Archive · 2 Sep 2026
Non-Resident Trustee Alone Does Not Make Trust Non-Resident
A trust is a legal arrangement managed by trustees.
Under Indian tax law, a trust is usually treated as resident unless all of its control and management is outside India.
This means that simply appointing one trustee who lives abroad is not enough.
The important question is where the trust’s real decisions are made.
If any part of its control and management is in India, it would ordinarily remain resident in India.
FEMA follows a different approach because it does not clearly give trusts their own residential status.
Instead, it looks at the people involved, the assets, and the transactions.
A trust cannot be used to do indirectly what the people involved could not do directly.
Under Indian income-tax law, a trust is generally resident unless its control and management are wholly outside India.
A trust becomes non-resident only when its affairs are wholly controlled and managed outside India.
Appointing a non-resident trustee alone does not determine the trust’s residential status.
The assessment depends on where key decisions and actual administration of the trust take place.
FEMA generally focuses on the residence of the settlor, trustees and beneficiaries, plus the assets and transactions involved, rather than assigning residence to the trust itself.
- Who
- The trust, its trustees, settlor and beneficiaries are relevant to the analysis.
- What
- The issue is whether appointing a non-resident trustee changes the trust’s residential status under Indian income-tax law or FEMA.
- When
- The income-tax determination applies during the relevant tax year.
- Where
- For income-tax purposes, the key issue is where the trust’s control, management and administration are actually exercised.
- Why
- Residential status affects the income taxable in India, while FEMA analysis determines whether cross-border transactions are permissible.
- Income-tax default rule
- A trust is generally resident in India unless its control and management are situated wholly outside India during the tax year.
- Non-resident requirement
- The trust must be wholly controlled and managed outside India to qualify as non-resident.
- Non-resident trustee
- The appointment of a non-resident trustee alone does not make the trust non-resident.
- Decision-making focus
- The analysis considers where key decisions and the trust’s affairs are actually administered and managed.
- Resident trust taxation
- A resident trust may generally be subject to tax on worldwide income.
- Non-resident trust taxation
- A non-resident trust is broadly subject to tax on India-sourced income.
- FEMA approach
- FEMA does not prescribe a separate residential-status test for trusts and generally shifts the analysis to connected parties, assets and transactions.