If you are looking for help with NRI ITR filing in Pune, or simply trying to understand whether you need to file at all, this guide covers everything you need to know for AY 2026‑27. Picture this: you live in Dubai, own a flat in Pune, and your NRO account earns interest every quarter. Your tenant deposits rent directly to your NRE account. Then one day you check your Form 26AS and see that your bank has already deducted TDS at 31.2% (30% base rate plus 4% health and education cess) on every rupee of NRO interest, and you have no idea whether you owe more tax, need to file anything, or whether you can get any of that money back. This is the situation many NRI clients describe when they first approach CAK & Associates LLP, and the answer almost always surprises them. They almost always need to file, and many discover they are sitting on a refund nobody told them about.
Filing an income tax return as a non-resident Indian is not nearly as complicated as most people assume, but it does require knowing exactly which rules apply to you. Getting it wrong means paying more tax than the law requires, missing legitimate refunds, or worse, receiving a defective-return notice from the department. This guide answers the five questions every NRI with Indian income needs to resolve before filing for AY 2026‑27: whether you must file at all, which form to use, what documents to gather, how DTAA reduces your tax burden, and how to file and verify your return from abroad without stepping foot in India.
Do NRIs actually need to file an ITR in India?
The short answer is: if your gross Indian-source income crosses the basic exemption limit, filing is mandatory. Under the old tax regime for AY 2026‑27, that threshold is ₹2.5 lakh; under the new regime, it rises to ₹4 lakh. Critically, this test applies only to your India-source income, not your global earnings. Your Dubai salary does not count. Your UK pension does not count. Only income arising or accruing in India is measured against this limit.
One important exception applies to capital gains. If you have sold Indian property, shares, or mutual funds, filing may still be required even if your total income stays below the threshold. The capital gains rules operate separately, so do not rely on the exemption limit alone to decide whether you can skip filing.
The residency test that determines your NRI status
Your tax status for AY 2026‑27 is determined by how many days you were physically present in India during the previous year, under Section 6 of the Income Tax Act. The standard rule is straightforward: if you were in India for 182 days or more, you are a resident. If you were in India for fewer than 182 days and you also do not satisfy the secondary 60-day-plus-365-day test, you are non-resident.
For Indian citizens and persons of Indian origin visiting India, a modified rule applies. If your Indian income does not exceed ₹15 lakh, the standard 182-day rule applies. If your Indian income exceeds ₹15 lakh, you become resident only if you stayed for 120 days or more and also accumulated 365 days in India across the four preceding years. This distinction catches many NRIs who visit India frequently for extended periods.
Why filing is worth it even when optional
If your bank has deducted TDS at 31.2% on your NRO fixed deposit interest without any DTAA claim, and your actual tax liability at slab rates is lower, you have overpaid. The only way to recover that excess is to file a return and claim a refund. For NRIs who have had this happen across multiple years without filing, the cumulative amount can be significant, and it remains with the government until you claim it back.
Which ITR form applies to your NRI ITR filing in Pune?
Using the wrong form causes the department to flag the return as defective. When that happens, you have to refile the return from scratch, re-enter all your income details, and resubmit, a process that wastes time and can push you past the filing deadline if you are not careful. Knowing which form applies to your income profile from the outset makes the entire process faster and cleaner.
ITR-2: the right form for most NRIs
ITR-2 covers the income profile of the vast majority of NRIs: rental income from Indian property, interest from NRO accounts and fixed deposits, and capital gains from shares, mutual funds, or property sales. If your Indian income comes from any combination of these sources, and you are not running a business or profession in India, ITR-2 is your form for AY 2026‑27. The portal pre-populates certain fields in ITR-2 using data from your Form 26AS and Annual Information Statement (AIS), which speeds up the process considerably.
When ITR-3 becomes necessary
If you also carry on a business or profession in India, such as consulting income, freelance income, or a share of profit from a partnership firm, ITR-3 is required instead. Some NRIs straddle both categories, earning rental income and consulting fees simultaneously. In that case, ITR-3 is the correct form because it covers all income heads including business and professional income.
