December 2018

NRIs Immigration Challenges on New Year 2019

December 31, 2018 Manoj Sodhani Comments 0 Comment

Are you soon taking a flight to abroad?

There are a few challenges that can interrupt your journey on the New Year (2019) eve. They are majorly concerned with the banking, insurance, PPF, attorney and PIS account. Despite having a valid visa and passport, you may face delays. So, it’s recommended to go through the checklist of these challenges (mentioned in the form of questions). You’ll get some valuable advice to overcome them.

How do you transact?

It’s a crucial question to ask by self. The Reserve Bank of India disallows transactions through a regular bank account. So, you must be ready to combat that challenge through an NRO/NRE account. It’s suggested to visit your bank and do the necessary formalities, like filling a form, attaching a photograph with a copy of your passport and visa. What benefits you’ll get are:

Can open a joint account with a resident or non-resident.
Power of Attorney can operate on your behalf.
Income earned from India can be deposited in it.
Can pay EMIs and do other investments.
It’s a non-repatriable account, which means that its principal amount can’t be taken abroad. However, income and interest can be transferred /withdrawn.
Can remit upto $1 million.
Can transfer amount to another account.
Can transfer domestic earnings from rent, interest, dividend into foreign (FCNR) account.
Can get same interest rate as on the regular saving account.
TDS is deducted at the pervasive rate.
NRE account requires no tax to pay off on the interest earned on income from India.

Do you have PIS account?

If you want to invest in equities, mutual funds or stocks, you must have a portfolio investment scheme (PIS) account on repatriation basis. Besides, you should have an NRE account to trade off. If you want to invest on a non-repatriation basis, the NRO account should be opened.

Citizens have to open Demat account for investing in such kinds of schemes. If you would have it before turning into an NRI, open a PIS account. Follow the KYC norms. Transfer your share or equities into it. Subsequently, don’t forget to close your Demat account. Otherwise, you have to face off several challenges to withdraw that amount.

Are you insured?

It’s a norm to buy an insurance policy if you’re going abroad. The right time to buy a policy is before leaving India. Otherwise, you’ll be caught in the lengthy processing. What points you should keep in mind are:

Death cover policy is valid across the globe, if you’re taking.
If you prefer the health insurance policy, you can claim a medical cover in India.
Read the instructions or terms and conditions carefully.
In case you already have a term insurance, get it updated with your residential status. Otherwise, its validity would be disturbed.

Do you have an attorney?

Once you shift to abroad, it’s very difficult to take care of your financial and property issues in person. That’s why you should appoint a person who could take charge on your behalf. Always remember that there are two kinds of POA-General POA and Specific POA. For more clarification, you should consult about it with a legal advisor or a solicitor. Thereafter, entrust the authority while specifying the delegated responsibilities. Once you have appointed the POA, inform the bank about the same via a letter. He would be the authority who can:

Operate your bank account
Take care of your property management
Manage tenants
Sign tax forms and cheques

Do you have a PPF (Public Provident Fund) account?

If you are managing it before turning into the NRI, turn it into a non-operational one. The NRIs can’t operate it. Whatever amount you have in it, transfer it into the NRO/NRE account. This is how you can keep it active.

No new PPF account is permissible.

Tax, TDS & Return Filing Benefits of NRI Investment In India

December 21, 2018 Manoj Sodhani Comments 0 Comment

India has shown potential to grow exponentially. Now, the non-resident diaspora is also turning its head towards this country. It’s just because of the leverages and tax benefits on the NRI investment services in India. If you look at the country’s fiscal policy, this community, including OCIs (Overseas Citizens of India) and PIOs (Persons of Indian Origin), can delve into the non-repatriable investment. It offers an amazing opportunity to save millions of currencies.

If you have any ifs or buts regarding tax policy, consult them with a reputed S2NRI’s NRI investment services or any other one in India.

Interesting Facts about NRI investments in India:

You should come across some interesting facts. The Indian govt. has been treating NRI’s non-repatriable investment as a domestic investment since 2015. Moreover, it doesn’t segment this investment under the foreign direct investment caps. Even, if any non-resident chooses an Indian bank to save his money in the NRE account, he doesn’t need to pay tax on the interest earned on that deposit. Besides, he can completely repatriate that amount.

I bet that you’re feeling awe after reading the foregone facts. Let’s have a rundown of some more benefits that the NRIs can have if they invest in the domestic market.

NRI Status:

This fact is the foremost one that you should know about. Your status (either resident or non-resident) defines what treatment you would get from the tax department. You’re a resident of this country, if you have stayed 182 or more days in a fiscal year. This is what the Income Tax law prescribes.

Taxable Income for NRIs:

The tax is levied on the income of the residents. The non-residents are kept away of such a taxable crew, if they don’t have income from Indian resources. Simply put, if you have income that you have earned abroad, you’re exempt from paying income tax.

On the flip side, the NRIs may have to pay tax here on provided that they have accrued income in India. There is probability to pay because they should have enough accrued income that is grouped under the tax slab. Now, the question is which income is taxable. To name a few, they can be any salary received in India, income from property like rental income, capital gains from the transfer of an asset in India and the interest earned on bank deposits.

