NRO account transfers to Australia: the USD 1 million rule

Money you already own in India does not leave on request. A rupee balance from years of working there, the proceeds of a flat you have sold, or a share of a parent's estate all leave under the Foreign Exchange Management (Remittance of Assets) Regulations, 2016. They leave as balances of a Non-Resident Ordinary account, as sale proceeds or as inherited assets, within one ceiling of USD 1,000,000 in a financial year, and with a tax form attached.

Key Takeaways

• Regulation 3 of the Remittance of Assets Regulations begins with a prohibition: save as otherwise provided, no person may remit an asset held in India. Everything that follows is a permission carved out of that.
• Regulation 4(2) permits a non-resident Indian or person of Indian origin to remit up to USD 1,000,000 per financial year out of NRO balances, sale proceeds or inherited assets, on documentary evidence.
• The Reserve Bank of India describes the Non-Resident Ordinary (NRO) account as not repatriable except for current income, against the Non-Resident External (NRE) account, which is repatriable.
• All instalments must go through the same authorised dealer, and a remittance from NRO balances requires an undertaking in words the regulation sets out.
• The Income Tax Department's Form 15CA carries the information on a payment to a non-resident, in four parts, and where the payment is taxable and the aggregate exceeds five lakh rupees, a chartered accountant's certificate on Form 15CB goes with it.

Two accounts, and only one of them is built to leave

A person who has moved abroad and kept money in India will usually hold one of two accounts, and which one decides how the money comes out. The Reserve Bank of India's FAQ on accounts held by non-residents sets the two side by side. The Non-Resident External account, the NRE, is repatriable. The Non-Resident Ordinary account, the NRO, is not repatriable except for current income.

Current income, in the FAQ's own examples, is rent, dividend, pension and interest. Those can be sent out as they arise. The capital underneath them, the sale price of the flat, the accumulated salary, the inheritance, cannot leave as current income. It leaves under a separate facility, which the FAQ summarises in one line. Balances in an NRO account of non-resident Indians (NRIs) and persons of Indian origin (PIOs) are remittable up to USD 1 (one) million per financial year, April to March, along with their other eligible assets. Funds can also be moved to an NRE account within the same USD 1 million facility. From there they are repatriable.

That is the structure the rest of this page sits inside. The money for Australia is NRO money, sale proceeds or an inheritance, and all three leave through one facility with a ceiling.

What the regulation permits: USD 1,000,000 a financial year

The instrument is Notification No. FEMA 13(R)/2016-RB, the Foreign Exchange Management (Remittance of Assets) Regulations, 2016, made under section 47 of the Foreign Exchange Management Act, FEMA. It defines a remittance of asset as remittance outside India of funds representing a deposit with a bank, a provident fund balance or superannuation benefits, insurance proceeds, sale proceeds of shares, securities or immovable property, or any other asset held in India.

Regulation 3 then prohibits it. Save as otherwise provided in the Act or the regulations under it, no person, whether resident in India or not, shall make remittance of any asset held in India. The Reserve Bank may permit one for sufficient reasons. So the default is no, and regulation 4 is the yes.

Regulation 4(2) is the provision for a person of Indian origin abroad. A Non-Resident Indian or a Person of Indian Origin may remit through an authorised dealer an amount not exceeding USD 1,000,000 per financial year. The money may come from three sources:

• the balances held in NRO accounts
• sale proceeds of assets
• assets acquired by way of inheritance or legacy

Each needs documentary evidence in support of the acquisition, inheritance or legacy of the assets. A second limb covers a deed of settlement made by either of the remitter's parents or a relative, taking effect on the death of the settlor. That needs the original deed. The ceiling is one figure for the remitter in the financial year, across all three sources together.

Two provisos attach to it. Where the remittance is made in more than one instalment, all instalments must go through the same authorised dealer. Where the money comes from NRO balances, the account holder must give the dealer an undertaking in words the regulation supplies. The undertaking is that the remittance is made out of the remitter's balances arising from legitimate receivables in India. It is not made by borrowing from any other person or by a transfer from any other NRO account. If the money is found to have come from borrowing or from another NRO account, the holder is liable to penal action under FEMA. Regulation 8 then puts every remittance under these regulations under the applicable tax laws in India. That is where the next section starts.

