The answer is both Yes and No, it depends on the source of funds. Technically, Yes, you can deposit INR or Indian rupees in NRE account in India with both private banks e.g. HDFC, ICICI, Kotak, YesBank, Federal Bank, and any public sector banks like SBI, Bank of Baroda, Bank of India, etc, provided the source of INR is another NRE or FCNR account. So, if your friends, relative, or wife has an NRE saving account and they can legally transfer Indian Rupees to you.
Similarly, if you have more than one NRE account let's say one NRE account with SBI and another NRE saving account with HDFC then also you can deposit INR from SBI NRE to HDFC NRE account. Both are perfectly legal, though you have to be careful when you ask friends to deposit money because that would be considered a gift and you may need to pay income tax on that.
Asking wife or parents to transfer money to the NRE account should be fine because they are immediate family members. Also, NRI can open more than one NRE account with different banks in India.
NRE accounts are somewhat restricted in terms of permissible credits. These accounts are opened in Indian rupees and all foreign exchange deposits received for credit of these accounts are first converted to Indian rupees at the bank's buying rate. You can see this list of all the permissible ways to deposit money into an NRE account.
Similarly, if you have more than one NRE account let's say one NRE account with SBI and another NRE saving account with HDFC then also you can deposit INR from SBI NRE to HDFC NRE account. Both are perfectly legal, though you have to be careful when you ask friends to deposit money because that would be considered a gift and you may need to pay income tax on that.
Asking wife or parents to transfer money to the NRE account should be fine because they are immediate family members. Also, NRI can open more than one NRE account with different banks in India.
NRE accounts are somewhat restricted in terms of permissible credits. These accounts are opened in Indian rupees and all foreign exchange deposits received for credit of these accounts are first converted to Indian rupees at the bank's buying rate. You can see this list of all the permissible ways to deposit money into an NRE account.
Can NRI deposit Indian Rupees in NRE Saving Account?
On the other hand, you cannot deposit INR to your NRE account from any other source e.g. you cannot transfer money from your friends or wife's resident saving account to your NRE account.Since the source of those funds is not overseas they are not eligible to deposit on an NRE account which allows free repatriation of funds i.e. you can online transfer money from your SBI NRE account to the USA, Canada, UK, Singapore or any other country.
Even If you have a resident saving account with the same bank, you cannot transfer money from the resident saving account to NRE. In fact, you need to first ask your bank to convert your resident saving account to NRO account before opening an NRE account.
One exception to the rule is that you can transfer INR from the NRO saving account or fixed deposit to an NRE account but that is subject to a limit of 1 million USD per year. You also need to take a written approval and pay taxes in advance before transferring Indian rupees from NRO to NRE saving the account. See this article to learn more about how to transfer money from an NRO account to an NRE account in India.
Now, the questions come what if you have sold a property and got a big amount of money on Indian rupees, where should you deposit that? Well, NRO accounts are for just these purposes. You can deposit rental income, royalty income, income from selling properties, etc into an NRO account. Once you got the money in the NRO account you can start the procedure for transferring INR to your NRE account.
That's all about whether you can deposit INR into your NRE account in India or not. As I said, it's perfectly ok to deposit money in your NRE account from India be it the SBI NRE account or HDFC NRE account. The only thing which is important is the source of funds. You can only deposit INR which is from other NRE accounts or NRO accounts. You cannot deposit INR from the resident saving account to your NRE account.
Just remember, once your income tax status changes to NRI, you cannot keep your resident saving account or resident fixed deposit. You need to convert them to an NRO saving account and fixed deposit as early as possible.
Even If you have a resident saving account with the same bank, you cannot transfer money from the resident saving account to NRE. In fact, you need to first ask your bank to convert your resident saving account to NRO account before opening an NRE account.
One exception to the rule is that you can transfer INR from the NRO saving account or fixed deposit to an NRE account but that is subject to a limit of 1 million USD per year. You also need to take a written approval and pay taxes in advance before transferring Indian rupees from NRO to NRE saving the account. See this article to learn more about how to transfer money from an NRO account to an NRE account in India.
Now, the questions come what if you have sold a property and got a big amount of money on Indian rupees, where should you deposit that? Well, NRO accounts are for just these purposes. You can deposit rental income, royalty income, income from selling properties, etc into an NRO account. Once you got the money in the NRO account you can start the procedure for transferring INR to your NRE account.
