NRI Selling Property in India: Full Process, TDS & Repatriation Guide

How does someone sell a home they cannot easily visit, in a country several time zones away, without losing lakhs of rupees to tax they never actually owed?

Many NRIs face exactly this challenge. Some own a flat they bought years ago, others hold a home their parents left them, and still others want to exit an investment that has served its purpose. Whatever the reason, selling from abroad brings its own set of worries. The buyer withholds tax at source, documents sit scattered across two countries, signatures must hold up in India, and finally, the seller needs a way to move the money to an overseas bank account.

Fortunately, the NRI selling property in India process has a clear end, and it follows a fixed sequence. Once a seller understands that sequence, the whole journey becomes far easier to manage.

This guide maps that journey, from the decision to sell through to the money arriving abroad. Along the way, each stage explains what happens, why it matters, and which steps need an early start.

The Whole Process at a Glance, and Why the Order Matters

Most guides list the topics involved in a sale, such as tax, documents, and repatriation. However, NRI sellers usually struggle less with the topics themselves and more with their order. Some steps take weeks, and a few must finish before others can even begin.

Stage	What the seller does	When to start
1. Documents and title	Gathers the title deed, tax receipts, and supporting papers	As soon as they decide to sell
2. Power of attorney	Appoints someone in India if travel is not possible	Early, since apostille and stamping take time
3. Lower TDS certificate	Applies to reduce the tax the buyer withholds	While negotiating, before the agreement to sell
4. Agreement to sell	Fixes the price, terms, and timeline with the buyer	Once the certificate arrives or is close
5. Registration and handover	Registers the sale deed and hands over possession	On the agreed date
6. Buyer’s TDS compliance	Confirms that the buyer deposits TDS and files Form 27Q	Soon after payment
7. Repatriation	Obtains Form 15CB, files Form 15CA, and remits the funds	After registration and tax compliance

In simple terms, the lower TDS certificate sits on the critical path. If a seller signs the agreement before applying for it, they often lose the chance to reduce withholding, and the buyer must then deduct tax on the full sale value.

Before You List: Documents, Title and Getting Your Paperwork in Order

A clean set of documents speeds up every later step. Buyers, lawyers, banks, and tax officers all rely on the same papers, so a seller who gathers them early saves weeks of delay.

Document	Why the seller needs it
Registered title deed (sale deed)	Proves ownership
Proof of how they funded the purchase	Decides the repatriation route later
Latest property tax and maintenance receipts	Shows the buyer that no dues remain
Encumbrance certificate	Confirms that no loan or charge sits on the property
Approved building plan or occupancy certificate	Reassures the buyer and their lender
PAN card and passport	Supports tax and identity checks
NRO account details	Receives the sale proceeds
Inheritance documents, if inherited	Will, succession certificate, or legal heir papers

Proof of funding deserves special attention. The source of the original purchase money, whether NRE funds, NRO funds, or an inheritance, later decides how easily the seller can move the money out of India. Additionally, a seller with an old home loan should collect the loan closure letter and original documents from the bank before listing.

Can You Sell From Abroad? Power of Attorney and What It Must Say

Many sellers ask whether an NRI can sell property in India without traveling. The answer is yes, through a power of attorney (POA). With a POA, the seller authorizes a trusted person in India to sign documents and attend registration on their behalf.

A special power of attorney usually offers the safer choice. Unlike a general POA, it limits the attorney’s authority to one specific property and one specific sale. As a result, the seller keeps far tighter control over what the attorney can do.

Step	What the seller does
Drafting	Names the property, the attorney, and the exact powers
Signing abroad	Signs the POA before a notary in their country of residence
Apostille or attestation	Gets an apostille in Hague Convention countries, or attestation at the Indian embassy or consulate elsewhere
Stamping in India	Has the POA stamped within three months of its arrival in India
Registration	Registers or adjudicates it at the sub-registrar’s office where the property sits

The three-month stamping window often catches sellers off guard. Even a perfectly drafted and signed POA becomes unusable if it sits in a drawer for too long after reaching India. ASBL’s upcoming guide to power of attorney for NRI property covers the format and validity in detail.

Who You Can Sell To, and What Changes If the Buyer Is Also an NRI

FEMA rules allow an NRI to sell residential or commercial property to a resident Indian, another NRI, or a person of Indian origin (PIO). However, the same rules limit the sale of agricultural land, farmhouses, and plantation property to resident Indians only.

Property type	Resident Indian buyer	NRI or PIO buyer
Residential property	Allowed	Allowed
Commercial property	Allowed	Allowed
Agricultural land, farmhouse, plantation	Allowed	Not allowed

When an NRI sells property to another NRI, the basic process stays the same. The buyer still deducts TDS, deposits it, and files the required returns. Similarly, the buyer pays through Indian banking channels, usually from their own NRE or NRO account. Since both parties may live abroad, both often rely on attorneys, which makes clear communication even more important.(Source)

Working Out the Tax: Capital Gains for NRI Sellers in 2026

Capital gains tax for NRIs on property depends mainly on how long the seller has owned the property.

