Direct and Indirect Taxation · Residential Status and Scope of Total Income

Residential Status of an Individual under Income-tax Act, 2025

Updated 10 October 2026 · Fact-checked

Residential status of an individual is decided for each tax year under section 6. You test the basic conditions (182 days, or 60 days plus 365 days in the four preceding years), apply the exceptions, check deemed residence, then test the additional conditions to split Resident into ROR or RNOR. If no basic condition is met, the individual is a non-resident.

Understand Residential Status of an Individual

Residential status decides which of your income India can tax. A resident is taxed on global income. A non-resident is taxed only on income connected with India. So every income-tax problem starts here.

Status is decided for each tax year, and it depends on days of stay, not on citizenship. A foreigner can be a resident, and an Indian citizen can be a non-resident. Section 6(2) gives two basic conditions. You are resident if you are in India for 182 days or more in the tax year, or for 60 days or more in the tax year and 365 days or more in the four years before it. Meeting either one is enough.

The second condition has exceptions. It does not apply to an Indian citizen who leaves India in the tax year as a crew member of an Indian ship, or for employment outside India. For these, only the 182-day test works. It also does not apply to a citizen or person of Indian origin who is outside India and comes on a visit. For such a visitor, 60 days becomes 120 days if total income, other than foreign-source income, exceeds ₹15 lakh.

There is also a deemed-residence rule in section 6(7). An Indian citizen is deemed resident if total income other than foreign-source income exceeds ₹15 lakh and he is not liable to tax in any other country by reason of domicile, residence or similar criteria. This rule does not apply if he is already resident under sections 6(2) to 6(6).

Once an individual is resident, section 6(13) decides whether he is not ordinarily resident (RNOR). If none of those conditions applies, he is resident and ordinarily resident (ROR). A person who meets no residence condition is a non-resident (NR).

Key rules to remember

Basic condition (a): Days in India in the tax year ≥ 182; Section 6(2)(a). Satisfying this alone makes the individual resident.
Basic condition (b): Days in the tax year ≥ 60 AND days in the preceding 4 years ≥ 365; Section 6(2)(b). Both parts must be met. Count days cumulatively, not as continuous stay.
Exception for outbound citizen: Citizen leaving India for employment abroad or as crew of an Indian ship: only 182-day test applies; Section 6(3). Condition (b) is switched off for the year of leaving.
Exception for visiting citizen or PIO: Visit to India: 60 days → 120 days if total income (excluding foreign-source income) > ₹15 lakh; Sections 6(4) and 6(5). Applies to a citizen or person of Indian origin who is outside India and visits. Income must exceed ₹15 lakh, not just equal it.
Deemed resident: Citizen + not liable to tax in any other country by domicile, residence or similar criteria + total income (excluding foreign-source income) > ₹15 lakh; Section 6(7). Such a person is treated as resident but is RNOR under section 6(13)(c). Does not apply if already resident under section 6(2) to (6).
RNOR test 1: NR in 9 of the 10 preceding tax years; Section 6(13)(a)(i).
RNOR test 2: In India for 729 days or less in the 7 preceding tax years; Section 6(13)(a)(ii). Meeting either test 1 or test 2 makes the resident an RNOR.
RNOR test 3: Citizen or PIO + total income (excluding foreign-source income) > ₹15 lakh + in India 120 days or more but less than 182 days; Section 6(13)(b). This applies to the visiting citizen or PIO who is resident under the 120-day rule.
RNOR test 4: Citizen deemed resident under section 6(7); Section 6(13)(c).

How to solve Residential Status of an Individual questions

Use the same order for every question. It stops you missing an exception.

1Write the tax year (1 April to 31 March) and list the days of stay in it. Note citizenship or Indian origin, and the purpose of any travel.
2Test the 182-day condition. If met, he is resident. Go to step 6.
3If not met, check whether he is a citizen who left India for employment abroad or as crew of an Indian ship. If yes, he is not resident under section 6(2), so go to step 5.
4If not, check whether he is a citizen or PIO visiting India. If so, set the day limit at 60 days, or 120 days if income other than foreign-source income exceeds ₹15 lakh. Test that limit together with 365 days in the four preceding years.
5If no condition is met, apply the deemed-residence rule of section 6(7): citizen, income above ₹15 lakh excluding foreign sources, and not liable to tax elsewhere. If it applies, he is resident but not ordinarily resident. Otherwise he is non-resident.
6For a resident, test the RNOR conditions of section 6(13): NR in 9 of 10 years, or 729 days or less in 7 years, or the citizen or PIO 120-182 day case. Any one makes him RNOR. If none applies, he is ROR.
7State the final status in one line with the reason, and refer to the section.

Quickest way: Three-gate check

When to use it: For MCQs and for the first lines of a written answer when time is short.

