GIFT City US stock investing: the complete guide for Indian investors (2026)

GIFT City has changed the structural question Indian investors face when buying US stocks. For the first time, there is a route that routes money to an Indian-regulated entity — not across the border — and under prevailing interpretation sidesteps both TCS and the $250,000 LRS annual cap. Three major platforms now offer this route: Dhan, INDmoney, and Tickertape.

But the platform comparison is only one part of what Indian investors need to understand. The more important questions are about the regulatory architecture itself: what GIFT City is, how it modifies the rules on TCS and LRS, what Section 10(4D) of the Income Tax Act does (and does not) do, how Schedule FA disclosure interacts with GIFT City holdings, and what the US estate tax picture looks like for assets held via IFSC entities. These are the questions that determine whether the GIFT City route is right for your situation — and at what scale it becomes compelling.

This guide covers all of it: the regulatory foundation, the tax questions with accurate caveats, the platform comparison, the comparison with the LRS route, and what GIFT City still does not solve.

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1. What GIFT City is — history and purpose

Gujarat International Finance Tec-City, universally abbreviated to GIFT City, is a special economic zone in Gandhinagar, Gujarat, developed by Gujarat Urban Development Company (GUDC) and IL&FS. The project was conceived in the mid-2000s and received substantial government support from the late 2000s onward, including from Narendra Modi during his tenure as Gujarat Chief Minister.

The core problem GIFT City was designed to address: India was losing financial services activity to offshore centres. Significant volumes of Indian-related financial transactions — derivatives trading, fund management, bond issuance, insurance — were being booked in Singapore, Dubai, Mauritius, and the Cayman Islands rather than in India. This happened partly because of regulatory flexibility those centres offered and partly because of the tax efficiency of booking transactions offshore rather than onshore in India.

GIFT City's answer was to create a zone within India's geographic borders but with a regulatory perimeter that competes with those offshore centres. The International Financial Services Centre (IFSC) within GIFT City is where this regulatory architecture sits. Entities incorporated in India but licensed under the IFSC framework can transact in foreign currencies, operate under a distinct regulatory regime, and — in many cases — offer tax treatment that differs from what applies to the same transactions conducted outside the IFSC.

IFSCA: the unified regulator

The International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA) was created by the International Financial Services Centres Authority Act, 2019 and became operational in 2020. It is the unified regulator for all financial services within GIFT City's IFSC, covering activities that onshore India would fall under RBI, SEBI, IRDAI, and PFRDA.

The key architectural point: IFSCA is separate from all four of those regulators. It has its own jurisdiction, its own licensing framework, and its own rulebook. An entity licensed by IFSCA as a Global Access Partner (GAP) or a Broker-Dealer is not regulated by SEBI as a broker, nor subject to the FEMA foreign exchange rules that govern transactions between Indian residents and foreign entities. It operates under a distinct framework designed for international financial services.

This jurisdictional separation is the foundation of the GIFT City advantage for Indian retail investors — and also the source of the regulatory ambiguities that a CA should resolve before you commit significant capital.

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2. How GIFT City changes the rules for US stock investing

To understand what GIFT City does for Indian investors buying US stocks, you need to start with what the standard LRS route looks like and where its friction points are.

The LRS route: the baseline

Before GIFT City, Indian residents buying US stocks used the Liberalised Remittance Scheme (LRS) — the RBI framework governing foreign remittances by resident individuals. Platforms like Vested, or direct accounts with Schwab, IBKR, or Fidelity, all operate on the LRS route. Transfers under LRS are classified as foreign remittances under FEMA (Foreign Exchange Management Act, specifically FEMA Notification No. FEMA 20(R)/2017-RB and subsequent amendments) and carry several consequences:

• $250,000 annual cap: All LRS remittances in a financial year — for any purpose, including education, travel, investments, and gifts — aggregate against a single $250,000 limit per individual.
• 20% TCS above Rs 7 lakh: Since October 2023, under Section 206C(1G) of the Income Tax Act, TCS at 20% applies on LRS remittances above Rs 7 lakh per year. TCS is credited when you file your ITR, but it blocks capital — if you remit Rs 10 lakh, Rs 60,000 is collected upfront (20% on the Rs 3 lakh above Rs 7 lakh) and is not available for investment until tax refund.
• Schedule FA disclosure: Foreign financial accounts and holdings acquired through LRS are foreign assets for Indian income tax purposes, requiring disclosure in Schedule FA (Foreign Assets) of the ITR under the Black Money (Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets) and Imposition of Tax Act, 2015. Non-disclosure is seriously penalised.
• Standard FEMA rules for overseas investments: Additional regulatory conditions — minimum pricing, repatriation, and reporting — apply to certain categories of overseas investments under LRS.

