ITAT Denies Non-Resident Status to Flipkart Co-Founder Binny Bansal

The Bengaluru Bench of the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) has rejected the non-resident tax claim made by Binny Bansal, co-founder of Flipkart. As a result, he will not get tax relief under the India–Singapore tax treaty. The final order was passed on January 9, 2026.

Binny Bansal had argued that he moved to Singapore for employment and should therefore be treated as a person “being outside India.” He also claimed that he was a tax resident of Singapore during the financial year 2019–20. Based on this, he said that capital gains from the sale of his Flipkart shares in August and November 2019 should not be taxed in India.

However, the tribunal did not accept this argument. In its detailed 189-page order, the ITAT observed that Bansal stayed in India for more than 60 days during the relevant period. This meant that he fulfilled the residential conditions under Section 6(1)(c) of the Income Tax Act. Since he is an Indian citizen, the tribunal said he was not eligible for the relaxed stay limits claimed by him.

The tax department had argued that such relaxations apply only to individuals who are already non-residents and not to someone who was a resident in the previous year. Accepting Bansal’s argument, the department said, would allow every person visiting India to repeatedly claim extended stay benefits each year.

While the tribunal dismissed Bansal’s main claim, it stated that the appeal was “partly allowed,” meaning that some of his other arguments were accepted.

Binny Bansal stepped down from Flipkart’s board in 2024, bringing an end to his formal association with the company he co-founded with Sachin Bansal in 2007.