# India Tax Residence

Tax residency rule, India. Page: https://usecountr.com/trackers/tax-in/

## Summary

You are an Indian tax resident for a tax year if you are in India for 182 days or more in that year, which runs from 1 April to 31 March. A second test makes you resident with only 60 days in the year if you were also in India for 365 days or more in the four years before. For Indian citizens and people of Indian origin who visit India, the 60 days become 182 days, or 120 days when their Indian income is above 15 lakh rupees. From 1 April 2026 the rules are in section 6 of the Income-tax Act, 2025. The Income Tax Department applies them.

- Main limit: 182 days or more in India
- Period: The tax year, 1 April to 31 March
- Second test: 60 days in the year and 365 days in the four years before
- Visiting citizens: 182 days, or 120 days with Indian income above 15 lakh rupees
- Law: Income-tax Act, 2025, section 6; before 1 April 2026, Income-tax Act, 1961, section 6
- Run by: Income Tax Department, Government of India

## Who it applies to

- Non-resident Indians who visit family in India for several months each year.
- Indian citizens who leave India for a job abroad during the year.
- Foreign employees on assignment in India.
- People of Indian origin with rent, interest or business income in India.
- People who return to India for good after years abroad.

## The rule

Section 6 sets two basic tests for an individual, and meeting one of them is enough. Under the first, you are resident if you are in India for 182 days or more in the tax year. Under the second, you are resident if you are in India for 60 days or more in the tax year and were also in India for 365 days or more in total in the four years before that tax year. The Income Tax Department confirms that these conditions in the Income-tax Act, 2025 are the same as in section 6(1) of the Income-tax Act, 1961.

The second test is relaxed for two groups. An Indian citizen who leaves India in the year for a job abroad, or as a member of the crew of an Indian ship, is tested only against 182 days. An Indian citizen or a person of Indian origin who lives abroad and comes to India on a visit is also tested against 182 days in place of 60. But if that visitor has total income above 15 lakh rupees, not counting income from foreign sources, the 60 days are replaced by 120 days. One lakh is 100,000, so 15 lakh rupees is 1,500,000 rupees.

A further rule, called deemed residence, does not depend on days at all. An Indian citizen whose total income, not counting foreign-source income, is above 15 lakh rupees, and who is not liable to tax in any other country because of domicile, residence or a similar reason, is treated as resident in India.

Being resident is not the end of the question. A resident can be not ordinarily resident, which gives a lighter result: foreign income is generally taxed only when it comes from a business controlled in India or a profession set up in India. You are not ordinarily resident if you were non-resident in nine of the ten years before, or were in India for 729 days or less in the seven years before. People who are resident only through the 120-day rule or through deemed residence are also not ordinarily resident. Only a resident who is ordinarily resident is taxed on income from the whole world.

The Income-tax Act, 2025 replaced the 1961 Act on 1 April 2026. It uses the term tax year for the 12 months from 1 April. For a tax year that began before 1 April 2026, residence is still decided under the 1961 Act.

Why it exists: India taxes its residents on income from the whole world and non-residents only on Indian income. The 182-day test finds people who live in India for half the year. The 60-day test stops people with long ties to India from avoiding residence by short absences, and the relaxed rules let the large Indian community abroad visit home without becoming resident. The 120-day rule and deemed residence are aimed at people with high Indian income who would otherwise be resident nowhere.

## Counting the days

You count the days you were in India inside one tax year, from 1 April to 31 March. For the second test you also need your days in India in the four tax years before.

1. Take one tax year, for example 1 April 2026 to 31 March 2027.
2. List every stay in India in that year from your passport stamps and add up the days.
3. With 182 days or more, you are resident.
4. With 60 to 181 days, add up your days in India in the four tax years before. With 365 or more, you are resident, unless you belong to a group that is tested only against 182 days.
5. If you are an Indian citizen or a person of Indian origin on a visit, with Indian income above 15 lakh rupees, use 120 days in place of 60.
6. If you are resident, check whether you are not ordinarily resident.

How Countr counts it: Countr counts every day on which you were in India for any part of the day, in the tax year that starts on 1 April. It allows 181 days and warns you 14 days before the limit, so you see the 182nd day coming. The card follows the main test only. It does not apply the second test of 60 days with 365 days in the four years before, and it does not apply the 120-day rule for visitors with high Indian income, so you can be resident while the card still shows room. The app does not judge deemed residence or whether you are not ordinarily resident.

## Examples

### One day under the main limit

Sarah, a British consultant with no earlier time in India, arrives in Mumbai on 1 April 2026 and leaves on 28 September 2026. That is 181 days in the tax year 2026-27. She is one day under 182. The second test does not catch her, because she was not in India for 365 days in the four years before. She is a non-resident for the year and pays Indian tax only on her Indian income.