The GIFT City route: what changes

When you transfer money to an IFSCA-regulated entity in GIFT City's IFSC, the legal classification of that transfer is different. That entity is an Indian legal entity incorporated under Indian law. Under prevailing market interpretation — based on IFSCA's regulatory positioning, market practice, and the structure of FEMA Notification No. FEMA 20(R)/2017-RB — a transfer to an IFSCA-regulated GIFT City entity is a domestic transfer, not a foreign remittance.

The practical consequences of that reclassification, under prevailing interpretation:

• No TCS: Domestic transfers to Indian entities are not subject to TCS under Section 206C(1G), which applies to LRS remittances. Platforms and their banking partners operate on this basis.
• No LRS cap consumption: Because the transfer is not classified as an LRS foreign remittance, it does not count against the $250,000 annual limit. This removes the primary ceiling on large-scale US equity accumulation by Indian residents.

These two changes together represent the core structural shift that has driven Indian investor interest in the GIFT City route in 2025 and 2026.

The critical caveat

The interpretation above — that GIFT City transfers are domestic and outside LRS — is prevailing market practice, not settled law. Explicit RBI or CBDT circulars definitively establishing this treatment across all GIFT City structures are limited. The Indian government and IFSCA have been supportive of this positioning, and it has not been publicly challenged by the revenue authorities. But the regulatory position has not been stress-tested at scale, and the legal basis rests on interpretation of existing FEMA and IFSCA frameworks rather than explicit new guidance.

Before committing significant sums on the basis of TCS exemption or LRS cap exclusion, confirm the current treatment with your CA and with your bank's forex team. This article is not tax advice. The regulatory picture for GIFT City is evolving rapidly and may have changed after the date of publication.

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3. Section 10(4D) — the capital gains exemption potential

Section 10(4D) of the Income Tax Act provides an exemption from income tax on income derived from the transfer of specified securities by certain non-resident investors investing in IFSC units. It was one of the flagship tax incentives offered to attract foreign capital and financial services activity to GIFT City.

The potential for Indian investors

The question that has circulated in Indian investment and tax circles is whether Indian resident investors investing via GIFT City IFSC entities could benefit from Section 10(4D) — effectively paying zero capital gains tax on qualifying transfers of securities within the IFSC framework.

Zero LTCG and STCG is a substantial potential advantage. Compare this to the LRS route: US stock gains are taxed under Indian capital gains rules — 12.5% LTCG (above Rs 1.25 lakh, for assets held over 24 months, under current Indian rules for foreign equity) or at slab rates for STCG. If Section 10(4D) applied to retail investor holdings via GIFT City, it would make the GIFT City route dramatically more tax-efficient, not just more convenient.

The complexity: does it apply to your situation?

Section 10(4D) was not designed with the retail investor in mind. It targets entities — funds, financial institutions — operating within the IFSC framework. Whether it applies to an individual investor's holdings in US-listed securities accessed via a GIFT City GAP platform depends on several questions that do not have clear general answers:

• How are the securities legally structured within the IFSC entity? Is the investor holding US-listed shares directly in their name through an IFSC intermediary, or holding units of an IFSC-registered fund?
• Does the specific platform's legal structure qualify the investor's holdings as "securities in an IFSC" for Section 10(4D) purposes?
• Is there a CBDT circular that extends (or limits) Section 10(4D) to the specific holding structure of retail GIFT City accounts?

As of the date of this article, no general CBDT circular definitively addresses Section 10(4D) applicability for retail investors using GIFT City GAP platforms to hold US-listed equities directly. The legal and tax analysis is structure-specific and requires a CA who is current on IFSCA and income tax guidance.

