Thursday, 6 March 2014

Taxation on foreign exchange assets: How is it calculated?

There is a concessional rate of taxation for Non Residents under the Income Tax Act and this is applicable for the purpose of specific income that is earned by such a person. It is very important to look at the exact nature of the income and the various details that come along with this income because of the fact that it will make the position clear as to who is covered and the kind of taxation that this would face. The key term for
the whole purpose is a foreign exchange asset and the nature of income that is derived here is in the form of investment income or long term capital gains on the sale of such an asset.
Foreign exchange asset
A foreign exchange asset for a non resident individual would consist of a list of specified assets that have been acquired or purchased or invested in convertible foreign exchange. This requires a look at several details but before that it is important to understand who would be classified as a non resident Indian. This would be a citizen of India who is a non resident plus a person of Indian origin who is a non resident. This would bring into its ambit a wide range of people and hence the definition is very clear on this front. The other part refers to the list of specified assets but even more important is the fact that it has to be acquired or bought in convertible foreign exchange. This part of the asset being bought through the route of converting foreign exchange is the key part because often the amount used for the purpose is local money and this might not qualify for the concessional rate of taxation under the Income Tax Act. Here are several assets that would qualify for the lower rates.
Shares in Indian company
Coming to the list of the specified assets the first item on the list is shares of an Indian company, The definition is clear that it has to be an Indian company and the distinction of it being a public or private company would not matter so any Indian company would be covered. This is important as the distinctive mode of taxation would not just cover the listed entities but also the unlisted ones as well.
Debentures
The other item would be debentures that are debt instruments issued by companies. The debentures have to be issued by an Indian company but this should not be a private company. Here there is a clear distinction that is made between the nature of the company and hence private company debentures do not get the specified tax treatment.
Deposits
There are also deposits that are made by the non resident and this would also come to be covered under a special treatment under the income tax act. The deposit has to be with any company though it should not be a private company. Once again there is a clear distinction that is made here between a public and a private company. Most investors however make deposits in the form of fixed deposits with a bank and the good news is that a bank including the State Bank of India would be covered under the benefit. There is no restriction on the entity being a bank as this is considered as a banking company.
Security

There are also securities that are issued by the central government and these are once again in the nature of debt instruments. These are also covered for the concessional treatment that they would get and hence would have to be considered. However the restriction is that they are just central government securities and not any instrument that is issued by a state government.

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