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Launch HN: Inri (YC W23) – Wealthfront for Investing in India

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Re: Launch HN: Inri (YC W23) – Wealthfront for Investing in India

#51

Post by searchableguy »

jitix wrote: post #46
unmole wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Indian govt charges outbound INR to USD conversion at 5%. I'm sorry, what?

Yes, above 10k USD. So if you need access to your investments above 10k USD you’d have to pay 5% on the extra amount. I was shocked when I found out that my forex transfer for buying a car in Canada was cancelled and I had refill an A2 form with the taxed amount added and sign and scan it. It’s a hellish experience if you’re used to the US banking system. https://taxguru.in/service-tax/tax-implications-forex-transa..…

1. You should not be subjected to TCS if you are not an Indian resident. Perhaps you did not convert your bank account to NRE?

2. You can file tax return and get a refund if your tax liability is nil or lower than tax collected at the end of the financial year.

This still doesn't make this situation better but it is not a charge, just an advance tax automatically deducted which needs to be adjusted or claimed back.

Re: Launch HN: Inri (YC W23) – Wealthfront for Investing in India

#52

Post by unmole »

jitix wrote: post #46
unmole wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Indian govt charges outbound INR to USD conversion at 5%. I'm sorry, what?

Yes, above 10k USD. So if you need access to your investments above 10k USD you’d have to pay 5% on the extra amount. I was shocked when I found out that my forex transfer for buying a car in Canada was cancelled and I had refill an A2 form with the taxed amount added and sign and scan it. It’s a hellish experience if you’re used to the US banking system. https://taxguru.in/service-tax/tax-implications-forex-transa..…

LRS and the associated TCS is not applicable to NRIs. I have no idea what you're on about.

Re: Launch HN: Inri (YC W23) – Wealthfront for Investing in India

#53

Post by i67vw3 »

hemantgangolia wrote: post #38
newhotelowner wrote: post #35

It says PAN card is needed. What about aadhar? Is this guaranteed by FINRA/SIPC?

PAN card is mandatory. Aadhaar is optional. These funds are invested in India directly, thus not guaranteed by FINRA/SIPC.

I think they just made Aadhaar card mandatory. You have to link it to Pan Card within a set deadline or the Pan card becomes invalid.

No idea if NRI's also have to do it.

https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/date-for-linking-pan-and-aad...

Re: Launch HN: Inri (YC W23) – Wealthfront for Investing in India

#54

Post by nish93 »

ublaze wrote: post #47
nish93 wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We charge a flat 1% advisory fees for all capital invested through us, we have an early bird offer running that waives this off for the first year.

That's too expensive. I'd prefer a monthly/yearly fee.

Hmm, we have tiers that reduce the % once your AUM grows. How much monthly fee would you pay btw?

Re: Launch HN: Inri (YC W23) – Wealthfront for Investing in India

#55

Post by nish93 »

searchableguy wrote: post #51
jitix wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, above 10k USD. So if you need access to your investments above 10k USD you’d have to pay 5% on the extra amount. I was shocked when I found out that my forex transfer for buying a car in Canada was cancelled and I had refill an A2 form with the taxed amount added and sign and scan it. It’s a hellish experience if you’re used to the US banking system. https://taxguru.in/service-tax/tax-implications-forex-transa..…

1. You should not be subjected to TCS if you are not an Indian resident. Perhaps you did not convert your bank account to NRE? 2. You can file tax return and get a refund if your tax liability is nil or lower than tax collected at the end of the financial year. This still doesn't make this situation better but it is not a charge, just an advance tax automatically deducted which needs to be adjusted or claimed back.

Agreed with this comment, the 5% is applicable for Indian residents, not NRIs. If the tax status and bank account was not updated to NRI, this would have been incurred.

Re: Launch HN: Inri (YC W23) – Wealthfront for Investing in India

#56

Post by nish93 »

i67vw3 wrote: post #53
hemantgangolia wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

PAN card is mandatory. Aadhaar is optional. These funds are invested in India directly, thus not guaranteed by FINRA/SIPC.

I think they just made Aadhaar card mandatory. You have to link it to Pan Card within a set deadline or the Pan card becomes invalid. No idea if NRI's also have to do it. https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/date-for-linking-pan-and-aad...

