Filing income tax returns as a merchant navy officer requires specialized maritime tax knowledge. Avoid these seven common blunders that frequently trigger tax demand notices:
- Filing ITR-1 Sahaj instead of ITR-2: The number one cause of Section 139(9) defective return notices.
- Miscalculating CDC Sign-On / Sign-Off Dates: Forgetting that both the sign-on and sign-off dates count as days outside India under Rule 126.
- Ignoring AIS Inward Remittance Warnings: Failing to report foreign NRE remittances in Schedule EI.
- Maintaining Resident Savings Accounts: Not converting domestic bank accounts to NRE/NRO upon achieving NRI status.
- Not Reporting Indian Dividend and FD Interest: Assuming that having tax-free sea salary means you have zero reporting obligation in India.
- Trading F&O without Custodial Permissions: Violating FEMA derivative trading restrictions.
- Failing to Track Preceding 4-Year Stays: Missing the 365-day + 60-day rule check when contracts fall short of 182 days.