Defining Status

A N Shanbhag dissects the definition of an NRI under Fema and the Income Tax Act

Every time I browse through the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) definition of NRI, I discover new meanings and new lacunae. FEMA is a classic case of legislation drafted with little application of mind and little contact with reality. The definition of NRI is very complicated. It varies from rule to rule because it is dependent upon other definitions which vary from rule to rule. The complications are confounded because the definition of NRI in the Income Tax Act (ITA) is different from that in FEMA.

 

Section 2(u) of FEMA defines a