Investments & Repatriation
Not professional advice
This page provides general information only, for the US-India NRI corridor, and is not professional tax, legal, or financial advice. It does not account for your individual circumstances. Rules referenced here can change, and outcomes depend on facts specific to you. Please consult a qualified tax advisor, chartered accountant, or attorney licensed in the relevant jurisdiction before making any decision.
Higher complexity, higher stakes than our other categories
Cross-border investment and repatriation rules — especially US PFIC treatment of Indian mutual funds — involve fact-specific, fund-specific, and year-specific determinations that a general calculator cannot make for you. The tools below are narrower and more conservative than our other categories' on purpose: they check well-defined thresholds, not the full analysis. Please read each tool's own "not modeled" notes, and treat the disclaimer above as doubly important here.
General guidance on holding investments as an NRI and repatriating funds between India and the US.
Repatriation headroom estimator
Estimates remaining headroom under RBI's USD 1 million per financial year facility for remittance of assets. NRE/FCNR balances are freely repatriable and are not subject to this ceiling.
Does not model the RBI-permission route for amounts above the ceiling (e.g. medical emergencies, a child's education abroad, or buying real estate in your country of residence), the separate cap on repatriating residential property sale proceeds, or Form 15CA/15CB documentation (see the NRE/NRO & TDS category). Verify the current ceiling and your bank's own requirements before relying on this.
How this is calculated
NRO account balances, and proceeds from selling most movable or financial assets in India, are capped at USD 1 million per financial year (April-March) under RBI's facility for remittance of assets by NRIs/PIOs. Remaining headroom = USD 1,000,000 − amount already repatriated this financial year. NRE and FCNR account balances represent funds already held in convertible foreign exchange and are not subject to this ceiling.
Not modeled: the RBI-permission route for amounts above the ceiling, the separate cap limiting repatriation of residential property sale proceeds to a maximum of two properties, and Form 15CA/15CB mechanics.
US tax treatment of Indian mutual funds: PFIC explainer
Most Indian mutual funds are treated as PFICs (Passive Foreign Investment Companies) for US tax purposes, triggering the Section 1291 default tax-and-interest regime and annual Form 8621 reporting unless a de minimis exception applies. This tool only checks the Form 8621 filing exception — it does not compute any tax owed.
This is the highest-complexity, highest-liability topic on this site. Whether a fund is a PFIC, whether an election is even available to you, and what tax and interest you owe under the default Section 1291 method all depend on fund-specific and year-specific facts this tool does not have. Treat everything below as a starting point for a conversation with a US tax preparer experienced in PFIC reporting — not as an answer.
A US person holding a PFIC without a Qualified Electing Fund (QEF) or mark-to-market election in effect is generally taxed under the Section 1291 "excess distribution" regime: gains and certain large distributions are spread evenly across the holding period, taxed at the highest marginal rate for each of those prior years, plus a non-deductible interest charge for the deferral. QEF and mark-to-market elections can avoid this, but a QEF election generally requires the fund to supply a PFIC Annual Information Statement, which most Indian mutual funds do not provide.
Aggregate PFIC value is at or below the $25,000 de minimis threshold for your situation, and no reportable distribution or disposition occurred this year.
Does not determine whether your fund is actually a PFIC, does not compute any Section 1291 tax or interest charge, and does not evaluate QEF/mark-to-market election eligibility. Verify against irs.gov and with a qualified US tax preparer before relying on this.
How this is calculated
Checks only the Form 8621 "de minimis" value exception: no filing is generally required if the aggregate value of all PFIC stock is at or below $25,000 ($50,000 married filing jointly, or $5,000 if held indirectly through another PFIC) at year-end, and no excess distribution was received and no disposition occurred that year. Receiving a distribution or disposing of stock removes the exception regardless of value.
Not modeled: whether the fund is a PFIC in the first place, Section 1291 excess-distribution tax and interest computation, and QEF/mark-to-market election mechanics and eligibility.
Sources: IRS: Instructions for Form 8621, IRS: About Form 8621
Related reading
How Much Money Can NRIs Repatriate From India? The RBI Limits Explained
NRE funds move freely. NRO funds face an annual RBI ceiling. Confusing the two is one of the most common NRI money mistakes.
PFIC Rules for NRIs: Why Indian Mutual Funds Are a US Tax Trap
Indian mutual funds are a completely ordinary investment in India. To the IRS, most of them are 'Passive Foreign Investment Companies' — and that label comes with teeth.
NRI Investment Options in India: A Category-by-Category Overview
Most investment categories open to resident Indians are open to NRIs too, with extra rules layered on top. Here's the landscape at a glance.
FBAR and FATCA: The US Reporting Rules NRIs Often Overlook
FBAR and FATCA aren't taxes — they're disclosures. But the penalties for missing either one can be steep, and the two have different thresholds and different forms.