I am a US citizen and have around 40 lakh rupees in my NRO account in India which I transferred from US to India over the past 1 year. I would like to transfer this amount to my mothers account who lives in in India and is a Indian citizen, so that she can put it in an FD for a year and get a better interst rate. Do I have to pay gift tax for this here in US and what am I supposed to do when I file my taxes here. Please can someone help me with this question.

1. You must report worldwide income on your tax return so you must report interest earned on your India bank account.
2. If you gift the money to your mother, you will have to file gift tax return as the amount exceeds $13,000.
3. You can have FD in your name.
4. You can transfer amount to your mother's account without gifting her. On your US tax return, you will report interest income as your own income.
5. You must file Form TD F 90-22.1. every year. You may have another filing requirement Form 8938. Your U.S. Tax Return: U.S. Citizen or Resident with Foreign Income (http://taxipay.blogspot.com/2008/03/us-citizen-or-resident-with-foreign.html)