Why ITR-1 is simply not available to NRIs
ITR-1 is restricted exclusively to resident individuals. NRIs cannot use it, regardless of how simple their income pattern looks. This is one of the most common filing mistakes, and it results in the return being rejected outright. If you have been using ITR-1 in previous years as an NRI, those returns may need to be reviewed.
Documents you need before starting your NRI income tax return in Pune
Gather everything listed here before you open the portal. Stopping mid-way to track down a missing document wastes time and risks errors in what you have already entered.
Identity, residency, and account documents
Start with your PAN card, your passport with visa pages showing entry and exit stamps (this serves as your residency proof for the relevant financial year), and your NRO and NRE bank statements. You also need Form 26AS, which summarises all TDS deducted against your PAN. Download it from the income-tax portal before you begin. Alongside it, download your Annual Information Statement (AIS), a comprehensive record of financial transactions reported to the income-tax department by banks, brokers, and registrars. AIS often contains data you were not aware the department already holds, and it is worth reviewing carefully to avoid any discrepancies in your filing.
Income-specific documents
For rental income, gather your rent agreement and Form 16A from your tenant showing TDS deducted on rent, if applicable. For NRO interest income, collect interest certificates from your bank and the TDS certificate (Form 16A) showing the amount deducted, which will typically reflect the 30% base rate if no DTAA declaration was submitted. For capital gains, obtain transaction statements from your broker or fund house, with gain and loss calculations broken out by asset type and holding period. Each income source needs its own paper trail before you begin the schedules in ITR-2.
Additional papers if you are claiming DTAA relief
To claim treaty benefits, you need a Tax Residency Certificate (TRC) from your country of residence. For the UAE, this is issued by the Federal Tax Authority. For the USA, it is IRS Form 6166. For the UK, it is a residence certificate from HMRC. For Canada, it is a residency certificate from the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA). Alongside the TRC, you must file Form 10F electronically on the Indian income-tax portal by navigating to e-File, Income Tax Forms, and selecting Form 10F under persons not dependent on any source of income. You will need your TIN from your country of residence, the TRC validity period, and your foreign address to complete this form.
How DTAA reduces your TDS and what you can claim back
This is where the real financial difference lies for most NRIs, and it is the section most people skip because it sounds complicated, but it is not, and working through it step by step makes the benefit clear.
What DTAA actually does to your withholding tax
Without a valid DTAA claim, Indian banks deduct TDS on NRO interest at 30% plus applicable surcharge and 4% cess, which typically works out to 31.2% for most income levels but can rise to 34.32% or higher at larger income amounts. With a valid DTAA claim supported by a TRC and Form 10F, the deduction rate drops to the treaty rate for that income type, which is often lower under many of India’s major treaties, depending on the specific treaty article and income type. DTAA does not make the income tax-free in India; it reduces the rate at which India taxes it and eliminates the double taxation you would otherwise face in both countries.
Country-specific documents and the refund route
If you submit your TRC and Form 10F to your bank before they deduct tax, the bank applies the treaty rate going forward. If TDS has already been deducted at the domestic rate, the refund route is through your ITR. The difference between the amount deducted and your actual tax liability at slab rates, after the treaty rate is applied, comes back to you as a refund after your return is processed. For NRIs who have had the domestic TDS rate applied for multiple years without filing a return or making a treaty claim, the cumulative refund potential can be a compelling reason to begin the NRI ITR filing process without delay.
Using Form 67 to claim foreign tax credit
If you are taxed on the same income in both India and your country of residence, and the treaty method is a tax credit rather than an exemption, you file Form 67 along with your ITR. This form establishes the amount of foreign tax paid, which is then credited against your Indian tax liability. Form 67 must be filed before or at the time of filing the return; it cannot be filed as an afterthought. Your CA should confirm whether your specific treaty operates on an exemption basis or a credit basis, as the treatment differs by income type and country.
Filing ITR from abroad: the e-verification process explained
The most common reason NRIs delay filing is uncertainty about how to verify the return from outside India. The process is simpler than most people expect.
