Guernsey taxes your Indian interest too. Claim the credit.
India and Guernsey have no tax treaty, only a 2011 information exchange agreement. The India-UK treaty does not reach Guernsey. Your Indian bank deducts 30% tax deducted at source (TDS) on Non-Resident Ordinary (NRO) interest, and Guernsey credits only part of it. An Indian return refunds TDS above slab tax, Form 128 (formerly Form 13) lowers property sale TDS, and Form 145/146 (formerly 15CA/15CB) clears transfers.
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.
Not published separately: the MEA's January 2026 table has no Guernsey row
Indians in Guernsey
Senior CAs handle your whole India tax side, filing, recovery, notices, property, repatriation. No India trip needed.
Not just DTAA
Chartered Accountants for Guernsey 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 Guernsey NRIs, filing, property, tax notices, repatriation and more, all from Guernsey 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 Guernsey have no treaty. Your Indian tax life still needs a CA.
India and Guernsey have no Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA), only a 2011 tax information exchange agreement. The India-UK DTAA does not cover Guernsey. Your Indian bank applies default tax deducted at source (TDS) of 30% on Non-Resident Ordinary (NRO) interest and 20% on dividends. Guernsey taxes this income at 20%, along with Non-Resident External (NRE) interest that India exempts. Guernsey unilateral relief credits Indian tax up to three-quarters of your Guernsey effective rate, so some Guernsey tax remains. Filing an Indian income tax return (ITR) refunds TDS deducted above your slab 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.
Guernsey 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 Guernsey makes the difference.
Talk to a Guernsey-specialist CAWhat we still do
No treaty, no treaty rate. But plenty of real work.
Hypothetical example: Rohan, 34, is a fund administrator from Bengaluru who has lived in St Peter Port for four years, making him principally resident in Guernsey. He holds ₹10L in Non-Resident Ordinary (NRO) fixed deposits and ₹2.5L in NRO savings, and he redeems ₹1.2L a year from a ₹6L Indian equity mutual fund. Because there is no treaty, his Indian bank deducts 30% tax deducted at source (TDS) on the interest. Rohan declares the interest in Guernsey, claims unilateral relief for the Indian tax, and files an Indian income tax return (ITR) to recover TDS above his slab tax.
Clean ITR filing
Full schedules (FA, AL, NRI disclosures). Section 91 foreign tax credit claim for any Guernseytax 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 Guernsey. CA-signed 15CB, Part C filings, bank coordination. Nothing stuck, nothing rejected.
This is what a typical Guernsey NRI with Fund and trust administrators: ₹8-30L in NRO and NRE fixed deposits, ₹5-15L in Indian mutual funds, often a family flat in Mumbai, Bengaluru or Kochi. Senior finance staff and doctors: larger NRE balances fed by sterling salaries, plus inherited property. actually needs, treaty or no treaty.
Your side of the process
How to get your Tax Residency Certificate
You're an Indian in Guernsey. India needs proof. Here's the workflow from Guernsey, documents, portal, timeline, the lot.
Who issues it
Guernsey Revenue Service
What it costs
Not needed for Indian TDS
Timeline
Not applicable
Form 10F / Form 41
Not required
Step-by-step for Indians in Guernsey
Not needed. A tax residency certificate (TRC) and Form 41 (formerly Form 10F) exist only to claim treaty rates, and India and Guernsey have no tax treaty, so your Indian bank will not ask for them. A UK TRC does not help either: the India-UK DTAA defines the United Kingdom as Great Britain and Northern Ireland (Article 3(1)(a)), which excludes Guernsey. On the Guernsey side, what matters is your residence category with the Revenue Service, which decides whether you are taxed on worldwide income.
Don't want to deal with Guernsey Revenue Service yourself? Our CAs handle TRC guidance for Guernsey NRIs every day.
Want a CA who handles Guernsey-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 Guernsey NRIs should know
Pitfalls we've seen Indians in Guernsey face
We work with the Indian community in Guernsey every day. These are the traps that cost real money.
Expect 30% Non-Resident Ordinary (NRO) interest and 20% dividend tax deducted at source (TDS). The Income Tax Department lists only Guernsey's tax information exchange agreement; the India-UK Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA) stops at Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Tax residency certificates (TRC) and Form 41 (formerly Form 10F) fail.
Plan for a second tax layer. Guernsey's unilateral relief credits Indian tax up to three-quarters of your Guernsey effective rate. At the full 20% rate, a 15% credit leaves about 5% Guernsey tax on Indian interest after 30% TDS. An Indian income tax return (ITR) refunds TDS above slab tax.
Claim only the Indian tax you finally paid. Guernsey requires foreign tax evidence with your return, and you must declare any later refund on income already relieved. When your Indian ITR refunds part of the TDS, your Guernsey credit falls. Keep the TDS certificates and processed ITR together.
Declare Non-Resident External (NRE) and FCNR interest in Guernsey. While India exempts this interest, Guernsey taxes solely and principally resident individuals on worldwide income at 20%. Because India deducts no tax on these accounts, there is no Indian tax to credit against your Guernsey bill.
Know your residence category. Broadly, 182 days or more in a calendar year makes you principally resident; 91 days without 91 days elsewhere makes you solely resident, both taxed on worldwide income. 'Resident only' taxpayers (91 days or more elsewhere) can pay a £50,000 standard charge (2026) on non-Guernsey income.
Use tax caps only for very high income. An election caps tax at £160,000 on non-Guernsey income or £320,000 on worldwide income, and new residents buying open market property can cap worldwide tax at £60,000 for four years. For most Indian professionals, the 20% rate and unilateral relief matter more.
