Only 28% of NRIs regularly filing tax returns in India: Survey
- The sessions also revealed NRIs investment pattern, wherein 2% had never invested in India
More than 85% of non-resident Indians (NRIs) are not aware of their income tax login details, while 75% of them have not updated their income tax profiles such as their latest contact number, email id or address in India, a survey by Mudra Portfolio Managers has revealed. Moreover, only 28% of them are regularly filing tax returns in India.
The financial services management company had organized more than 50 sessions related to Indian income tax with 2,500 NRIs across seven countries in the past four years.
The sessions also revealed NRIs investment pattern, wherein 2% had never invested in India. Out of those who invested in India, 87% had invested in real estate, 39% in equities or mutual funds.
According to the findings of the sessions, almost 71% of NRIs who hold an Aadhaar card, either do not have their own phone numbers linked to their Aadhaar or the number is of relative or the mapped to an old Indian number which is inactive or has been transferred to somebody else’s name.
“Considering that Aadhaar is used for a number of verifications, it is important to ensure that the correct number and email IDs are linked to transact easily and avoid unauthorized access. Besides, 37% of NRIs do not have the original copy of their PAN cards and almost 67% of them have not taken PAN Cards for their spouse or children under 20. This shows that the basic paperwork itself is incomplete for any transactions in India,” Mudra Portfolio Managers said in a report.
With regards to compliances for income tax, it was observed that 86% of the respondents were unaware of their login ID and password of their income tax account. Moreover, 75% of them had not updated their income tax profile and essentials such as their latest contact number, email IDs, addresses etc. “As a result of this, in case any communication around ITR or compliances which the IT department sends to the people, is not received by them and hence a lot of instances were seen where IT Department has raised demand 5-6 years back but as the respondents were not filing the ITR and the communication which was sent went to the unused or unavailable id, the demand increased multifold due to interest and penalty,” says Nishant Kohli, founder, director and business head-wealth, Mudra Portfolio Managers.
Surprisingly, almost half of the NRIs (48%), who had not filed the ITR, believed that TDS, which was deducted on investments or income generation in India was equivalent to tax paid and so they are not required to file tax returns in India.
Moreover, Around 90% of the respondents who had their TDS deducted but did not file taxes, could have easily got most of their TDS back.
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First Published:24 Aug 2021, 06:49 PM IST
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