Is monetary gift from relations taxable in hands of NRIs? – Rajesh Mittal

Gifts received by anyone in India is taxed in the hands of beneficiary. Further, Section 56(2)(x) of Income Tax Act, provides that where a person receives any sum of money without consideration, aggregate value of which exceeds Rs 50,000, it shall be chargeable to tax under income from other sources in the hands of that person except when it is is received from relatives such as spouse of the individual; brother or sister of the individual; brother or sister of the spouse of the individual; brother or sister of either of the parents of the individual; any lineal ascendant or descendant of the individual; any lineal ascendant or descendant of the spouse of the individual; spouse of the person referred to in clauses (ii) to (vi). In this case, monetary gift received from relative as mentioned above would not be taxable in the hands of NRI.

I got Rs 1 lakh from my aunt in the US. Do I have to pay tax on it? —SK Rao

Your aunt would qualify as relative under the provisions of Section 56, hence this amount would not be treated as your income and would not attract tax.

I have changed jobs four times this year. Do I have to declare all the four incomes in myITR? —Aman Kumar

Yes, salary received from all the employers during the financial year will have to be clubbed to arrive at your total income and be taxed accordingly.

I have filed my tax returns on July 5 and there is tax refund for Rs 1,000. Will the tax department question on it? My employer had cut more tax for all employees due to a calculation error? —Vikas Arora

Considering that the amount is low, the department would not be asking any question and this excess would also reflect in your Form 16 issued by your employer.

I have not got the refund for last year. My tax consultant says it has not been processed yet. Is there any way to find out if he is saying the truth? —Anurag Sharma

You can login to the income tax e-filing portal with your PAN as user ID and password and check the status of your tax returns by going to the option “My Account” and then clicking on option ”View E-filed Returns/forms”.