For tax year 2026-27, no NRI can use the simplest, resident-only ITR form. Most NRIs — with rent, interest, dividends, capital gains, more than one house or shares held abroad — use the same ITR-2 that residents with that income use. Running a business or profession in India moves you to ITR-3 instead. Schedule FA is for residents who are ordinarily resident only; NRIs and RNORs skip it.
Is this you? This page covers only which form to use, once you know you're filing. Not sure you have to file at all? See every case where an NRI must file. Moved back this year? Check your residency status first — it decides whether Schedule FA applies to you.
This assumes you're a non-resident for the whole tax year. Moving back this year? Check your residency status first, because the answer can change.
This guide is part of our guides to filing your return from abroad, and it picks up once you know you’re filing: which form covers your income, what actually pushes you to a different one, and whether Schedule FA applies to you at all.
Being non-resident doesn’t get you a separate “NRI form”. You use the same numbered forms as everyone else in India; the difference is which ones you’re allowed to use, and which schedules inside them you fill in.
The form almost every NRI uses
The department keeps its simplest form for residents only, whatever an NRI’s income looks like. For salary, rent, interest, dividends, capital gains and shares or funds held abroad, almost every NRI uses the same ITR-2 that a resident with that income would use.
Not sure you need to file at all? The ITR filing checker tells you in a minute. This one form already covers:
- any number of house properties, not just one;
- short-term and long-term capital gains, on property, shares or funds;
- dividends and interest, including NRO interest with TDS already deducted;
- income taxed at the special non-resident rates 2025 Act s. 214was s. 115E, alongside ordinary slab-rate income.
None of those, on their own, changes which form you use. The one thing that does is below.
What actually pushes you to a different form
Business or professional income in India is the one change that matters. Run a shop, a consultancy invoiced from an Indian client, or any trade or profession with income arising in India, and you use ITR-3 instead, whatever else is on your return.
There’s usually no shortcut by way of the simpler presumptive-taxation return: that form is for residents only, and the main presumptive schemes for small businesses and professionals are too. A few narrow presumptive rules do cover non-residents (goods carriages, and some specified businesses of non-residents), but they’re reported on the fuller form, so an NRI with business income files ITR-3 either way. Business income also moves your due date later than the one shown above.
Occasional freelance or gig payments from an Indian client sit in the same category, even if it’s a handful of invoices a year rather than a running business. What matters is whether the income is professional or business income arising in India, not how often it’s paid or how large it is. A one-off consulting fee still counts; a single rupee of NRO interest or a single flat’s rent doesn’t turn into business income just because there’s more than one of them.
Everything else people expect to matter usually doesn’t:
| Situation | Changes your form? |
|---|---|
| More than one house property | No — already covered |
| A capital gain on property, shares or funds | No — already covered |
| Shares, funds or a retirement account held abroad | No — see Schedule FA below |
| Income taxed at a special non-resident rate | No — already covered |
| Business or professional income arising in India | Yes |
Using the wrong form isn’t fatal. The department can treat the return as defective and give you a short window to refile correctly, rather than reject it outright. It’s still worth avoiding: a defective return that’s never fixed is treated as if it was never filed, with every consequence of missing the deadline.
The Schedule FA question
Schedule FA is the return’s schedule for foreign bank accounts, shares, retirement accounts and property abroad. It only applies to residents who are ordinarily resident. As a non-resident, and in the RNOR years most people get on moving back, you leave it out entirely — your foreign holdings don’t belong anywhere on the Indian return, whichever form you use. 2025 Act s. 5was s. 5
That holds even if you have plenty to declare: a US brokerage account, an employer stock plan, a UK pension. The schedule, and the requirement to file just for holding foreign assets, switch on only once you’re resident and ordinarily resident, usually a year or two after you move back, depending on your day counts.
Three NRIs, three forms
Rent, interest and a capital gain are all on the list the standard NRI form already covers. She files ITR-2, same as a resident with the same income would.
The consultancy income is professional income arising in India, so he needs ITR-3 for the year it’s earned — the interest goes on the same return, it just isn’t the deciding factor here.
Her Indian income keeps her on the standard form, and being RNOR keeps Schedule FA and her US accounts out of the return, same as when she was non-resident. Once she becomes ordinarily resident, usually a year or two later, that changes and the foreign accounts have to be listed.
Common mistakes
- Assuming multiple properties or a capital gain need a separate form. The standard NRI form already covers both.
- Trying the simpler presumptive-taxation form for business income to avoid the fuller one. That form is for residents only.
- Filling in Schedule FA “to be safe” as an NRI or RNOR. It only invites questions about assets that aren’t reportable yet.
- Assuming last year’s form still fits. Which form applies depends on this year’s income: one new business receipt moves you to a different form.
When to get a chartered accountant
Get one if you have both business income and capital gains or foreign shares in the same year, if you’re in the RNOR years and unsure when Schedule FA switches on for you, or if you’ve had a defective-return notice and aren’t sure which schedule caused it.
Next steps
Questions people ask
Can I use the simplest ITR form as an NRI?
No. That form is restricted to residents by the rules that prescribe it, whatever your income looks like. Non-residents use the same capital-gains-and-other-income form as residents with rent, interest, dividends, gains or foreign shares, or the business-income form if they run a business or profession in India.
I own two flats in India. Does that push me to a different form?
No. The form almost every NRI uses already covers any number of house properties, alongside rent, interest, dividends and capital gains. Only business or professional income in India moves you to the other form — owning more property, or more of it, doesn't.
I hold US shares and a 401(k). Do I declare them anywhere on the Indian form?
Not while you're non-resident or RNOR. The foreign-assets schedule only applies to residents who are ordinarily resident, so your US brokerage account, retirement account or any other asset abroad stays off the Indian return entirely, whichever form you use. That changes once you become resident and ordinarily resident, usually a couple of years after you move back.
What happens if I use the wrong form?
The department can treat the return as defective rather than reject it outright, and gives you a window to refile in the right form. It isn't a penalty on its own, but it delays processing and your refund, and a defective return that's never corrected is treated as if it was never filed. Getting the form right first time avoids the round trip.
I ran a consultancy from India for six months, then it stopped. Which form now?
Use the business-income form for the year you had that income, even if it was brief and has since stopped. The form follows the tax year's income, not your ongoing situation, so you're free to move back to the simpler form the following year if there's no business income in it.
Sources
- Income-tax Act, 2025: s. 6 (residence), s. 5 (scope of total income — foreign income and RNOR), ss. 212–216 (NRI special provisions), s. 263 (return of income; the schedules and forms it's filed in)egazette.gov.in
- Income Tax Department: ITR forms and utilities (downloads)incometax.gov.in
- Income Tax Department: Form mapping guide, 1961 Act to Income-tax Act, 2025incometax.gov.in
- Income Tax Department: Schedule FA guidance and who must file it (residents who are ordinarily resident)incometax.gov.in
Update log
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