One picture of your taxes across three countries.

India and your home country can both tax the same Indian income. The India–US and India–Canada treaties (DTAA) address this with a foreign tax credit: India's tax on that income is generally creditable against your home country's tax on the same income, so the broad effect is to pay the higher of the two rates once rather than both stacked. The mechanics — credit limits, which income qualifies, Form 1116 or its Canadian equivalent — are where it gets fiddly. Meridian models the credit to show an indicative residual; a cross-border CPA/CA should confirm your actual position.

As a general rule, while you are an NRI, NRE and FCNR interest is exempt from Indian tax, while NRO interest is taxable in India, with banks typically deducting around 30% TDS regardless of your slab. Where too much has been withheld, the usual routes are an ITR-2 filing to reclaim it, and Form 10F plus a tax residency certificate to access a lower treaty rate. Either way, the US or Canada generally still taxes all of it as worldwide income — exempt in India does not mean exempt at home. Rates and procedures change, so check your own position with a CA.

To the IRS, an Indian mutual fund is typically a PFIC (Passive Foreign Investment Company). Left unmanaged, the PFIC rules are punitive — an interest charge plus top-rate tax on "excess distributions" and gains. Each fund generally needs its own Form 8621, and a QEF or mark-to-market election may reduce the damage, though those elections carry their own conditions and deadlines. ETFs and ULIPs can be PFICs too. This is the most commonly mishandled NRI item and is usually worth professional help rather than a DIY filing.

They are separate filings that overlap. FBAR (FinCEN 114) reports foreign accounts when their combined highest balance exceeds US$10,000, and is filed separately with FinCEN. Form 8938 (FATCA) is filed with your 1040, starts at higher thresholds that vary by filing status and whether you live abroad, and covers more asset types. Many NRIs end up needing both. Thresholds and definitions change — confirm the current ones, or have a preparer do it, before filing.

Broadly yes, within FEMA limits. Up to USD 1 million per financial year can generally be remitted from an NRO account, which normally requires Form 15CA/15CB (a chartered accountant's certificate). NRE and FCNR balances are generally freely repatriable without that cap. Banks apply their own documentation requirements on top, and a clean paper trail showing the source of funds matters — your bank and a CA can confirm what applies to your accounts.

When an NRI sells Indian property, the buyer is generally required to withhold TDS under §195 on the whole sale value rather than only on the gain, which can tie up a substantial sum for months. A Form 13 lower/nil-TDS certificate can bring the withholding down towards the actual capital-gains liability. The gain is taxable in India and, subject to the treaty credit, generally at home too. The applicable rate depends on the sale value and surcharge and the rules change, so price the certificate route with a CA well before you sign.

Quietly starting to file from this year onward is risky — it can be characterised as willful. For taxpayers whose failure was non-willful, the IRS Streamlined Foreign Offshore Procedures offer a catch-up route (broadly 3 years of amended returns, 6 years of FBARs, and a signed certification), with penalties generally waived where the conditions are met. Eligibility is fact-specific and the certification is signed under penalty of perjury, so this is one to discuss with a cross-border CPA before filing anything at all.

Often, yes — and note this tool estimates federal tax only. Some states, California among them, tax worldwide income and do not follow the DTAA or give a foreign tax credit, so Indian interest, rent and gains can be taxed again at state level even after the federal treaty credit. States with no income tax (Texas, Florida, Washington, Nevada and others) don't. State rules vary widely and change, so check your own state's current position.

Possibly. For US persons, premiums paid to a foreign insurer such as LIC generally attract a 1% federal excise tax (Form 720); traditional endowment policies are typically reportable, maturity proceeds may be taxable because the US §7702 definition is rarely met, and ULIPs can fall under the PFIC rules and Form 8621. Canada taxes policy growth on a different basis but still expects it reported. Treatment turns on the specific policy, so have yours reviewed rather than assuming.

Resident but Not Ordinarily Resident (RNOR) is a transitional Indian tax status that can, for roughly the first two to three years after you return, keep much of your foreign income outside the Indian net. Whether you qualify, and for how long, depends on your residency history — so the timing of the move, and of any repatriation or sale, matters a great deal. Worth planning with a CA before you move. (Meridian is built for NRIs living abroad; a dedicated returnee mode is on the roadmap.)