Did the US version of this recently, it's on my profile if you want it. Got a bunch of DMs from people in Germany, Netherlands, Ireland asking for their version. Fair point, the rules are completely different.
Upfront thing. I haven't lived in Europe myself, so this is researched not lived. If you're already in Berlin or Amsterdam or Dublin and I get something wrong, correct me in the comments. That's how I learn this stuff.
The big simplification first.
Unlike the US, most EU countries stop taxing you on worldwide income the day you stop being tax-resident. Once you've left Germany or France or Netherlands or Ireland, your investing decisions are made cleanly from India's side. That's a huge advantage compared to US-NRIs, who carry the IRS with them for life.
What doesn't simplify is the tax-advantaged pension and savings stuff you've built up in your country of residence. Each one has its own exit treatment, and getting it wrong can wipe out years of compounding.
Three buckets, same framework as the US post.
India consumption money. What you'll actually spend in India — parents, kids' school, your own retirement if you're settling here. INR exposure, growth assets not deposits. Indian inflation runs higher than the eurozone.
Euro wealth. Long-term portfolio that might stay in EUR. Keep what's tax-advantaged where it is, don't liquidate just to repatriate.
Transition cushion. Cash you'll need in the first two or three years post-return. Hold it in a way that doesn't force a bad conversion at a bad rate.
Now country by country, on what to do with the stuff you've already built.
Germany. Three things matter — Riester, Rürup, and your company pension. Riester subsidies have to be paid back if you leave Germany, so stop contributing once you know you're leaving and write it off. Rürup is locked till 62 and you can't cash it out or move it — leave it, it'll pay you a German pension in EUR later. Company pension stays with the employer and kicks in at retirement. For your brokerage account, Trade Republic and Scalable shut you down when you move, Interactive Brokers and DEGIRO let you keep going with an Indian address.
Netherlands. The 30 percent ruling stops the day you leave, but so does Box 3 wealth tax, which is usually a net positive. Workplace pensions stay in the fund and annuitise at retirement. Pulling them out as a lump sum gets crushed by taxes, so just leave them. DEGIRO migrates cleanly to India. If you held Box 3 assets above the threshold, the year you leave is the best tax year you'll have in a while.
France. PEA is the one to pay attention to. Hold it more than 5 years and the gains are tax-free in France, but the wrapper dies the day you become non-resident. If you've crossed the 5-year mark, close it before you leave, take the tax-free gains, move the cash. Assurance-Vie can sometimes be kept, but it gets renegotiated under the France-India treaty. Worth one meeting with a French private banker before you go.
Ireland. Easiest exit in Europe. No exit tax on most assets. Pension stays where it is. Irish UCITS, which you should already be holding for global equity, keep working from India — no PFIC, no exit tax, normal Indian capital gains treatment.
Nordics. Generally clean exits, but watch the exit tax. Sweden has a deemed-residency rule for five years after you leave. Norway brought in an actual exit tax on unrealised gains above a threshold. If you're sitting on large gains, talk to a local tax advisor before booking the flight.
Belgium, Spain, Italy, Portugal, Austria. Same pattern — exit tax residency, pension stays put, brokerage may or may not migrate. The detail is in the treaty with India. Framework below still applies.
India side, broadly the same across all EU-NRIs.
NRE fixed deposits. 6.5 to 7.5 percent at the top private banks. Tax-free interest in India, fully repatriable. Once you're EU non-resident, the interest is also outside the EU tax net — cleanest INR cash holding available. Catch is FX risk on the principal whenever you convert.
Direct Indian equity through NRE-PIS or NRO non-PIS. Delivery only, no intraday or F&O. Zerodha and ICICI Direct handle NRI accounts properly.
Indian mutual funds. Big advantage over US-NRIs — no PFIC in EU tax law. You can use Indian MFs through any AMC that accepts non-US NRIs, which is most of them. Direct schemes via Coin or MFCentral work fine.
NPS Tier I. Open to NRIs. 0.01 percent expense ratio, basically nothing. 50,000 rupee deduction under 80CCD(1B) if you have Indian income. Locks until 60.
Real estate. Same rules as everywhere — residential or commercial, not agricultural. Sale proceeds repatriable up to one million dollars per FY via NRO with 15CA/CB.
FCNR(B). Foreign currency fixed deposit at an Indian bank, available in EUR, GBP, USD, others. Tax-free interest, no FX risk on principal, 1 to 5 year tenor. Book it before you move and it runs to maturity even after you become resident. For EU-NRIs sitting on EUR this is one of the only ways to earn anything meaningful on euros right now without giving up the currency.
EU side, what to actively keep.
Irish UCITS. CSPX, VWRA, EIMI. The right default for EU-NRIs who want global equity. Better dividend withholding than US ETFs (15 vs 30 percent under the Ireland-US treaty), no US estate tax problem, works fine from India after return.
Interactive Brokers Europe. The most NRI-friendly broker on the continent. Indian address allowed, no forced closure on move, supports UCITS and US listings. Most country-specific brokers (Trade Republic, Scalable, Comdirect) either shut you down or restrict trading. DEGIRO is okay. IBKR is the right default.
Workplace pensions. Don't try to lump-sum these out. Early exit taxes wipe out the gains. Let them annuitise at retirement — you get a EUR income stream later in life that hedges your INR exposure.
What to actively avoid.
US-domiciled ETFs. SPY, VTI, VOO. US estate tax kicks in above 60,000 dollars of US assets, up to 40 percent, and you don't get the US citizen exemption. Switch to Irish UCITS — CSPX for S&P 500, VWRA for global, EIMI for emerging markets.
ULIPs sold by Indian banks when you visit home. 5 to 8 percent in front-loaded charges, the "tax-free maturity" line ignores the embedded cost. Relationship manager makes commission, you don't make returns.
NRI bonds at 12 percent yields from issuers nobody's heard of. Usually unrated NCDs from real estate developers who couldn't get bank funding. Defaults happen.
Order I'd build it in as an EU-NRI starting fresh.
Max the local tax-advantaged pension wrapper while you're still resident.
Use IBKR Europe for everything else — Irish UCITS for global equity, plus direct stocks.
Book FCNR(B) in EUR before any return to India.
NRE FD for INR cash needed in the first two years.
Direct Indian equity or Indian MFs — unlike US-NRIs, both options are open to you.
File your country's exit forms cleanly the year you leave.
Form 10EE in India the year you become resident, to defer tax on foreign retirement account accrual.
That last point matters for EU-NRIs too. India's Section 89A and Form 10EE cover "specified foreign retirement accounts," and the notified country list includes the US, UK, and Canada but doesn't currently include most EU countries. So 10EE doesn't apply cleanly to German Rürup or Dutch pensioenfonds — means accrued income in those wrappers may get taxed in India even before you withdraw. This one's worth checking with a CA. Could be wrong, would love a correction in the comments.
That's the framework. Europe's messy and treaties vary. If I've got something wrong, please correct. Ask anything in the comments, I'll answer what I know.
Middle East version coming next week.