The practical position

Do not make large investment decisions based on an assumed Section 10(4D) exemption without a CA confirming that it applies to your specific platform's legal structure. In the absence of confirmed Section 10(4D) applicability, assume the same capital gains tax treatment as the LRS route: 12.5% LTCG for assets held over 24 months, slab rates for shorter holding periods.

If it does apply — after CA confirmation — it represents one of the most significant tax advantages available to Indian investors in US equities. But the "if" is load-bearing.

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4. Schedule FA and GIFT City — the open question

Schedule FA (Foreign Assets) of the Indian ITR requires resident Indians to disclose foreign financial accounts, financial interests, and immovable property outside India. Non-disclosure is penalised severely under the Black Money Act — Rs 10 lakh per undisclosed asset per year, plus potential prosecution.

The standard view for GIFT City holdings

The argument that GIFT City holdings may not be "foreign assets" for Schedule FA purposes runs as follows: the investor's account is with an IFSCA-regulated Indian legal entity incorporated in India. The investor has a contractual relationship with an Indian entity. On the domestic-transfer interpretation of GIFT City transactions, the economic relationship is with an Indian intermediary, not a foreign one.

Under this view, Schedule FA may not be required for GIFT City holdings — the same way you do not disclose an Indian mutual fund account in Schedule FA even if the fund holds some foreign securities.

The counter-argument

The underlying securities are US-listed equities. The economic exposure is to US stocks. The investor's ultimate beneficial interest in foreign assets is not eliminated by routing through an Indian IFSC intermediary. The Income Tax Act's Schedule FA obligations look at the economic substance of foreign asset holding, not merely the legal form of the intermediary.

Where guidance currently stands

This question does not have definitive resolution. IFSCA regulations and CBDT guidance on Schedule FA treatment for GIFT City retail accounts are new territory. Most platforms are not providing explicit direction on Schedule FA for their GIFT City accounts.

The prudent approach

The cost of over-disclosure in Schedule FA is minimal — it adds a section to your ITR filing and some work for your CA. The cost of under-disclosure under the Black Money Act is Rs 10 lakh per asset per year plus potential prosecution. Given this asymmetry, the prudent position is to treat GIFT City holdings as potentially requiring Schedule FA disclosure until explicit guidance is issued, and to have your CA review the specific platform structure and applicable guidance each year.

For a full treatment of Schedule FA obligations, including what counts as a foreign asset, how to value holdings in INR for disclosure purposes, and how joint accounts are handled, see our Schedule FA complete guide.

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5. US estate tax and GIFT City

US estate tax is the issue most Indian investors do not think about until they have already accumulated a meaningful US equity portfolio. Non-US persons (including Indian residents who have never lived in or been connected to the US) are subject to US federal estate tax on "US-situs assets" above $60,000 at the time of death. The top rate is 40%. For married couples and those with estate planning, the numbers get more complex, but the $60,000 exemption threshold for non-US persons is the critical figure — it is not indexed to inflation and has been at this level for decades.

US-listed equities — individual stocks, US-domiciled ETFs like SPY or QQQ — are US-situs assets for estate tax purposes. This is well-established.

The GIFT City question

Are US stocks held via a GIFT City IFSC entity "US-situs assets" for US estate tax purposes?

The argument that they are not: the investor's account is with an Indian legal entity (the IFSCA-licensed GAP or broker). Under US tax rules, the situs of assets can depend on where the legal interest is held. If the investor holds a claim against an Indian entity rather than direct ownership of US securities, the situs argument becomes more complex.

The argument that they are: US estate tax regulations look at economic substance, not just legal form. The investor's beneficial interest in US-listed equities does not change because an Indian intermediary sits in between. The underlying assets — US equities — are US-situs, and the IRS would likely look through the intermediary structure to the underlying securities.

Current status

This question has not been definitively settled by IRS guidance or legal precedent specifically addressing GIFT City IFSC structures. The conservative position — and the appropriate one for most investors — is to treat US stocks held via GIFT City as potentially US-situs for estate tax planning purposes until there is explicit IRS guidance or legal authority to the contrary.

