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Pardeep Jha & Associates Chartered Accountants

Services

Seafarer Income Tax & NRI Status

For merchant navy officers and crew: we track your days in India against the 182-day line through the year, tell you the latest safe sign-on date before each contract, file your return on the status your CDC and passport support, and keep your bank accounts right under FEMA. Handled remotely, wherever you are sailing.

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What you get

Outcomes

  • Your non-resident status planned before each contract, not discovered after the year has closed
  • A live day tracker, maintained by us from your CDC and passport entries, showing days used, days left and the latest date to sign on
  • Ship salary credited to your NRE account kept outside Indian tax where the law allows it — and documented so it stays that way
  • Return filed on the right form with the evidence for your status on record — CDC, passport and contract dates reconciled
  • TDS deducted on NRO interest recovered as a refund instead of left with the department
  • Bank accounts aligned with FEMA: resident savings accounts redesignated, NRE and NRO used for what each is meant for

A seafarer’s tax position turns on one number: the days spent in India in the financial year. Fewer than 182, and an Indian citizen working on a ship is a non-resident — salary earned on a foreign ship stays outside Indian tax. 182 or more, and they are resident, and for most seafarers that means worldwide income, including the ship salary, is taxable in India.

The difficulty is that the number is decided by contract dates you do not fully control. A sign-on pushed back by three weeks, a contract cut short, a long leave between ships — any of them can move the count across the line, and nobody notices until the return is being filed. By then the year is over and the status cannot be changed.

So we track it while the year is still running. Every seafarer on our annual plan has a live tracker that we maintain from their CDC and passport entries, and before each contract we tell them the latest date they can sign on and keep non-resident status.

The numbers that decide the year

Status is a count, not a category

Days in India

182

At 182 days or more in the financial year, an Indian citizen working on a ship is resident.

Days outside India

184

What it takes in a 365-day year to stay under 182 — 185 in a leap year such as FY 2027-28.

Indian income

₹15L

Above this, the 120-day and deemed-residence rules can apply — ship salary is not counted.

Want to see your own count first? Our free seafarer NRI days calculator takes your CDC and passport dates and shows your days in India, your status, and the latest safe sign-on date. Nothing you enter leaves your browser.

What we handle

One engagement, the whole year

The live day tracker

Ship contracts and flights recorded as they happen. Contracts that start or end at an Indian port are counted as the voyage rule allows — the whole CDC period excluded; contracts joined abroad are counted from passport stamps, with travel days treated the safe way. You always know how many days remain.

The check before every sign-on

The one moment status can still be planned. Before each contract we confirm the latest date you can join and remain non-resident for the year — and what happens to the year if the contract is delayed.

The return, on the evidence

ITR-2 filed on the status the documents support, Indian income only, NRE interest claimed as exempt where it qualifies, TDS on NRO interest recovered. The day-count and its documents stay on file with the return.

FEMA and your bank accounts

Resident savings accounts redesignated as NRO, NRE used for foreign earnings, FCNR where currency risk matters, and the paperwork for money you send abroad. Reviewed once a year, and again when you come ashore.

Why the count goes wrong

  • Counting days away instead of days in India. The two do not add up the way people expect once travel days are included.
  • Assuming every day on board is outside India. The voyage rule that excludes the whole CDC period applies only to voyages that start or end at an Indian port. When you fly out to join a ship abroad, your passport stamps decide the count.
  • Treating the day you fly home as a day abroad. The department counts both the day you leave and the day you return as days in India. Some tribunals have disagreed about the arrival day, but a plan that depends on that argument is a plan to litigate.
  • Forgetting Indian income. Rent from a flat, interest on large NRO deposits, a property sale: above ₹15 lakh of Indian income, the rules change — a 120-day line for a visiting citizen, and deemed residence for a citizen who pays tax nowhere else.
  • Leaving the bank accounts as they were. Tax status and FEMA status are separate tests. Many seafarers are non-residents for tax while still running resident savings accounts.

The difference tracking makes

Counting at year-end vs. tracking through the year

Counted at filing time

The year is already decided

  • Days added up from memory in July, when nothing can be changed
  • A delayed sign-on discovered to have tipped the year into residence
  • Return filed as non-resident without the day-count to back it
  • NRO TDS left unclaimed; resident savings accounts still open

Tracked through the year

The year is planned

  • Days recorded as each contract starts and ends
  • Latest safe sign-on date known before every contract
  • Status supported by CDC and passport reconciliation, kept on file
  • Refunds claimed, accounts aligned with FEMA, notices answered from the record

The detail behind it

The rules — Section 6 of the Income-tax Act 1961 for FY 2025-26, and Section 6 of the Income-tax Act 2025 with Rule 8 of the Income-tax Rules 2026 from tax year 2026-27 — are set out with worked examples in our income tax guide for seafarers. Related guides cover FEMA and your bank accounts, notices questioning your status, and coming ashore for good. For property, repatriation and other NRI matters, see our NRI and FEMA practice.

