Can an NRI hold Indian issued credit cards?

[Gaurav Goel]

Hi All,

I am not sure if this thread is already created. I will be moving out of India in a month

I spoke to my RM, who advised me to convert my regular savings account to NRO/NRE. I wanted to confirm if I will be able to hold all the credit cards, that I had while being a resident Indian. I know I can keep AMEX as advised by their customer care. But unsure about all my 20+ cards issued by Banks in India.

 

[Lobogris]

Decades back, systems n procedures were more manual. Today, things are totally different.

Despite that, if someone wants to take things for granted, they must be equally be prepared for some potential trouble n headache.

Choose wisely n be safe.

Sir, obviously it is good to obey the rules and follow proper procedures. However, many rules in India are backwards and illogical and sometimes people have no choice but to ignore them. We have very low compliance with most laws. Very few people pay income tax and hardly anyone is caught. People drive on the wrong side, throw trash on the roads and violate every possible rule with practically no repercussions. Law and order is poor in India and the enforcement agencies are inefficient, poorly trained, corrupt and lack motivation. So the chances of a normal person having any issues are practically non existent. It is also illegal to pay a bribe to get a passport or driving license but almost everyone does it. So people can make their own decisions. Personally, if I am living abroad, I would have very little worry or concern about such rules in India.

 

[SSV]

How c

How can a bank make a person return back to India or lose admission in a college abroad? There is absolutely no way. All the bank can do is close or freeze the account and at the most, inform RBI. No one will care about such a minor matter. I know thousands of people who don't comply with these rules. Indian authorities abroad as you call them, I assume you mean Indian embassy, also have no power overseas and cannot do anything. In addition, they are too busy to care about such stuff. At least 90% or likely 99% of Indians move abroad and forget about some bank account they had in India. You think all the uneducated, poor workers going abroad understand and comply with this? I had several accounts in India and lived abroad for decades. No one cared. Everyone else I know does the same.

Mate, you are largely correct..

 

[PRIYANSHU_]

Students are NOT NRIs - till you get a permanent job abroad.

So, you can keep all your accounts/CCs as long as you are a student.

Rules - as of now. Keep update.

I am also having a car loan here of 10 Lakhs.

 

[PRIYANSHU_]

throw trash

Thats not the case in my city Indore, just dare to throw garbage an uncle/aunt will humiliate you.

 

[SSV]

Students are NOT NRIs - till you get a permanent job abroad.

This is wrong... residential status is nothing to do with student or not...

 

[SSV]

No need ro file any ITR unless you have substantial income in India.

not 100% correct but the basis is not substantial income or small income.. I will explain clearly in next posts.

 

[SSV]

okay..
Lets get into the details:

there are several scenarios here:

we will take discuss each scenario individually.

Before that les talk about the rules first...

Rule 1) ITR filing is based on residential status... ( nothing to do with nationality, low income / high income etc).

Rule 2) : According to Indian IT ACT a person who is not resident as per IT Act becomes Non Resident (AKA. NRI).. There is anothe classification 'Resident but not ordinarily residet) .. we will discuss this bit later because this applied to the returning Indians from abroad to India..

Rule 3) A resident Indian need to file ITR in India for that FY...
Basic defintion of 'Resident Indian" is if you stay more than 182 days in India in that FY... then you become Resident in India and hence you need to file ITR in India.. Once you become NRI for that FY you don't need to file any ITR in India irrespective of how much you earn here.. but this Indian income needed to be disclosed in the country in which you became resident ( in this case USA)..

I will stop here for now because of too much typing...

 

[Lobogris]

okay..
Lets get into the details:

there are several scenarios here:

we will take discuss each scenario individually.

Before that les talk about the rules first...

Rule 1) ITR filing is based on residential status... ( nothing to do with nationality, low income / high income etc).

Rule 2) : According to Indian IT ACT a person who is not resident as per IT Act becomes Non Resident (AKA. NRI).. There is anothe classification 'Resident but not ordinarily residet) .. we will discuss this bit later because this applied to the returning Indians from abroad to India..

Rule 3) A resident Indian need to file ITR in India for that FY...
Basic defintion of 'Resident Indian" is if you stay more than 182 days in India in that FY... then you become Resident in India and hence you need to file ITR in India.. Once you become NRI for that FY you don't need to file any ITR in India irrespective of how much you earn here.. but this Indian income needed to be disclosed in the country in which you became resident ( in this case USA)..

I will stop here for now because of too much typing...

Sir, your point number 3 is incorrect. Please research it. Even a non resident has to pay tax on all Income in India. I think you are getting confused with NRE accounts and deposits which are tax free. However any other income like from a business, stocks, property sale etc is taxable for non residents and tax has to be paid even when you have lived abroad for longer than 182 days.

 

[sxchzy]

correct any income earned or accrued in india is taxable in india be it resident non resident resident non ordinary resident

 

[SSV]

Sir, your point number 3 is incorrect. Please research it. Even a non resident has to pay tax on all Income in India. I think you are getting confused with NRE accounts and deposits which are tax free. However any other income like from a business, stocks, property sale etc is taxable for non residents and tax has to be paid even when you have lived abroad for longer than 182 days.

correct any income earned or accrued in india is taxable in india be it resident non resident resident non ordinary resident

There are two different things here:

Paying Tax
Filing Return...

Ofcourse, any income earned in India is taxable in India...
If your inomce doesn't cross 2.5L , you don't need to file a return..

To claim the any TDS back then you need to file the return..

Again, for Captial Gains there are different provisions.

I was talking in my previous post , in general cases.. I mentioned in that post there are different scenarios.. for each scenario, different provisions apply..
I have come that stage yet..

 

[aayusharyan]

I have many friends who have moved abroad and still keep their accounts as resident Indian. Even though they hold a Permanent Residency in the other country.