This article is written by Pragya, a student of New Law College, BVP, Pune.
Imagine that you are professional from India, maybe from the IT industry. Imagine that your company has assigned you to a foreign project. You could even be a CFA or a business consultant a professor/ researcher. Chances are that you will make a lot of money and want to send some of it to India for your family. Of course, you can be employed directly in a foreign office/ branch of a company.
If you find yourself in a similar situation, you probably have a few questions in mind, like-
- What are the necessary legal procedures?
- What is Double Taxation and how do you avoid it?
Hopefully this article can serve as a good starting point and make life a little easier for you.
Are you an NRI?
The first question that will come to your mind is, “Am I a Non-Residential Indian ( NRI)?”.  The answer is a qualified, “yes”. Any Indian citizen
The next question that you may have is, “Okay, so I am an NRI. How can I actually send money home?”. The answer to this question varies from case to case. Here are some of the options available to you.
- EEFC Account
An EEFC account means Exchange Earner’s Foreign Currency Account. . One of the major advantages of this account is that you’ll not have to pay any interest for any transaction in this account. This account can be maintained as a Current Account. You can credit all of your foreign exchange earnings to this account.
You can credit your honorarium, consultation fees, lectures fees and other similar things to this account.
The EEFC accounts also provide for hedging facilities. The account balances can be hedged. In simpler words it provides for risk reduction in the case of adverse changes in the exchange rates.
So, this is one of the better options to credit and utilize your foreign earnings in India.
For more information you can visit the following link:-
https://rbi.org.in/scripts/FAQView.aspx?Id=21
You probably have another question now, i.e.-
“How can I open an EEFC Account?”
The following steps can be followed for opening up an EEFC account:
- Go to an authorized bank dealing with foreign exchange, for example, ICICI Bank;
- Ask for the relevant form for opening an EEFC account.
- Submit all the important documents like identity proof, address proof, PAN card etc.
- After conducting their due diligence procedures and verifying your information the bank will open your EEFC account.
- NRE Savings Account
If you want to use your foreign exchange earnings in India, then you should consider opting for a Non-Resident External (NRE) Savings Account . The advantage of this account is that you can enjoy tax-free interests in India. Your family is given the card and cheque book which will provide anytime, anywhere access to your account.
Funds in NRE account are freely and fully repatriable and the minimum balance that is to be maintained is Rs. 10000 only.
For more information you can refer to the following link:-
http://www.icicibank.com/nri-banking/bankAccounts/nre-saving-accounts.page?
HOW TO OPEN A NRE SAVINGS ACCOUNT
The following steps can be followed for opening a NRE Savings Account:-
- Go to a bank which provides this facility, for example, ICICI Bank;
- Ask for the application form (in case of ICICI Bank the procedure is online);
- Submit the following documents-Self-attested photocopies of: Passport: First and last four pages of the passport (pages with your name, address, date of birth, date and place of issue, expiry date, photograph and signature) and Valid work permit/employment visa. If your visa has expired, acknowledged renewal requests made to the visa authorities will be accepted (In case of ICICI bank);
- Their customer care service will help you opening up the NRE Savings account.
You can refer to the following link for frequently asked questions:
Conclusion
Hope this article has helped you to cater your needs and these are the best options you can have to credit your foreign earnings to India.
