01
Start the process
Tell us where you are moving, when you are leaving and the basic facts of your Indian departure.
Indian departure, without the full-service bill
Save $1,000s
in professional fees.
Get clarity for $497.
Stop paying chartered accountants and lawyers premium hourly rates to organise paperwork you can prepare efficiently. ExitIndia walks you through the facts the Income Tax Department actually tests — days in India, the purpose of your departure, your Indian-source income and the accounts and assets you keep — organises your evidence, compiles a residency position file, and puts it in front of an experienced reviewer before you file your departure-year return.
Guided preparation / Residency file compiled / Human legal review
Your next chapter, organisedExample
🇮🇳 India🇦🇪 Dubai
One move. One organised file.
Your documents, without the guesswork.
Example checklist3 of 4 added
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New-country leaseA home for your next chapter
✓🪪
Residence documentYour status abroad
✓🏦
Bank statementYour everyday financial ties
✓🚗
Driver's licenceAdd it when available
PENDINGKnow what you have. See what's next.Less scattered paperwork. More room for what's next.
Built around your move
Where are you headed?
🇦🇪 Dubai (UAE)🇲🇹 Malta🇨🇾 Cyprus🇬🇧 UK (non-dom / FIG)🇵🇦 Panama🇵🇾 Paraguay
Need a new residence too?
Leaving India is one step.
Establishing somewhere new is the next.
Exit Global can help evaluate practical residency pathways in Dubai, Malta, Cyprus and UK and beyond. Some routes can be completed relatively quickly depending on your circumstances. Each destination has its own site — click through.
🇦🇪
Dubai (UAE)
Explore residency pathways ↗
🇲🇹
Malta
Explore residency pathways ↗
🇨🇾
Cyprus
Explore residency pathways ↗
🇬🇧
UK (non-dom / FIG)
Explore residency pathways
🇵🇦
Panama
Explore residency pathways ↗
🇵🇾
Paraguay
Explore residency pathways ↗
Immigration eligibility, processing times and government requirements vary by route and applicant.
The $497 guided departure package
Do the simple work once.
Pay experts for judgment — not administration.
Traditional full-service departure engagements get expensive when chartered accountants, FEMA advisers and lawyers each bill hourly for gathering the same facts. Software handles the organisation and drafting; experts handle the parts that require judgment.
$497Prepared residency file + written review
Start the process →02
Upload your documents
Add evidence of your new life abroad and the Indian ties you have changed, ended or retained.
03
Answer the questionnaire
Work through structured questions covering your days in India over the last seven years, the purpose of your move, employment, family, housing, bank and demat accounts, property, provident fund and the Indian-source income you will keep earning.
04
We compile your residency file
The software organises your answers and evidence into a structured departure file: your day-count position under section 6 for the departure year and the years after, your exposure to the 120-day and deemed-residency rules, your RNOR window, and the FEMA status that governs your accounts.
05
Expert review + written evaluation
Our team reviews the file and evidence, provides a written evaluation of your residency position and flags what to fix before you file.
06
You decide how to proceed
You receive the prepared file and review. You decide whether to file on that basis or obtain specialist advice first.
No open-ended hourly meter.
The core guided preparation and review is $497. Complex tax, valuation or specialist work is scoped and quoted separately, only if your situation requires it.
Your information is sensitive. We treat it that way.
Documents are stored privately when you explicitly save them. We use restricted access and do not sell or share your information.
01 / Understand the rules
There is no NR73 in India.
Here is what replaces it.
India has no departure form and no residency-opinion request. Your status is fixed by counting days under section 6 of the Income-tax Act, 2025 (in force from 1 April 2026, replacing the 1961 Act), tested afresh every tax year from 1 April to 31 March. You self-assess in your return and carry the evidence in case the Income Tax Department asks. Getting the day-count file right before you leave is what protects you later.
The day-count tests
182 days — or 60 days plus 365 in the last four years.
You are resident in India for a tax year if you are in India for 182 days or more in that year, or for 60 days or more in that year having been in India for 365 days or more in the four preceding years. If you meet neither, you are non-resident for that year.
The 60-day limb is relaxed to 182 days for an Indian citizen who leaves India for employment abroad or as crew of an Indian ship, and for a citizen or person of Indian origin who is living abroad and merely visits India. But the relaxation for visitors shrinks to 120 days if your Indian income (excluding income from foreign sources) exceeds ₹15 lakh. Days are counted over the tax year 1 April to 31 March; there is no part-year residency.
Income-tax Act, 2025, section 6 (Residence in India) ↗The tail that follows citizens
Deemed residency: ₹15 lakh of Indian income and no tax home elsewhere.