Verification options available to NRIs
The income-tax department accepts several electronic verification methods. If you have a pre-validated Indian bank account linked to your NRO account with net banking access, you can generate an EVC through net banking and verify instantly. A pre-validated demat account held with an Indian depository participant is another route to EVC-based verification. If you hold a registered Digital Signature Certificate (DSC), that works as well. If none of these options are available to you, the fallback is to print, sign, and post the physical ITR-V acknowledgement to the Centralised Processing Centre in Bengaluru within 30 days of the date of filing. Allow for several additional weeks of processing time when using this route, so setting up one of the electronic options in advance is worth the effort.
Filing through a Pune CA under a Power of Attorney
An NRI can authorise a Chartered Accountant in India to file on their behalf using a Power of Attorney. The PoA should be drafted as a special, tax-specific authority rather than a broad general power, naming the CA and listing the specific powers: preparing, signing, uploading, and submitting the income tax return, and dealing with the income-tax department on tax matters. The PoA must be executed before a notary public, or attested by the Indian Embassy or Consulate in your country of residence, then sent to India for stamping under the relevant state stamp law. Once the PoA is in place and the CA is added as an authorised representative on the e-filing portal, the CA can complete the entire filing and verification process on your behalf without requiring your physical presence in India.
Hiring an NRI tax consultant in Pune: what it costs and what to check
If you have decided that professional help is the right call, here is what the Pune market actually looks like, and what a complete service package should cover.
Typical fees and turnaround times in Pune
For moderately complex NRI cases, which include rental income, NRO interest, capital gains, and a DTAA assessment, end-to-end fees in Pune typically range from ₹10,000 to ₹20,000 based on market rates observed across local firms and published quotes. Cases involving a property sale, foreign income, RSUs, F&O trading, or multiple countries of residence can move above ₹12,000. Most established Pune firms quote a fixed fee upfront rather than billing by the hour, and fees are usually revised only if the case turns out to be materially different from what was initially described. Turnaround time, after all documents are submitted, is typically three to seven working days for well-organised cases.
What a complete NRI filing package should include
Before engaging any CA or tax consultant, confirm that their package covers: residency status determination, correct ITR form selection, income computation across all heads, TDS and Form 26AS verification, DTAA assessment and treaty rate determination, portal filing, and e-verification. If your situation requires Form 10F, Form 67, or a DTAA declaration for your bank, confirm explicitly that these are included. A service that handles only the ITR preparation and leaves the DTAA paperwork to you is not a complete package.
Why NRIs consistently choose CAK & Associates LLP for NRI ITR filing in Pune
CAK & Associates LLP has been practising since 1971, over five decades of working through every iteration of India’s income-tax and foreign exchange frameworks. The firm runs a dedicated NRI and expatriate taxation practice, serves clients across more than 15 countries, and maintains offices in Pune and Mumbai, with an all-India associate network for cases that touch multiple jurisdictions. The team combines senior professionals who have handled a wide range of complex NRI cases with specialists who stay current with portal changes, DTAA updates, and new compliance requirements. Many NRI clients come to the firm having had the domestic TDS rate applied for years without knowing a treaty claim was available to them; a number of those clients have recovered significant TDS refunds on their initial filing, refunds that go directly towards offsetting the cost of professional advice.
What to do next for NRI ITR filing in Pune
You now have a clear five-step framework. Confirm your residency status using the Section 6 day-count rules. Select the correct form, for most NRIs that is ITR-2. Gather your documents before opening the portal, including your TRC if a DTAA claim is relevant. Understand your DTAA position before accepting the TDS rate your bank applied. Then file, verify electronically where possible, and submit before the due date to avoid penalties.
A common cause of NRI filing errors is confusion about where to start or which rules apply, not the complexity of tax law itself. Once the framework is clear, the process is straightforward, and the financial upside, particularly from TDS refunds on NRO income that has had the domestic rate deducted without a treaty claim, can be substantially larger than the cost of getting it done properly.
For reliable NRI ITR filing in Pune and to recover any excess TDS deducted on your Indian income, CAK & Associates LLP has been working with NRI clients for decades from its Pune office. Reach out to the team, share your income profile, and get a clear picture of where you stand before the AY 2026‑27 filing deadline arrives. Get expert help in Pune, contact us today.