It is not mandatory for NRIs, only indian residents. Refer below:

Aadhaar-PAN linkage requirement does not apply to any individual who is:

Residing in the States of Assam, Jammu and Kashmir, and Meghalaya; a non-resident as per the Income-tax Act, 1961; of the age of eighty years or more at any time during the previous year; or not a citizen of India.

https://www.incometax.gov.in/iec/foportal/help/e-filing-link...

Re: Launch HN: Inri (YC W23) – Wealthfront for Investing in India

#57

Post by nish93 »

codecutter wrote: post #50
nish93 wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, since you are an expat, this rule doesn't apply to you while remitting back your profits. Your capital will go back to your NRE account once you exit your investments, (assuming that's where you invested it from) and then you can remit it back from there to your resident bank account using any remittance product

If the money goes back to my NRE account, then I (as a PAN card holder) can myself have an NRE account, tied to a brokerage firm like Zerodha and I can trade and manage my money there myself much more efficiently and at negligible cost? What is the value proposition you are offering by charging 1% management fee?

Firstly, opening account with Zerodha requires physical paperwork.

"Non-Resident Indian (NRI) Zerodha accounts can only be opened offline, unlike regular accounts." https://support.zerodha.com/category/account-opening/nri-acc...

Secondly, we are not just a way to invest faster but also offer continuous rebalancing services, and are an end to end platform for NRIs along with taxation and repatriation support.

Re: Launch HN: Inri (YC W23) – Wealthfront for Investing in India

#58

Post by jitix »

unmole wrote: post #52
jitix wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, above 10k USD. So if you need access to your investments above 10k USD you’d have to pay 5% on the extra amount. I was shocked when I found out that my forex transfer for buying a car in Canada was cancelled and I had refill an A2 form with the taxed amount added and sign and scan it. It’s a hellish experience if you’re used to the US banking system. https://taxguru.in/service-tax/tax-implications-forex-transa..…

LRS and the associated TCS is not applicable to NRIs. I have no idea what you're on about.

I see, my status changed from US tax resident to student in Canada so the taxes now apply. I stand corrected.

Still I feel it’s unfair in a globalized economy considering it’s reducing liquidity, as in you have to be a tax resident of some other country to avoid this steep tax. For example if you decide to take a year long sabbatical or retire in, say Portugal, you’d have to pay the tax every time you withdraw money for rent and groceries.

Re: Launch HN: Inri (YC W23) – Wealthfront for Investing in India

#59

Post by csomar »

wtmt wrote: post #16

A few comments and advice on investing in India. The target audience for this would know this, but it's useful to be reminded. INR (Indian Rupee) depreciates on average about 4% each year against USD (US Dollar). When you look at the gains from investments in India in USD terms, it would be lower due to the continuously weakening currency. As an emerging market and one with a still-developing stock market, the return…

1. INR Depreciation: A seasoned investor (assuming US investor) must cover this risk by shorting his INR position. This way, he only collects the alpha of the Indian stock market while remaining neutral to the fluctuations of the INR.

2. Indian Taxation: This has been the trend in almost every country. The taxes do not matter if the yield is still higher than your Western yield. It'll pay for itself.

3. Money Outflow: In my humble opinion, this is the real concern. You can pay high taxes, and still come out ahead. But if you can't get your money out, that's a real problem. And companies will leave because of that. I think the uncertainty of one's money is what's preventing a foreign investment boom in India.

Re: Launch HN: Inri (YC W23) – Wealthfront for Investing in India

#60

Post by imakwana »

"We found a lot of other Indian expats in the same situation as us - wanting to invest in India for financial and emotional reasons, but unable to do so easily or consistently. We wished a simple product existed to solve for this online. We couldn’t find one, so we built it."

Simple products do exist which provide exposure to passive indexes for India equities in USD. Any NRI in US can invest in these ETFs at reasonable cost (about 0.64%-0.85% Expense Ratio):

1) iShares MSCI India index ETF - $INDA (USD) : https://www.ishares.com/us/products/239659/ishares-msci-indi...

2) Wisdomtree India Earnings ETF - $EPI (USD) : https://www.wisdomtree.com/investments/etfs/equity/epi

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