Loan from NRI Brother

Income earned outside India by NRIs is not taxable in India. When your brother transfers money from abroad to your account in India, he should create appropriate documentation (in duplicate) that this is a loan to you, sign both copies, and send both copies to you. Sign both copies yourself and send one copy back to him. Thus, you both have proof that this is a loan in case the income tax authorities in either country have any questions. If and when you pay the loan back, get a receipt from your brother acknowledging that the loan has been discharged. If you don't do all this, the money would be regarded as a gift from your brother to you. If I remember correctly, gifts between near relatives do not incur gift tax, nor are they taxable income to the recipient. So, whether this applies to you is something for you to determine. It is common in India to refer to a very distant cousin as a brother (sometimes cousin-brother is used), whereas the gift tax rules are are very specific as to who are considered to be near relatives for the purposes of gift tax.