An Indian citizen whose total income, other than income from foreign sources, exceeds ₹15 lakh in a tax year is deemed resident in India if they are not liable to tax in any other country or territory by reason of domicile, residence or any similar criterion — even with zero days in India. This rule (section 6(1A) of the 1961 Act, carried into section 6 of the 2025 Act) is aimed squarely at citizens who move to countries with no income tax while keeping substantial Indian income.
A deemed resident, and a visiting citizen caught by the 120-day rule, is treated as resident but not ordinarily resident (RNOR), so foreign-source income generally stays outside the Indian net — but Indian filing and reporting obligations return. The Income Tax Department confirms the rule applies from assessment year 2021-22 onwards.
Income Tax Department: non-resident individual — residential status ↗If you want certainty
No ruling, no opinion — the certificate runs the other way.
The Income Tax Department does not issue a determination that you have become non-resident. Its certificate of residence (historically applied for on Form 10FA, issued on Form 10FB, with the forms re-issued under the Income-tax Rules, 2026) is for people who are resident in India and need to prove it to claim treaty benefits abroad. Your non-resident status is simply the position you declare in your return — which is why the day-count evidence (passport stamps, boarding passes, employment contract, foreign residence permit) has to be assembled carefully and kept.
Income Tax Department: Form 10FA — application for certificate of residence ↗Separate from your return
Your departure-year return still has to be right.
There is no part-year return. For the year you leave you are either resident or non-resident for the whole of 1 April to 31 March, decided by your day count and the purpose of your departure. A non-resident cannot use ITR-1; the applicable forms are ITR-2 (no business or professional income) or ITR-3. The return is due by the statutory date — 31 July for individuals not subject to audit, unless the CBDT extends it. Your NRE interest, NRO interest, Indian rent, dividends and capital gains all still have to be reported.
Income Tax Department: returns applicable to a non-resident individual ↗Why this matters
A flight changes
your location.
The facts tell the rest.
Indian tax obligations depend on residency. A resident and ordinarily resident reports worldwide income; a non-resident reports only income that accrues, arises or is received in India. The Income Tax Department decides which you are by counting your days, asking why you left, and — for citizens — checking whether you have a tax home anywhere else.
Read the Income Tax Department's non-resident FAQs ↗Why did you leave?
A citizen leaving for employment abroad gets the 182-day threshold in the departure year. Leaving for any other reason leaves the 60-day limb in play — and one long visit home can make you resident again.
Where is your income?
Rent, interest, dividends and gains from India keep coming. If they exceed ₹15 lakh and you settle in a country that does not tax you, the deemed-residency rule reaches you wherever you live.
What does daily life look like?
Days in India each year, your employment contract, your foreign residence permit, NRE/NRO account status and whether you can prove you are taxed somewhere else tell the story the tests are asking about.
02 / A simple way forward
From scattered documents
to a clear next step.
You don't need everything on day one. Start with what you know and keep track of the gaps.
01
Tell the story of your move
Choose your destination and record the key facts, dates and Indian ties.
02
Build your document file
Keep new-country evidence and changes to Indian ties in separate, labelled sections.
03
Get reviewed before you file
Our team reviews your residency file and evidence, provides an advisory opinion and recommends revisions before you file your departure-year return.
Guided preparation. Human review.
You do the groundwork.
Our team reviews the final file.
You should not have to start from a blank page, or pay a professional to chase every document. Build the file yourself; have it reviewed before you rely on it.
A reviewed residency file
Our team reviews your position under each test, your supporting documents and departure narrative, provides an advisory opinion and recommends revisions.
A human review of the facts and evidence, not just a completed checklist.
Less administration. Lower preparation costs.
You gather documents and answer the guided questions. We focus professional time on reviewing your prepared file rather than assembling it from scratch.
Designed to cost less than having a firm manage every preparation task.
Specialists for the complex parts
Have a company, partnership, unlisted shares, ESOPs, an Indian property to sell or funds to repatriate? We can connect you with chartered accountants and FEMA advisers for the pieces that need them.
The right specialist for the work your situation actually requires.
A more focused way to get there
Do not pay full-service rates
for paperwork you can organise.
Full-service Indian departures can run into thousands of dollars in combined chartered-accountant, FEMA and legal fees once a property sale, an unlisted shareholding, a company or a large repatriation is in play — and every year you keep Indian income, someone has to file for you.
This refers to broader, multi-specialist engagements, not residency preparation alone. Actual fees and savings vary.
Beyond the residency question
No exit tax.
But a long tail of Indian income.
India has no exit tax and no deemed disposal when you cease to be resident. What follows you instead is Indian-source income: rent from a flat you keep, interest on an NRO account, dividends and capital gains on Indian shares and mutual funds all remain taxable in India and are generally subject to tax deducted at source. NRE account interest is exempt while you are a person resident outside India under FEMA. And for citizens the ₹15 lakh threshold matters twice: it shortens your safe visits to 120 days, and combined with no tax liability elsewhere it makes you a deemed resident. Each of these needs a number behind it before you leave.
