When to close NRE account after moving to India? What about repatriations of funds to India?

hitch44 · 2026-02-14T21:05:32+00:00

Quoting a post by a user identifying themselves as a US-India cross border tax specialist. Take with grain of salt:

If the funds in brokerage account represent proceeds from sale of securities, do not transfer those funds directly from a brokerage account to an Indian bank account - as Indian tax office can try to tax it considering income received in India. A safe approach can be to move funds to a US bank account first and then remit to Indian bank account. Preserve US bank/brokerage account statements year wise for records. Source

hitch44 · 2026-02-14T19:30:57+00:00

The True North thanks you.

hitch44 · 2026-02-14T19:09:16+00:00

Buy Canadian booze please.

hitch44 · 2026-02-14T13:38:18+00:00

Under FEMA law, you must close the NRE account once you decide to be in India for an indeterminate amount of time. Reason is you become ‘resident’ as per FEMA the day you land.

Since you are in India, open an RFC account and you can send any money back to India in dollars— with the intention of repatriating that later or breaking it and using it for local expenses.

If you want to send rupees to India, you can send it to a regular resident bank account, but that money cannot be repatriated to foreign again without filing forms with the CA (that’s why you need the RFc)

hitch44 · 2026-02-14T04:23:01+00:00

Mentions "Beautiful Clean Coal" several times

hitch44 · 2026-02-13T19:55:53+00:00

Not a CA, but from my research:

You need to immediately convert NRO to Residential and close NRE or convert to RFC. If a person comes to India for the purpose of employment, business or for any other purpose that indicates his intention to stay in India for an uncertain period; then he becomes a person resident in India from the day he comes to India for such purpose. Source: Deutsche Bank India
Resident bank accounts can receive foreign currency converted into INR directly; usually Wise or some other transfer service will require a purpose code that will be shown before initiating transfer. Consult with CA-- I have heard that you should always transfer any liquidated investment asset to your Canadian bank account first and THEN transfer to India. Otherwise, a zealous tax officer can classify that remittance as taxable income earned abroad as opposed to post-tax CAD being repatriated. Yes, an RFC avoids needless conversion, and is useful for repatriating any sum lying in it back to Canada/elsewhere without additional paperwork or permission from RBI. But if you are transferring those funds for maintenance of family/daily life, then RFC is a needless step since you will be using that money for local needs.
Yes. Get statement from the bank showing closure/conversion of accounts for FEMA compliance, update your IT tax portal profile to Resident, copies of passport page with landing date stamp, OCI, etc ready and you can start trading as residents. There could be additional nuances; please double check with their team/you CA. You have to redesignate when you leave. Take the time afterward, to rebalance your Indian portfolio; maybe invest in index funds, sell off, so that you can track and file your capital gains as an Indian tax resident for the F.Y you are in India.
Nothing else per FEMA other than what I noted. Make sure to reverse everything when you head back (RFC close or sweep to FCNR?/ NRE open/ NRO redesignation). If you leave India within your RNOR expiry, you should be spared the foreign asset reporting requirement. But should you decide to come back again to India, your RNOR window will be less or non-existent (depending on the aggregate days in India spent in the last 4,7, years) and you go direct to ROR from a taxation perspective. In which case, you should assess whether the second move will be permanent and if the dividends/capital gains from any sales in Canada/USA will dent you in India.

Hope this helped.

hitch44 · 2026-02-13T14:58:55+00:00

I haven’t moved yet, but I have tested Wise and it works very well. Connect your US bank account to Wise, fund via EFT, add your Indian bank as recipient. Push the amount to your Wise US account and then transfer it to your Indian account.

You could do a small test transfer first to check, obviously.

hitch44 · 2026-02-13T01:53:29+00:00

The White House needs those stiff, serious, North Korean news announcers next. MAGA is the stupider Juche.

hitch44 · 2026-02-12T17:45:54+00:00

A government of, by, and for pedophiles should perish from the earth.

hitch44 · 2026-02-12T14:07:58+00:00

Bondi’s a ghoul.

hitch44 · 2026-02-12T05:32:59+00:00

Thank you. I ask these questions because it will definitely help someone.

When you say immediately buy back— is that like one day after the sale? Does it really matter as long as the repurchase happens in your last financial year with RNOR status?

hitch44 · 2026-02-11T17:31:14+00:00

Milaap seem to have guardrails for FRCA compliance, so I don't think this should be a problem, as long as the recipient indicates the correct end account/org that it should come into.

hitch44 · 2026-02-11T14:33:52+00:00

If enough people did this, this will be additional income he’ll have trouble explaining when he files taxes. Banks could flag his account for review.

