Kabul keeps you busy. Your Indian savings deserve attention.
India and Afghanistan have no tax treaty beyond a 1975 airline agreement. Banks deduct 30% tax at source (TDS) on Non-Resident Ordinary (NRO) interest; an Indian income tax return refunds TDS above slab tax. Afghanistan taxes residents' foreign income, crediting Indian tax up to its own. Get Form 128 (formerly Form 13) before selling property, Form 145/146 (formerly 15CA/15CB) to repatriate, and Embassy of India in Kabul consular attestation.
No DTAA. But a lot of other work you still need help with.
ITR filing, Form 13 lower-TDS, tax notices, repatriation, Section 91 relief. That's where we help.
about 169 (MEA, January 2026: 167 PIOs and 2 NRIs)
Indians in Afghanistan
Senior CAs handle your whole India tax side, filing, recovery, notices, property, repatriation. No India trip needed.
Not just DTAA
Chartered Accountants for Afghanistan NRIs. Your whole India tax life
DTAA refund recovery is our flagship, but it's one of many things our ICAI-registered CAs handle for Afghanistan NRIs, filing, property, tax notices, repatriation and more, all from Afghanistan with no India trip.
NRI ITR filing
Our CAs file your ITR-2 / ITR-3 from abroad
DTAA TDS recovery
Cut 30% NRO TDS to your treaty rate, recover past years
Property sale (Form 13)
Cut the 12.5% TDS before you sell
Tax notices
Section 148 / 143 / 245 replies, handled
Repatriation (15CA / 15CB)
Move funds out without bank friction
Inherited property
Cost step-up, sale and repatriation
Form 10F / TRC
Treaty-rate paperwork, end-to-end
No DTAA, here's what we still do
India and Afghanistan have no treaty. Your Indian tax life still needs a CA.
India has no Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA) with Afghanistan. The Income Tax Department lists only a 1975 exchange of letters exempting airline income, capping no Indian rate. Banks deduct 30% tax at source (TDS) on Non-Resident Ordinary (NRO) interest and 20% on dividends; a tax residency certificate (TRC) and Form 41 (formerly Form 10F) change nothing. Afghanistan's 2009 law taxes residents' foreign income, including Non-Resident External (NRE) interest India exempts, crediting foreign tax only up to Afghan tax on it (Article 5(1)). Your Indian income tax return (ITR) refunds TDS above actual Indian tax.
Form 13 lower-TDS
Apply for a lower (or nil) TDS certificate before your bank/buyer deducts. The cleanest way to avoid the 30% hit at source.
Section 91 unilateral relief
If you've already paid Nigerian tax on the same income, claim foreign tax credit in your Indian ITR under Section 91, the only relief route when there's no treaty.
15CA / 15CB repatriation
Move funds out of your NRO account to your overseas account, properly documented and CA-certified. Required by every Indian bank.
ITR filing for NRIs
Annual return, past-year condonation, Form 67 for foreign tax credits, capital gains, property sale TDS reconciliation, the bread-and-butter NRI work.
Tax notice response
Section 148 reassessments, Section 143(1) intimations, AIS mismatches, demand notices. We respond with the right legal grounds before deadlines slip.
No treaty rate to chase. But there's real money in doing the rest right.
Afghanistan NRIs we work with usually save more from a clean Form 13 + ITR than a treaty rate would have given them anyway. A CA who knows Afghanistan makes the difference.
Talk to a Afghanistan-specialist CAWhat we still do
No treaty, no treaty rate. But plenty of real work.
Hypothetical example: Rakesh, 44, is an Indian civil engineer posted in Kabul for two years on a hospital construction project, making him resident in Afghanistan under the 183-day test. He holds ₹10L in Non-Resident Ordinary (NRO) fixed deposits (FDs), ₹2L in NRO savings, and a ₹6L Indian equity mutual fund portfolio, redeeming ₹1L a year. With no treaty in place, his bank deducts 30% tax at source (TDS) on interest. Rakesh files an Indian income tax return (ITR) to refund TDS above his slab tax and claims credit in Afghanistan only up to the Afghan tax on the same income.
Clean ITR filing
Full schedules (FA, AL, NRI disclosures). Section 91 foreign tax credit claim for any Afghanistantax you've paid on the same income. Done right, the first time.
Form 13 / Section 197
Selling property in India? A lower-TDS certificate drops your TDS from 12.5% of the full sale price down to the actual gain. On a ₹1 crore sale, that's often ₹15-20 lakh of cash-flow.