The practical implication

If US estate tax mitigation is a priority — because your US equity exposure is likely to exceed $60,000, which is a low threshold for any serious investor — the clearest current solution is London-listed UCITS ETFs (for example, the iShares Core S&P 500 UCITS ETF listed on the London Stock Exchange). These ETFs are domiciled in Ireland, not the US, and are not US-situs assets. They provide comparable economic exposure to US equity markets — including S&P 500 and NASDAQ 100 — without the US estate tax exposure.

None of the three GIFT City platforms currently provide access to London-listed UCITS ETFs. IBKR direct access is the current route for this strategy.

For a complete treatment of US estate tax as it applies to Indian investors — including the India-US estate tax treaty status, planning strategies, and how RSUs and options factor in — see our US estate tax complete guide.

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6. The regulatory evolution — what is coming

GIFT City's trajectory as a platform for retail US equity investing is one of the more consequential ongoing regulatory developments for Indian investors.

More platforms entering the space: Groww and Zerodha have both been discussed in public reporting as potential entrants to the GIFT City US equity space. Given that both platforms have tens of millions of Indian users, their entry would dramatically expand the reach of the GIFT City route.

Regulatory clarity on TCS and LRS treatment: As GIFT City usage at retail scale grows, the need for explicit RBI and CBDT guidance on the LRS and TCS treatment will intensify. Regulators are not well-served by a major channel of retail investment operating on interpretive positions rather than clear circulars. Explicit guidance — either confirming the prevailing interpretation or modifying it — is likely to come as volumes grow.

Section 10(4D) guidance for retail structures: The capital gains question is significant enough that CBDT will likely need to provide explicit guidance on how Section 10(4D) applies (or does not apply) to the specific holding structures used by retail investors in GIFT City GAP accounts. This may come via circular or via judicial/appellate interpretation.

IFSCA expanding the product perimeter: IFSCA has been expanding what can be accessed and offered within the IFSC framework — fixed income instruments, fund structures, and insurance products have all seen new rules. The eventual goal, as IFSCA has stated in various policy documents, is for GIFT City to become the default domestic route for all cross-border investing and financial services from India.

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7. The LRS route vs GIFT City — when LRS is still better

The GIFT City route is not automatically superior. There are situations where the LRS route — through platforms like Vested, or direct accounts at IBKR or Schwab — remains the better choice.

When the LRS route is preferable:

London-listed UCITS ETFs for estate tax mitigation: If your US equity allocation is large enough that US estate tax is a genuine concern, Ireland-domiciled UCITS ETFs accessed via LRS through IBKR is the cleaner solution. GIFT City platforms do not offer these instruments.

US options trading: Covered calls, cash-secured puts, spreads — none of the GIFT City platforms support US options. If your strategy uses options for income generation or risk management on US equity positions, IBKR on the LRS route is the only viable option.

ACATS transfers from existing accounts: If you have existing US brokerage holdings at Schwab, Fidelity, or IBKR and want to consolidate without triggering a tax event, ACATS inbound transfers are available on some LRS-route platforms but not on any current GIFT City platform.

RSU consolidation and exercise strategy: Indian employees with US employer RSUs typically end up with holdings in employer-provided brokerage accounts (E*TRADE, Schwab, Fidelity). The specialised workflow of consolidating, exercising strategically, and integrating RSU holdings into a broader portfolio requires platforms built for this — not the standard retail GIFT City offering.

When your annual transfer volume is under Rs 7 lakh: Below Rs 7 lakh per year, the LRS route has no TCS friction (TCS applies only on amounts above Rs 7 lakh). At this volume, the TCS advantage of GIFT City is not relevant, and the question reduces to which platform best serves your research and execution needs.

Where GIFT City is clearly preferable:

Transfers above Rs 7 lakh per year where TCS drag is real: The 20% TCS on LRS remittances above Rs 7 lakh is refundable but blocks capital. At Rs 25-50 lakh annual investment volume, the working capital impact is significant. GIFT City eliminates this friction under prevailing interpretation.

Large-scale accumulation where the $250,000 LRS cap is a constraint: For high-net-worth investors systematically accumulating US equity over multiple years, the LRS cap becomes a genuine constraint within a few years. GIFT City's likely exclusion from LRS cap calculations removes this ceiling.

