India Residential Status Calculator
Whether India taxes just your Indian income or your worldwide income comes down to your residential status: NRI, RNOR, or ROR. The tests — 182 days, 60+365, the 120-day rule for ₹15 lakh+ earners, and deemed residency — interact in ways that are easy to get wrong. Enter your numbers; the tool applies them in the statutory order. The full rule guide has the detail.
1 · Days in India
Financial year = 1 April to 31 March. The Act doesn't say how arrival and departure days are treated; counting both as days in India is the safe approach.
2 · Your situation
3 · Your status
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What each status means
- NRI — only India-source income is taxable. NRE interest stays exempt, foreign assets stay undisclosed.
- RNOR — Indian income taxed; foreign income exempt unless it comes from a business controlled in, or a profession set up in, India. The soft landing for returning NRIs, typically lasting 2–3 years.
- ROR — worldwide income taxable, foreign assets reportable in Schedule FA, with penalties under the Black Money Act for misses.
The financial year runs 1 April to 31 March — counting the calendar year instead is the most common mistake in DIY checks. The Act doesn't say how arrival and departure days are treated, so count them to be safe.
The planning angles
Most NRIs manage to the simple line: 181 days or fewer in India keeps the 182-day test at bay. But the second test catches frequent visitors — 60 days this year plus a heavy prior four years — and the 120-day rule catches high earners specifically. If you're returning to India permanently, engineering the timing so your first years land as RNOR (via the 9-of-10 or 729-day routes) is usually worth more than squeezing out one extra NRI year.
Frequently asked questions
You are a Resident if you spend 182+ days in India during the financial year (April–March), or meet the second test: 60+ days this year AND 365+ days across the previous four years. Stay under whichever tests apply to you and you remain a Non-Resident (NRI). The Act doesn't say how arrival and departure days are treated, so count both as days in India to be safe.
Since FY 2020-21, an Indian citizen or PIO visiting India whose total income, other than income from foreign sources, exceeds ₹15 lakh becomes resident at 120 days (combined with 365+ days in the prior four years) instead of enjoying the usual 182-day concession. The consolation: at 120–181 days they are automatically RNOR, so foreign income generally stays out of Indian tax.
Resident but Not Ordinarily Resident — the transitional status where India taxes your Indian income but not most foreign income. You're RNOR if you were non-resident in 9 of the previous 10 years, spent 729 or fewer days in India across the previous 7 years, are a deemed resident, or fall in the 120–181-day band above ₹15 lakh. Returning NRIs typically get 2–3 years of RNOR cover.
An Indian citizen whose total income, other than income from foreign sources, exceeds ₹15 lakh and who is not liable to tax in any other country or territory by reason of domicile, residence or similar criteria is deemed an Indian resident regardless of days spent in India — but always as RNOR, not ROR. It does not apply if you are already resident under the day-count tests.
For Indian citizens serving as crew of a foreign-bound ship on an eligible international voyage, the period between the joining and signing-off dates in the Continuous Discharge Certificate is excluded from days in India (Income-tax Rules, 2026, rule 8) — often the difference between NRI and resident. Enter your day counts net of that exclusion.
Your entries are saved only in your own browser (localStorage). We do record usage events that aren't linked to your name, including the result category the calculator shows, but not the numbers you enter.
Keep the day record this rule needsin
Bounded
- Logs your days in each country automatically
- Exports a dated travel report when you need evidence
- Records border-crossing days in both countries
- Runs alongside your other visa, tax, and residency rules
Sources
For information only. This calculator is a planning aid based on publicly available rules, not tax, legal, or immigration advice. Border officers and tax authorities make the final call — always confirm with the official sources linked above and a qualified professional before acting.