Mahé pays your salary. Your Indian savings still matter.
India and Seychelles have no tax treaty, only a 2015 information exchange agreement. Your Indian bank therefore deducts 30% tax deducted at source (TDS) on Non-Resident Ordinary (NRO) interest. Seychelles taxes your pay and leaves Indian income untaxed. Filing an Indian return refunds TDS above your slab tax. Form 128 (formerly Form 13) lowers property sale TDS, and Form 145/146 (formerly 15CA/15CB) clears NRO 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.
about 13,300 (MEA, January 2026: 8,235 NRIs and 5,115 PIOs)
Indians in Seychelles
Senior CAs handle your whole India tax side, filing, recovery, notices, property, repatriation. No India trip needed.
Not just DTAA
Chartered Accountants for Seychelles 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 Seychelles NRIs, filing, property, tax notices, repatriation and more, all from Seychelles 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 Seychelles have no treaty. Your Indian tax life still needs a CA.
India and Seychelles have no Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA), only a 2015 tax information exchange agreement. Without a treaty, your Indian bank deducts tax deducted at source (TDS) at the default 30% on Non-Resident Ordinary (NRO) interest and 20% on dividends. Seychelles taxes employees only on their pay and businesses only on Seychelles-sourced income. Your Indian interest, dividends, rent, and Non-Resident External (NRE) interest carry no Seychelles tax. India is the only country taxing this income, and filing an Indian income tax return (ITR) refunds TDS 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.
Seychelles 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 Seychelles makes the difference.
Talk to a Seychelles-specialist CAWhat we still do
No treaty, no treaty rate. But plenty of real work.
Hypothetical example: Karthik, 36, is a site engineer from Thanjavur who has worked for a construction firm on Mahé for six years on a Gainful Occupation Permit (GOP). He holds ₹5L in Non-Resident Ordinary (NRO) fixed deposits from before he left, ₹1L in NRO savings, and a ₹2L Indian equity mutual fund from which he redeems ₹40,000 a year. Because there is no treaty, his bank deducts 30% tax deducted at source (TDS) on his interest. Seychelles does not tax this Indian income, so filing an Indian income tax return (ITR) recovers the TDS above his slab tax.
Clean ITR filing
Full schedules (FA, AL, NRI disclosures). Section 91 foreign tax credit claim for any Seychellestax 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 Seychelles. CA-signed 15CB, Part C filings, bank coordination. Nothing stuck, nothing rejected.
This is what a typical Seychelles NRI with Construction and retail workers: an NRE account fed by monthly transfers, ₹2-8L in NRE or NRO fixed deposits, small mutual fund SIPs, often a family home in India. Professionals and traders: ₹10-40L in deposits and mutual funds, sometimes a flat in Chennai or Gujarat. actually needs, treaty or no treaty.
Your side of the process
How to get your Tax Residency Certificate
You're an Indian in Seychelles. India needs proof. Here's the workflow from Seychelles, documents, portal, timeline, the lot.
Who issues it
Seychelles Revenue Commission (SRC)
What it costs
Not needed for Indian TDS (SRC lists SCR 400 for a business TRC)
Timeline
Not applicable
Form 10F / Form 41
Not required
Step-by-step for Indians in Seychelles
Not needed. A tax residency certificate (TRC) and Form 41 (formerly Form 10F) exist only to claim treaty rates, and India and Seychelles have no tax treaty, so your Indian bank will not ask for them. If another authority asks for proof, the Seychelles Revenue Commission (SRC) Certificate Application Form (August 2024) lists a Tax Residence Certificate only for businesses (international business companies, companies, partnerships and sole traders, SCR 400 each), plus a Certificate of Domicile (SCR 400) and an Income Tax Certificate (SCR 100). Each asks for the period the certificate covers. Email residence and domicile requests to taxresidency@src.gov.sc, and other requests to advisory.center@src.gov.sc, with a copy of your ID or passport and your Tax Identification Number (TIN) if you have one.
Don't want to deal with Seychelles Revenue Commission (SRC) yourself? Our CAs handle TRC guidance for Seychelles NRIs every day.
Want a CA who handles Seychelles-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 Seychelles NRIs should know
Pitfalls we've seen Indians in Seychelles face
We work with the Indian community in Seychelles every day. These are the traps that cost real money.
Expect 30% default tax deducted at source (TDS) on Non-Resident Ordinary (NRO) interest and 20% on Indian dividends. The Income Tax Department lists a Seychelles tax information exchange agreement and no Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA), so a tax residency certificate (TRC) or Form 41 (formerly Form 10F) changes nothing.
File an Indian income tax return (ITR) each year you have tax deducted at source (TDS). Seychelles leaves an employee's Indian interest, dividends, and rent untaxed, with no Seychelles return to credit Indian tax against. The ITR is the only way to recover TDS above your Indian slab tax.
Plan for Seychelles Pension Fund contributions. Under the 2026 Budget, Gainful Occupation Permit (GOP) holders must pay through a local bank account from the second half of 2026 after consultation. India has no social security agreement with Seychelles, so Fund and Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) periods stay separate.
Keep your Indian and Seychelles records aligned. Under the 2015 agreement (in force 28 June 2016), each country can request information held by banks and other financial institutions in the other. When you return to India as a resident, report Seychelles accounts as foreign assets in your Indian return.
Apply for a lower deduction certificate on Form 128 (formerly Form 13) under Section 395 (formerly Section 197) before registering an Indian flat sale. Without this certificate, the buyer deducts tax deducted at source (TDS) on the full price instead of your actual gain.
Complete compliance forms before sending money to Seychelles. Up to USD 1 million a financial year can leave Non-Resident Ordinary (NRO) balances, property sale proceeds, or inheritances. Each taxable transfer requires Form 145 (formerly Form 15CA), plus a chartered accountant's Form 146 (formerly Form 15CB) above ₹5 lakh.
Get an apostille on Seychelles documents needed in India. Because Seychelles joined the Hague Apostille Convention in 1979 and India joined in 2005, an apostille validates a death certificate, power of attorney, or succession papers for an Indian bank or registrar.
Obtain an Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) card if you are a Seychellois of Indian origin. Those from Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, or Gujarat families are foreign nationals in India. An OCI card lets them buy non-agricultural property, inherit any property, and hold Non-Resident External (NRE) accounts.
Questions from Seychelles NRIs
Everything Indians in Seychelles 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.
Power of Attorney executed abroad: the stamping clock
Right now: Stamped in India within 3 months of receipt in India
Where it works differently
- The country is a Hague Apostille Convention member
- Notarise locally, then apostille. Otherwise it needs attestation by the Indian mission.
- Two different routes; using the wrong one means a rejected document at the sub-registrar.
- The 3 months lapse
- Penalty stamping is required and the document may be questioned. Sub-registrars do check the receipt date.
- Indian Stamp Act.
- The PoA is meant to transfer the property itself
- It cannot. A GPA does not convey title, per Suraj Lamp (SC, 2011). A PoA authorises someone to ACT for you, not to receive your property.
- The commonest and costliest misunderstanding.
Commonly got wrong
- A PoA can be used to sell the property to the holder. Suraj Lamp held GPA sales convey nothing. A PoA lets an agent act for you; it does not transfer ownership to them.A Power of Attorney lets someone sign on your behalf. It does not transfer the property to them. Only a registered sale deed does that.
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.
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.
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 Seychelles.
More for Indians in Seychelles
Friends & neighbours
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