Income Tax Department: benefits allowable to non-residents ↗CA
Tax analysis and filings
A Chartered Accountant (ICAI member) can model your departure-year and post-departure returns, treaty relief, capital gains on Indian assets and the certificates required before money leaves India.
FEMA ADVISER
Accounts, repatriation and property
A FEMA specialist can handle the redesignation of your accounts, repatriation limits from NRO funds, and the rules on holding, letting and selling Indian property as a non-resident.
Prepare it yourself. Get it reviewed. Bring in specialists when needed.
Start my guided departure →Team review is a separate, agreed professional engagement. Our advisory opinion is not a determination by the Income Tax Department.
03 / Know what to gather
Two sides of the move.
One practical checklist.
These are suggested evidence categories, not a universal CBDT document requirement. Include what's relevant to your situation.
Your new country
Establishing your life abroad
- Lease or proof of housingNames, address, dates and the living arrangement.
- New driver's licenceIf issued and applicable to your situation.
- Residence or immigration documentThe visa or permit that applies to your status — and whether it is permanent.
- Local bank statementEvidence of an account in your new country.
Other useful context: employment, utilities, health coverage and travel records.
India
Documenting what changed
- Redesignate your bank accountsUnder FEMA your resident savings accounts must be designated NRO once you become a person resident outside India; open an NRE account for money you bring in. Keep the bank's confirmation letters.
- Update your PAN profile and e-filing detailsYour PAN stays. Update your residential status, overseas address and contact details in the e-filing portal so notices reach you and your returns are filed on the right form.
- Demat, mutual funds and insurersNotify your broker, depository participant, fund houses and insurers that you are now a non-resident so holdings and KYC are re-tagged, and record the dates.
- Provident fund and pensionThe Employees' Provident Funds Scheme, 2026 (notified 29 June 2026) sets the conditions for full settlement, including on migration abroad. Decide whether to settle or leave the fund, and keep the paperwork.
- Indian property and employer formsCollect your final Form 16 and full-and-final settlement. If you keep a flat, record whether it is let, vacant or available to you and who will collect rent and deduct tax.
Keeping an Indian bank account does not by itself make you a resident — days in India do. See the RBI's rules on NRO/NRE accounts ↗
Still waiting on a document? Mark it pending and keep going.
Start my departure file — $497 →Your file grows as your move does.
04 / When you're ready
You prepare here.
You file with the Income Tax Department.
There is nothing to 'submit' on departure — but there are four things the Income Tax Department and the RBI expect you to do, and they have deadlines. This app does not connect to the e-filing portal.
Income Tax Department: non-resident individual — returns and status ↗01
Count the days, and document the purposeThere is no departure form. Your status for the year you leave depends on days in India between 1 April and 31 March and on whether you left for employment abroad. Keep passport stamps, tickets and your employment contract from day one.
02
File your departure-year returnDeclare your residential status in the return — ITR-2 or ITR-3 if you are non-resident — and report all Indian-source income. The due date is 31 July after the end of the tax year unless the CBDT extends it.
03
Keep filing while Indian income continuesRent, NRO interest, dividends and gains stay taxable in India. File each year to report them and to reclaim tax deducted at source above what you owe, using your new country's tax residency certificate for treaty relief.
04
Keep the fileThe Income Tax Department can revisit residency years later, and the 120-day and deemed-residency rules are tested afresh every year. Keep the evidence and every notification you sent.
Good questions. Clear answers.
Before you
get started.
You can organise your evidence before deciding how far to take it.
Will your team review my final file?
Yes. Under an agreed review engagement, our team reviews your residency file and supporting package, provides a written advisory opinion and recommends revisions. That is our opinion — not an Income Tax Department determination.
Is there an Indian exit tax?
No. India has no exit tax and no deemed disposal of your assets when you cease to be resident. What continues is tax on Indian-source income — rent, NRO interest, dividends and capital gains on Indian assets — usually collected by tax deducted at source. NRE account interest is exempt under section 10(4)(ii) of the 1961 Act, carried into the 2025 Act. Non-resident benefits ↗
Is there an Indian equivalent of Canada's NR73?
No. India has no departure form and no residency-opinion request. You self-assess each year by counting days under section 6. The only certificate the department issues is a certificate of residence, and that is for people who are resident in India and need to prove it abroad. Section 6 ↗
I am an Indian citizen. Can I still visit India for up to 182 days a year?
Only if your Indian income (excluding income from foreign sources) is ₹15 lakh or less. Above that, a visiting citizen or person of Indian origin becomes resident at 120 days if they also had 365 days in India in the previous four years — though as RNOR, so foreign income generally stays outside the Indian net. Model the number before you book the trip. Income Tax Department guidance ↗
I'm moving to a country with no income tax. Does that matter?
