Zerodha’s U.S. investing service gives resident Indians access to thousands of American shares and ETFs, while remittance limits, tax collection and layered charges shape the cost.
The company says orders go through India INX Global Access at GIFT City, and investors fund a dollar wallet from a linked Indian bank account. Zerodha offers access to as many as 2,000 U.S.-listed stocks and about 1,000 exchange-traded funds, including fractional investments. Its product page calls the service live, while support pages describe Kite web access as being in beta. Nonresident Indians, joint accounts and nonindividual entities are not eligible.
As listed on Oct. 19, 2026, Zerodha’s detailed fee table sets brokerage at 0.10% of each buy or sell order, with a $0.01 minimum and a $10 maximum per order. It also lists an 18% integrated goods and services tax on brokerage, an International Financial Services Centres Authority turnover fee of 0.005% of trade value with a $0.01 minimum, and a Securities and Exchange Commission fee of 0.00206% of U.S. sale value with a $0.01 minimum. However, the detailed table presents regulatory fees separately, while Zerodha’s product-page FAQ says they are included in brokerage, leaving the fee descriptions in conflict. A filing by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) published by the SEC says FINRA’s Trading Activity Fee is paused for transactions through Dec. 31, 2026.
Currency conversion adds another possible cost. Zerodha’s investing guide gives a markup of 0.5% to 1.2% above the Reserve Bank of India reference rate, while its charges page lists 0.5%. Banks may also charge remittance fees and tax on conversion charges.
The Reserve Bank of India’s Liberalised Remittance Scheme allows resident individuals to send up to $250,000 abroad during an Indian financial year, from April 1 to March 31, across permitted purposes combined. India’s Income Tax Department lists a 20% tax collection at source on the portion of an investment remittance above ₹10 lakh after an individual’s cumulative remittances across purposes and banks are counted. The collected amount can be credited against the investor’s final income-tax liability.
For Indian tax purposes, foreign shares held for more than 24 months generally qualify for long-term capital-gains treatment at 12.5%, plus applicable surcharge and cess; shorter holdings are taxed at the investor’s applicable income-tax rate. The ₹1.25 lakh exemption for qualifying Indian equities does not apply to foreign shares. The U.S.-India treaty generally limits U.S. tax on portfolio dividends to 25% for eligible Indian individuals with the required documentation. Resident and ordinarily resident taxpayers must report foreign holdings in Schedule FA for the relevant calendar year ending Dec. 31.
U.S. capital gains generally are not taxed for a nonresident alien who spends fewer than 183 days in the country during a calendar year, subject to exceptions. Article 13 of the treaty leaves capital-gains taxation to each country’s own rules. For estate-tax filing, the executor generally must file when the combined amount, including U.S.-situated assets, adjusted taxable gifts and the specified gift-tax exemption, exceeds $60,000; that is a filing trigger, not a finding that tax is owed.
