For an NRI with genuinely no India-sourced income in a financial year, filing an Indian income tax return is generally not mandatory. But "no salary" isn't the same as "no filing trigger" — several other conditions can make a return mandatory even for someone whose only India connection is a bank account or a small investment.
The core trigger: income above the exemption limit
Filing becomes mandatory once your total taxable India-sourced income for the year exceeds the basic exemption limit for NRIs (India-sourced rent, interest, capital gains, and similar income all count toward this, even without a salary). The exact rupee threshold has moved with recent tax law changes, so check the current-year figure rather than assuming a prior year's number still applies.
Triggers that apply regardless of total income
A few conditions force a filing requirement independent of whether your total income crosses the exemption limit at all: short-term capital gains on listed equity shares, equity-oriented mutual fund units, or business trust units; TDS or TCS on your India income exceeding ₹25,000 in the financial year; and depositing more than ₹1 crore in aggregate across current accounts. Any one of these on its own is enough to require a return, even if every other figure on your India side looks minor.
The triggers, at a glance:
- India-sourced income above the exemption limit for the year — file
- Any short-term capital gains on listed equity/equity MF/business trust units — file, regardless of total income
- TDS or TCS on India income over ₹25,000 in the financial year — file
- Over ₹1 crore deposited across current accounts in the year — file
- None of the above, and genuinely no India income — filing is typically not mandatory, but may still be worth doing voluntarily to claim back excess TDS
The TDS-on-NRO-interest calculator on this site's NRE/NRO & TDS page is a useful starting point for the second-most-common trigger NRIs hit — interest income and the TDS withheld on it — even when the underlying interest amount itself looks small.