Category: Personal Finance
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US NRI Tax Filing Guide: Do NRIs Have to Pay Double Tax
“Mani, do I have to pay taxes twice? Once in the US and once in India?” I get this question at least five times a week. Every single week. For the past seven years. And I get it. The fear of double taxation kept me up at night too when I was planning my move…
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Tax on Rental Income in India for US NRIs
My flat in Kochi sat empty for three months after I moved to California. My mom finally said, “Why not rent it out? At least it will be maintained.” Great idea. Except nobody told me about TDS. Or that I would need to file ITR in India. Or that the tenant was supposed to deduct…
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How US NRIs Should Report Indian Income on IRS Tax Returns
The email from my CPA made my heart stop. “Mani, did you report your Indian mutual fund gains? The IRS classifies these as PFICs. You might owe penalties.” This was 2015. I had been filing US taxes for eight years. I thought I knew what I was doing. Turns out I had been making mistakes…
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DTAA Explained for US NRIs: How to Avoid Double Taxation Legally
I still remember the panic. It was 2016. I was sitting in my apartment in California, calculator in hand, trying to figure out my tax situation. I had rental income from a flat in Bangalore. A salary in the US. Some mutual fund gains in India. My rough math said I owed about 60% of…
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Thematic Mutual Funds for NRIs: How to Invest in India 🚀
Two years after we moved back to India from San Francisco, I made one of my smartest investment decisions. I was at a coffee shop in Koramangala. My former SuperMoney colleague texted me about how well his US tech stocks were doing. I felt that familiar FOMO creeping in. Then I remembered something. I was…
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Hybrid Mutual Funds in India: NRI Investment Guide
Hey there! Mani here. Back in 2019, my wife asked me a question that completely changed how we invest our money. “Why can’t we have something that gives us growth like equity but safety like debt?” I was working remotely for a US client then. We had just started feeling comfortable with our move back…
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NRI Gift Deed: A Comprehensive Guide
When I moved back to India in 2017, my mom had a surprise for me. “Beta, I want to gift you the Thiruvananthapuram property that your dad bought before he passed away.” I was touched. But also completely clueless about gift deeds. Fast forward to 2024. I’ve helped dozens of NRI families in our BacktoIndia…
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Can OCIs Take Health Insurance in India? The Truth
When we moved back from the US in 2017, my wife asked the million dollar question. “What about health insurance for our family?” My older son had his US citizenship. My younger son (born in Dallas) was getting his OCI card processed. My wife was an OCI holder. And honestly? I was completely confused about…
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Term Insurance for NRIs: Process, Claims, Documents and More
When I was working at SuperMoney in the US, I had this nagging worry. What if something happened to me? How would my family back in India manage financially? My mom was already alone after dad passed away during my college years. The thought of leaving my wife and two sons (one born in the…
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Dividend Stocks in India: Guide for NRI Investors
Hey there! Mani here. Back in 2018, a year after I moved back to India, my wife asked me a question that changed our investment strategy completely. “Can we get regular income from our Indian investments like we used to get from our US dividend stocks?” I was stumped. We had built a nice dividend…