NRI’s global income taxable
QWhen I was residing in Singapore, I bought a house. After returning to India, a couple of years later, I sold the house in Singapore. The sale proceeds are remitted to my account in India. There is no capital gain tax in Singapore. Does this attract capital gain tax in India? Please advise. MALLIK REDDY Via email
As per your query, it appears that you are a resident of India when you sold the house in Singapore. Since your status is that of a “resident in India”, you will be liable to tax on global income, as per Indian income-tax law. If you had paid capital gains tax in Singapore, such tax would have been eligible for a set-off against your Indian income tax liability.
There would have no tax liability in India, if you had sold the house when you were an NRI.
It is pertinent to note that the definition of long term capital gains on sale of immovable property is now amended and reduced to two years (from financial year 2017-18) instead of three years up to financial year 2016-17. You are eligible to apply the cost inflation index on the purchase price and the long term capital gains are taxed at a special rate of 20 per cent. Further, you can also invest in a residential house to the extent of long term capital gains on the sale of property and/or invest in the specified capital gain bonds.
QI am a retired officer of a PSU. I don’t get any pension. Now I am working as a consultant in the same organisation. They agreed to pay `50,000 as consultancy fees and `4,500 towards local conveyance per month. I am not incurring any expenditure towards carrying out my profession. So do I need to pay tax on the entire income? FAHIM ASHRAF Via email
The consultancy fees received by you will be taxed under the head “Profits and Gains from Business or Profession”. The unspent amount of conveyance needs to be included in your total income. Therefore, the entire conveyance charges received by you will be subject to tax. The total income arrived after claiming the above deductions shall be taxed depending on the threshold limit applicable to you.
(The writer is a chartered accountant. You can your send queries to info@rathiandmalani.com)