BCCL - Non CopyrightMUMBAI: The drive to tax “stateless persons” could fast become a cat and mouse game between the government and many NRIs. According to the Finance Bill 2020, any Indian citizen who is not liable to tax in any other country or territory shall be deemed to be resident in India. Such residents will have to pay tax on overseas income and disclose foreign assets “But, all NRIs are not bona fide workers. Questioning these earnings would mean going beyond salary certificates or tax residency certificates obtained from abroad.“However, verification of income of NRIs for preceding years would amount to investigation being done from a retroactive perspective. “If tax assessing officers go beyond tax residency certificate issued by another country and checks the number of days spent there, in some cases it may be difficult to prove as passports are not stamped for e-visas.

Source: Economic Times February 16, 2020 21:45 UTC