### Seventy days, but a long history

Kenji worked in Bengaluru from 2022 to 2025 and was in India for 400 days in total in the four years before the tax year 2026-27. He then moved to Tokyo and came back for 70 days in 2026-27 to finish a project. He is far under 182 days, but he has 60 days or more in the year and 365 days or more in the four years before. He is resident under the second test. He is a foreign national, so the relaxed rule for visiting citizens does not apply to him.

### A visiting citizen with high Indian income

Meera is an Indian citizen who has lived in Dubai for 12 years. She has rental and interest income in India of 20 lakh rupees a year. In the tax year 2026-27 she visits India for 130 days, and she was in India for more than 365 days in the four years before. With income under 15 lakh rupees she would be tested against 182 days and would be non-resident. With 20 lakh rupees the limit is 120 days, so she is resident, but not ordinarily resident, and her income earned in Dubai is generally not taxed in India.

## Exceptions

- An Indian citizen who leaves India in the year for a job abroad, or as crew of an Indian ship, is tested only against 182 days.
- An Indian citizen or person of Indian origin on a visit to India is tested against 182 days, or 120 days when Indian income is above 15 lakh rupees.
- An Indian citizen with Indian income above 15 lakh rupees who is not liable to tax in any other country is deemed resident, whatever the number of days.
- A resident who is not ordinarily resident is generally not taxed on foreign income, unless it comes from a business controlled in India or a profession set up in India.
- A tax treaty between India and another country can decide where you are resident when both countries claim you.

## Common misconceptions

- "The days are counted from January to December." The tax year runs from 1 April to 31 March. A stay from January to June is split between two tax years.
- "Under 182 days I am always a non-resident." The second test can make you resident with 60 days, if you were also in India for 365 days or more in the four years before. Visiting citizens with high Indian income become resident at 120 days.
- "The 60-day rule applies to every non-resident Indian who visits." For an Indian citizen or person of Indian origin on a visit, the 60 days are replaced by 182 days, or by 120 days when Indian income is above 15 lakh rupees.
- "Once I am resident, India taxes all my foreign income." Only a resident who is ordinarily resident is taxed on worldwide income. A resident who is not ordinarily resident is generally taxed on Indian income and on foreign income from a business controlled in India.
- "The new Income-tax Act changed the day limits." The Income-tax Act, 2025 applies from 1 April 2026 and renumbered the provisions, but the Income Tax Department confirms that the 182-day and 60-day conditions are the same as before.

## Questions and answers

### Is exactly 182 days enough to be resident?

Yes. The test is 182 days or more, so the 182nd day in India in the tax year makes you resident.

### Do the days need to be in one stay?

No. All days in India in the tax year are added together, whether you came once or many times.

### Which law applies to the year from April 2025 to March 2026?

The Income-tax Act, 1961. Residence for a tax year that began before 1 April 2026 is decided under section 6 of the 1961 Act. The Income-tax Act, 2025 applies to tax years that begin on or after 1 April 2026.

### Do days in earlier years under the old Act count for the 365 days?

Yes. The Income Tax Department says that stays in earlier years still count when the test of 60 days and 365 days is applied to a tax year under the 2025 Act.

### I work on a foreign ship. Which limit applies to me?

The relaxed limit of 182 days is written for Indian citizens who leave India as crew of an Indian ship or for a job abroad. Seafarers should check their own case, because the way days on a voyage are counted follows detailed rules.

### Can I be resident in India and in another country in the same year?

Yes. If both countries treat you as resident and they have a tax treaty, the treaty's tie-breaker tests decide where you are resident for the treaty. The tax office looks at your whole situation.

## Sources

- [Income Tax Department - Non-resident individuals, help page](https://www.incometax.gov.in/iec/foportal/help/all-topics/e-filing-services/non-resident)
- [Income Tax Department - Frequently asked questions for non-residents](https://www.incometax.gov.in/iec/foportal/help/all-topics/e-filing-services/non%20resident%20-faq)
- [Income Tax Department - Income-tax Act, 2025, as amended by the Finance Act, 2026, sections 5 and 6](https://www.incometaxindia.gov.in/documents/d/guest/income_tax_act_2025_as_amended_by_fa_act_2026-pdf)

---
Countr is an app for iPhone that counts your days in every country for visa, tax and residency rules, from the photos on your phone and your location. It explains rules and counts days. It does not give legal or tax advice. https://apps.apple.com/app/country-days-tracker-countr/id6810720800