Gate 1: look for 182 days. If yes, resident. Otherwise look for 60 days plus 365 days. Note the 120-day change and the employment-abroad exception.
Gate 2: if the person is a citizen with income above ₹15 lakh excluding foreign sources and no tax liability in any other country, he is at least a deemed resident.
Gate 3: for residents, check 9 NR years out of 10, and 729 days or less in 7 years. One true means RNOR. Neither true means ROR.

Common mistakes in Residential Status of an Individual

Applying the 60 plus 365 day test to a citizen who left India for employment abroad.
Students remember both basic conditions and forget the exception.
Fix: Read the purpose of travel first. For employment abroad or Indian ship crew, only 182 days counts.
Using 120 days for every visiting person of Indian origin.
The 120-day limit is memorised without its income condition.
Fix: Use 120 days only when income other than foreign-source income exceeds ₹15 lakh. Otherwise the limit is 60 days.
Treating the two basic conditions as both required.
The word 'and' inside condition (b) is mistaken for linking (a) and (b).
Fix: Conditions (a) and (b) are alternatives. The 'and' sits only inside condition (b).
Testing RNOR for a non-resident.
Students run the section 6(13) tests whenever the person is Indian.
Fix: RNOR is a sub-class of resident. Establish residence first.
Counting the four preceding years as a stay of 365 continuous days.
The word 'cumulatively' is overlooked.
Fix: Add up all days across the four years, whether in one visit or many.
Treating 729 days as 'more than 729' for RNOR.
The test is reversed.
Fix: RNOR applies when the individual was in India for 729 days or less in the seven preceding years. 730 days or more fails this test.

Worked examples

Example 1

Rohan Mehta, an Indian citizen, left India on 1 September 2026 for employment in Dubai. In the tax year 2026-27 he was in India for 154 days. He was in India for 900 days in the four years before 2026-27. He had been resident in 6 of the 10 preceding tax years and was in India for 2,200 days in the preceding 7 tax years. Determine his residential status for 2026-27.

Show the solution

Days in the tax year are 154, which is below 182. Condition (a) fails.
Rohan is a citizen who left India for employment outside India. Section 6(3) switches off condition (b), even though 154 ≥ 60 and 900 ≥ 365.
Section 6(2) therefore does not make him resident. Deemed residence under section 6(7) needs total income above ₹15 lakh excluding foreign-source income and no tax liability in any other country; no such facts are given, so it does not apply.
No residence condition is met.

Answer: Rohan is a non-resident for the tax year 2026-27.

Example 2

Meera Iyer, an Indian citizen, lives in Singapore and visits India for 130 days in the tax year 2026-27. She was in India for 500 days in the four preceding years. Her income from Indian sources is ₹18,00,000. She was non-resident in 9 of the 10 preceding tax years. Determine her residential status.

Show the solution

Days in the tax year are 130, below 182. Condition (a) fails.
Meera is a citizen visiting India from outside, so section 6(4) applies. Her Indian-source income of ₹18,00,000 exceeds ₹15 lakh, so under section 6(5) the 60-day limit becomes 120 days.
Test condition (b): 130 ≥ 120 and 500 ≥ 365. Both are met, so she is resident.
Now test RNOR. She was NR in 9 of the 10 preceding years, so section 6(13)(a)(i) applies. Section 6(13)(b) also fits: citizen, income above ₹15 lakh excluding foreign sources, and 130 days is between 120 and 181.
She is therefore RNOR.

Answer: Meera is resident but not ordinarily resident (RNOR) for the tax year 2026-27.

Exam tips

Underline the citizenship, the purpose of travel and the income figures in the question. They decide which exception applies.
Write the tax year first and count days only within 1 April to 31 March.
In a written answer, give the section number against each test. It earns step marks even if a number slips.
For MCQs, check the exceptions before the 182-day test. Options often differ only by ROR, RNOR or NR.
Always end with a one-line status conclusion. Later computation parts depend on it.

Practice questions from Residential Status and Scope of Total Income

Residential Status of an Individual in other exams

The same ground in other exams, if you are preparing for more than one or want another angle on it.

Residential Status of an Individual: frequently asked questions

What is the residential status of an individual under the Income-tax Act, 2025?

It is the classification of an individual as resident and ordinarily resident, resident but not ordinarily resident, or non-resident for a tax year. Section 6 sets the tests. It decides whether foreign income is taxed in India.

What are the conditions for resident but not ordinarily resident?

A resident individual is RNOR if he was non-resident in 9 of the 10 preceding tax years, or was in India for 729 days or less in the 7 preceding tax years. A citizen or person of Indian origin with income above ₹15 lakh excluding foreign sources who stayed 120 to 181 days is also RNOR. So is a citizen deemed resident under section 6(7).

How is residential status decided for an Indian citizen leaving India for employment?

In the tax year of leaving, the 60 plus 365 day condition does not apply. He becomes resident only if he stays 182 days or more in India in that tax year. Check deemed residence under section 6(7) separately.

Does citizenship decide residential status?

No. Days of stay decide it, with citizenship and Indian origin relevant only for the exceptions and the deemed-residence rule. A foreign national can be resident, and an Indian citizen can be non-resident.