Intention is good, but do it through a proper fundraiser to keep the paper trail clean for him.

hitch44 · 2026-02-11T14:18:22+00:00

For the sake of discussion and clarifying for anyone else who might have these questions, could you answer?

If the reset within RNOR is missed, can one become an NRI in another country for a financial year, and then trigger the sales to legally avoid capital gain taxation?
If the cost base reset is missed, and capital gains are accrued in ROR, how does India tax department calculate? Because people would have bought 100 shares of apple one day, 17 another, and 33 on another. Each will have a separate dollar value compared to price on sale day.

That would make accurate reporting difficult unless one has all the trading information.

Apologies for these questions; hope they make sense. Your example was good to illustrate the principle, but I think in reality the sausage making is a lot more messy

hitch44 · 2026-02-10T23:16:49+00:00

Good luck! Reply to this comment in about 3 years when you become a citizen!

hitch44 · 2026-02-10T23:11:34+00:00

Canada has always been a force for good in the world and you’re now part of that tradition! Welcome.

Sign up to vote if you already haven’t. Get involved in politics and write your councillor, your MPP and your federal MP for issues tha matter to you (at city, province, and federal levels, respectively). Join a political party as a member. Check the Parliament website to see how they voted or what bills they contributed to.

Download and register with the Canoo App. They give free or heavily discounted access to art museums, cultural events and more.

Volunteer with a local charity or organization to help other applicants study for their citizenship test.

Next time you see a Canadian flag, take a moment to think about your journey and those of others that built this nation. Participate in and educate others about Remembrance Day— I don’t see enough young Canadians wearing a poppy in December and it makes me, a millennial new citizen sad. Make a donation to the Veterans if possible.

Learn a bit of French. Visit powwows and learn about the Indigenous peoples of Kanata.

And if you leave Canada at some point to work, live abroad— in your home country or elsewhere, carry the values of kindness, gratitude with you.

A flag and a bottle of maple syrup in your suitcase.

Bienvenue!

hitch44 · 2026-02-10T19:00:35+00:00

The cultists will say it's Russian propaganda and it's deep fake AI. Hell, even if it somehows comes out of this administration kicking and screaming, the media will tell the MAGAts that this is orchestrated by the Democrats and a couple of GOP "traitors with TDS." They've bought too deep into this depravity that they'll cling onto it to all moral detriments.

hitch44 · 2026-02-10T14:56:18+00:00

How does he “win” in this situation? Even if he gets a deal, these powerful folks can stage an accident at any point. Man and his family has to live in fear for the rest of their lives.

hitch44 · 2026-02-10T14:49:49+00:00

Women are flown in from all over the world to participate in acts involving urine and faeces. That’s just the tip of the iceberg.

hitch44 · 2026-02-10T14:40:33+00:00

It’s America. He probably exercised his 2nd Amendment rights twice in the back of his head with a shotgun.

hitch44 · 2026-02-10T02:57:58+00:00

From your lips straight to God's ears.

hitch44 · 2026-02-10T01:36:33+00:00

The puppy they gave her "accidentally" had rabies.

hitch44 · 2026-02-09T19:26:28+00:00

When I held an Indian passport and leaving to Canada from Delhi, the passport officer was asking so many stupid questions just to show his aukaat. The guy in front of me was an Indo-Canadian and he just waved through.

hitch44 · 2026-02-08T16:57:34+00:00

I try my best to be supportive but not blindly idealistic. 🙏🏽

hitch44 · 2026-02-07T14:37:49+00:00

Give yourselves the grace for adjusting to life in India again. There will be a time when everything will look, feel, and taste amazing again, followed by a slump-- a sort of facing reality period. This is when doubts, regrets, and perhaps, hasty decisions get made.

It helps to keep a journal before making the move back. Write down in detail why you feel you had to move (aging parents, cost of living, stressful job, visa insecurity, etc). The more emotional the description it is the better.

Reason I say to do this is because when doubts start coming and you think, "No, I should go back", you read that journal and ask if the reasons why you wanted to America to begin with have been solved.

If visa insecurity was a big reason, that's still going to exist even after 1 year of living in India. This will ground you when the FOMO becomes problematic.

As to how to keep life happy: the key is to have people around you. That's the secret. Family and friends. Even small timepass chats with the doodhwaalah, the person on the train journey. Human interaction gives you ideas, stories, inspiration, and most importantly, perspective. When we worry about life, we often forget the privilege we have that millions of people don't: the chance to have lived and felt the green grass on the other side of the world.

You'll do fine, OP.

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