Investors who want simplicity without a separate overseas account: The GIFT City route feels like a domestic account to the user — INR transfer, familiar onboarding, Indian-regulated entity. For investors who find the complexity of opening a foreign brokerage account or managing a Schedule FA filing every year burdensome, GIFT City's operational simplicity is a real advantage.

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8. What all three platforms share: the GIFT City IFSC route

Before comparing Dhan, INDmoney, and Tickertape, understand what unites them. All three route US stock purchases through entities licensed by IFSCA operating out of GIFT City, Gujarat.

The mechanism: You transfer INR from your Indian bank account to an IFSCA-regulated entity in GIFT City. That entity converts the funds to USD and executes trades on US exchanges (NYSE, NASDAQ) through a US-registered clearing partner. Your holdings sit in a US custodian account.

All three platforms share: the GIFT City route, NYSE and NASDAQ access, fractional share support, and Indian-resident-focused onboarding. The differences that follow are what actually determine which platform you should use.

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9. Where they differ: three dimensions that matter

Brokerage cost is the most visible difference. Tickertape charges 0.15% per trade. Dhan and INDmoney both charge 0.25%. On a Rs 50 lakh annual investment volume, that 0.10 percentage point gap compounds to Rs 50,000 per year in additional brokerage paid to Dhan or INDmoney versus Tickertape.

Research tools is where Tickertape separates most clearly. Its US stock screeners — covering PE, revenue growth, operating margins, debt-to-equity, sector, market cap — are the same interface used for Indian stocks. Dhan offers basic stock information. INDmoney sits in the middle with reasonable analytics but oriented more toward portfolio-level tracking than pre-trade research.

Track record on the GIFT City route is worth treating seriously. INDmoney received its IFSCA GAP licence and switched to the GIFT City route in August 2025. By July 2026 it has approximately a year of live GIFT City operation, including the experience of clearing through two brokers (DriveWealth and Alpaca Securities) and handling at least one full tax reporting cycle. Dhan launched US stocks in June 2026. The product and infrastructure may be solid, but the operational track record on this specific route is weeks, not months. Tickertape sits between the two — operational on the GIFT City route through ViewTrade International, with meaningful time on that infrastructure.

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10. Dhan: the integrated trading experience

Dhan is primarily an Indian equity and derivatives broker with a large user base concentrated in active options traders. Its entry into US stocks via GIFT City in June 2026 is a meaningful product expansion, but one that matters more for existing Dhan users than for those evaluating it fresh.

The infrastructure: Dhan routes through Raise IFSC Pvt. Ltd. as its GIFT City entity, with ViewTrade International as the IFSCA-registered Global Access Partner handling clearing on the US side.

The one-app advantage: If you already use Dhan for Indian equity trading or F&O, adding US stocks means a single application with a unified portfolio view. You see your Nifty positions, your options exposure, and your S&P 500 holdings in one place, under one login, with one KYC completed. For users who find platform fragmentation genuinely annoying — separate logins, separate apps, separate P&L calculations — this consolidation has real practical value.

US stock SIPs: Dhan supports recurring investment instructions on US stocks. If your strategy is systematic accumulation — buy $100 of QQQ every month regardless of price — you can configure that directly, similar to how you would set up an Indian equity SIP through a mutual fund platform.

The research gap: Dhan does not have a dedicated research layer for US stocks. The information available is standard: price, chart, basic fundamentals. If your investment process involves screening by revenue growth or filtering by free cash flow yield before buying, you will need to do that research elsewhere and then execute on Dhan.

No US options: None of the three platforms support US options trading. For covered calls, cash-secured puts, or any options-based strategy on US holdings, you need IBKR or Paasa directly.

Track record: This is the honest limitation of Dhan's US stocks offering as of mid-2026. A few weeks of live operation is not enough time to evaluate how the platform handles corporate actions, dividend processing, tax document generation, or edge cases in transfers and withdrawals. Dhan has years of track record on Indian markets; it has almost none on the GIFT City US route specifically.

Who Dhan US stocks is for: Existing Dhan users who want to add US exposure without opening a new account. Investors who want US stock SIPs. Anyone who values a single integrated app for Indian and US holdings and is comfortable with the short GIFT City track record.

