The buyer’s TDS on your full price, the Form 13 certificate that fixes it, the 12.5% capital gains regime without indexation, the Budget 2026 no-TAN simplification — and how the money actually reaches your account abroad.
For an NRI selling property in India, the buyer must deduct TDS under Section 195 on the full sale price — not just the gain — at effective rates of 13% to 14.95% (12.5% long-term rate plus surcharge and cess) for property held over 24 months, or slab rates for short-term sales. A lower/nil deduction certificate (Form 13) obtained before the deal restricts TDS to the actual gain. Your capital gains are taxed at 12.5% without indexation. Today the buyer needs a TAN and files Form 27Q; from 1 October 2026, Budget 2026 replaces this with a simple PAN-based challan. Sale proceeds sit in your NRO account and are repatriable up to USD 1 million per financial year with Forms 15CA/15CB.
Most NRI sales in South Delhi wobble at the same three points: a buyer terrified of the TDS compliance, a seller shocked that tax is withheld on the gross price, and a remittance that stalls for want of the right forms. None of these is a real obstacle — each is a sequencing problem. This guide is the seller’s mirror of our NRI buying guide: the rates, the certificate that changes everything, the Budget 2026 timeline, and the repatriation mechanics, in the order you will actually meet them.
| Sale consideration | Base + surcharge + cess | Effective TDS |
|---|---|---|
| Up to ₹50 lakh | 12.5% + nil + 4% cess | 13% |
| ₹50 lakh – ₹1 crore | 12.5% + 10% + 4% cess | 14.30% |
| Above ₹1 crore | 12.5% + 15% (capped) + 4% cess | 14.95% |
| Held ≤ 24 months (short-term) | Slab rates + surcharge + cess | ~30%+ |
Apply online via TRACES for a lower or nil deduction certificate under Section 197 (Form 13) before the agreement to sell. The officer computes your actual capital gain — purchase price, improvements, reinvestment plans — and issues a certificate directing the buyer to deduct only that much (or nothing, if exemptions cover the gain). Processing typically takes a few weeks, so start when you decide to sell, not when the buyer is found. With the certificate, TDS on our ₹10 crore example can fall from ₹1.5 crore to the tax on the true gain — and your money never leaves the deal.
Title chain, mutation, an operative PAN linked to your NRI status, and — if you won’t travel — a registered power of attorney executed at the consulate and adjudicated in India. Our selling guide covers the market-facing prep.
Before or alongside listing. Compute the true gain with your CA — at 12.5% without indexation — and let the certificate set the TDS the buyer must deduct.
The agreement to sell should state the certificate rate (or the default), that the buyer deposits TDS from the consideration, and that Form 16A follows each deposit. Brokerage runs at the standard 1% per side plus GST.
Sale deed registers with Delhi’s usual levies on the buyer; your net consideration lands in your NRO account. The buyer deposits the TDS — today via TAN and Form 27Q, from 1 October 2026 via PAN challan.
Your bank remits up to USD 1 million per financial year from NRO on a CA’s Form 15CB and your Form 15CA. If the property was bought from NRE/FCNR inward remittances, the invested principal is repatriable outside that cap for up to two residential properties.
File the Indian return: gains at 12.5%, credit for the TDS, refund of any excess — and claim Section 54 or 54EC reinvestment relief where you’ve used it: another residential house in India, or capital gains bonds up to ₹50 lakh.
The NRI who files Form 13 before finding the buyer sells faster, nets more, and sleeps through the registry.
By default, on the full sale price: effectively 13% up to ₹50 lakh, 14.3% between ₹50 lakh and ₹1 crore, and 14.95% above ₹1 crore for property held over 24 months — and slab rates (~30%+) for short-term sales. A Form 13 certificate replaces these with tax on the actual gain.
On the entire sale consideration, unless the seller obtains a lower/nil deduction certificate under Section 197. That is why the certificate matters so much more here than in resident deals, where TDS is a flat 1%.
The online TRACES application for a certificate directing the buyer to deduct less (or nil) TDS, based on your computed gain and exemptions. Apply when you decide to sell — processing takes a few weeks and the certificate should exist before the agreement to sell.
For deals closing before 1 October 2026, yes — TAN, Section 195 deposit and Form 27Q. From 1 October 2026, Budget 2026’s change lets the buyer deduct and deposit with a PAN-based challan, exactly as with a resident seller. Rates are unchanged.
12.5% on long-term gains (property held over 24 months), computed without indexation. The 20%-with-indexation option for older purchases is available only to resident individuals and HUFs — NRIs are on the flat 12.5% regime. Short-term gains are taxed at slab rates.
Yes. Reinvesting the gain in another residential house in India (Section 54, within the time windows) or in specified capital gains bonds up to ₹50 lakh (Section 54EC) shelters the gain — and, disclosed in Form 13, reduces the TDS itself.
Proceeds credit to your NRO account; your bank remits up to USD 1 million per financial year against Form 15CB (CA certificate) and Form 15CA. Where the purchase was funded from NRE/FCNR remittances, the invested principal is repatriable for up to two residential properties.
Yes — through a specific power of attorney executed before the Indian consulate, then stamped/adjudicated in India within the prescribed window, held by a trusted attorney who signs and registers on your behalf. Our PoA guide details the consulate procedure.
Until October 2026 this fear is common and rational — the cure is a clean paper trail: your Form 13, a CA-drafted TDS clause, and hand-holding the single 27Q cycle. After 1 October 2026 the objection largely evaporates with the TAN itself.
Possibly — your country of residence may tax worldwide gains, with credit for Indian tax under the relevant DTAA. Take advice in both jurisdictions before choosing the sale year; the treaty credit usually prevents true double taxation.
We run the sale end to end — valuation, buyer, Form 13 coordination with your CA, PoA logistics and registry — and keep you on video for every step that matters.
Positions reflect law in force in July 2026 — TDS under the Section 195 regime on the full consideration at 12.5% long-term (plus surcharge capped at 15% and 4% cess; slab rates short-term), Form 13 lower/nil certificates under Section 197, Budget 2026’s PAN-challan substitution for TAN effective 1 October 2026, capital gains at 12.5% without indexation for non-residents with Sections 54/54EC relief, and FEMA repatriation of USD 1 million per financial year with Forms 15CA/15CB. Section numbering migrates under the Income-tax Act, 2025; substance is unchanged. Verify current procedure at incometax.gov.in and with your CA before transacting.
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