Monaco taxes none of your income. India still does.
Monaco levies no personal income tax on residents besides French nationals, leaving Indian income taxed only in India. With only a 2012 tax information exchange agreement and no Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA), Non-Resident Ordinary (NRO) interest attracts 30% tax deducted at source (TDS). 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 NRO 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.
about 53 (MEA, January 2026: 10 NRIs and 43 PIOs)
Indians in Monaco
Senior CAs handle your whole India tax side, filing, recovery, notices, property, repatriation. No India trip needed.
Not just DTAA
Chartered Accountants for Monaco 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 Monaco NRIs, filing, property, tax notices, repatriation and more, all from Monaco 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 Monaco have no treaty. Your Indian tax life still needs a CA.
Genuinely established Monaco residents pay no personal income tax, though the 1963 France-Monaco convention generally keeps French nationals taxable in France. Monaco salary bears only social contributions, and Monaco leaves Indian interest, dividends, rent, and gains untaxed. Without a comprehensive Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA), the 2012 India-Monaco agreement only lets the two governments exchange tax information. India's full default tax deducted at source (TDS) applies: 30% on Non-Resident Ordinary (NRO) interest and 20% on dividends. Without Monaco tax or double tax to relieve, only Indian tax applies, and an Indian income tax return (ITR) refunds TDS above actual liability.
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.
Monaco 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 Monaco makes the difference.
Talk to a Monaco-specialist CAWhat we still do
No treaty, no treaty rate. But plenty of real work.
Hypothetical example: Kavya, 36, from Bengaluru, has lived in Monaco for four years working as a relationship manager at a private bank. Monaco levies no tax on her income. She holds ₹12L in Non-Resident Ordinary (NRO) fixed deposits (FDs) opened before she moved, keeps ₹3L in NRO savings, and is redeeming ₹2L from a ₹10L Indian equity mutual fund. Because no treaty reduces the 30% tax deducted at source (TDS) her bank deducts on interest, she files an Indian income tax return (ITR) to reclaim the TDS above her slab tax.
Clean ITR filing
Full schedules (FA, AL, NRI disclosures). Section 91 foreign tax credit claim for any Monacotax 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 Monaco. CA-signed 15CB, Part C filings, bank coordination. Nothing stuck, nothing rejected.
This is what a typical Monaco NRI with Typically an NRE account fed by salary transfers, ₹10-30L in NRE or NRO fixed deposits, mutual fund SIPs, and often a flat in an Indian metro. actually needs, treaty or no treaty.
Your side of the process
How to get your Tax Residency Certificate
You're an Indian in Monaco. India needs proof. Here's the workflow from Monaco, documents, portal, timeline, the lot.
Who issues it
Direction de la Sûreté Publique, Residency Section
What it costs
€600, not needed for Indian TDS
Timeline
One year
Form 10F / Form 41
Not required
Step-by-step for Indians in Monaco
Not needed for Indian TDS. With no India-Monaco DTAA there is no treaty rate to claim, so a tax residency certificate (TRC) and Form 41 (formerly Form 10F) change nothing at your Indian bank. If another country asks for proof, Monaco issues a residence certificate for tax purposes to foreign nationals with a valid residence permit who live there more than 183 days, have their main place of business there, or spend most of the year there. Apply to the Residency Section of the Direction de la Sûreté Publique by email (resident@gouv.mc) or post, with a passport, the requesting body's letter, a recent utility bill and proof of income. You are told by email or SMS when it is ready and collect it by appointment, paying €600. To recover excess Indian TDS, file an Indian ITR.
Don't want to deal with Direction de la Sûreté Publique, Residency Section yourself? Our CAs handle TRC guidance for Monaco NRIs every day.
Want a CA who handles Monaco-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 Monaco NRIs should know
Pitfalls we've seen Indians in Monaco face
We work with the Indian community in Monaco every day. These are the traps that cost real money.
Expect no treaty rate on Non-Resident Ordinary (NRO) interest, as no India-Monaco Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA) exists. The Income Tax Department lists only a tax information exchange agreement (TIEA) signed at Monaco on 31 July 2012, in force 27 March 2013, capping no tax deducted at source (TDS).
File an Indian income tax return (ITR) every year to reclaim tax deducted at source (TDS) above your Indian slab tax. Because Monaco does not tax your income, Indian earnings are taxed only once, in India, with nothing to declare or credit in Monaco.
Plan property or share sales with a chartered accountant. Because Monaco has no residence-based tax, Indian citizens with Indian income (excluding foreign-source income) above ₹15 lakh in a tax year become deemed resident (not ordinarily resident, section 6(13)) under section 6(7) of the Income-tax Act, 2025 (formerly section 6(1A)).
Confirm your nationality before assuming Monaco residence means zero tax. Monaco's exemption excludes French nationals, who generally remain taxable in France under the 1963 France-Monaco convention. If you hold a French passport, French tax rules govern how your Indian income is taxed at home instead of Monaco's.
Keep your Indian savings in Non-Resident External (NRE) or Foreign Currency Non-Resident (FCNR) deposits where possible. Interest on these deposits is tax-free in India and untaxed in Monaco, so it is taxed nowhere. Non-Resident Ordinary (NRO) interest attracts 30% tax deducted at source (TDS) until you file.
Keep your Indian filings consistent with your Monaco bank records, as India can see your Monaco accounts. Both countries exchange information regularly under the 2012 agreement and the multilateral Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters, and agreed in 2018 to begin automatic exchange of financial account information.
Treat your Monaco social contributions and Indian provident fund separately. Social contributions to the Caisses Sociales de Monaco apply only to your wages, never to Indian income. With no India-Monaco social security agreement, Monaco contribution periods and Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) periods never combine.
Apostille Monaco documents for Indian banks and registrars. Monaco joined the Hague Apostille Convention on 31 December 2002 and did not object to India's 14 July 2005 accession. Get Form 128 (formerly Form 13) for Indian flat sales and Form 145/146 (formerly 15CA/15CB) to remit Non-Resident Ordinary (NRO) funds.
Questions from Monaco NRIs
Everything Indians in Monaco 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.
Deemed residence: Indian income threshold
Right now: Rs 15 lakh
Where it works differently
- The person is liable to tax in any other country
- s.6(1A) does not apply at all.
- The provision targets stateless-for-tax individuals only.
- s.6(1A) applies
- The person is RNOR, not ordinarily resident. Foreign income is not taxed in India.
- s.6(6)(d).
Commonly got wrong
- Gulf NRIs earning over Rs 15 lakh in India become fully taxable on worldwide income. They become RNOR, so foreign income remains outside the Indian net.Say 'deemed resident but RNOR, Indian income only'.
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 Monaco.
More for Indians in Monaco
Friends & neighbours
NRIs in nearby countries with similar DTAA benefits. Know someone? Share this.