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11. INDmoney: all-in-one wealth with the best tax reporting

INDmoney is the most established of the three on the GIFT City route, having made the switch from the LRS route to its IFSCA GAP licence in August 2025. As of July 2026, that is approximately a year of live operation — long enough to have processed at least one tax reporting cycle and dealt with real-world edge cases.

Dual licences: INDmoney holds both a SEBI registration as an Investment Adviser (INA100012190) and an IFSCA GAP licence. The dual regulatory standing reflects the breadth of the platform — it is simultaneously an Indian investment advisory business and a GIFT City international entity.

Clearing through two brokers: INDmoney clears through both DriveWealth and Alpaca Securities on the US side. Dual clearing relationships add operational redundancy and may reflect INDmoney's scale — the platform has one of the larger Indian user bases among these three, given its head start and breadth of product coverage.

The all-in-one wealth proposition: INDmoney's core positioning is that it consolidates everything: Indian mutual funds, Indian stocks (via its SEBI-registered broker entity), US stocks, fixed deposits, and insurance in one interface. For a family managing multiple investment products across multiple family members, this consolidation is meaningful. Portfolio analytics across Indian and US assets combined — total portfolio performance, asset allocation, currency exposure — are stronger on INDmoney than on the other two platforms.

Tax reporting: the clearest differentiator: INDmoney offers lot-level tax reporting formatted for Indian ITR filings. That means each lot of stock purchased, its acquisition date, cost basis in INR, sale date, sale proceeds, and gain or loss, broken out by long-term and short-term holding periods per Indian tax rules. This level of granularity is not trivial — it is what a CA needs to correctly file Schedule FA (if applicable) and compute capital gains on US holdings. Among the three platforms in this comparison, INDmoney's tax reporting is the strongest.

Brokerage: 0.25% per trade, capped at $35 per order — same percentage as Dhan, though Dhan's cap structure may differ. More expensive than Tickertape per trade for orders under $14,000.

Who INDmoney is for: Investors who want a single platform for their entire financial life — Indian MFs, Indian stocks, FDs, and US stocks. Anyone prioritising tax reporting quality, particularly those with significant US holdings who need clean ITR-ready documentation. Families managing multiple investment products who benefit from consolidated analytics.

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12. Tickertape: 0.15% brokerage and the best research

Tickertape is primarily known in India as a stock research and screener platform. Its entry into US stock execution via GIFT City extends a platform that many Indian investors already use for Indian equity research.

The infrastructure: Tickertape routes through ViewTrade International as its IFSCA-registered Global Access Partner — the same clearing infrastructure as Dhan. GlomoPay handles the FX conversion and bank transfer leg. The clearing side is therefore shared with Dhan, though the product layers above it are entirely different.

0.15% brokerage: This is the most competitively priced among the three platforms — 40% cheaper than Dhan and INDmoney on a per-trade basis. On a Rs 10 lakh annual investment volume, that gap represents Rs 10,000 in annual brokerage savings. On Rs 50 lakh, the saving is Rs 50,000. If you are a long-term, low-turnover investor, brokerage differences matter less. If you rebalance quarterly, add to positions regularly, or invest systematically in multiple positions, the cost difference accumulates materially.

Research as a first-class feature: Tickertape's screener for US stocks uses the same interface as its Indian stock screener, which a large portion of its existing user base knows well. You can filter by price-to-earnings, revenue growth rate, operating margin, debt-to-equity, market capitalisation, sector, and other fundamental criteria. The workflow is designed as a continuous loop: screen for stocks that meet your criteria, read the research, execute the trade, without switching platforms or tabs.

This integrated research-to-execution workflow is the clearest product differentiation Tickertape offers. Dhan and INDmoney require you to do your research elsewhere if you want anything beyond basic price and financials.

Tax reporting: Standard, which is adequate but not exceptional. Sufficient for most investors; not the granular lot-level ITR format that INDmoney provides.

Who Tickertape is for: Investors for whom research is central to the investment process and who want the screener-to-execution workflow in one place. Cost-sensitive investors or those with high investment volumes where the 0.10% brokerage saving materialises meaningfully. Existing Tickertape users already comfortable with the platform's research interface.

