Chartered Accountant · ICAI M.No. 153926 · FRN 136869W
No part-year status for income tax
Unlike some countries, India does not split a year into resident and non-resident parts. Your status applies to the entire financial year (April–March) and is set by your total days in India that year. So the year you move is treated as a whole.
The special rule for leaving for work
If you leave India for employment abroad, the favourable 182-day test applies to that year (the 60-day limb does not bite). So whether you are resident often comes down to whether you had crossed 182 days in India before you left. Confirm the test that applies to your reason for leaving.
A worked example
Example: you leave for a job in Dubai on 1 October, having been in India for about 184 days from April. You cross 182, so you are a resident for that year — and your foreign salary from October could be taxable, subject to a DTAA. Leave a little earlier, before 182 days, and you may be an NRI for the whole year. The exact departure date can change your tax for the year, so it is worth planning. Our NRI tax service can work it out.