Benefit from Guernsey having no capital gains tax. Indian share, mutual fund, and property gains are taxed only in India. Before selling a flat, apply for Form 128 (formerly Form 13) under Section 395 (formerly Section 197), or the buyer deducts TDS on the full price.
Prepare forms before repatriating to Guernsey. Remitting up to USD 1 million a financial year from NRO balances, property sales, or inheritances requires Form 145 (formerly Form 15CA) on taxable transfers, plus chartered accountant Form 146 (formerly Form 15CB) above ₹5 lakh. The 24 January 1965 Hague Apostille Convention applies.
Questions from Guernsey NRIs
Everything Indians in Guernsey 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.
TDS rate when buying property from an NRI
Right now: 12.5% plus surcharge and cess on LTCG
Where it works differently
- The gain is short-term
- TDS is at the applicable slab rate, effectively 30% plus surcharge and cess for most NRI sellers.
- s.195 requires deduction at 'rates in force' for the actual character of the income.
- No lower-deduction certificate is obtained
- TDS applies to the ENTIRE SALE CONSIDERATION, not to the gain.
- s.195 operates on the sum paid unless the AO determines otherwise. This is the whole commercial case for Form 13 / Form 128.
- There are joint NRI sellers
- TDS is deducted separately against each seller's PAN in their ownership proportion.
- Rule 37BA. Deducting entirely against one PAN strands the other's credit.
- The buyer deducts 1% under s.194-IA
- Wrong section. The buyer becomes an assessee-in-default under s.201 for the shortfall plus 1% per month interest and penalty under s.271C.
- s.194-IA applies only where the seller is a RESIDENT.
Commonly got wrong
- TDS on property purchase is 1% over Rs 50 lakh. That is s.194-IA, for RESIDENT sellers only. For a non-resident seller it is s.195 at the full capital-gains rate, with no threshold.1% applies only if the seller is a resident. NRI seller means s.195 at 12.5% plus surcharge and cess on the whole consideration unless a certificate is obtained.
- The buyer files Form 26QB. 26QB (Form 141 from 1 April 2026) was for s.194-IA resident sellers. Until 30 September 2026 an NRI-seller purchase needed a TAN and Form 27Q (Form 144 from 1 April 2026). From 1 October 2026 a resident individual or HUF buyer uses Form 141's new Schedule E against their PAN, but still deducts at the s.195 / s.393(2) rate, not 1%.Buying from an NRI, you deduct at the full capital-gains rate, not 1%. If you pay on or after 1 October 2026 and you are a resident individual or HUF, you report it on Form 141 Schedule E against your PAN and give the seller Form 132; no TAN is needed. Payments before that date needed a TAN and Form 27Q or Form 144.
TDS on NRO account interest
Right now: 30% plus surcharge and cess
Where it works differently
- A valid TRC and Form 10F (Form 41 from 1 Apr 2026) are furnished
- The treaty rate applies, commonly 10-15% under Article 11.
- s.90(2) gives the more beneficial of treaty or Act.
- No PAN is furnished
- s.206AA imposes at least 20%, but Rule 37BC allows escape by furnishing name, address, TIN and TRC. Courts have also held s.206AA cannot override a treaty rate.
- Rule 37BC + settled case law.
- Claiming the treaty rate at source
- The s.115A(5) filing exemption is lost, so an Indian return becomes necessary.
- That exemption requires TDS at not less than the s.115A rate.
- The account is NRE instead
- NRE interest is exempt only while the individual meets the FEMA residence-outside-India condition or is permitted by RBI to maintain the account, and the account is maintained in accordance with the applicable FEMA rules. Income-tax non-resident or RNOR status alone does not establish this exemption.
- Income-tax Act 2025 Schedule IV, entry 1 (retaining the earlier s.10(4)(ii) conditions): https://www.incometaxindia.gov.in/w/schedule-iv-4
- The deposit is FCNR instead
- The exemption covers interest from a qualifying foreign-currency deposit with a scheduled bank whose acceptance of the deposit is approved by RBI, paid to a non-resident or a resident but not ordinarily resident (RNOR) under income-tax law. Check the deposit and residence conditions; FEMA non-residence alone does not establish the FCNR exemption.
- Income-tax Act 2025 Schedule IV, entry 14 preserves s.10(15)(iv)(fa) subject to its conditions: https://www.incometaxindia.gov.in/w/schedule-iv-4 ; underlying conditions: https://www.incometaxindia.gov.in/w/section-10-62
Commonly got wrong
- NRO interest TDS is 30%. Incomplete. Surcharge and 4% cess sit on top, so the effective rate is higher.30% plus surcharge and cess, around 31.2% at the base level.
- You can file Form 15G/15H to stop NRO TDS. Those are resident-only declarations. An NRI filing one makes a false declaration.Use Form 13 (Form 128 from 1 April 2026), or claim the treaty rate with a TRC.
Form 15CB requirement threshold
Right now: Rs 5,00,000 in the financial year, where the remittance is chargeable to tax
Where it works differently
- The remittance is not chargeable to tax
- Part D of Form 15CA only. No 15CB.
- Rule 37BB structure.
- The remittance falls in the specified exempt list
- No Form 15CA at all.
- Rule 37BB(3) specified list.
Commonly got wrong
- Every outward remittance needs Form 15CB. Only where chargeable to tax and above Rs 5 lakh in the year.Form 15CB is needed only where the remittance is chargeable to tax AND exceeds Rs 5 lakh in the financial year. Otherwise Part D of Form 15CA is enough.
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 Guernsey.
More for Indians in Guernsey
Friends & neighbours
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