To invest in USA from India, open a US-stock account, fund it through the Liberalised Remittance Scheme (LRS) (up to $250,000 a year) and place your order. Send over ₹10 lakh in a financial year and the bank collects 20% tax at source on the excess. These steps keep that amount in check.
What you need before you start
You live in India, want to own US shares and don't yet know where to start. A broker typically asks for the following before it opens a US-stock account:
- Your PAN card, which doubles as your tax ID on the US form you'll sign.
- Aadhaar or a passport for identity checks.
- Recent bank statements or other income proof, usually the last three to six months.
- A savings account at a bank that sends foreign remittances.
Step 1: Confirm you can send money abroad under LRS
Check that you're a resident individual under FEMA, because LRS is open only to residents. The RBI's LRS Master Direction sets the limit at $250,000 per person per financial year, and the year runs from 1 April to 31 March.
That $250,000 is shared across every permitted purpose, including investing, travel and gifts. Minors are covered too.
If you're an NRI, LRS isn't available to you. You'd invest from your overseas account instead, and the remittance steps in this guide don't apply.
Step 2: Pick a route to invest in US stocks from India
Pick the route first, because it decides your paperwork, your costs and how the holding is reported.
Indian apps and US brokers
- Upstox launched US stock investing in September 2026. You fund it in rupees, and it converts to dollars within your LRS limit.
- Groww has started rolling out US stocks through GIFT City too, and Zerodha has approval but hadn't launched as of early October 2026.
- Vested and INDmoney open a US brokerage account in your name through a partner broker.
- Interactive Brokers lets Indian residents open an account directly with a US broker.
US-listed ETFs work on every one of these routes. Whichever you choose, the holding is a foreign asset that you report in your Indian return.
Indian funds that hold US stocks
Indian mutual funds and ETFs that invest overseas skip LRS entirely, but most have stopped taking new money. The $7 billion industry-wide limit on overseas fund investment is largely used up, and only 12 schemes were open for fresh SIPs in June 2026.
That choice changes if you might move to the US, because the tax treatment of Indian funds changes with it.
Step 3: Open the account and sign Form W-8BEN
Complete the broker's online KYC with your PAN, your Aadhaar or passport and your bank details, then sign Form W-8BEN digitally. Approval typically takes one to three business days.
Form W-8BEN tells the US broker you're not a US person. Enter your PAN as the foreign tax ID and claim India as your treaty country, and US withholding on dividends drops from 30% to 25%.
The form stays valid until 31 December of the third year after you sign it. Put the renewal date in your calendar.
Step 4: Send money under LRS and plan around TCS
Your broker gives you the remittance details, and your bank asks for Form A2 with your PAN and an LRS declaration. The bank converts rupees at its own rate plus a margin, so compare that rate before you send.
How TCS works
TCS on foreign remittance means tax collected at source. Once your LRS remittances for the financial year pass ₹10 lakh, the bank collects 20% of the amount above that line when the money is for investment.
The ₹10 lakh counts all your LRS remittances together, so travel and gifts use it up too. The rule sits in Section 394(1) of the Income-tax Act, 2025 (Section 206C(1G) of the 1961 Act before 1 April 2026).
TCS isn't an extra tax. You claim it as credit against your tax when you file your return, and any excess is refunded.
Time the ₹10 lakh
Priya in Pune wants to invest ₹14 lakh, and the timing of her transfers decides her TCS.
Worked example: Priya, ₹14 lakh
- One transfer: ₹14 lakh minus the ₹10 lakh threshold leaves ₹4 lakh. At 20%, TCS is ₹80,000.
- Two transfers: ₹7 lakh in March and ₹7 lakh after 1 April. Each financial year stays under ₹10 lakh, so TCS is ₹0.
The ₹80,000 stays with the tax department until she claims it in her return. The split holds only if nothing else went abroad under LRS in either year.
I'd size the whole year before sending the first rupee, because the cash tied up in TCS is the real cost.
