Most Indians don't know they can legally invest $250,000 abroad every year. Here's everything you need to know about global investing — costs, taxes, platforms, and estate tax. A thread 🧵
Yes. The RBI's Liberalised Remittance Scheme (LRS) lets every resident Indian remit up to $250,000 per year abroad. That's per person. A couple can move $500,000 annually. Perfectly legal. Underused.
You'll pay ~1% on each remittance. Less on larger amounts. So do a lump sum - not small, frequent transfers. Once the money's there, you can park it in cash (up to 6 months) or US Treasuries (no time limit) and deploy it into equities slowly. Like an STP.
Tax Collected at Source (TCS) applies on remittances above ₹10 lakh. It's not an extra tax. You can adjust it against your advance tax or claim a refund when you file. Don't let TCS stop you. It's a cash flow timing issue, not a cost.
Pick a platform built on a solid foundation. Many fintechs offering global investing in India are built on lesser-known entities abroad - that's a risk most investors don't think about. We use Paasa (disclosure: affiliate partner), built on Interactive Brokers - a 50 year-old, listed US broker.
US estate tax catches a lot of investors off guard. If you hold US-domiciled assets above $60,000 and you pass away, the IRS can tax your estate. The fix: invest through UCITS ETFs (Ireland-domiciled). Same global exposure. No US estate tax risk.
A basket of global UCITS ETFs gives you: → Exposure to US, Europe, EM and global markets → No US estate tax risk → Low costs → True geographic diversification beyond India The specific ETFs depend on your goals, timeline, and tax situation.
Want to know which ETFs and how to structure your portfolio? Book a call with us at thefynprint.com We'll walk you through it. After that, every decision - platform, asset manager, advisor - is yours.
Foreign asset reporting?
Simply fill Schedule FA. Sometimes Schedule FSI & TR will apply too. Most platforms will give these to you prefilled.
Simply fill Schedule FA. Sometimes Schedule FSI & TR will apply too. Most platforms will give these to you prefilled.
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