[unmole]

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

If you stay in Canada for more than 183 days in a year, you are deemed a resident of Canada. I don't understand why the tax applies.

> 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.

It's not an additional tax. It simply changes when the tax is collected.

> 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. . The tax only applies if you have an Indian income of more than 15 lakh rupees and you are not a tax resident elsewhere. If you retire in Portugal, this does not apply to you.

[jitix]

Interesting. I'll check with our CA then. I've paid a significant amount of these 5% taxes over the past 2 years to ebixcash. They outright reject transfers beyond 700k INR otherwise.

[unmole]

It's probably because EbixCash isn't set up to handle remmitances by non-residents. Using a bank where you have an NRO account should allow you to remit upto 1 million USD.