Can I remit Dh1 million from my NRE/NRI account in India to my bank account in the UAE?

I am an NRI based in the UAE, keen to start a business here. I intend to move Dh1 million to the UAE from my account in India. What are the Indian/UAE banking/tax rules governing the same?

It is very encouraging to note that you are starting a business in UAE. We are to
assume that funds are lying in your bank account in India. Since you have not
clarified whether the bank account in India is Non-Resident Ordinary account (NRO) or Non-Resident External (NRE) account, we will cover transfer of funds out of India covering any of the two accounts.

First, let us cover the scenario of moving funds out of the NRO account. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) allows NRIs to remit up to $1 million per financial year (from April to March) from the NRO account. For the purposes of remittance of funds from your NRO account in India to your bank account in the UAE, you will need to fill Form A 2 for remittance and submit this duly signed form to your bank along with copies of your identification documents and a copy of Form 15 CA that is to be submitted online through Income Tax portal under your PAN Login.

Once Form 15CA is filled and uploaded on the Income Tax Portal, you will receive acknowledgement of the form submitted that should be submitted to the remitting bank along with remittance application form (A2 form) and your bank would process this remittance request to the extent of an amount equivalent to $1 million per financial year. Your bank in India may call for clarification or additional documentation if required.

For remittance of funds from the NRE account, you need to submit the remittance application form (A 2 form) for transfer of funds from your own account in India to your own account in the UAE. Funds lying in the NRE account are fully repatriable. In this case, Form 15 CA is not required when remitting funds to your own account. As a precaution, please ensure that the title of NRE account in India and the account in UAE to avoid any queries that may be raised by the bank.

– CA Dhaval Jasani is the founder and CEO of ZTI, a boutique advisory firm based in Dubai. He has experience handling assignments across geographies, including but not limited to East Africa, Central Africa, South Africa, West Africa, Europe, UAE and India. He has led fundraising, forensic accounting, arbitration, due diligence, mergers, acquisitions, structures, compliance and techno-economic feasibility studies in his more than two-decade old career.

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