Checklist: Things To Do After Moving Back To India

This is a list of things to do after moving back to India. For a list of things to take care of before returning, you can check out things to do before returning to India.

In USA

Finance

• Keep your bank accounts in USA active: Make transactions in your bank and credit card accounts every 3-6 months.
• Submit W8-BEN form: This is a form used to let your brokerage company know that you are no longer a resident of the US and that they need to handle your taxation accordingly. Submit this form once you become a non-resident of the US according to the substantial presence test.
• Develop your investment strategy: Decide what you want to do with investments and savings account money in the US and if you want to convert your dollars into Indian rupees. I will cover my thoughts on what to do with your investments in a separate article.
• Google Voice: Set a reminder to send a message or call a US number with your Google Voice number every few weeks to keep it active.
• Change of address: If you haven’t already, update your address in USA bank accounts and brokerage accounts.

For more best practices on keeping accounts in USA active, refer to How to Keep Accounts In USA After Returning To India.

In India

Banks/Credit Cards

• Convert NRE/NRO to Resident accounts: As per law, you are required to change your NRE/NRO accounts to normal resident accounts. It is best to do it as early as possible to avoid FEMA violations. Depending on when you moved back, do it in the Financial Year (FY is April to March in India as opposed to calendar year in the US) that you will be RNOR or resident. In NRI status, your FD interest is non-taxable in an NRE account. You can also check out FCNR accounts which will hold your money in USD (if you think INR will keep depreciating against the US Dollar or whichever currency you hold). The conversion process is simple – you just need to visit your bank and fill out a form.
• Open a brokerage account: If you wish to invest in mutual funds or stocks. We have both Groww and Zerodha, While both platforms are good, I have had a better experience with Zerodha. The account opening process is completely online.
• Download UPI apps: UPI is everywhere in India and hard to live without in India. Download apps like GPay, PhonePe and PayTM to take advantage of UPI, cashbacks and rewards.
• Get a credit card: If you don’t have a credit card in India, you should plan to get one. But, get one after you start a job or have proof of income. I applied for one right after moving back and it was rejected due to no income (irrespective of your bank account balance). When I applied for one after starting a job, it was approved without issues.
• Apply to top-tier bank programs: Most banks have preferred relationship programs for high account values. This is a good time to upgrade to such programs since you might remit large sums of money to your account in India. I’m usually not in favour of receiving such preferential treatment and this would not be needed if bank service was uniform across the board but sadly that is not the case. You are taken more seriously if you are in one of these programs or have relationships with your banks.
• Meet your bank branch manager: While most private banks have decent online systems and don’t require you to visit the branch in most cases, there are still some advantages to getting to know people at the branch. Take advantage of your NRI status and build this relationship while you are transferring dollars. Bank managers love NRI clients who remit money and will go out of their way to help you out. In case of issues in the US, you would call the bank’s customer service but in India, you would call your branch for faster resolution. It has helped me immensely to have these relationships. Of course, don’t fall for their sales pitches to invest in useless instruments (ULIPS, high-expense mutual funds).

Taxes

• Find a CA who understands Double Taxation and specialises in US/India taxes. Most people are not qualified to do taxes in both countries. There are a few who specialise in cross-border taxation but they handle Indian taxes and have a partnership with someone in the US who does the US taxes. The fees of CAs range from under INR 5,000 and go up to INR 30,000 per person depending on the complexity of the case just to file in India. Since there is no married filing jointly option in India, you can easily end up spending INR 40,000 on taxes with double taxation and foreign tax credit complexities.
• Decide 401K strategy: Start deciding what you want to do with your 401K. We did a complete withdrawal of our 401K after rolling it over to IRA. Your strategy may be different based on your individual circumstances.
• Keep track of your tax status in India: There are many tax benefits to holding an NRI or RNOR status. Keep track of when these are starting and ending so you can make the most of these benefits. For example, India does not tax any capital gains or dividends in such periods. If your US income is low in that year, you can do things like resetting your cost basis of stocks so your future capital gains taxes are minimised.
• Open an account on the income tax portal in India so you can get notified of notices and communication, especially if you have never filed taxes in India before. Your CAs will eventually handle this but it is good to get familiar with the systems in India.

Documents

• Aadhaar and PAN: This is fairly obvious but if you haven’t already, get your Aadhar and PAN cards made. Nowadays, Aadhaar is required for everything. Getting your Aadhaar is pretty straightforward (no government bureaucracy involved). Once it is made, request a PVC Aadhar card so you can carry it along everywhere. This can be done from the UIDAI website by paying INR 50.
• Link your Aadhaar and PAN: Linking these two documents is mandatory in India and needs to be done as soon as possible. This can be done easily online from the UIDAI website.
• Update your India mobile number and email in Aadhaar Card: All OTPs (related to income tax, opening of new accounts etc.) go to the number listed on your Aadhaar. Having the right phone number and email makes things convenient. This will require a visit to the nearest Aadhaar enrolment centre but the process is straightforward.
• Create a backup: Keep scanned copies of all your documents on your Google Drive. You never know when you might need them.
• Driving License: Get a driver’s licence or renew if needed.

Planning in advance helps save a lot of headaches later. Having said that, I felt that things to take care of after returning to India turned out to be much less stressful than things to take care of before moving back. You have a lot more time to do these things once you move back. Also, some of the things you need to do before moving back are things which you cannot do after you return and you have to do it before the move. Focus more on things to do before returning but have the above information handy in your to-do list. There were certainly some hiccups but the dreaded Indian bureaucracy experience did not turn out to be as bad as expected. The penetration of technology has streamlined a lot of these day-to-day experiences. I hope having this checklist in one place saves you time and effort and makes your settling down experience smoother.