Updated for Tax Year 2026-27 · Income Tax Act 2025
NRI Income Tax Calculator: Your Indian Tax, Refund or Balance Due
Enter your Indian income and the TDS already deducted. The calculator returns your real tax liability as a Non-Resident — no Section 87A rebate, correct special rates — and whether you're owed a refund or still need to pay.
Tax regime
Taxable even if paid into a foreign account. Standard deduction applied automatically.
A flat 30% standard deduction is applied (Section 24).
Fully taxable at slab rates.
Exempt (NRE: Sec 10(4); FCNR: Sec 10(15)) — never added to tax.
Flat 20% for NRIs (Section 115A). DTAA may reduce the TDS.
From Form 26AS / AIS — rent, interest, dividends and property sale all have TDS.
You overpaid — claim a refund
₹34,760
Your Indian tax is ₹45,240, but ₹80,000 was already deducted as TDS. File your ITR to get the difference back.
How your ₹45,240 is built
Estimate for Tax Year 2026-27 for a Non-Resident (NRI), taxed on Indian-source income only. Assumes you are confirmed NRI (not RNOR/ROR), gross rent equals net annual value, and dividends/STCG/LTCG at statutory rates. Surcharge on capital-gains and dividend tax is capped at 15%; marginal relief and DTAA-reduced rates are not modelled in the number above. NRE/FCNR interest is treated as exempt (Sec 10(4)/10(15)). Confirm with a qualified CA before filing.
Why an NRI's tax is not a resident's tax
Most “NRI tax calculators” are really resident calculators with the letters N-R-I in the title. They quietly apply the Section 87A rebate — the one that makes income up to ₹12 lakh tax-free under the new regime — and so they tell an NRI their tax is zero when it is not. That rebate is for residents only. As a Non-Resident you are taxed from the very first slab, with no rebate at any income level. This calculator removes it, which is why its number is usually higher — and correct.
The second difference is the basic exemption limit. A resident whose income is below the exemption limit can shelter capital gains against the unused portion. An NRI cannot — your listed-share short-term gains are taxed at 20% and long-term at 12.5% from the first rupee (above the ₹1.25 lakh equity LTCG exemption, which does still apply). The tool handles each income type at its own correct rate instead of dumping everything into one slab calculation.
What is taxable — and what is gloriously tax-free
As an NRI you are taxed only on Indian-source income. Salary for work physically done in India, rent from Indian property (after a flat 30% standard deduction), interest on NRO accounts, dividends from Indian companies, and capital gains on Indian shares, funds and property all count. Your foreign salary — including a remote job for an overseas employer while you live abroad — does not. Critically, interest on NRE and FCNR accounts is fully exempt (NRE under Section 10(4), FCNR under Section 10(15)); the calculator shows it but never taxes it.
The real reason to run this: your TDS refund
Here is where most NRIs lose money. TDS on NRI income is cut at flat rates that ignore your actual slab — 30% on rent, 20% on dividends, and a chunky deduction at the sale of property. If your total Indian income is modest, that TDS is very often more than your real liability, and the only way to get the excess back is to file an Indian return and claim a refund. The number this tool leads with — refund or balance due — is exactly the figure that decides whether filing is worth your afternoon. (It almost always is.)
Before you rely on any of this, confirm you are actually a Non-Resident for the year. Residency turns on the days you spent in India, and a returning NRI is often RNOR rather than NRI — taxed only on Indian income too, but with the 87A rebate restored. Get the status right first; the tax follows from it.
Worked example: the Dubai-based NRI with a Bengaluru flat
Setup:Arjun lives and works in Dubai (so he's a confirmed NRI) and still earns income in India: a small consulting salary of ₹8,00,000 for work he does on India trips, ₹3,00,000 of rent from his Bengaluru flat, ₹50,000 of NRO interest, and ₹25,000 of dividends. Across rent and dividends, ₹80,000 of TDS was already deducted.
The tax (new regime): his salary after the ₹75,000 standard deduction is ₹7,25,000; rent after the 30% deduction is ₹2,10,000; add ₹50,000 NRO interest and his slab-taxed income is ₹9,85,000 — tax of about ₹38,500(no 87A rebate, so it isn't wiped out). Dividends add 20% of ₹25,000 = ₹5,000. With 4% cess, his total liability is roughly ₹45,240.
The punchline: ₹80,000 was already deducted as TDS against a ₹45,240 bill — so Arjun is owed a refund of about ₹34,760. Had he assumed “TDS is deducted, so I needn't file,” he'd simply have donated that money to the government. The old regime, by contrast, would tax him roughly ₹1.25 lakh — so the new regime saves him about ₹80,000 here, and the tool flags it automatically.
The lesson:for most NRIs the question is never “how much tax?” — it's “how much of my TDS am I leaving on the table?” Run your own numbers above before you decide not to file.
Frequently asked questions
Do NRIs get the ₹12 lakh tax-free benefit (Section 87A rebate)?
No — and this is the mistake nearly every other NRI calculator makes. The Section 87A rebate that makes income up to ₹12 lakh tax-free under the new regime (and ₹5 lakh under the old) is available only to residents. As a Non-Resident, you pay tax from the very first slab, with no rebate. So an NRI with ₹10 lakh of Indian income pays real tax where a resident with the same income would pay nothing. This calculator reflects that correctly.
What Indian income is taxable for an NRI?
Only income that arises or is received in India: salary for work done in India, rent from Indian property, interest from NRO accounts, dividends from Indian companies, and capital gains on Indian shares, mutual funds or property. Your foreign salary, foreign rent and foreign dividends are not taxed in India at all. Interest on NRE and FCNR accounts is specifically exempt under Section 10(4), so it never adds to your tax.
Why was 30% TDS deducted, and can I get it back?
TDS on NRI income is deducted at flat statutory rates — 30% on rent, 20% on dividends, and TDS at sale on property — regardless of your actual tax slab. In many cases that is far more than you actually owe, especially if your total Indian income is modest. The only way to recover the excess is to file an Indian ITR and claim a refund. This tool reconciles your real liability against the TDS deducted and shows your refund or balance in one number.
Is NRO interest taxable but NRE interest tax-free?
Yes. Interest on an NRO (Non-Resident Ordinary) account is fully taxable in India at slab rates, with 30% TDS usually deducted. Interest on NRE (Non-Resident External) and FCNR (Foreign Currency Non-Resident) accounts is completely exempt (NRE under Section 10(4), FCNR under Section 10(15)) as long as you qualify as a non-resident. This is one of the most-searched NRI questions — and a key reason many NRIs keep funds in NRE/FCNR rather than NRO.
Can I use the DTAA to pay less tax?
A Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA) mainly helps in two ways. First, it can lower the TDS rate on Indian dividends and interest — for example, the India–US treaty caps dividend tax at 15% instead of 20% — but you must give the payer a Tax Residency Certificate (TRC) plus Form 10F. Second, the Indian tax you do pay can be claimed as a foreign tax credit in your country of residence, so you are not taxed twice. The credit is claimed there, not in India.
Should an NRI choose the old or new tax regime?
An NRI can choose either regime. Because NRIs rarely have the 80C/HRA-style deductions the old regime rewards, the new regime (with its lower slab rates and ₹75,000 standard deduction on salary) is usually cheaper — but not always, especially with significant let-out property interest. This calculator computes both regimes on your exact numbers and tells you which one costs less, so you do not have to guess.
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