I am confident that most of your confusions, doubts and questions around international investing will get addressed in this thread.
- Should you go via LRS Route or via Indian AMCs?
- What if Indian AMCs have reached their upper limit or trade at too much premium?
- What is LRS Route?
- What frameworks are available for Indians under LRS Route (GIFT City / NSE IX, UCITS (Ireland Domiciled) and US based ETFs)?
- Which framework best suits your investing needs?
- What platforms you can use under each framework?
- How to go about actual investing?
- What are the tax implications for Indians?
- What changes in your ITR filing when you go via LRS Route?
And much more....
Get Set, here we go...
What is LRS Route for Indian Investors
LRS (Liberalized Remittance Scheme) is a facility introduced by the Reserve Bank of India (@RBI) that allows resident individuals to send money abroad for permitted purposes without seeking prior RBI approval.
Every resident Indian can remit up to USD 250,000 per financial year (April–March) under this scheme. This limit is cumulative across all foreign transfers made during the year.
The money can be used for a variety of purposes, including investing in US stocks and ETFs, investing in overseas mutual funds, paying for education, medical treatment, travel expenses, gifts and maintenance of relatives living overseas, and buying property outside India.
LRS is available only to resident individuals. It is not available to companies, partnership firms, HUFs or trusts.
If you invest in foreign stocks or ETFs through Indian platforms like @INDmoneyApp or similar services, the money is generally remitted under the LRS route through an authorized Indian bank.
The bank handles the foreign exchange conversion and regulatory reporting.
Example: If you want to invest ₹5 lakh in a Nasdaq ETF or USD 2,000 in Apple shares, your Indian bank converts your rupees into dollars and remits the amount abroad under the LRS route, while tracking it against your annual USD 250,000 limit.