Holding period	Type of gain	How the tax works
More than 24 months	Long-term capital gain (LTCG)	12.5% plus applicable surcharge and 4% health and education cess
24 months or less	Short-term capital gain (STCG)	The seller adds the gain to their income and pays tax at slab rates

To work out the gain, the seller subtracts the cost of acquisition, along with eligible costs such as improvements and brokerage, from the sale price. For sales after 23 July 2024, NRI sellers generally calculate long-term gains without indexation.

A sample calculation: Suppose an NRI bought a flat for ₹80 lakh and now sells it for ₹1.5 crore after owning it for more than two years. The seller’s long-term gain comes to ₹70 lakh. At 12.5%, the base tax works out to ₹8.75 lakh. After adding a sample 10% surcharge and 4% cess, the seller owes about ₹10.01 lakh in tax.

The seller’s total income for the year decides the exact surcharge, so a chartered accountant can confirm the final figure. ASBL’s guide to NRI capital gains tax on property explains the calculation further.

The TDS Shock: Why Tax Is Withheld on the Full Sale Value

This single fact surprises most NRI sellers. When someone buys property from an NRI, the law requires the buyer to deduct TDS on the entire sale value rather than on the actual gain. The reason is practical: the buyer has no way of knowing what the seller originally paid, so the law asks the buyer to deduct tax on the full amount.

A sample calculation: Consider the same ₹1.5 crore sale. On a long-term gain, the buyer deducts TDS at 12.5%, adds a 15% surcharge because the payment exceeds ₹1 crore, and then adds 4% cess. Together, these make an effective rate of about 14.95%.

	Amount
Sale value	₹1,50,00,000
TDS the buyer deducts at about 14.95% of the full value	About ₹22,42,500
Tax the seller actually owes on the ₹70 lakh gain	About ₹10,01,000
Extra amount the buyer withholds	About ₹12,41,500

In this example, the buyer withholds more than double the tax the seller actually owes. Although the seller can claim the excess as a refund by filing an income tax return, that refund may take many months to arrive. Fortunately, a better option exists.

The Lower TDS Certificate: The Step That Has to Start Early

A lower deduction certificate lets the buyer deduct TDS on the seller’s actual gain rather than on the full sale value. Under the Income-tax Act, 2025, the tax department now issues this certificate through Form 128 under Section 395. Many people still know it by its older name, Form 13 under Section 197.

Detail	What the seller should know
Purpose	Brings TDS in line with the actual gain
Who applies	The seller, through the income tax portal
Typical processing time	About four to eight weeks
Ideal timing	Before signing the agreement to sell
Supporting papers	Purchase deed, proof of cost, draft sale agreement, PAN, and income details

In the earlier example, a certificate based on the real gain could cut the amount the buyer withholds from about ₹22.4 lakh to roughly ₹10 lakh. That leaves about ₹12.4 lakh more in the seller’s hands at closing.

Timing matters above all here. Because the certificate takes weeks, a seller who applies only after agreeing on a closing date may still find the buyer forced to deduct the full TDS. ASBL’s upcoming guide to the lower TDS certificate for NRI property sales walks through the application step by step.

Exemptions Worth Knowing: Sections 54, 54F and 54EC

An NRI seller can reduce or even remove long-term capital gains tax by reinvesting the proceeds in certain ways.

Section	What the seller sells	Where the seller reinvests	Key conditions
Section 54	A residential house	Another residential house in India	Buys within 1 year before or 2 years after the sale, or builds within 3 years; the benefit has a ₹10 crore cap
Section 54F	Any long-term asset other than a house	A residential house in India	Invests the net sale amount for full exemption; ownership conditions apply
Section 54EC	Land or a building	Specified bonds	Invests within 6 months of the sale, up to ₹50 lakh, with a 5-year lock-in

A sample calculation: In the ₹70 lakh gain example, suppose the seller invests ₹50 lakh in Section 54EC bonds within six months. The taxable gain then falls to ₹20 lakh. At 12.5% plus 4% cess, the seller’s tax drops to about ₹2.6 lakh, compared with about ₹10 lakh without the exemption.

NRIs can claim the Section 54 exemption, provided they buy or build the new house in India. Each exemption, however, carries its own rules and holding periods, so a chartered accountant can confirm eligibility before the seller commits any money.

The Buyer’s Compliance, and Why It Determines Your Refund

Although the buyer handles TDS, the seller depends heavily on the buyer getting it right. If the buyer makes a mistake, the seller’s tax credit may never appear, and any refund could stall for a year or longer.

