Residential Status Calculator (RNOR / NRI / ROR)

Your residential status under Indian income tax law — Non-Resident (NRI), Resident but Not Ordinarily Resident (RNOR), or Resident and Ordinarily Resident (ROR) — decides how much of your global income India can tax. It is not the same as your immigration status. You can hold a US green card and still be an Indian tax resident for a given year, or hold an Indian passport, live in Dubai and be an NRI.

This calculator applies the day-count tests in Section 6 of the Income-tax Act, 2025 to the current year and your 7 preceding tax years, plus your Non-Resident history over the last 10 years, and returns your status for tax year 2026-27 (1 April 2026 to 31 March 2027). It also checks the ₹15 lakh deemed-resident rule for Indian citizens who are not liable to tax in any other country.

Illustrative example. You are an Indian citizen who has worked in the US on an H-1B for more than 10 years, visiting India for about a month each year. You move back for good and land on 13 September 2026, so you spend 200 days in India in tax year 2026-27 (the arrival day counts).

Enter 200 days for 2026-27, 45 for 2025-26 and 30 for each of the five years before that, 10 Non-Resident years, “I moved back to India” as the reason, and untick the box for being liable to tax abroad. The calculator shows RNOR:

• You pass the 182-day test, so you are Resident for 2026-27.
• You were Non-Resident in 10 of the 10 preceding years, which makes you RNOR under s.6(13)(a).
• Your 225 days across the 7 preceding years also clear the 729-day test.

So your US salary for April to September, and any 401(k) withdrawal or US share sale received abroad this year, stay outside Indian tax. Indian rent and FD interest are still taxed. The RNOR window usually lasts about 2 years, so this is when to plan your foreign sales.

Step 1 — Are you a Resident? Under s.6(2) you are Resident in tax year 2026-27 if either:

• You were in India for 182 days or more during the year, OR
• You were in India for 60 days or more during the year AND 365 days or more across the 4 preceding tax years.

The 60-day limit is relaxed only in two cases. An Indian citizen who leaves India for employment abroad (or as crew of an Indian ship) gets 182 days (s.6(3)). An Indian citizen or PIO who lives abroad and comes to India on a visit also gets 182 days (s.6(4)), cut to 120 days if their total income other than income from foreign sources exceeds ₹15 lakh (s.6(5)). If you have moved back to India for good, you are not visiting, so the normal 60-day test applies.

Step 2 — Deemed Resident. Under s.6(7), 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 because of residence or domicile, is deemed Resident even with 0 days in India. This rule covers citizens only, not PIO or OCI card holders.

Step 3 — If Resident, are you ROR or RNOR? Under s.6(13) you are RNOR (not ROR) if any of these apply:

• You were Non-Resident in 9 out of the 10 preceding tax years, OR you were in India for 729 days or less across the 7 preceding tax years (s.6(13)(a));
• You are a citizen or PIO visitor with income (other than from foreign sources) over ₹15 lakh who is Resident because of the 120-day rule, having spent 120–181 days in India (s.6(13)(b));
• You are a deemed resident under s.6(7) (s.6(13)(c)).

A long-term NRI who moves back usually gets 2 years of RNOR under the 9-of-10 test, and sometimes a third year under the 729-day test if they spent 364 days or fewer in India in the year they moved. During this window:

• Foreign salary, foreign investment income and foreign capital gains that accrue and are received outside India are not taxed in India, unless they come from a business controlled in India or a profession set up in India.
• Withdrawals from a 401(k)/IRA and sales of foreign shares or funds are generally outside Indian tax during RNOR. They may still be taxed in the US or wherever they arise. RSUs that vest for work done in India are Indian income.
• You still pay Indian tax on Indian rent, Indian FD interest and Indian mutual fund gains.
• You are not required to file Schedule FA (foreign assets) — that starts once you become ROR.

The year you choose to return can change your Indian tax bill a lot, so it is worth planning. Use the calculator above for each year after your move to see when RNOR ends.