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13. Side-by-side comparison

	Dhan	INDmoney	Tickertape
GIFT City entity	Raise IFSC Pvt. Ltd.	INDmoney (IFSCA GAP)	ViewTrade International (IFSCA GAP)
Clearing partner (US)	ViewTrade International	DriveWealth + Alpaca Securities	ViewTrade International
Brokerage	0.25% per trade	0.25% per trade, capped at $35	0.15% per trade
GIFT City route since	June 2026	August 2025	2025
Track record (GIFT City)	Weeks	~1 year	Months
US stock SIP	Yes	No	No
Research / screener	Basic	Moderate (portfolio-level)	Best-in-class (fundamental screeners)
Tax reporting	Standard	Lot-level ITR format (best)	Standard
Indian assets in same app	Yes (equities + F&O)	Yes (MFs, stocks, FDs)	No
Regulatory licences	SEBI broker	SEBI IA + IFSCA GAP	IFSCA GAP
US options	No	No	No

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14. Brokerage cost comparison

The table below shows total annual brokerage cost at four investment sizes, assuming one full turnover per year (you invest the amount once; this does not include any trading within the portfolio).

Annual investment	Dhan (0.25%)	INDmoney (0.25%)	Tickertape (0.15%)	Saving vs Dhan/INDmoney
Rs 5 lakh	Rs 1,250	Rs 1,250	Rs 750	Rs 500
Rs 10 lakh	Rs 2,500	Rs 2,500	Rs 1,500	Rs 1,000
Rs 25 lakh	Rs 6,250	Rs 6,250	Rs 3,750	Rs 2,500
Rs 50 lakh	Rs 12,500	Rs 12,500	Rs 7,500	Rs 5,000

If you rebalance quarterly or add to positions regularly, multiply the saving column by your actual number of round-trip trades per year. An investor who rebalances monthly effectively has twelve times the annual turnover relative to buy-and-hold, and the brokerage difference scales accordingly.

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15. Decision guide: four questions that determine which platform wins for you

Question 1: Do you already have an active Dhan account for Indian equity or F&O?

If yes, Dhan US stocks is worth serious consideration. The integration value — one app, one KYC, unified portfolio view — is genuine. The short GIFT City track record is a real consideration, but for investors with modest initial US allocation who want to start without opening a new account, Dhan is the path of least friction.

Question 2: Is detailed tax reporting a priority?

If you are accumulating significant US positions and want the cleanest ITR-ready documentation — lot-level capital gains with acquisition dates, INR cost bases, and STCG/LTCG breakouts — INDmoney's tax reporting is the differentiating factor. This matters most for investors with holdings in the multiple-lakh or crore range, or those whose CAs charge time-based fees and benefit from cleaner input data.

Question 3: Is pre-trade research central to your investment process?

If you actively screen before buying — filter by revenue growth, eliminate high-debt companies, find undervalued sectors — Tickertape's integrated screener-to-execution workflow is the strongest. Doing that research on Screener.in or elsewhere and then executing on Dhan or INDmoney works, but it involves context-switching that Tickertape eliminates.

Question 4: Is brokerage cost a meaningful factor given your investment volume?

At Rs 5 lakh per year, the Tickertape saving is Rs 500 — not decisive. At Rs 25 lakh per year with regular rebalancing, the saving exceeds Rs 5,000-10,000 and becomes worth weighing explicitly. If you are investing Rs 50 lakh or more annually in US stocks through GIFT City, the 0.10% brokerage difference is meaningful in absolute terms and Tickertape's cost advantage becomes one of the clearest inputs in the decision.

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16. What none of them do

The GIFT City route through Dhan, INDmoney, and Tickertape is the right answer for a specific investor profile: an Indian resident who wants straightforward buy-and-hold or systematic US stock exposure, likely without TCS friction, and integration with Indian financial life. For use cases outside that profile, the gap list is worth knowing.

US options trading: Covered calls, cash-secured puts, spreads, LEAPS — none of the three support options on US stocks. Investors who use options for income generation or risk management on US positions need IBKR or Paasa directly.

