How to File Form 10-EE for Foreign Retirement Accounts
You log in to the e-filing portal. You go to e-File, then Income Tax Forms, then File Income Tax Forms.
You type "10EE" into the search box.
And then the questions start.
Which assessment year? What counts as income accrued? Which exchange rate? Do you file this before or after the return?
And what do you do with a 401(k) statement that shows a balance, not an income figure?
Most guides stop at "log in and select the form." That is the easy part.
At Belong, we work with returning NRIs who are trying to get this right in one attempt. This guide walks through the whole sequence, including the parts that go wrong.
If you have not yet decided whether to exercise the option, read our Section 89A guide first. This piece assumes you have decided.
First, know which form you are filing
There is a fork in the road this year, and it catches people out.
Form 10-EE was prescribed under Rule 21AAA of the Income-tax Rules, 1962. It belongs to the Income-tax Act, 1961.
That framework applies to income earned up to FY 2025-26. If you are filing now for FY 2025-26, Form 10-EE is your form.
From FY 2026-27, the Income-tax Act, 2025 and the Income Tax Rules, 2026 apply. The relief moves to Section 158. The form is renumbered as Form No. 40.
Same purpose. Same option. Different number on the page.
👉 Tip: Match the form number to the year of the income, not to the year you are sitting in.
What to gather before you open the portal
This is where the real work sits. Filing takes twenty minutes. Preparation takes a weekend.
The fifth row is the hard one. Spend your time there.
A 401(k) statement typically shows an opening balance, contributions, market movement and a closing balance. It does not hand you a neat "income accrued" number in the way an Indian form expects.
You have to build that figure yourself. Dividends, interest, realised gains and unrealised movement all sit inside that balance change. Ask your plan administrator for a transaction-level or income-detail statement, not just the summary.
Keep the working. If a query arrives four years later, the working is the answer.
Our document checklist for NRI tax filing covers the wider set of papers you will need alongside this.
The exchange rate question
Your account is in dollars, pounds or Canadian dollars. Your return is in rupees.
Rule 115 of the Income-tax Rules governs how foreign income is converted. Different heads of income use different specified dates for the telegraphic transfer buying rate.
Do not pick a convenient rate. Do not use an annual average because it is easier.
Pick the rate the rule specifies for the head of income involved, and document why. Then use the same logic every year. Consistency matters more than optimisation here.
Rupee depreciation also means the same dollar income converts to a larger rupee figure over time. That is a real effect on your eventual tax bill, not a rounding issue.
Before you file: fix your portal profile
Small step, large failure rate.
The portal carries your residential status in the My Profile section. Statutory forms read from it.
If your profile still says non-resident from your NRI years, the form logic may behave unexpectedly. Update the profile first, then open the form.
While you are there, check two more things.
Your registered mobile number.
Many returning NRIs still have a foreign number linked to Aadhaar. Aadhaar OTP verification will fail if that number is not the one linked at UIDAI.
Your e-verification route.
Decide now whether you will use a digital signature certificate, net banking EVC, or Aadhaar OTP. Sorting this out mid-form is how deadlines get missed.
Our guide on e-verifying your income tax return explains the options in more detail.
Filing the form, step by step
Log in to the e-filing portal at incometax.gov.in with your PAN and password.
Confirm your residential status and contact details under My Profile.
Go to e-File, then Income Tax Forms, then File Income Tax Forms.
Search for the form by number and select it.
Choose the correct assessment year for the income concerned.
Read the instructions page, then start the form.
Confirm the pre-filled personal information.
Enter details of every specified account you hold.
Enter the income accrued in each account for the year.
Record whether that income was taxed in the notified country.
Review the declaration carefully before submitting.
E-verify using your chosen route.
Save the transaction ID and acknowledgement number.
Step eight deserves emphasis. The option covers all your specified accounts, not one of them.
If you hold a 401(k) from one employer and an IRA rollover from another, both belong in the form. Leaving one out is not a partial election. It is an incomplete disclosure.
Step thirteen is not optional housekeeping. That acknowledgement number is what you quote if the relief is questioned later.
👉 Tip: Download the submitted form as a PDF immediately. Portal archives are not a filing system.
Where this sits in the filing sequence
Order matters. Get it wrong and the relief can be disallowed even though you were eligible.
The precedent from Form 10E is instructive. Where a relief form is required but not filed, the return gets processed and the relief simply does not survive. The claim disappears quietly.
Start with checking your AIS before filing. Foreign remittances and account information increasingly show up there.
Most returning NRIs with capital gains or multiple income heads will use ITR-2. Our comparison of ITR-2 versus ITR-3 helps you pick. The mechanics of online ITR filing are covered separately.
Watch the filing deadline closely. The option form is tied to the due date under Section 139(1), not to the extended belated window.
Disclosure is separate from relief
This is the single most common misunderstanding we encounter.
Exercising the option defers when the income is taxed. It does not remove the account from your disclosure obligations.
The retirement account is a foreign asset. It belongs in Schedule FA of your return for every year you are a resident. Our guide on reporting foreign assets in NRI tax filing sets out the schedule.
US-connected readers have obligations running the other way too. See our notes on tax filing for US NRIs.
Foreign tax credit is a third, separate track. Commentators have noted a wrinkle here. Foreign tax on this income is ignored for credit purposes in the accrual year under Rule 128. Our piece on investment tax credits covers the general framework.
Three tracks. Three sets of paperwork. One account.
What happens if you get it wrong
The failure modes are predictable, so plan around them.
Already filed the return and spotted an error? A revised return may still be open within the prescribed window.
