How long are you RNOR after moving back to India?
For someone abroad ten years, RNOR usually lasts two or three Indian tax years. The return-year day count and earlier visits move it, as the worked table shows.
On this page 5 sections
For a person who has lived abroad for ten years and moves back to India for good, RNOR (resident but not ordinarily resident) usually lasts two or three Indian tax years, each running from 1 April to 31 March. At the inputs below it is two years, 2027-28 and 2028-29, and RNOR ends on 31 March 2029. The number moves with the days spent in India in the return year and in earlier visits, and a move late in a tax year can put a non-resident year in front of it.
The numbers
Inputs for every row: an Indian citizen, ten tax years abroad before the return year, 30 days a year in India during those years, liable to tax in the US as a resident, Indian income other than foreign-source income under ₹15 lakh, return year 2027-28 (1 April 2027 to 31 March 2028), then every day of every later year in India. Only the days in the return year change from row to row. Each status comes from the MoneyVibe RNOR timeline engine (india-residency-2026).
| Days in India in 2027-28 | 2027-28 | 2028-29 | 2029-30 | 2030-31 | RNOR years | RNOR ends |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 270 | RNOR | RNOR | ROR | ROR | 2 | 31 Mar 2029 |
| 214 | RNOR | RNOR | RNOR | ROR | 3 | 31 Mar 2030 |
| 215 | RNOR | RNOR | ROR | ROR | 2 | 31 Mar 2029 |
| 182 | RNOR | RNOR | RNOR | ROR | 3 | 31 Mar 2030 |
| 181 | NR | RNOR | RNOR | ROR | 2 (after 1 NR year) | 31 Mar 2030 |
| 100 | NR | RNOR | RNOR | ROR | 2 (after 1 NR year) | 31 Mar 2030 |
Three things stand out. First, the third RNOR year is decided by a day count: with 30 visit days a year, 214 days in the return year leaves the seven-year total at 729 and keeps 2029-30 RNOR, while 215 days makes it 730 and ends RNOR a year earlier. Second, arriving with fewer than 182 days in the return year makes that year non-resident, and the two RNOR years follow it, so RNOR ends later on the calendar even though the count is the same. Third, the length of RNOR is not "two years from landing"; it ends on a 31 March.
The years-abroad input matters too. With the same 30 visit days and 270 days in the return year, 6 to 12 years abroad gives two RNOR years, and 5 years abroad gives none: 2027-28 is ROR from the first day, because the seven years before it add up to 880 days. Six years abroad passes only the 729-day test (545 days in the seven years before, because the earlier years were spent in India), not the nine-of-ten test, which is why the two tests are written as alternatives.
Why it works this way
Resident or not. Section 6(2) of the Income-tax Act, 2025 makes an individual resident in a tax year with 182 days or more in India, or with 60 days or more in the year and 365 days or more in the four years before it. The second test does not apply to a citizen in the tax year they leave India for employment outside India (6(3)(b)), nor to a citizen or person of Indian origin who, being outside India, comes on a visit (6(4)); for a visitor whose income other than foreign-source income exceeds ₹15 lakh, it applies with 120 days in place of 60 (6(5)).
RNOR on top of resident. Section 6(13)(a) makes a resident individual not ordinarily resident if they were non-resident in nine of the ten tax years before, or were in India 729 days or fewer in the seven tax years before. The same rule was section 6(6)(a) of the Income-tax Act, 1961, which is the number most articles still use. The Act in force from 1 April 2026 is the 2025 one. Section 6(13)(b) adds a third route for a citizen or person of Indian origin whose income other than foreign-source income exceeds ₹15 lakh and who spends 120 to 181 days in India in the year; the table assumes income below that.
What RNOR does. Under section 5(1)(c), a resident who is not ordinarily resident is taxed on income that accrues or arises outside India only if it comes from a business controlled in or a profession set up in India. Income received in India, and income that arises in India, is taxed for every resident (5(1)(a), (b)). So a US account's interest or a US brokerage gain, earned and received outside India, generally sits outside India's tax during RNOR years, while an Indian mutual fund or an Indian FD does not.
What RNOR does not do. It is an Indian tax status. The US side runs on its own clock: IRS Publication 519 ends US residency on the residency termination date, which is the last day in the US if the tax home and closer connection are abroad for the rest of the year, otherwise 31 December. After that the US still taxes US-source income, such as a 401(k) payout, on Form 1040-NR. A US citizen or green card holder stays taxed on worldwide income whatever India calls them.
Banks follow a different test. The RBI's FAQ on accounts in India by non-residents says NRE accounts should be designated as resident accounts, or the funds moved to an RFC account, at the holder's option, immediately on return to India for taking up employment or on a change in residential status. FCNR(B) deposits may continue to maturity at the contracted rate, then convert to a resident rupee deposit or an RFC account. That is FEMA status, and it can change before the tax status does.
What changes the answer
- Days in the return year. The table above: 214 against 215 is the line at 30 visit days a year. The line moves with the visit days, because the 729 is a total.
- Days in India while abroad. Each visit day counts toward the 729. Moving from 30 to 15 visit days a year, with 260 days in the return year, gives three RNOR years instead of two.
- Years abroad. Under six years abroad, with the same visits, there is no RNOR at all at these inputs.
- How the return year is tested. The engine tests it as a move for good (182 days, or 60 plus 365 in the four years before). Whether a citizen coming back counts as "visiting" under 6(4) would drop the 60-plus-365 test; at 30 visit days a year the four years before add up to only 120 days, so the table does not change. It matters only for someone who spent more than about 90 days a year in India while abroad, or whose Indian income is over ₹15 lakh.
Not modelled
Days of arrival and departure (section 6 as read does not say how to count them), the India-US treaty tie-breaker, Schedule FA reporting, and the tax rates themselves. The calculator also does not decide FEMA status for each year.
What to do first
- List the days in India for each of the last ten tax years (April to March) from passport stamps and travel records, and add the planned days for the return year.
- Enter them in the RNOR timeline calculator and write down the 31 March on which RNOR ends.
- List what is planned for the RNOR window on both sides: the 401(k) payout, the Indian mutual funds, and the rest of the leaving-the-US checklist. Take the list and the dates to a Chartered Accountant and a US tax adviser together.
The nine steps for the move, with one set of numbers, are in the plan Moving back to India, and the reference page on the status itself is What is RNOR.
Not tax or legal advice. Indian rules as published on 2 October 2026; check with a Chartered Accountant before acting.