Query on NRE fund withdrawl

taan ta taan · Post by **taan ta taan** » Thu Mar 06, 2008 3:15 pm

1.
My family and myself are having OCI.
My wife and myself have a joint NRE account in Bangalore. My wife and children are R2Iing in May-2008 (probably first week). But I continue to be in UK for another 5 to 6 months because of personal reasons. Until then I will have to provide living expenses for them. My questions are,
a. Can my wife continue as a joint account holder until I R2i some time 2008 year end?

b. Frequently I will transfer funds to NRE account from UK, Since she is a joint account holder can she with draw funds from NRE account and spend in India?

c. Will there be a tax on what she takes out and spend as she becomes resident there?

d. PLEASE suggest me what is the best way to perform this to provide them money for living expenses in Bangalore.

2. (this is urgent one as school is asking me to pay by DD/Chq. ASAP)

Today I was asked to pay full school fee. Can I issue my NRE account cheque to school? (So far I have used cheques to withdraw funds for myself, my parents and for my site seller. I hope it?s okay for school as well? But confirm if you think I can?t do this.)
Thanks in advance.

fantoosh · Post by **fantoosh** » Thu Mar 06, 2008 3:33 pm

I am in similar situation.(R2I plan-wise i.e. returning on 01st May, just searching for direct flights from LHR to BLR else will go via BOM)

1.We have separate NRE accounts. So my wife will close/convert her NRE account after her return.
1.a IMHO I don't think she can remain a joint account holder for u r NRE account/s.
1.b You can transfer funds to her Indian account/s or u r own NRE accounts.
She can have POA for u r NRE accounts and withdraw money for regular expenses. Currently my father has PoA for my NRE account and he makes withdrawals whenever he wants for regular expenses.

2. I don't think there should be any issues if u r paying from u r NRE account.
Only problem might be paying the 'Donation' part which schools expect to be paid in cash.

Added later:
Do let me know if u get any good deals for direct flights from UK to BLR.

taan ta taan · Post by **taan ta taan** » Thu Mar 06, 2008 4:52 pm

Thank fantoosh.

Usually I will book tickets from southalltravel travels web site. I won’t book it too early. What I found is booking about 1 month before is good enough. But some people say if we book early then tickets will be cheaper. So far I didn’t come across such deals (apart from Christmas season).
British Airways has direct flights from London to Bangalore.

AirIndia says it has direct flights from London to B'lore however it stops in Mumbai and you may need to change the flight within international airport.
I personally prefere British Airways though they charge about £30ish more per ticket, especially when family is travelling.

School is not asking for donation. It’s asking only registration fee, refundable fee and tuition fee. I will issue a cheque from NRE account now.

Can I issue POA to my wife from here or can she do all the letter/format in India (once she reaches there) and then I can sign the document here?

OR to make it simple can I do the following?

a. I will make NRE a/c. to my name
b. She opens normal SB account in a Bank in B’lore
c. I will issue a cheque to her from my NRE account so that she could deposit my cheques in SB account and use it.
d. Will there be a tax on the money she received into SB account from my NRE account? Should she declare in tax returns etc.?

fantoosh · Post by **fantoosh** » Thu Mar 06, 2008 5:10 pm

Abt Airtickets, even I prefer southall travels or booking directly with airlines.
Direct flight from LHR to BLR by BA is expensive as currently they don't have much competition. Hope things change after opening of BIA.

Normally I prefer Jet Airways over BA or Virgin Atlantic.
Even I have found that booking in advance doesn't help much so I'll book 4-5 weeks before departure.

Abt PoA, I had completed formalities (favouring my father for current PoA) from UK only. So shouldn't be a problem for you, u may contact ICICI and they will guide you.

Abt u r families expenses in India after R2I, personally I'll keep things simple.
As suggested earlier, I'll have a PoA for my NRE account in my wife's name so that she can withdraw money from my account whenever she wants.

taan ta taan · Post by **taan ta taan** » Thu Mar 06, 2008 7:39 pm

Thanks fantoosh,
Could you tell me how Jet Airways is better? I have not travelled in Jet Airways from London. It's not direct flight right?

About withdrawls,
I called up my a/c. bank (HSBC). They suggested one more option that I can open NRO account and get the ATM card. My wife. She can withdraw using my ATM card in India. But NRO a/c. money is not repatriable back to UK once transferred. I will think about both POA and NRO a/c. options.

fantoosh · Post by **fantoosh** » Thu Mar 06, 2008 7:53 pm

taan ta taan;86718
Could you tell me how Jet Airways is better? I have not travelled in Jet Airways from London. It's not direct flight right?

