Which countries are notified u/s 89A
Three, and only three. The Central Board of Direct Taxes notified them in Notification No. 25/2022 dated 4 April 2022. The Income-tax Department's own Form 40 FAQ (March 2026) says the notified countries are the US, the UK, Canada and Australia 'at present', but we have not traced a notification adding Australia, so confirm with the CBDT's current list before relying on it.
| Country | Typical account | Section 89A available? |
|---|---|---|
| United States of America | 401(k), traditional IRA | Yes |
| United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland | Workplace pension, SIPP | Yes |
| Canada | RRSP, RRIF | Yes |
| Australia | Superannuation | Listed in the department's Form 40 FAQ; no notification traced, confirm first |
| Everywhere else | Singapore CPF, Gulf end-of-service, EU pensions | No |
The list can only grow if the CBDT issues a fresh notification, so treat any other country as a no until you can point to one. If your account is Australian, the practical plan is in our note on Australian super after you move back to India.
That ITR row: 'income from retirement benefit account maintained in a notified country u/s 89A'
That row is where the relief actually shows up in your return. It sits in Schedule S if the account income is salary-natured and in Schedule OS if it is other income, and it asks you to pick the country from a dropdown.
What it means in plain terms: you are telling the department that this slice of income comes from a retirement account in one of the notified three, and that you have elected to be taxed on it in the withdrawal year rather than as it accrues. The schedules also carry a companion row for an account in a country that is not notified, and that one gets no relief.
The row is not self-executing. If you fill it in without having filed Form 10-EE on time, the relief has no basis and the entry invites a mismatch. File the form first, then use the row.
What the election actually does
It changes the year, not the amount. Without it, India can tax the growth inside your foreign retirement account as it accrues once you are an ordinary resident, while the foreign country waits until you withdraw. Two taxes, two different years, and a foreign tax credit that has nothing to sit against.
With the election, the income goes into your total income for the year the foreign country taxes it. India and that country then tax the same event in the same year, so the credit lines up.
Two conditions matter. You have to be a 'specified person', meaning you opened the account while you were a non-resident of India and a resident of that country, so an account you opened after moving back doesn't qualify. And the account has to be one the foreign country taxes on withdrawal or redemption rather than on accrual (Rule 21AAA), which is what a 401(k), an RRSP or a UK pension normally is.
A Roth IRA is the awkward one. A qualified Roth withdrawal isn't taxed by the US at all, so it doesn't obviously meet that second test, and no CBDT clarification or ruling settles the point. If your retirement money sits in a Roth, treat the election as an open question and get it looked at rather than assuming it qualifies.
Which form you file, and by when
Form 10-EE, e-filed on or before the due date for furnishing your return under Section 139(1). It is a standalone filing, so it goes in before or with the return, not afterwards. Miss the date and the relief is not available for that year.
Under the Income-tax Act 2025 the same relief is Section 158, and the form becomes Form 40. That's a year-split, not an overnight switch: FY 2025-26 income is still assessed under the old Act on Form 10-EE, and Form 40 applies from FY 2026-27.
Two things to weigh before you file. First, the option cannot be withdrawn. Once you exercise it, it applies to that year and every year after, for as long as you hold the account. Second, if you later become non-resident again, the option is treated as never having been exercised, which can pull income back into earlier years. Both are reasons to model the election rather than tick it by default.
If your account is not in a notified country
This is where many readers actually sit: a Gulf end-of-service gratuity, a European occupational pension, a Singapore CPF balance (and, unless the CBDT confirms Australia, an Australian super fund). Section 89A is simply unavailable, so there is no form to file and no timing relief to claim.
India then taxes the account under its ordinary rules. Once you are an ordinary resident, income arising in the account is generally taxable here, and India's rule leans to accrual, so growth inside the account can be taxed year by year even in a year you withdraw nothing.
Your relief comes from the treaty instead. Most of India's agreements have a pension article that allocates the taxing right, often to the country of residence for a private pension, plus a foreign tax credit for anything the source country charged. The answer is country-specific, which is why the notified-country check has to come first.
A worked example: two returnees, two countries
Priya returns from London with a UK workplace pension worth about 200,000 pounds. Rakesh returns from Dubai with a Gulf end-of-service gratuity. Both become Indian residents in the same year.
The UK is notified, so Priya has a choice. She opened the pension while she was a UK resident and a non-resident of India, so she is a specified person. Her CA models it, files Form 10-EE before her return due date, and India now taxes the pension in the year the UK does. The UK tax credits against the Indian tax in that same year instead of being wasted.
Rakesh has no such choice. The UAE is not notified, so there is no Form 10-EE. His CA maps his RNOR window, during which the gratuity stays outside India's net, and then applies India's ordinary rules and the relevant treaty from the year he becomes an ordinary resident.
Same question, two countries, two completely different answers, and the notified-country check is what separated them on day one.