Methodology

How we work

  1. Collect the evidence once

    CDC pages, passport entry and exit stamps, contracts or sign-on letters, wage slips, and your NRE and NRO statements. Sent over WhatsApp or email from wherever you are. We also pull your AIS and Form 26AS with your authorisation, so we see what the department sees.

  2. Build your tracker and confirm the open years

    Every period away goes into your tracker: ship contracts counted as the voyage rule allows, flights counted from passport stamps. We confirm your status for the year now being filed and the current year, and flag anything close to the line — including whether Indian income above ₹15 lakh brings the stricter 120-day and deemed-residence rules into play.

  3. Check before every sign-on

    Before you join the next ship, we tell you how many days you have used, how many remain, and the latest date you can sign on and still stay non-resident. When a contract is delayed or cut short, we re-run the year the same day.

  4. File the return on the evidence

    After 31 March we file your Indian return — ITR-2 for a non-resident — reporting Indian income only, claiming the NRE interest exemption where it applies, and recovering TDS deducted on NRO interest. The day count and its supporting documents are kept on file in case the status is ever questioned.

  5. Keep FEMA and the department in order

    Once a year we review your accounts — resident savings accounts that should now be NRO, NRE deposits, FCNR — and your advance-tax position on Indian income. If the department sends a query about your status or your salary, we answer it with the record we have already built.

Scope

What's included

  • Live residential-status tracker for the financial year, maintained by us and shared with you
  • Pre-sign-on note before each contract: days used, days left, latest safe sign-on date
  • Residential-status working for each year filed, with CDC and passport reconciliation
  • Income-tax return (ITR-2) for non-residents; ITR-3 where there is business income
  • Refund claim for TDS deducted on NRO interest and other Indian income
  • Annual FEMA review of your Indian bank accounts and deposits
  • Advance-tax check on Indian income — rent, interest, capital gains
  • First response to routine department communications — 143(1) intimations, e-verification and compliance-portal queries
  • Return-to-India plan when you come ashore: RNOR years, account redesignation, timing of deposits

Common questions

Frequently asked

What does it cost?
Indicative fees, confirmed in writing before we start. Return filing for one year, with your status verified from your CDC and passport: ₹3,500 to ₹5,000. The annual seafarer plan — live tracker, a check before every sign-on, the return, the FEMA review and first responses to routine department queries: ₹8,000 to ₹15,000 a year, depending on how many contracts and Indian income sources you have. Scrutiny notices, lower-deduction certificates and Form 146 certificates for remittances are quoted separately.
My only income is my ship salary. Do I need to file a return at all?
If you are non-resident and your salary is for services on a foreign ship, credited to your NRE account, it is not taxable in India, and NRE interest is exempt. With no other Indian income above the basic exemption limit, filing may not be mandatory. We still recommend it: the return records your status year by year, recovers TDS on any NRO interest, and is the first document banks and visa officers ask for. A seafarer with a filed return and a day-count on record is also far easier to defend if the status is ever questioned.
How do you keep track while I am at sea?
You send us the sign-on and sign-off dates as they happen — a photo of the CDC page or the sign-on letter on WhatsApp is enough. We update your tracker, which recalculates the year automatically, and we review it before each new contract. You can ask for your current position at any time.
I still have a regular savings account in India. Is that a problem?
Probably. Once you are a person resident outside India under FEMA — which a seafarer who has gone abroad for employment on a foreign ship generally is — resident savings accounts should be redesignated as NRO accounts. Many seafarers never do this. It is easily corrected through the bank, and the sooner the better; we tell you exactly what to ask the bank for.
I received a notice asking about my residential status or my salary. Can you help?
Yes. Status disputes are won on documents: CDC entries, passport stamps, contracts and the day-count working. We reconstruct the year, reply on the e-proceedings portal, and represent you through any hearing. Our guide to income-tax notices for seafarers sets out what each notice is asking and the evidence that answers it.
I am coming ashore for good. What changes?
Your status for the year of return depends on your days in India, and for the next one or two years you may be resident but not ordinarily resident — which keeps foreign income received outside India out of Indian tax while you settle. NRE accounts must be redesignated under FEMA when you return to stay; FCNR deposits can run to maturity. Wages for the final contract need care, because a resident — even a not ordinarily resident one — is taxed on income received in India. We plan the timing with you before you sign off for the last time.

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Book a 30-minute discovery call. We'll scope the engagement, confirm deliverables, and give you a fixed-fee proposal within 48 hours.

Book a consult WhatsApp us +91 6391 110 333