LRS Remittance Limit
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$250,000 Annual Limit · TCS Rates · Purpose Codes

No — $250,000 per person per financial year is the LRS cap. If you need to remit more, you must apply to RBI through your AD Category-I bank with specific justification. Exceptions exist for certain purposes like emigration where RBI may grant approval. Splitting remittances across family members (each with their own $250K limit) is a legitimate strategy — e.g., husband and wife can together remit $500,000. However, gifting to family members to circumvent the limit (called "round-tripping") is prohibited under FEMA.

TCS is NOT automatically refunded. You must file your Income Tax Return (ITR) to claim the credit. The TCS amount appears in Form 26AS and AIS on the income tax portal against your PAN. When you file ITR, enter it under "Taxes Paid" — it reduces your tax payable. If total TCS exceeds your tax liability, the excess is refunded by the IT department after ITR processing (typically 2–3 months). If you don't file ITR, TCS is not refunded. This is why high-income individuals who fall in the 30% tax bracket are largely unaffected by TCS — it's effectively pre-paid tax. For individuals with income below the taxable limit, TCS is fully refundable.

No — LRS (Liberalised Remittance Scheme) applies only to Indian residents (persons resident in India as per FEMA). NRIs (Non-Resident Indians) are not subject to LRS limits. NRIs can freely repatriate income earned abroad and can repatriate income from India through NRE/FCNR accounts without the $250K cap. However, NRIs repatriating income from Indian assets (rental income, capital gains) are governed by separate FEMA repatriation rules and must go through NRO accounts with a certificate from a CA in Form 15CA/15CB if required.

Standard documents required: (1) Form A2 — Purpose of remittance declaration (bank provides this form). (2) PAN Card — mandatory for all LRS remittances. (3) KYC documents — Aadhaar, address proof. (4) Purpose-specific documents: For education — admission letter, fee invoice; For medical — doctor's letter, hospital estimate; For investments — broker/fund documents; For maintenance — relationship proof. (5) Form 15CA (if applicable) — filed online on income tax portal. (6) Form 15CB (if applicable) — CA certificate. Exemptions from 15CA/CB exist for 33 specified purposes including education, medical, travel, and maintenance of relatives.

As of the current rules, international credit card spends are NOT covered under LRS and hence do not attract TCS. In May 2023, the government had proposed including overseas credit card spends under LRS but later rolled back this proposal. Currently, only remittances made through the banking channel (wire transfers, forex purchase, etc.) are covered under LRS and TCS rules. International credit card spends are tracked separately and do not count toward the $250K LRS limit — though there are discussions about bringing them under LRS in the future. Always verify the latest RBI circular before planning large overseas spends.