RSU consolidation: Indian employees receiving RSUs in US companies frequently end up with fragmented holdings across employer-provided brokerage accounts. Consolidating those positions, exercising strategically, and integrating them with a broader investment account requires specialised tooling. Platforms like Rovia are built for this use case.

London-listed UCITS ETFs for US estate tax mitigation: US estate tax applies to non-US persons on US-situs assets above $60,000, which includes US-listed ETFs like SPY or QQQ. London-listed UCITS equivalents — for example, the iShares Core S&P 500 UCITS ETF listed on LSE — achieve comparable economic exposure without the US-situs exposure that creates estate tax risk for Indian investors. None of the three GIFT City platforms currently offer access to London-listed instruments. IBKR direct access remains the route for this strategy.

ACATS inbound transfers: Transferring an existing US brokerage account (at Schwab, Fidelity, or IBKR) into a new account without selling and rebuying requires an ACATS transfer. None of these three platforms support ACATS inbound. Platforms like Rovia handle this.

Schedule FA pre-fill assistance: Indian residents with applicable foreign asset disclosure obligations need Schedule FA in their ITR. The GIFT City route's Schedule FA treatment is still evolving — the question of whether GIFT City holdings are "foreign assets" for Schedule FA purposes is not definitively settled — and none of the three platforms currently offer pre-fill or guided FA completion. Work through this with your CA each year.

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Frequently asked questions

Is TCS definitely not applicable on GIFT City transfers?

No, not definitely. The prevailing market interpretation is that transfers to IFSCA-regulated GIFT City entities are domestic transfers and therefore outside the scope of TCS under Section 206C(1G). Most platforms and their banking partners are operating on this basis. However, explicit RBI and CBDT circulars confirming this treatment across all GIFT City structures are limited. Confirm the current position with your CA and your bank before committing large sums on this basis.

Does investing through GIFT City platforms consume my $250,000 LRS annual cap?

Under prevailing interpretation, no — GIFT City transfers are classified as domestic transfers, not LRS foreign remittances, and therefore do not count against the cap. The same caveat applies: this interpretation is widely adopted but not definitively confirmed by explicit circular. Verify with your CA.

Does Section 10(4D) exempt my GIFT City US stock gains from capital gains tax?

Possibly, but not automatically. Section 10(4D) provides an income tax exemption on income from transfer of specified securities in an IFSC, but its applicability to the specific legal structure of retail investor accounts on GIFT City GAP platforms is not clearly established by general CBDT circular. Do not assume this exemption applies without your CA confirming it for your specific platform's structure. In the absence of confirmation, apply the same capital gains tax treatment as the LRS route.

Do I need to disclose GIFT City holdings in Schedule FA of my ITR?

This is genuinely unsettled. The prevailing argument is that holdings with an IFSCA-regulated Indian entity may not constitute "foreign assets" for Schedule FA purposes. The counter-argument is that the underlying economic exposure is to US-listed securities, which are foreign assets in substance. Given the Black Money Act penalty of Rs 10 lakh per undisclosed asset, the prudent approach is to consult your CA and consider disclosing until explicit guidance is issued. See our Schedule FA complete guide.

Which platform has the best track record for GIFT City US stocks?

INDmoney has the longest operational history on the GIFT City route, having switched to its IFSCA GAP structure in August 2025. That gives it approximately one year of live operation as of mid-2026, including at least one tax reporting cycle and real-world operational experience. Dhan launched in June 2026. Tickertape's GIFT City operation sits between the two in duration.

Can I transfer my existing US stock holdings into these platforms?

No. None of the three platforms support ACATS inbound transfers. If you have existing holdings at Schwab, Fidelity, or IBKR, you would need to sell, repatriate or hold in an LRS account, and rebuy through the GIFT City platform. This may trigger capital gains events. Plan this step carefully with your CA.

What if I want to invest in US options or London-listed UCITS ETFs for estate tax purposes?

You need a direct account at IBKR for either use case. US options require a US-licensed options-cleared broker. London-listed UCITS ETFs require access to the London Stock Exchange. None of Dhan, INDmoney, or Tickertape currently provide either. For US estate tax planning considerations specific to Indian investors, see our US estate tax complete guide.

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