Free Tool • Tax Year 2026-27
Am I an NRI?Residential Status Calculator
Your residential status decides whether India taxes only your Indian income — or your income worldwide. Answer six questions and find out where you stand.
Answer 6 Questions
For tax year 2026-27 (1 April 2026 – 31 March 2027)
Count the day you arrived and the day you left as full days in India.
Add up all four years. If it comes to 365 or more, the second test can apply to you.
Some relaxations apply only to Indian citizens and people of Indian origin.
Leaving India for a job, and visiting India from abroad, are treated differently.
Indian-source income only — rent, capital gains, interest, business income in India. This decides whether the stricter 120-day rule applies.
Only needed if you might be a resident — helps separate RNOR from full resident
729 days or fewer keeps you in the lighter RNOR category.
Enter your days in India above to see your status.
Why this one answer decides everything
Indian tax law does not ask about your passport or your visa. It asks a simpler question: how many days were you physically in India? Section 6 of the Income-tax Act, 2025 turns that count into one of three statuses, and each one exposes a completely different amount of your income to Indian tax.
A Non-Resident pays Indian tax only on Indian income. A Resident and Ordinarily Resident pays Indian tax on worldwide income — the salary in Dubai, the rental flat in London, the brokerage account in New York. Between them sits RNOR, a transition status that shields most foreign income for a few years after you return.
The gap between these is often lakhs of rupees, and it can turn on a handful of days. Both the day you land and the day you fly out count as days in India, so an extra weekend can change the answer. This is why we ask clients to keep passport stamps and boarding passes — the burden of proving your day count sits with you, not with the department.
Where we help
- • Confirming residential status for a borderline year, with documentation
- • Planning return-to-India timing so RNOR years are not wasted
- • DTAA tie-breaker analysis when two countries both claim you as resident
- • Filing Indian returns for NRIs, RNORs and returning residents
- • Foreign asset and income reporting where ordinary residence applies
Frequently Asked Questions
How many days can an NRI stay in India without losing NRI status?
Generally up to 181 days. You become a resident if you are in India for 182 days or more in the tax year. A second test also applies: 60 days or more in the year combined with 365 days or more over the previous four years. For Indian citizens who left India for employment, and for Indian citizens or PIOs visiting India, that 60-day figure is relaxed to 182 days — so in most cases the practical limit is 181 days.
What is the 120-day rule for NRIs?
If you are an Indian citizen or PIO visiting India and your Indian income (excluding foreign income) is more than ₹15 lakh in the year, the relaxed 182-day threshold drops to 120 days. So staying 120 to 181 days, combined with 365 days over the previous four years, makes you a resident. Importantly, anyone caught only by this rule is automatically treated as RNOR, not as an ordinary resident.
What does RNOR mean and why does it matter?
RNOR stands for Resident but Not Ordinarily Resident. It is a transition category: you are a resident, but India taxes only your Indian income plus foreign income from a business controlled from India. Your other foreign income stays outside the Indian tax net. For someone returning to India after years abroad, RNOR years are valuable and worth planning around.
How do I qualify as RNOR?
A resident is RNOR if either of two conditions is met: you were a non-resident in 9 of the 10 preceding tax years, or you were in India for 729 days or fewer across the 7 preceding tax years. Meeting either one is enough. Certain people are automatically RNOR — those caught only by the 120-day rule, and deemed residents.
Can I be treated as a resident even if I barely visited India?
Yes. Under the deemed-resident rule, an Indian citizen whose Indian income exceeds ₹15 lakh and who is not liable to tax in any other country by reason of residence or domicile is treated as a resident regardless of how many days they spent in India. Such a person is classified as RNOR. This rule applies to Indian citizens only, not to PIOs.
Are the day of arrival and day of departure counted?
Yes, both are counted as days spent in India. This catches people out on borderline cases, so keep your passport stamps and travel records — a single day can change your status and therefore your entire Indian tax exposure for the year.
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info@rajputlalitassociates.in
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Ambala City, Haryana - 134003
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