Final Checklist

You will be relocating long term and more likely away from your comfort zone of being with family and friendly environment. There are certain things that you would like to keep in mind before you leave India. I have put down some from my personal experience.

Renting out your house
If someone is moving to Singapore with their family, they might want to find a tenant. However this can also be done while you are overseas. But this is the longest task, so start as soon as you have started the countdown to fly.

Collection of income statements and tax settlement.

Before relocating to Singapore with Barclays Capital, I worked with Lehman Brothers and Bank of America in financial year 2008-09. So I had collect my income statements and tax sheets from 2 places.

It is recommended that before you move out, you complete these formalities or else you will have to have someone run around the city for this. All you have to do is collect the following and calculate tax by using the taxation tables .

- Tax Statements (Tax calculation sheet) from your employers. This will contain the salary paid and the TDS cut by the employer. It will also contain your PF (Provident Fund) details.

- FNF Sheet (Full and Final Settlement). Most employers do not cut any income tax (profession tax is cut) in your final payout. Complete salary is given and PF is contributed on a pro-rata basis.

- Other income statements like demat account statements, bank account statements.

- Investment proofs for getting tax benefits.

Calculate your total income for the year and pay the tax at any of the banks like State Bank of India. If you dont want all this hassle then pass these sheets to a CA and let him do the rest while you enjoy the trance of goin to Singapore :)

For more details on tax calculation and filing return refer:- http://www.incometaxindia.gov.in

Provident Fund Account

Since you will be earning in Singapore, you might want to close provident fund account. If you have multiple accounts, you can get it transferred and have just 1. I would not recommend closing the account as it gives you 8% tax free interest and the money is secure for your future. I would strongly advice everyone to keep their PF accounts operational.

In Singapore, the analogous version is Pension Fund Account. Most employers contribute about 10% of your basic salary to your Pension Fund. More details on this in forthcoming posts.

Servicing of your car/bike

I would recommend everyone to have their vehicle serviced atleast 10 days prior to flying. This will give you some time to test after the service and problems if any. If your vehicle will be used by someone else (family member or friend), make sure you give all the documents - RC Book, Insuarance and PUC. However, make sure you carry your driving licence with you. This will be helpful while making a licence in Singapore.

Mobile connection

You can either surrender your number or take it on international roaming. Check post with subject "What to do with our mobile phone and connec

tion in India?" for more details.

Filling your laptop or external harddisk

You might want to carry your personal documents, photos, music collection, movie collection, game packs, softwares and N number of items on you PC to your laptop or USB HDD. Just for information, I purchased a 250 GB Maxtor USB HDD for INR 3,300 from Lamington road, Mumbai. Price will keep going down and Capacity will keep going up :)

Visa and EP Documents

Make extra copies of these important documents. For most people the Visa and EP processing will be handled from the employer's end.

Forex

Convert some INR to USD and SGD 2 or 3 days prior to your flight. For more details refer to post with subject "Forex"

Meet Relatives and Friends

This is a very important and essential part. It will take a lot of time and most of your other things will have to find time around this. Make sure you meet all your close friends and relatives before you go. Its always good to take blessings and good wishes :)

Family

I think this is the most important "to-do" in the checklist. I remember a day before I left - Dad, Mom, Brother and me had gone for lunch at Cafe Leopold, then to Gateway of India and then to Dad's Office as it falls on our way. It is one of the most memorable days of my life. Do not forget to spend lot of time with your family as it does hurtto seperate.... even if it is for time being.

Meeting God
Do it or not, upto you. I went to my granny's house in Pune where we have a temple in our compound. Having this on checklist is important for some people and waste of time for some. It's one's belief. I believe in the divine powers and hence it was a must do on my checklist.