NRI Guides for Australia
The Australia-India relationship adds its own residency tests, its own tax offset mechanism, and a real decision every time you send money home: which service actually gets the most rupees to the other end. These three guides cover that layer specifically. For the India-side rules that apply no matter where you live, see the general NRI guides below.
Australia-specific guides
How to Send Money From Australia to India →
A real cost comparison of Wise, Remitly, WorldRemit, OFX, and more, and why the advertised fee is not the whole story.
Australia-India DTAA Guide →
The ATO Certificate of Residency, claiming the Foreign Income Tax Offset, and why Australia doesn't have an FBAR-style reporting form.
Australia Tax Filing Basics for NRIs →
How the ATO's residency tests decide your status, and what an Australian tax resident with India-source income needs to report.
General NRI guides (apply from any country)
Which account to use for salary, rent, and pension.
How the treaty system and Form 41 claim process work in general.
The USD 1 million NRO cap and required forms.
TDS rates, the lower-deduction certificate, and repatriation.
EPF interest, tax-free withdrawal, and the EPS 10-year rule.
Frequently asked questions
Does Australia have anything like the US FBAR for my NRE or NRO accounts?
No. Australia doesn't have a standalone form requiring you to report foreign account balances. Your tax return does ask a yes-or-no question about whether you held foreign assets worth AUD 50,000 or more, but the underlying foreign income itself is what actually has to be declared. Covered in the Australia-India DTAA guide.
I read that Australia's residency test is changing. Is that true?
Not yet. A 2023 Treasury consultation proposed replacing the current four-part residency test with a simpler day-count-based test, but as of this page's last check, that proposal has not been enacted and the existing tests (the resides test, domicile test, 183-day test, and superannuation test) are still the law. Don't rely on guides that assume the new test is already in effect.