Repatriation of Pension in the US

Repatriation of pension amount stands for returning the annuity. The US is hugely populated with Indian diaspora. India terms them as NRIs. Many of these have spent their life in government jobs.  And later after retirement, they settled in the US with their children.

How easy is to repatriate it to the US?

In such cases, they are still eligible for withdrawing their pension amount. After all, it’s a part of their hard earned money that they receive at the time of retirement. So, how can they receive their pension in the US? Should they come down to India for carrying out formalities? Its answer is hidden in the below mentioned statement of RBI (The excerpt conveys the synonymous message of the RBI statement):

“RBI has declaimed that the NRIs/PIOs who don’t have their NRO account and non-taxable income in Indian need to pay no formality of submitting a Chartered Accountant’s certificate. This certificate is mandatory for remitting current income of those having taxable income in India. It includes dividend, rent, pension, interest and so on.”

Its statement has declared it as one of the most affordable NRI services. It further read an instruction for the authorized dealers that they can procure a simple declaration from the NRIs/PIOs. In it, they should declare that their income is grouped under non-taxable income. Hence, they are not the tax payer in India. The dealer can keep the declaration with them for the future reference from the Income Tax Authorities (if required).

How the present system of repatriation differs from the earlier one?

• Earlier, RBI issued a notification to the bankers. The apex banking entity of India permitted repatriation of the current earnings in India. The current earning can be sourced through rent, dividend, pension, and interest. But now, it is not required.
• The repatriate system also required a Chartered Accountant Certificate. It certified the exact source of the payee’s income. And also declared whether it was taxable or not. But now, it is also not mandatory. The migrants can present a declaration stating they belong to non-tax payer group.
• Earlier, migrants necessarily required NRO account as a transferring channel. But now, it is not required.