Missed the deadline entirely? Read our note on belated tax filing for NRIs.
If a notice arrives, do not improvise. Our guide on NRI tax notices after filing walks through the response.
Should you do this yourself?
We are usually in favour of self-filing. Not here.
The first year of this election is worth paying for. The option is irrevocable, the definitions are technical, and the income figure has to be constructed rather than copied.
After year one, the pattern repeats and self-filing becomes reasonable.
Our comparison of using a CA versus filing yourself sets out how to think about it. Ask any adviser directly whether they have filed this specific form before.
If the answer is vague, keep looking.
The liquidity problem behind the paperwork
Here is what we see repeatedly, and it is not a tax problem.
Someone returns to India with a substantial dollar retirement account and almost no accessible rupee or dollar savings outside it. Every asset they own is locked behind a withdrawal penalty and a tax event.
Then a tax payment lands. Or a deposit for a house. Or a parent's hospital bill.
Breaking into a retirement account to fund that is the most expensive money you will ever spend. The cash flow gap is the real risk, not the form.
The answer is a separate, accessible layer built before you land.
GIFT City is useful here because it keeps that layer in dollars, inside an Indian jurisdiction, with clear repatriation. You are not forced to convert everything to rupees on arrival.
Start with our GIFT City mutual funds tool to compare what is available. The mutual fund products page explains how access works.
Four funds worth looking at closely are the DSP Global Equity Fund and the Tata India Dynamic Equity Fund.
The other two are the Edelweiss Greater China Equity Fund and the Sundaram India Mid Cap Fund.
For the stable part of the layer, compare deposits on our NRI FD rates explorer. The interest rate on offer moves, so check before committing.
Larger portfolios sometimes add GIFT City alternative investment funds. Minimums are higher and exit is slower, so treat this as a later step.
If you want listed equity exposure with a defined entry point, GIFT City IPOs are now a live route. The IPO products page has the mechanics.
Watching pre-market movement on the GIFT Nifty tracker helps if you are phasing money into Indian equity after returning.
If you are a resident Indian reading this
Be clear about what does and does not apply to you.
Form 10-EE is not available to you if you never held a qualifying foreign retirement account as a non-resident. There is no specified account, so there is nothing to elect.
Where it might apply is narrower than people assume. A short foreign posting that included a 401(k) or workplace pension could qualify. The test is whether you were non-resident in India and resident there then.
Check your residential status for those years before assuming either way.
The broader point still travels. If your entire net worth sits in rupee assets, you carry currency risk you have not priced. GIFT City funds are a route to dollar exposure without the friction of holding accounts abroad.
That is a portfolio decision, not a tax election. Keep the two separate.
Decision clarity
If you are filing for FY 2025-26, use Form 10-EE under the old rules.
If you are filing for FY 2026-27 onwards, use Form No. 40 under the Income Tax Rules, 2026.
If you cannot construct a defensible income figure, delay nothing, but get professional help now.
If you hold more than one qualifying account, every one goes into the form.
If your Aadhaar-linked mobile is still a foreign number, fix that before filing season, not during it.
If you have already filed the return without the form, check whether the revised-return window is still open.
If you are still RNOR, confirm whether accrual is even taxable this year before electing.
If your rupee liquidity on landing is thin, build the bridge first. The retirement account is not an emergency fund.
👉 Tip: File the form, then the return, then verify. In that order, every year.
A case we saw
An engineer returned from Seattle after nine years. Two 401(k) accounts from two employers, plus a rollover IRA.
He filed the option form listing the larger account only. His logic was reasonable to him. The smaller account was dormant, so it felt irrelevant.
It was not. The election covers all specified accounts, and the disclosure was incomplete from day one.
Fixing it meant a revised return and a reconstructed income figure for the omitted account. He did not enjoy the process. Nothing about it was fraudulent. It was simply not read carefully.
The lesson is small and expensive. Read the scope of the election before you read the fields.
FAQs
Do I file Form 10-EE before or after my ITR?
Before. The form must be furnished on or before the due date for filing the return under Section 139(1).
Do I need to file it every year?
No. The option is exercised once and applies to subsequent years. Your annual reporting in the return still continues.
Which assessment year do I select?
The assessment year relevant to the income concerned. Match the form to the income year, not to today's date.
Can I file it after the due date?
The rule ties the option to the Section 139(1) due date. Relief for that year is generally not available if you miss it.
What if I hold accounts in two notified countries?
List all of them. The election covers every specified account you hold, across countries.
Does filing this form remove my Schedule FA obligation?
No. Disclosure of foreign assets is separate from the timing relief and continues every resident year.
Is Form No. 40 a different relief?
No. It is the same option, renumbered under the Income Tax Rules, 2026, alongside Section 158 of the new Act.
Sources
Income Tax Department, Form 10EE form wizard page: https://www.incometaxindia.gov.in/w/form-10ee
Income Tax Department e-filing portal: https://www.incometax.gov.in
Income-tax (Sixth Amendment) Rules, 2022, introducing Rule 21AAA and Form 10-EE
CBDT Notification No. 25/2022, notifying Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States
Income-tax Act, 2025 and Income Tax Rules, 2026, effective 1 April 2026
Rule 115, Income-tax Rules, on conversion of foreign currency income
Portal navigation, form numbering and due dates change. Confirm the current position on the income tax portal before you file.
Disclaimer
This guide is general information, not personalised tax advice. Cross-border retirement taxation depends on your specific facts.
Please consult a qualified chartered accountant before exercising any option under Section 89A or Section 158. Investments carry market risk. Read all scheme documents before investing.
