Send Money to India
Compare transfer costs, understand TCS, and avoid hidden fees.
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Start with the true cost of your transfer
Most transfers lose money to the exchange-rate margin, not the upfront fee. See the net amount that actually lands in India after fees, spread, and TCS.
Remittance & TCS
See the real cost of an India–US transfer: flat fees, hidden exchange-rate margin, and India's TCS on outward remittances — and the net amount that actually arrives.
Start here
The cost of a transfer is the easy part
Comparison sites answer one question: which app has the best rate today. The questions that actually cost NRIs money are which direction the money is moving, which account it lands in, and who is receiving it. None of those appear on a rate table.
1. Which direction is the money going?
Nearly every tax question about India–US transfers has a different answer depending on direction, and conflating the two is the single most common mistake. India’s TCS, for instance, belongs to money leaving India under the Liberalised Remittance Scheme — it is not something that applies when you send dollars home from Ohio.
| Direction | What bites | Go deeper |
|---|---|---|
| USA → India | No Indian tax on the transfer itself. The exchange-rate margin is your real cost, and a US federal excise now applies to certain remittance transfers depending on how they are funded. | True cost · US 1% fee |
| India → USA | This is the harder direction. TCS and the LRS annual cap apply to residents remitting abroad. For an NRO account, current income is generally freely remittable after tax, while balances and other eligible assets use the USD1 million per financial year facility. Forms 15CA/15CB are transaction-dependent under Rule 37BB — a chartered accountant’s certificate on Form 15CB is not needed for every remittance. | TCS · 15CA/15CB |
| Property or inheritance proceeds | Its own regime: TDS withheld by the buyer, proceeds paid into an NRO account, then the USD1 million per financial year remittance-of-assets facility and any certification Rule 37BB requires. | Property TDS · Repatriation |
2. Which account does it land in? This one is a door that shuts
A transfer app will happily send money to any Indian account you name, and it will never mention that the choice decides whether you can get that money back out again. Funds in an NRE account are freely repatriable — they can return to the US without a cap or a certificate. Funds in an NRO account follow two different rules. Current income such as rent, dividends, interest and pension is generally freely remittable after applicable Indian taxes. NRO balances, sale proceeds and other eligible assets generally fall within the USD1 million per financial year remittance-of-assets facility. Forms 15CA/15CB are transaction-dependent under Rule 37BB; both forms are not required for every remittance.
Money you may want back
Savings, a house deposit you might not use, money parked for rates — send it to an NRE account. You are paying nothing for the option to reverse the decision.
Money that is being spent in India
Family support, bills, a loan repayment, an India-sourced obligation — NRO is the right home. Just do not let long-term savings accumulate there by default.
The trap is drift rather than a decision: years of transfers into the account that happened to be convenient, and then a repatriation problem when priorities change. How NRE and NRO actually differ →
3. Who is receiving it? That decides whether it is their income
Sending money to your own Indian account is not income and not a gift — it is your money moving. Sending it to somebody else is a gift, and India taxes gifts in the recipient’s hands under the Income Tax Act rather than the sender’s.
- To yourself: not taxable in India. Note the US-side consequence instead — funding your own Indian accounts is what creates FBAR and FATCA reporting obligations once the balances cross the thresholds. Check whether you have to report.
- To a “relative”: exempt in the recipient’s hands, with no ceiling. But the Act defines the term, and it is narrower than family feeling — parents, children, siblings, spouse and certain lineal and in-law relations are in; cousins, for instance, are not.
- To anyone else: the ₹50,000-a-year figure is a threshold, not an allowance. Stay at or below it across the year and nothing is taxable; cross it and the entire aggregate becomes taxable to the recipient as income from other sources at their slab rate — not merely the excess. Sending a friend ₹60,000 makes all ₹60,000 taxable for them, not ₹10,000.
Before you press send
- → Compare the amount that lands, not the fee. A “zero fee” quote with a 1.5% rate margin costs $15 per $1,000.
- → Check how you are funding it. The funding method, not the destination, is what determines whether the US remittance excise applies.
- → Confirm the account type at the receiving end, and that the name matches exactly — mismatches are the usual cause of a held or returned transfer.
- → For anything large or recurring, keep the paper trail: transfer confirmations and bank statements are what answer a question years later, in either country.
Thresholds, rates and reporting limits in this section change with each budget and tax year. The linked guides carry the current figures and their sources; this page is the map, not the numbers.
Guides
Sending money, explained
The cheapest services, the exchange-rate spread, NRE/NRO accounts, TCS, and how to move money tax-smart in both directions.
Cheapest Ways to Send Money From the USA to India (2026)
Banks bury fees in the exchange rate. Here's how to compare the true cost, the best services for big and small transfers, and keep more rupees.
Read guide →5 minTransfersFCNR Deposits: Earn High Interest on USD Without Currency Risk
Want attractive yields on your dollars without converting to rupees? FCNR(B) deposits let NRIs earn fixed interest in foreign currency, tax-free in India.
Read guide →4 minTransfersMoving Money From an Indian Property Sale to the USA
Sold a flat or inherited property in India? Here's the step-by-step on TDS, the $1M repatriation limit, Forms 15CA/15CB, and moving money to the US.
Read guide →5 minTransfersSending Money From India for US College Tuition: TCS Tax Guide
Funding US tuition from India? Education remittances get favorable TCS — zero with an education loan, 2% self-funded. Here's how to keep transfer costs minimal.
Read guide →5 minTransfersIndia's 20% TCS on Foreign Remittances: What NRIs Must Know
Sending money out of India under the LRS? A 20% TCS can apply above ₹10 lakh. Here's who it hits, the exceptions, and how to claim it back.
Read guide →5 minTransfersSelling Indian Shares & Mutual Funds as a US Resident: The Tax
Selling Indian stocks or mutual funds while in the US? Here's how Indian TDS, US capital gains, and PFIC rules combine — and how to avoid double tax.
Read guide →4 minTransfersInheriting Property or Money in India: The US Tax Rules
Inherited land, gold, or bank accounts in India? Here's how the IRS treats foreign inheritance, the crucial Form 3520, and the step-up basis.
Read guide →5 minTransfersConverting Your Indian Bank Accounts After Moving to the US
Keeping a resident savings account open after becoming an NRI is a FEMA violation. Here's how to convert your Indian accounts to NRE/NRO correctly.
Read guide →4 minTransfersNRE vs. NRO Accounts: The Money-Transfer Setup Every NRI Needs
Which account holds your US savings, which holds your India income, why "tax-free" only means tax-free in India, and which balance you can actually get back.
Read guide →10 min