Form 15CA and Form 15CB: the tax paperwork that travels with the money

Indian tax law treats a payment to a non-resident as an event to be reported. Section 195(6) of the Income-tax Act, read with rule 37BB, requires the person making the payment to furnish the information in Form 15CA. The Income Tax Department's own FAQ divides the form into four parts by amount and circumstance.

Form 15CB is the accountant's certificate. The department describes it as required for a payment to a non-resident that is taxable, where the payment or the aggregate of such payments exceeds five lakh rupees in the financial year. It is prepared by a chartered accountant registered on the e-filing portal, who has been assigned the Part C filing by the person making the payment.

Five lakh rupees is five hundred thousand, written in the Indian grouping that the AUD to INR convert page explains. Where a remittance is a taxable payment above five lakh rupees, the department describes two routes: Part B on an order or certificate from the assessing officer, or Part C on an accountant's certificate. Where it is not chargeable to tax, Part D applies. Which part applies is a tax question about the money's origin, not a foreign-exchange question.

Above the ceiling, and the cases beside it

USD 1,000,000 is the authorised dealer's limit, not India's. Regulation 7 provides that a person who wishes to remit more than that in a financial year, out of NRO balances, sale proceeds or inherited assets, may apply to the Reserve Bank of India. The Bank may permit the remittance subject to such terms and conditions as it deems necessary. The same regulation covers a remittance sought on the ground that hardship will be caused if it is not made. The decision moves from the bank to the central bank.

Regulation 4(1) sits beside 4(2) for a different person: a citizen of a foreign state who is not of Indian origin and not a citizen of Nepal or Bhutan. It covers three cases.

• a person who retired from employment in India
• a person who inherited under section 6(5) of FEMA
• the widow or widower of an Indian citizen who was resident in India

The same USD 1,000,000 figure applies, with the sale proceeds of property held on a repatriation basis excluded from the count. A foreign student who has completed studies or training in India may remit the balance in their account. That balance must represent money received from abroad, foreign exchange they brought in and sold, or a stipend or scholarship received in India.

None of this is the Liberalised Remittance Scheme. That scheme is for a resident sending money out. The AUD to INR convert page and why some currencies have no offshore market cover it. The Remittance of Assets Regulations are the mirror: the rules for a person who is no longer resident, moving assets that were built while they were. The regulation is silent on the receiving country, and nothing in it distinguishes Australia from anywhere else. What lands is a transfer from an Indian authorised dealer, after the documents, the undertaking and the tax form have been accepted at the Indian end. The INR to AUD rate page shows what it is worth on the day.

Where to look next

• Receiving money from India - the live rate page for this corridor.
• Sending money to India from Australia - the opposite direction.
• Why some currencies have no offshore market - the resident-side controls, the Liberalised Remittance Scheme and the border rules on notes, the other half of India's capital account.
• How international transfers work - the sequence a payment moves through once the Indian bank releases it.
• AUD to INR - the convert page for the pair on its own, and the Indian digit grouping.

Sources

• Foreign Exchange Management (Remittance of Assets) Regulations, 2016, Notification No. FEMA 13(R)/2016-RB, Reserve Bank of India, 1 April 2016 - the preamble under section 47, the definition of a remittance of asset, the regulation 3 prohibition, regulation 4(1) for foreign citizens and students and 4(2) for NRIs and PIOs with the USD 1,000,000 per financial year ceiling, the deed-of-settlement limb, the same-dealer rule, the NRO undertaking in its own words, regulation 7 on prior permission above the ceiling, and regulation 8 on tax.
• Accounts in India by Non-residents, FAQ, Reserve Bank of India, as on 16 January 2025 - the NRE account as repatriable and the NRO account as not repatriable except for current income, NRO balances remittable up to USD 1 million per financial year along with other eligible assets, transfer to an NRE account within the same facility, and the examples of current income.
• Form 15CA FAQs, Income Tax Department - section 195(6) and rule 37BB, the four parts of Form 15CA and the five lakh rupee line between them, and when the accountant's certificate in Form 15CB is required.

General information about moving assets held in India to Australia under Indian foreign-exchange and tax rules. Not financial advice, not tax advice, and not a recommendation of any product or institution. Reviewed by the Tradergy editorial team, September 2026.