Tax notices, end-to-end
148, 143(1), 143(2), 245, 139(9). We draft the reply, file on the portal, attend the hearing, follow up to closure. Under Section 288 authorized representation.
Repatriation (15CA/15CB)
Moving money from India back to Afghanistan. CA-signed 15CB, Part C filings, bank coordination. Nothing stuck, nothing rejected.
This is what a typical Afghanistan NRI with Indian professionals on project postings: ₹5-20L in NRO and NRE FDs, some Indian mutual funds, often a family flat in India. Afghan citizens of Indian origin: usually small savings accounts and family links, with property purchases needing RBI permission unless they hold an OCI card. actually needs, treaty or no treaty.
Your side of the process
How to get your Tax Residency Certificate
You're an Indian in Afghanistan. India needs proof. Here's the workflow from Afghanistan, documents, portal, timeline, the lot.
Who issues it
Ministry of Finance (Afghanistan)
What it costs
Not applicable, no treaty to claim
Timeline
Not applicable
Form 10F / Form 41
Not required
Step-by-step for Indians in Afghanistan
Not needed. A tax residency certificate (TRC) and Form 41 (formerly Form 10F) exist only to claim treaty rates, and India and Afghanistan have no income tax treaty for individuals, so your Indian bank will not ask for them. On the Afghan side, the Ministry of Finance administers income tax, and taxpayers, bank account holders and salaried employees must hold a Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN) under Article 86 of the Income Tax Law 2009. The Ministry no residence-certificate procedure, so ask it directly if a foreign authority ever asks for one. Afghanistan is not a party to the Hague Apostille Convention, so Afghan documents for use in India need consular attestation: ask the Embassy of India in Kabul.
Don't want to deal with Ministry of Finance (Afghanistan) yourself? Our CAs handle TRC guidance for Afghanistan NRIs every day.
Want a CA who handles Afghanistan-India tax every week?
Free 15-minute call. We tell you what you can recover and what it takes.
Senior CA who specialises in NRI tax · we deal with the tax officer, you don't
Things Afghanistan NRIs should know
Pitfalls we've seen Indians in Afghanistan face
We work with the Indian community in Afghanistan every day. These are the traps that cost real money.
Budget for default bank deductions and file an Indian income tax return (ITR) for refunds. The 1975 India-Afghanistan agreement covers only airline income, leaving no treaty rate. Banks deduct 30% tax at source (TDS) on Non-Resident Ordinary (NRO) interest and 20% on dividends, refundable above slab tax.
Keep your Indian return and tax at source (TDS) certificates as proof of Indian tax finally paid. Afghanistan's Income Tax Law 2009 taxes residents on foreign income, including Non-Resident External (NRE) interest India exempts, crediting foreign tax only against Afghan tax on that income (Article 5(1)).
Split your Indian interest and tax at source (TDS) by date so each country's return reports the right slice. Afghanistan's tax year follows the solar year from 1 Hamal (about 21 March, Article 3), while India's tax year runs from 1 April.
Prepare source-of-funds documents and confirm accepted transfer routes with your Indian bank before sending money from Afghanistan. Under the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Know Your Customer (KYC) Master Direction, banks screen customers against UN Security Council lists, including the Taliban Sanctions List under resolution 1988 (2011).
Without Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) cards, Afghan citizens need Reserve Bank of India permission to buy or transfer property beyond five-year leases (Rule 31, Non-Debt Instruments Rules 2019; RBI Master Direction on immovable property, para 9). Confirm repatriation with authorised dealer banks; Indians use the USD 1 million route.
Get Form 128 (formerly Form 13) under Section 395 (formerly Section 197) before property sales so TDS matches actual tax. Remitting NRO balances or sale proceeds needs Form 145 (formerly Form 15CA) and a chartered accountant's Form 146 (formerly Form 15CB) above ₹5 lakh, within USD 1 million yearly.
Build in time for consular attestation of Afghan documents needed by Indian banks, courts, or registrars. Because Afghanistan is outside the Hague Apostille Convention, documents must be attested through the Embassy of India in Kabul, which India restored from a Technical Mission on 21 October 2025.
Track your pension records separately in both countries. Because India has no social security agreement with Afghanistan, Afghan service and Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) periods cannot be combined.
Questions from Afghanistan NRIs
Everything Indians in Afghanistan ask us
6+ answers. Hover on dotted terms for plain-English explanations.