Step 5: Place your first order
To buy US stocks from India, search the ticker in your app and place a limit order for the amount you've decided on. A limit order sets the highest price you'll pay, so a sudden jump doesn't fill you at a worse price.
US exchanges run from 9:30 am to 4 pm Eastern. That's roughly 7 pm to 1:30 am in India while US clocks are on daylight time, and an hour later after they go back in November.
Some apps let you queue orders outside those hours, and some allow fractional shares from $1. US stocks can fall, and your rupee return also moves with the dollar-rupee rate on the day you sell. No return is guaranteed.
Step 6: Plan for tax and yearly reporting
Capital gains in India
Hold a US share for more than 24 months and the long-term gain is taxed at 12.5% with no indexation, plus 4% cess. Sell within 24 months and the gain joins your income at your slab rate.
The ₹1.25 lakh exemption for listed Indian shares doesn't cover US shares. Convert each gain into rupees using the SBI telegraphic transfer buying rate on the last day of the month before the sale.
Dividends and the India-US treaty
The US withholds 25% on dividends once your W-8BEN is on file. India taxes the full dividend at your slab rate and gives credit for the US tax under the 1989 India-US tax treaty, which you claim through Form 67 and Schedule TR. From tax year 2026-27 that form is Form 44.
What to file each year
File ITR-2 or ITR-3, and list the holding in Schedule FA, the income in Schedule FSI and any treaty credit in Schedule TR. Do this even in a year with no sale or income, because a missed disclosure can draw a ₹10 lakh penalty under the Black Money Act, 2015.
That penalty doesn't apply when your foreign assets other than immovable property total ₹20 lakh or less. Yes, you declare US stocks in your ITR. The US brokerage account filing rules cover the form-by-form detail.
If you may move to the US, skip the Indian fund route
If you could become a US tax resident in the next few years, I'd hold US-listed shares and ETFs directly and leave Indian funds that invest in US stocks alone. The IRS classes Indian mutual funds and ETFs, including fund-of-funds, as PFICs (passive foreign investment companies).
Each PFIC needs its own Form 8621 every year, and the default tax method can reach 37% plus interest. A US share you hold directly isn't a PFIC, so the PFIC rules never apply to it.
The US estate tax limit on US shares
A non-US citizen who lives outside the US gets only a $60,000 exemption on US assets, and shares of US companies count. India has no estate-tax treaty with the US.
Above $60,000, federal estate tax rates run from 18% to 40%, and the estate files Form 706-NA. US estate tax planning is worth reading once your US holdings approach that figure.
Your next step
Before you invest in USA from India, write down what you'll send this financial year and check it against the ₹10 lakh TCS line. If that figure is large, or a US move is possible, I'd talk it through with InvestMates first, because the route decides which forms you file.
Frequently asked questions
Does Zerodha allow US stocks?
Not yet. Zerodha received IFSCA approval in June 2026 to offer US stocks through GIFT City, but it hadn't launched as of early October 2026. When it does, expect the same LRS limit and 20% TCS above ₹10 lakh that apply on other routes.
Why did Groww stop US stocks?
Groww told users in January 2024 that it would discontinue its US stocks offering because of operational complications, and asked them to withdraw by 30 June 2024. It has since returned with a GIFT City-based service that began rolling out in September 2026.
Which broker is best for US stocks in India?
No single broker is best for everyone, so compare regulation, total cost and reporting. Check that the broker or its partner is regulated in the US or by IFSCA, add up the currency margin and brokerage, and confirm you'll get statements for Schedule FA.
Can I invest in US ETFs from India?
Yes, and a US-listed ETF follows the same route as a US share: LRS, TCS, Form W-8BEN and Schedule FA. An Indian-listed ETF that tracks a US index skips LRS but faces overseas fund limits. It's also a PFIC if you later become a US tax resident, so check the PFIC-safe investment options first.
Does the US tax capital gains on US stocks held by an Indian resident?
Generally no. A non-resident alien isn't taxed by the US on capital gains from selling US stocks unless present in the US for 183 days or more in the tax year. Dividends are different, because the US taxes them through the 25% withholding.