What Documents are Required for NRI ITR Filing?

I would also separate the documents into Indian income documents and foreign-residency/tax documents.

For Indian income, my checklist would be:

• PAN
• Form 16, if applicable
• Form 16A
• Form 26AS
• AIS
• Indian bank statements and interest certificates
• Rental income records
• Capital-gain statements
• Investment or deduction-related documents, where applicable

For DTAA, you may need documents establishing your tax residence in the foreign country and information required for the treaty claim. Don't assume that simply being an NRI automatically means DTAA relief applies.

Also check your residential status carefully before filing. The Income Tax Department states that residential status is determined separately for each tax year, and the Income Tax Act, 2025 applies to tax years beginning on or after April 1, 2026.

One thing that caused confusion for me was thinking I needed to submit every document along with the return.

You normally use the documents to enter and verify the information in the ITR, rather than attaching them all to the return. The department's ITR-2 guidance specifically lists Form 16, Form 16A, Form 26AS, AIS, bank/FDR information, capital gains statements, and house property information depending on the taxpayer's sources of income.

For many NRIs, ITR-2 is relevant when there is no business/professional income. If there is business or professional income, ITR-3 may apply instead. The Income Tax Department currently lists both ITR-2 and ITR-3 as applicable forms for non-resident individuals depending on their income profile.

So the exact document checklist depends on what income you had during the year.

For a typical NRI with Indian income, I would first collect PAN details, Form 26AS, AIS, Form 16A, Indian bank statements, and income-related documents.

If you have salary income from India, keep Form 16. For interest income where TDS was deducted, Form 16A is useful. The Income Tax Department also recommends checking Form 26AS and AIS to reconcile TDS, tax payments, and other reported information.

For rental property, keep rent receipts or rental details, municipal/property-tax information where relevant, and home-loan interest details if you are claiming the applicable deduction.

If you sold shares, mutual funds or other investments, keep the capital-gains statement from your broker or investment platform.

One important point: you generally do not upload all these documents with the ITR. Income-tax returns are generally annexure-less, but you should retain supporting documents in case the tax department asks for them later. 

I live in the US and usually prepare a checklist every year before filing.

Mine includes:

• PAN card
• Passport
• Form 26AS
• AIS
• TDS certificates (Form 16A, where applicable)
• NRE and NRO bank statements
• Rental income records
• Home loan interest certificate (if applicable)
• Capital gains reports
• Details of advance tax or self-assessment tax paid

Even though the return itself doesn't require uploading these documents, having them ready helps avoid mistakes and makes it easier to reconcile income and TDS figures before submitting the return.

My case was a bit more complicated because I sold shares and equity mutual funds.

Besides the basic documents like PAN, AIS, Form 26AS, and bank statements, I downloaded the capital gains statement from my broker. That saved me a lot of time when reporting gains.

I also compared the information in AIS with my broker's statement because there were a couple of entries that I wanted to verify before filing. If you've sold investments or property, I'd definitely recommend collecting those transaction statements in advance.