A Crisis Of Identity

The government has numerous definitions of who is an NRI? Our columnist picks his way through the legal maze

The definition of who is an NRI is very complicated. It varies from rule to rule because it is dependent upon some other definitions that vary from rule to rule and the complications are confounded because the definition in the Income Tax Act (ITA) is different from the one in the Foreign Exchange Management Act (Fema).

Residential status under ITA Tax liability in India is directly determined by the residential status of an assessee under the ITA and it changes with change in such status.

An individual is treated as a resident for the financial year (April to March) if he satisfies, during the year, any one of the following two conditions: he is in India for at least a period or periods amounting in all to:

a) 182 days in the financial year or,

b) 365 days out of the preceding four financial years and 60 days in the financial year.

If these conditions are applied on an as is where is basis, one would find that most of the persons going abroad for the first time for a job will not be eligible because of the