Tax Deduction at Source (TDS):

Every income, be it from stocks, equities, mutual funds, property or gold, is worth to TDS. However, the tax rate is relatively higher for the non-residents than that of the local residents. But, there is a loop that leads to a cue that directs them to reduce the burden of TDS. They can become a third party by joining hands with a native investor. It will ensure them to choose the joint investments. Let’s look into the TDS percent on NRIs’ diverse income sources. But, this percentage is a subject matter of changes to revised fiscal policies.

Income from technical fees- 30 percent+3 percent education cess
Income from royalty- 10 percent+3 percent education cess
Income from professional services-10 percent+ 3 percent education cess
Income from rent- 30 percent+3 percent education cess
Income from short term capital gains via Mutual Funds- 15 percent+3 percent education cess
Dividend earned from the Mutual Funds and equities- Zero
Interest earned on NRE or FCNR account deposits-Zero
Interest earned on NRO account-30 percent
Income above INR 10 lakh-10 percent surcharge

Investment options for NRI income:

As for the recent period, the PPF investment scheme is open for the NRIs. This scheme invites investors for at least 15 years to invest, which is relatively considered as a long term investment. On the flip side, the door for short term investments is not open for them. Besides, you should have these arrangements for the savings and investments:

You should have an NRO account to manage it from anywhere in the world.
If you have stocks or equities like MF, open a SIP account and undergo the KYC with the selected bank.
Inform the bank and the brokerage about the opted-out investment plans. Thereby, the bank authority will update you regarding the selected investment plan.
If you’re going to transfer the foreign currency for NRI investment, open an NRE account.

Income Tax Returns Filing: As aforesaid, you (the NRIs) are liable to pay tax if your income has a definitive size for NRIs according to the tax slab. The income tax returns filing helps them to compute what amount of tax they have to pay off.

For this financial year, you should have the income beyond INR 2.5 lakh to become eligible for tax payment.

USCIS Update: What NRIs Should Now Do to Apply for H1B visa?

December 11, 2018 Manoj Sodhani Comments 0 Comment

Do you think flying to the US could be as easy as it, generally, is?

This year could, probably, be the last season of meeting expected barriers. From next year onwards, the citizens could kick off the visa filing process on April 1, 2019 encountering new challenges. Simultaneously, they should know more about the amendments or the USCIS updates.

This blog reads an update from the office of the USCIS-the immigration authority of the US. However, it was expected that the Trump administration would tweak the existing immigration policy. He has been known for his strict stance over the immigration policy. His blunt approach is a matter of worries for the NRI and Indian diaspora.

So! Here is all what you should know prior to filing the H1B visa application.

What’s the annual visa cap?

The H1B visa is the most sought after non-immigrant visa, permitting companies to recruit foreign employees in specialty occupations. If you look at the IT sector of the USA, its IT firms and other tech companies will emerge in a great need of the highly skilled workforce from the countries, like India and China. Interestingly, Indians win more than 60% of these visas.

What the Times of India has published is indeed noteworthy. It stated that the new fiscal year is going to kick off on April1, 2019. They will have to file petitions for H1B visas, as usually they do. But, the visa process will be a bit different in the upcoming year. As approved by the US office of Management and Budget (MOB), the US employers should keep in mind that:

They have to pre-register on a digital platform for the annual H1 B lottery.
The lottery system will filter 65,000 visa applications under the regular quota.
Also, the master cap for this visa will draw 20,000 more applicants. These would be those candidates who are boasting an advanced degree from the US universities.
The USCIS will invite the winner of the lottery system for its full-fledge visa application process. It includes enclosure of all necessary documents. Previously, the document attachment was a part of the first step, i.e. the lottery system. Simply put, the employers had to file upfront in April, together with all supporting certificates.

This amendment is introduced while keeping these points in mind:

These amendments in the US immigration policy will spare the efforts of the companies that, often, input when it came to filing a petition. It’s so because many candidates were left unselected in the visa lottery. But, the companies had to go through the complete visa petitioning.
The USCIS will be able to manage the intake and selection process for H1B visa more effectively and efficiently.

Why should Indians worry?

Besides the aforementioned advantages for the US immigration authority, the NRIs community and the NRI service providers are quite disappointed. They are afraid of the fact that the new rule could provide liberty to that authority. It may not fairly decide who can work in America.

This execution of the pre-registration program, as mentioned in the Form ETA 9035 (Labour Certification Form), which is effective from 19 November, can threaten the fair and random H1B lottery. This is what the managing attorney at NPZ Law Group, David H Nachman, told the Daily.

He also stated that the new labour certification will necessitate employers to reveal if they have put the details of the H1B workers on the third party websites. That mentioning could be utilized to filter the applicants who don’t require third party placements. It could also end up in a discrimination wherein the sponsoring companies that have less foreign applicants would win the lottery.

However, this amendment is a proposition that could take three to six months for making entry to the Federal Registry. Besides, the public feedback can play a game-changing role in it.

S2NRI

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Month: December 2018