What the buyer must do	Why it matters to the seller
Obtain a TAN	The law requires it for TDS on payments to an NRI
Deduct TDS at the correct rate	Keeps the deduction in line with any lower certificate
Deposit TDS by the due date	Avoids interest and penalties
File Form 27Q correctly	Places the credit in the seller’s tax records
Issue the TDS certificate	Gives the seller proof of the tax deducted

Many resident buyers have never bought from an NRI before, so they may not realize they need a TAN instead of the simpler process for resident sellers. A thoughtful seller, therefore, shares these requirements early and asks for copies of the challan and TDS certificate. ASBL’s upcoming guide to Form 27Q for NRI TDS filing explains the buyer’s side in detail.

Registration and Handover: What Actually Happens on the Day

On registration day, the seller (or their attorney) and the buyer visit the sub-registrar’s office where the property sits. In Telangana, IGRS now handles much of this process, which helps keep records clear.

Typically, the day follows a simple pattern:

1. Both parties bring identity proof, the original documents, and the POA, if the seller uses one.
2. The buyer pays the stamp duty and registration fees.
3. Both parties sign the sale deed, while the sub-registrar records photographs and fingerprints.
4. The buyer transfers the balance amount, after deducting TDS, to the seller’s NRO account.
5. The seller hands over the keys, original documents, and society papers.

Once registration finishes, the seller can request a copy of the registered sale deed, which supports the repatriation stage.

Getting the Money Out: Repatriation Limits and FEMA Rules

After the sale, the proceeds usually land in the seller’s NRO account. From there, the way the seller originally acquired the property decides the route abroad.

How the seller acquired the property	Repatriation route
Bought it with NRE funds or foreign remittance	The seller can repatriate the amount they originally paid in foreign exchange, for up to two residential properties
Bought it with NRO or rupee funds	The seller can repatriate within the USD 1 million limit per financial year
Inherited it	The seller can repatriate within the USD 1 million limit, with proof of inheritance

The USD 1 million limit applies per financial year, which runs from April to March. As a result, a seller with larger proceeds can spread the transfer across two financial years.

A sample calculation: At a sample exchange rate of ₹88 to the dollar, USD 1 million equals about ₹8.8 crore. A seller with ₹10 crore in NRO proceeds could transfer up to about ₹8.8 crore in one financial year and move the rest after 1 April.

Currency movements can also change how the final gain looks in dollar terms. ASBL’s article on currency exchange and NRI real estate gains explores this further, while the upcoming guide to repatriation of sale proceeds for NRIs covers the RBI rules in depth.

Form 15CB and Form 15CA, and What Your Bank Will Ask For

Before sending money abroad, the bank needs proof that the seller has handled tax on the amount properly. Two forms provide that proof.

Form	Who prepares it	What it does
Form 15CB	A chartered accountant	Certifies that the seller has paid tax or the buyer has deducted it correctly
Form 15CA	The seller, online	Declares the remittance details to the tax department
Form A2	The seller, at the bank	Requests the foreign remittance

Along with these forms, banks usually ask for the registered sale deed, the TDS certificates, proof of the original purchase funding, and a FEMA declaration. Since each bank’s list varies slightly, a seller benefits from asking their bank for its checklist before registration day.

The Full Timeline and What It All Costs

A realistic plan helps the seller manage expectations on both sides.

Phase	Typical duration
Document gathering and title checks	2 to 4 weeks
Power of attorney (if needed)	2 to 4 weeks, running alongside the documents
Lower TDS certificate	4 to 8 weeks
Agreement to registration	Depends on the buyer, often a few weeks
Repatriation after registration	3 to 6 weeks

Overall, sellers can plan for about two to three months from the decision to sell until registration. After that, the funds usually take a further three to six weeks to reach the overseas account.

Cost	Who usually pays
Capital gains tax	Seller
Brokerage, if a broker helps	As both parties agree
POA notarisation, apostille, and stamping	Seller
Chartered accountant fees for the lower TDS certificate and Form 15CB	Seller
Stamp duty and registration on the sale deed	Usually the buyer
Bank remittance charges	Seller

Mistakes That Cost NRI Sellers the Most Money

Most costly errors come from timing rather than from complex tax rules.

Mistake	What it can cost the seller
Signing the agreement before applying for a lower TDS certificate	Lakhs stuck until the refund arrives
Using a broad general POA	Less control over the sale
Missing the three-month POA stamping window	Delays while they prepare a fresh POA
Not checking the buyer’s TAN and Form 27Q filing	A missing tax credit in their records
Losing proof of the original purchase funding	A harder repatriation process
Ignoring the USD 1 million yearly limit	Funds stuck until the next financial year
Missing the six-month deadline for 54EC bonds	Loss of a valuable exemption