Yes, if you are an Indian citizen with more than ₹15 lakh of income other than foreign-source income. If you are not liable to tax in any other country by reason of domicile, residence or a similar criterion, you are deemed resident in India (as RNOR) regardless of days. The remedy is either genuine tax residence somewhere, or Indian income kept below the threshold. Section 6 ↗
What happens to my bank accounts, shares and flat in India?
You keep them, but their status changes. Under FEMA your resident accounts must be redesignated NRO; balances in an NRO account are remittable up to USD 1 million per financial year (April to March), while NRE balances are freely repatriable. Rent from your flat and gains on your shares stay taxable in India. Note that FEMA residence — which turns on leaving India for employment or for an uncertain period — is a separate test from the income-tax day count. RBI FAQs ↗
What about my provident fund and pension?
Your EPF balance stays yours. The Employees' Provident Funds Scheme, 2026, notified on 29 June 2026, sets out when a member can take a full settlement, and migration from India for permanent settlement or employment abroad has traditionally been one of those grounds — confirm the current conditions with EPFO before you claim. Any EPF interest or pension paid to you after you leave is Indian-source income. EPF Scheme 2026 notification ↗
What if I come back to India later?
You will usually re-enter as resident but not ordinarily resident: RNOR applies if you were non-resident in nine of the ten preceding years or spent 729 days or less in India in the preceding seven years, and during that window foreign-source income generally stays outside Indian tax. Certain NRI concessions can also be continued after return under the special provisions for non-residents. Plan the return date the same way you planned the departure. Non-resident FAQs ↗
The next chapter starts with a plan
Get clarity before you spend
thousands more on professional fees.
Start my departure file — $497 →Dubai (UAE) / Malta / Cyprus / UK (non-dom / FIG) / Panama / Paraguay
The Exit network
One process. Every country.
Each site covers one departure, in that country's own rules. The destination sites cover where you're going. All reviewed by the same team at Exit Global.
Leaving
🌐Exit GlobalPortfolio home🇨🇦Exit CanadaNR73 + departure file🇺🇸Exit USAExpatriation + Form 8854🐻Exit CaliforniaFTB residency🗽Exit New YorkDomicile + statutory residency🇬🇧Exit the UKStatutory Residence Test🇮🇪Exit IrelandOrdinary residence tail🇫🇷Exit FranceArt. 167 bis exit tax🇧🇪Exit BelgiumSpecial departure return🇳🇱Exit NetherlandsM-form + conserverende aanslag🇪🇸Exit SpainArt. 95 bis + quarantine rule🇮🇹Exit ItalyAIRE + black-list presumption🇩🇰Exit DenmarkFraflytterskat🇳🇴Exit NorwayUtflyttingsskatt🇸🇪Exit SwedenTen-year share rule🇦🇺Exit AustraliaCGT event I1🇿🇦Exit South AfricaSection 9H exit charge🇩🇪Exit Germany§ 6 AStG Wegzugsbesteuerung🇦🇹Exit Austria§ 27 (6) Wegzugsbesteuerung🇫🇮Exit FinlandThree-year rule🇧🇷Exit BrazilSaída definitiva🇯🇵Exit JapanExit tax on ¥100m+ assets🇮🇱Exit IsraelCentre of life + s.100A🇳🇿Exit New Zealand325-day rule + IR886🇵🇹Exit PortugalArt. 16 CIRS residency🇰🇷Exit South KoreaExit tax on large shareholders🇦🇷Exit ArgentinaPérdida de residencia + baja🇮🇳Exit IndiaSection 6 residency + RNOR🇨🇭Exit SwitzerlandWegzug + pension withholding
Arriving
🇵🇦Move to PanamaTerritorial tax, Friendly Nations🇦🇪Move to DubaiNo personal income tax🇲🇹Move to MaltaRemittance basis, EU🇨🇾Move to Cyprus60-day rule, non-dom🇵🇾Move to ParaguayTerritorial tax, fast residency🇺🇾Move to UruguayTax holiday for new residents🇨🇷Move to Costa RicaTerritorial tax🇧🇸Move to BahamasNo income tax🇵🇹Move to PortugalD7, D8, Golden Visa, IFICI🇹🇭Move to ThailandLTR visa, remittance basis🇲🇾Move to MalaysiaMM2H, territorial tax🇮🇩Move to IndonesiaSecond Home visa, Bali🇬🇪Move to GeorgiaForeign income exempt, 1% SBS🇵🇷Move to Puerto RicoAct 60 for US citizens🇮🇹Move to ItalyFlat tax, 7% pensioner regime🇬🇷Move to GreeceGolden Visa, non-dom flat tax🇭🇰Move to Hong KongTerritorial, no CGT🇸🇬Move to SingaporeForeign income exempt, no CGT