 2025 Act provides for prescribed computation of Indian stay in respect of qualifying foreign-bound ship voyages involving Indian citizen crew members.
Rule 8 of the Income-tax Rules, 2026 provides the relevant computation using dates recorded in the Continuous Discharge Certificate for an eligible voyage.
Such cases should not be forced into an ordinary visitor worksheet without checking the applicable special rule.
Where the outcome turns on an entry or exit date, part-day presence or disputed travel records, the legally supportable calculation must be established. A generic travel-day calculator should not be treated as conclusive for every circumstance.
Three hypothetical residential-status calculations
These examples illustrate the statutory sequence. They are not client cases or conclusions about any reader’s actual position.
For Tax Year 2026-27, each illustration assumes the stated facts for the completed tax year.
Example 1: An NRI visiting India with relevant income of ₹12 lakh
Assume an Indian citizen ordinarily residing in the USA visits India during Tax Year 2026-27.
| Fact | Value |
|---|---|
| Days in India during Tax Year 2026-27 | 150 |
| Aggregate days during preceding four years | 400 |
| Relevant income excluding defined foreign-source income | ₹12 lakh |
| Nature of stay | Qualifying visit to India |
The income does not exceed ₹15 lakh.
The special visitor exception applies, and the modified 120-day rule is not triggered.
Since current-year presence is below 182 days, the person is non-resident on these assumptions.
Result: NR.
This demonstrates why 150 days plus 400 preceding-year days does not always create residence. The person’s statutory category controls which test applies.
Example 2: Same visitor, but relevant income increases to ₹18 lakh
Retain exactly the same travel history.
Change relevant income from ₹12 lakh to ₹18 lakh.
The person is a qualifying Indian citizen visitor with relevant income exceeding ₹15 lakh.
The modified 120-day plus 365-day test now applies.
Both conditions are satisfied:
- 150 days meets the 120-day minimum.
- 400 days during the preceding four years meets the 365-day minimum.
The person becomes resident.
Because this is the qualifying higher-income visitor category with presence of at least 120 days but fewer than 182 days, the specific RNOR provision applies.
Result: RNOR.
The difference between the first and second examples is not the number of days, passport or country of residence.
It is the relevant income figure and the statutory test that follows from it.
Example 3: A returning Indian with long non-resident history
Assume an Indian citizen returns permanently to India and spends 200 days in India during Tax Year 2026-27.
Assume the individual was non-resident in India in each of the preceding ten tax years.
The current-year 182-day test is satisfied, so the person is resident.
The second step is the RNOR determination.
Because the individual was non-resident in at least nine of the ten preceding years, the historical RNOR condition is also satisfied.
Result: RNOR for Tax Year 2026-27.
That conclusion does not establish the person’s status for the following year.
The tests must be applied again using the relevant year’s facts and updated historical periods.
Why does NR, RNOR or ROR status matter?
Residential status helps determine the scope of income subject to Indian income tax.
Under section 5 of both Income-tax Acts, the broad position is:
| Status | Broad Indian income-tax treatment |
|---|---|
| NR | Income received or deemed received in India, or accruing, arising or deemed accruing or arising in India, subject to applicable provisions |
| RNOR | Indian receipt/source income and specified foreign-accruing income derived from a business controlled in India or profession set up in India |
| ROR | The broader worldwide income scope under Indian domestic law, subject to applicable provisions and treaty considerations |
This is why RNOR status matters to returning Indians holding foreign bank accounts, brokerage investments, overseas retirement assets or businesses.
But residential status alone does not establish the taxation of a particular foreign pension, RSU, dividend, property gain or remittance.
For that, the precise income character, accrual, receipt, relevant year, statutory treatment and applicable treaty provisions must be considered.
An NR is not automatically outside Indian income tax. Indian-source or India-received income may still be taxable.
An RNOR is not automatically exempt from Indian tax on every foreign-connected receipt.
An ROR does not become taxable merely because money already belonging to that individual is transferred from one bank account to another. The character of the money and the original income must be distinguished from the transfer.
Residential status may also affect Indian income-tax return disclosures, including foreign-asset reporting, depending on statutory requirements and the applicable return form.
Taxability, return filing and information reporting require separate analysis.
Income-tax residence is not FEMA residence
A person can be classified one way under Indian income-tax law and differently for purposes of the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999.
Income-tax residence is determined principally through section 6 of the relevant Income-tax Act.
FEMA uses its own definition of a person resident in India under section 2(v). It considers the preceding financial year’s presence together with the statutory circumstances of employment, business, departure, arrival and intention to stay.
Those distinctions matter for Indian bank accounts, permissible foreign assets, foreign exchange transactions and related regulatory obligations.
For example, the fact that an individual is RNOR for income-tax purposes does not itself establish that an NRE account may continue unchanged.
Similarly, a bank’s classification of an account does not determine the individual’s income-tax residence.
The two classifications must be established independently.
The date someone moves between countries and the dates on which different Indian legal classifications change need not coincide.
Is Indian residential status the same as treaty residence?
Not necessarily.
India’s domestic income-tax legislation determines residence for Indian statutory purposes.
Where a person has connections with India and another country, an applicable Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA) may require a separate examination of treaty residence and, where relevant, tie-breaker provisions.
A person may meet the domestic residence conditions of more than one country.
An applicable DTAA can modify India’s domestic taxing rights where its conditions are satisfied. A foreign tax-residency certificate, by itself, does not establish entitlement to every treaty benefit.
The precise outcome depends on the particular agreement, the person’s circumstances and the applicable documentation.
Treaty relief and Indian withholding compliance must also be considered separately.
Foreign tax law, treaty entitlement and foreign reporting requirements should be examined by appropriately qualified professionals in the relevant foreign country where necessary.
What should your residential-status conclusion contain?
A defensible residential-status conclusion should explain more than the final label.
It should identify:
- The relevant Indian tax year and governing Act.
- The person’s citizenship and applicable statutory category.
- The verified current-year and historical presence figures.
- The residence condition satisfied or not satisfied.
- Any special visitor, departure or deemed-residence provision considered.
- Where resident, the applicable RNOR test and supporting history.
- Material factual assumptions or issues requiring additional evidence.
The objective is a conclusion that can be reconstructed from the supporting facts.
“I have an NRE account” is not that conclusion.
“I live outside India” is not that conclusion either.
The correct residential-status analysis identifies the relevant year, applies the proper statutory test and records the facts supporting the result.
That classification is the starting point for deciding what India may tax and report. It does not replace the separate questions of FEMA residence, foreign-country taxation, treaty entitlement or the treatment of a particular asset or transaction.
Official legal references
- Income-tax Act, 1961, Section 6: Residence in India. For periods through 31 March 2026.
- Income-tax Act, 2025, Section 6: Residence in India. For Tax Year 2026-27 onwards.
- Income-tax Act, 2025, Section 2: Definitions. Including the statutory definitions of liable to tax and person of Indian origin.
- Income-tax Act, 2025, Section 5: Scope of Total Income.
- CBDT FAQs on Interplay and Transition between the 1961 and 2025 Acts.
- Income-tax Rules, 2026, Notification No. 22/2026. See Rule 8 concerning eligible foreign-bound ship voyages.
- RBI: Foreign Exchange Management, in RBI’s Functions and Working. See the discussion of FEMA residence. The statutory definition is in section 2(v) of the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999.
- Income-tax Act, 2025, Section 159: Double Taxation Relief.
This article addresses individual residential status under Indian income-tax legislation. It is educational and does not determine any reader’s personal tax, FEMA, treaty or foreign-law position. Application depends on the relevant year, factual history, documents and governing law.
Sources and review
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