What are the conditions required to achieve residential status of an individual ?

The conditions required to achieve residential status of an individual are:

1. Resident (ordinarily resident):

An individual will be a resident and ordinarily resident in India if he fulfills one or both basic conditions and both additional conditions.

2. Not ordinarily resident:

The individual must fulfill one or both of the basic condi­tions and one or none of the additional two.

3. Non-resident:

An individual not fulfilling any of the basic conditions will be a non­resident. It is not relevant whether or not he fulfills the additional conditions.

In case an individual wants to escape the status of ‘ordinarily resident’ for tax reasons, he must remain non-resident here by remaining out of India for a period of 2 fiscal years. He will remain thus a not ordinarily resident until he completes a fresh period of 9 years’ residence. He may once again remain absent for 2 years and thus he will be escaping the rigours of fiscal laws by keeping the status of not ordinarily resident throughout.