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Taxes
Accommodation at star hotels in India, and food and beverages at the more upmarket restaurants usually come with tax of some sort, sometimes more than one. It may be as little as 5%, but can be a lot more. It is always worthwhile asking before you check in whether you will be taxed, and by how much, just to save yourself from an unpleasant shock when you get the bill. The price quoted in this book are without tax. For more information on which taxes apply in which states, see the regional chapters.
If you stay in India for more than 120 days you need a tax clearance certificate to leave the country. This supposedly proves that your time in India was financed with your own money, not by working in India or by selling things or playing market.
All you have to do is find the foreign section of the Income Tax Department in Delhi, Calcutta, Chennai or Mumbai and turn up with your passport, visa extension form, any other similar paperwork and a handful of bank exchange receipts (to show you really have been changing foreign currency into rupees officially). You fill in a form and wait anything from 10 minutes to a couple of hours. You're then
be given your tax clearance certificate and away you go. We've never yet heard from anyone who has actually been asked for this document on departure.
Encashment Certificates
All money is supposed to be changed at official banks or money changes, and you are supposed to be given an encashment certificate for each transaction.
In practice, some people surreptitiously bring rupees into the country with them - they can be bought at a discount price in places such as Singapore or Bangkok. Indian rupees can be brought in fairly openly from Nepal and again you can get a slightly better rate there.
Banks will usually give you an encashment certificate, but occasionally they don't bother. It is worth getting them, especially if you want to re-exchange excess rupees for hard currency when you depart India.
The other reason for saving encashment certificates is that if you stay in India longer than four months, you have to get a tas clearance certificate (see the previous entry). Some shipping agents may request these certificates.
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