About withdrawls,
I called up my a/c. bank (HSBC). They suggested one more option that I can open NRO account and get the ATM card. My wife. She can withdraw using my ATM card in India. But NRO a/c. money is not repatriable back to UK once transferred. I will think about both POA and NRO a/c. options.

Abt Jet, overall flight (food, in-flight entertainment etc) is much better than BA / VA. Normally I go to BOM and they have direct flights for LHR-BOM.

I had called them up today morning and as of now their UK office doesn't have any info abt direct flights between LHR-BLR.

I'll call them again in last week of March to see if they have any direct flights else we'll go LHR-BOM-BLR route.

BLR International Airport is suppose to start operations from end of march so if we are lucky we'll get more options for LHR-BLR.
As of now LHR-BLR direct flight by BA is quite expensive as compared to LHR-BOM-BLR by Jet/Air-India and I don't mind going via BOM.

b2b · Post by **b2b** » Thu Mar 06, 2008 8:18 pm

taan ta taan;866741. My family and myself are having OCI. My wife and myself have a joint NRE account in Bangalore. My wife and children are R2Iing in May-2008 (probably first week). But I continue to be in UK for another 5 to 6 months because of personal reasons. Until then I will have to provide living expenses for them. My questions are,
a. Can my wife continue as a joint account holder until I R2i some time 2008 year end?

b. Frequently I will transfer funds to NRE account from UK, Since she is a joint account holder can she with draw funds from NRE account and spend in India?

c. Will there be a tax on what she takes out and spend as she becomes resident there?

d. PLEASE suggest me what is the best way to perform this to provide them money for living expenses in Bangalore.
[/quote]

OCI is not relevant for NRI or resident status.
a) No. She cannot continue to be joint account holder after she becomes resident. refer http://sify.com/finance/nri/fullstory.php?id=13170254
b) No Refer a)
c) No income tax. Income Tax is when you earn money...not when you transfer or spend it.
d) One way is to open NRO account,
another is open a normal bank account in her name & transfer money there
or open a mandate account (I found this as the best as same NRE account can be used) See http://www.icicibank.com/pfsuser/icicibank/ibank-nri/nrinewversion/mandate_addition_Important.htm

taan ta taan;866742. (this is urgent one as school is asking me to pay by DD/Chq. ASAP)

Today I was asked to pay full school fee. Can I issue my NRE account cheque to school? (So far I have used cheques to withdraw funds for myself, my parents and for my site seller. I hope it?s okay for school as well? But confirm if you think I can?t do this.)
Thanks in advance.

[/quote]

Yes you can. In fact you should as an NRI use NRE / NRO account to make payments in India.

For ticket booking etc please use MT: Airline Agents, tickets, prices, websites and deals....

it has UK related info as well and if you add any new info there it helps others to find info at one place

Good luck

NB: If your query is no more urgent then the word Urgent can be removed by requesting admins.

taan ta taan · Post by **taan ta taan** » Thu Mar 06, 2008 8:29 pm

fantoosh;86724Abt Jet, overall flight (food, in-flight entertainment etc) is much better than BA / VA. Normally I go to BOM and they have direct flights for LHR-BOM.

I had called them up today morning and as of now their UK office doesn't have any info abt direct flights between LHR-BLR.

I'll call them again in last week of March to see if they have any direct flights else we'll go LHR-BOM-BLR route.

BLR International Airport is suppose to start operations from end of march so if we are lucky we'll get more options for LHR-BLR.
As of now LHR-BLR direct flight by BA is quite expensive as compared to LHR-BOM-BLR by Jet/Air-India and I don't mind going via BOM.[/quote]

Yes true, I found it's about £80 - £100 difference per ticket. Expensive!!!
Actually I'll have to book BA for my family. Because my wife will have ear ache when take off and landing. She has to take one day rest after flying. She always says even if it's expensive she needs BA to avoid this hassle (she can avoid one take off and landing!).

But when I fly I will give a try in Jet Airways. I have heard they have new and shiny flights and seems to be less expensive as well... & with desi food!

taan ta taan · Post by **taan ta taan** » Thu Mar 06, 2008 9:36 pm

b2b, Thank you very much for providing links. I just saw it now.

Admin, I have found anwer for my query which was urgent as school asked me to pay the fee asap.
Please remove the word **urgent** from the title line. Thanks.

IT'S A GREAT FORUM! Helps with many issues/matters when needed!!!

sohu · Post by **sohu** » Thu Mar 06, 2008 10:50 pm

taan ta taan;86757
Admin, I have found anwer for my query which was urgent as school asked me to pay the fee asap.
Please remove the word **urgent** from the title line. Thanks.

Title changed as requested. Glad to know that you got the required information.