That's all about whether you can deposit INR into your NRE account in India or not. As I said, it's perfectly ok to deposit money in your NRE account from India be it the SBI NRE account or HDFC NRE account. The only thing which is important is the source of funds. You can only deposit INR which is from other NRE accounts or NRO accounts. You cannot deposit INR from the resident saving account to your NRE account.
Just remember, once your income tax status changes to NRI, you cannot keep your resident saving account or resident fixed deposit. You need to convert them to an NRO saving account and fixed deposit as early as possible.
Other NRI Related Articles You may like to read
- Is it mandatory to file income tax returns for NRIs?
- 3 Income tax benefits of opening NRI accounts in India
- 13 ways to save income tax in India
- 5 Tax Saving options not available to NRIs
- Is NRI's overseas income taxable in India
- How much TDS is deducted from the NRO account?
- How much is the minimum account balance in the NRI account?
- 10 Income tax deductions and exemptions NRIs should know
- How NRIs can file their income tax returns online
- Is it mandatory for NRIs to declare foreign bank accounts on tax returns?
- How to determine the tax residential status of NRIs?
- 10 points NRIs should know about Income tax?
- Is Aadhaar card Mandatory for filing an Income tax return for NRIs?
Thanks for reading this article so far, if you find this information useful then please share it with your friends and colleagues. If you have any questions or feedback then please drop a note.
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing such great information. It is informative, can you help me in finding out more detail on Best Tax Saving Plan , i am interested and would like to know more about this field and wanted to understand the basics of Best Tax Saving Plans
I am non-resident and I still have the normal savings account and fixed deposits in India. Is that illegal ?
ReplyDeleteI am non-resident and I still have the normal savings account and fixed deposits in India. Is that illegal ?
ReplyDeletechange it to nre or nro account as soon as possible to be legal..
DeleteThere are list of blogs available online on NRE accounts in India. But this one is complete guide to me. This resolved all my queries related NRE Saving account. I will definietely share this blog link with my friends who wants to send money to India. Thank you for sharing this informative blog with us. Keep up the good work Javin.
ReplyDeleteThanks a lot for this blog. You are doing an awesome job.. Have got these following questions.. 1) How can somebody/blood relatives send money abroad from India? 2) Can you transfer money from your NRE/NRO account to your blood relatives' account? 3) What is the procedure to repatriate money from NRE accounts?4 ) Can you transfer money from FCNR to NRE/NRO/ savings accounts of blood relatives?
ReplyDeleteHello Anonymous please see my answers
Delete1) How can somebody/blood relatives send money abroad from India?
You can send money using online remittance websites e.g. moneyToIndia to any bank account in India.
But you should remember that only your parents in blood relatives are exempted from tax i.e. when you send them money, it would be considered gift and that is not taxable in India but if you send money to your siblings e.g. brother or sister then it will be considered income for them and they have to pay tax.
2) Can you transfer money from your NRE/NRO account to your blood relatives' account?
Yes, you can. Both NRE and NRO Account allows you to send money to normal saving account in India.
3) What is the procedure to repatriate money from NRE accounts?
You can do by online banking, just look for relevant section. Money in NRE account is fully repatriable so you don't need any permission to do so.
4 ) Can you transfer money from FCNR to NRE/NRO/ savings accounts of blood relatives?
FCNR is just a fixed deposit so it doesn't have other banking facility but you can break FCNR and get your money abroad or NRE account and do the transfer.
Thanks
I have already transferred my savings from abroad to my brother`s savings account (as I do not hold a NRE account at the moment). After I get my NRE account can I transfer the money from my brother`s Indian saving account to my NRE account. I can show that the origin of that money is my foreign account. Please advice
ReplyDeleteI have transferred dollars amount to my NRE ACC my parents wanted them for time being and when they pay me back in rupees I want them in my Indian acc , how can they deposit into bank acc as I know they cannot deposit into my NRE acc , should I hold a diff acc? If so will the money be taxed again as I have paid tax before sending it to NRE acc. Could you please help me out . Thank you very much .
ReplyDeleteIs it possible to get refund of income tax into NRE account ?
ReplyDeleteIs it possible to take e refund from the income tax into NRE account ?
ReplyDeleteI don't think so as for NRE account source of fund should be outside India, though I don't have any official reference but given they may be using local clearing most likely its not possible.
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