The exceptions that change the answer
Where the general rule stops applying to you
Every rule below has a carve-out, a cut-off date or a condition that flips the answer. These are the ones that decide real cases.
NRO account: what it costs and what it caps
Right now: Interest taxed at 30% plus surcharge and cess; repatriation capped at USD 1 million a financial year
Where it works differently
- A TRC and Form 10F (Form 41 from 1 Apr 2026) are furnished
- The treaty rate applies to the interest, commonly 10-15% under Article 11 instead of 30% plus surcharge.
- s.90(2). This is the single largest recurring recovery item for most NRIs.
- Remitting out
- Form 15CA is needed, plus Form 15CB from a CA where the remittance is chargeable and above Rs 5 lakh in the year.
- Rule 37BB.
- Joint holders
- The USD 1 million ceiling is per person per financial year, so joint holders each have their own.
- FEMA 13(R).
Commonly got wrong
- NRO interest is taxed at 30%. Incomplete. Surcharge and 4% cess sit on top, and a treaty can cut it to 10-15%.30% plus surcharge and cess by default, but 10-15% under most treaties if you hold a TRC and file Form 10F.
NRI holding limits under the Portfolio Investment Scheme
Right now: An individual person resident outside India (NRI, OCI or foreign individual) may hold under 10% of a listed company's paid-up equity capital on a fully diluted basis, with an aggregate cap of 24% for all such individuals together. The old company-level option to raise the aggregate from 10% to 24% no longer applies, because 24% is now the flat cap
Where it works differently
- A purchase takes an individual's holding to 10% or more of a listed company
- The individual must sell down below 10% within five trading days from the settlement date of the purchase that caused the breach. If not, the entire holding is treated as FDI and the individual can no longer invest in that company under the portfolio route.
- Schedule III of the NDI Rules as substituted by the Third Amendment Rules, 2026 (India Briefing, L&S).
Commonly got wrong
- The individual holding limit is measured across your whole portfolio or per exchange. The under-10% test is per company, on the fully-diluted paid-up capital of that company.Measure the limit company by company on paid-up capital, not portfolio-wide.
- A listed company has to pass a board and special resolution before NRIs together can hold up to 24%. That was the pre-June 2026 mechanism (10% aggregate, raisable to 24%). Since 12 June 2026 the aggregate for individuals resident outside India is a flat 24%.Since 12 June 2026 all individuals resident outside India together can hold up to 24% of a listed company, and each must stay under 10%.
EPF withdrawal exemption: continuous service
Right now: 5 years of continuous service
Where it works differently
- Service is under 5 years
- Four components are taxed separately: employer contribution and its interest as salary, employee contribution previously claimed under 80C reversed, and interest on employee contribution as other sources.
- Rule 8 of Part A of the Fourth Schedule.
- Employment ended for reasons beyond the employee's control
- The 5-year condition is relaxed.
- Proviso to Rule 8.
- The account is inoperative
- Interest continues to accrue and is taxable once the member leaves service.
- Settled position; a live issue for NRIs with dormant accounts.
Commonly got wrong
- EPF withdrawal is always tax-free. Only after 5 years of continuous service.An EPF withdrawal is tax-free only after five years of continuous service. Below five years, four separate components become taxable in different heads.
EPF interest that becomes taxable on high contributions
Right now: Interest on employee contributions above Rs 2,50,000 a year is taxable (Rs 5,00,000 where the employer makes no contribution)
Where it works differently
- The member is an NRI with a dormant account
- Interest continues to accrue, and an account becomes inoperative after 36 months without contribution, at which point the interest is taxable in India.
- EPF Scheme rules plus settled tax treatment.
- The member has left India
- Indian tax on that interest still applies as India-sourced income, and the residence country may tax it too.
- s.9 read with the relevant treaty.
Commonly got wrong
- All EPF interest is tax-free. Interest on employee contributions above Rs 2.5 lakh a year has been taxable since FY 2021-22.Interest is tax-free up to Rs 2.5 lakh of employee contribution a year (Rs 5 lakh where the employer does not contribute). Above that it is taxable.
No treaty. No shortcut.
Plenty we can still do.
ITR filing. Form 13 lower-TDS on property sales. Tax notices, repatriation, Section 91 unilateral relief. Your Indian tax life still needs a CA who knows Afghanistan.
More for Indians in Afghanistan
Friends & neighbours
NRIs in nearby countries with similar DTAA benefits. Know someone? Share this.