Cotai pays your salary. Your Indian savings need care.
India and Macao have no tax treaty, only a 2012 information-exchange agreement. The India-China treaty excludes Macao; Form 41 (formerly Form 10F) changes nothing. Macao taxes no Indian interest, dividends, rent, or gains, leaving only Indian tax. File an Indian income tax return (ITR) to reclaim excess tax deducted at source (TDS). Use Form 128 (formerly Form 13) before selling property and Form 145/146 (formerly 15CA/15CB) for remittances.
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: the MEA's January 2026 table has no separate Macao row
Indians in Macao
Senior CAs handle your whole India tax side, filing, recovery, notices, property, repatriation. No India trip needed.
Not just DTAA
Chartered Accountants for Macao 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 Macao NRIs, filing, property, tax notices, repatriation and more, all from Macao 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 Macao have no treaty. Your Indian tax life still needs a CA.
India and Macao have no Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA); their 2012 agreement for exchange of information on taxes caps no rate. The India-China treaty covers only territory under Chinese tax laws; Macao has its own tax system and mainland China treaty. Indian banks deduct 30% default tax deducted at source (TDS) on Non-Resident Ordinary (NRO) interest and 20% on dividends. A tax residency certificate (TRC) or Form 41 (formerly Form 10F) changes nothing. Macao taxes only work done in Macao, leaving investment and foreign income taxed solely in India. File an Indian income tax return (ITR) to reclaim excess TDS.
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.
Macao 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 Macao SAR makes the difference.
Talk to a Macao-specialist CAWhat we still do
No treaty, no treaty rate. But plenty of real work.
Hypothetical example: Joel, 42, from Margao in Goa, is an Indian citizen who has lived in Macao for ten years working as a food and beverage manager at an integrated resort in Cotai. He holds ₹18L in Non-Resident Ordinary (NRO) fixed deposits (FDs), ₹2.5L in NRO savings, and a ₹9L Indian mutual fund (MF) portfolio from which he redeems ₹1.5L of units a year. With no tax treaty, his bank deducts the same tax deducted at source (TDS) with or without any Macao certificate. Macao leaves his Indian income untaxed, so Joel reclaims TDS above his actual Indian tax by filing an Indian income tax return (ITR).
Clean ITR filing
Full schedules (FA, AL, NRI disclosures). Section 91 foreign tax credit claim for any Macaotax 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 Macao. CA-signed 15CB, Part C filings, bank coordination. Nothing stuck, nothing rejected.
This is what a typical Macao NRI with Hotel, casino and hospitality staff: ₹5-20L in NRE or NRO fixed deposits, mutual fund SIPs, and often a family home in Goa or the North East. Long-settled Goan families: occasional inherited property in Goa and older NRO accounts. actually needs, treaty or no treaty.
Your side of the process
How to get your Tax Residency Certificate
You're an Indian in Macao. India needs proof. Here's the workflow from Macao, documents, portal, timeline, the lot.
Who issues it
Financial Services Bureau (DSF), Macao
What it costs
Not applicable, no treaty to claim
Timeline
Not applicable
Form 10F / Form 41
Not required
Step-by-step for Indians in Macao
Not needed. A tax residency certificate (TRC) and Form 41 (formerly Form 10F) exist only to claim treaty rates, and India has no tax treaty with Macao, so your Indian bank will not ask for them and they would change nothing. Macao's Financial Services Bureau (DSF) handles your professional tax, which your employer withholds and pays. To recover excess Indian TDS, file an Indian ITR.
Don't want to deal with Financial Services Bureau (DSF), Macao yourself? Our CAs handle TRC guidance for Macao NRIs every day.
Want a CA who handles Macao-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 Macao NRIs should know
Pitfalls we've seen Indians in Macao face
We work with the Indian community in Macao every day. These are the traps that cost real money.
Expect full default deductions at your Indian bank. The India-Macao agreement, signed 3 January 2012 and in force 16 April 2012 (Notification 43/2012), covers exchange of information only. Banks deduct 30% tax deducted at source (TDS) on Non-Resident Ordinary (NRO) interest and 20% on dividends regardless of documents.
Skip claiming India-China treaty rates. That treaty covers only territory where Chinese tax laws apply. Macao runs its own tax system with its own mainland China arrangement, and its comprehensive tax agreements (mainland China, Hong Kong, Portugal, Vietnam, Mozambique, Cabo Verde, Cambodia) exclude India.
File an Indian income tax return (ITR) to recover tax deducted at source (TDS) above your actual Indian tax. Macao leaves Indian interest, dividends, and gains untaxed, and its Professional Tax Law gives no foreign tax credit, making the ITR your only recovery path.
Hold Indian savings in Non-Resident External (NRE) or Foreign Currency Non-Resident (FCNR) deposits where possible. Their interest is tax free in India and untaxed as individual investment income in Macao. By contrast, Non-Resident Ordinary (NRO) interest bears 30% tax deducted at source (TDS) until you file.
Check India's deemed-residence rule before a big Indian sale. Section 6(7) of the Income-tax Act 2025 (formerly section 6(1A)) treats an Indian citizen with Indian income over ₹15 lakh as resident (not ordinarily resident) if untaxed by residence elsewhere. Macao taxes salaries by work location, so ask a chartered accountant (CA).
Get Form 128 (formerly Form 13) under Section 395 (formerly Section 197) before selling Indian property, or buyers deduct tax deducted at source (TDS) on full price. Only India taxes long-term gains, at 12.5% without indexation. Apostille Macao papers under the 1969 Convention; India's 2023 objection covered China's accession.
Prepare compliance forms before sending money to Macao. Up to USD 1 million a financial year can leave Non-Resident Ordinary (NRO) balances, property sale proceeds, or inheritances. Taxable transfers need Form 145 (formerly Form 15CA), plus a chartered accountant (CA) Form 146 (formerly Form 15CB) above ₹5 lakh.
Track two tax calendars and separate pensions. In Macao's calendar year, one employer withholds professional tax via M3/M4; multiple employers require Form M/5 by end of February. India's April to March return is due 31 July. No social security agreement links Macao and Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) periods.
Questions from Macao NRIs
Everything Indians in Macao 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.
FCNR(B) deposit tenure
Right now: 1 to 5 years; term deposits only, no savings variant
Where it works differently
- The holder returns to India permanently
- The deposit may run to maturity, then converts to RFC. Interest stays exempt while the holder is RNOR.
- Master Direction on Deposits and Accounts.
- Premature withdrawal before 12 months
- No interest is payable.
- Standard RBI condition on FCNR(B).
Commonly got wrong
- FCNR accounts work like a savings account. FCNR(B) is a term deposit only, 1 to 5 years.FCNR(B) is a fixed deposit in foreign currency, one to five years. There is no FCNR savings account.
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.
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 Macao SAR.
More for Indians in Macao
Friends & neighbours
NRIs in nearby countries with similar DTAA benefits. Know someone? Share this.