By Saurabh Garg, founder·8 min read·Published 2026-08-25

Short answer: The Houston consulate serves Arkansas, Kansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Texas. Texas levies no personal income tax, so for most owners in this jurisdiction there is no state layer on India rent at all and the federal foreign tax credit is the only relief that matters. The India side is unchanged: an NRO account, a narrow power of attorney apostilled in your state, and 31.2% withheld from the first rupee of rent.

Managing Your India Property From Houston

For most owners in the Houston consular jurisdiction there is no state tax layer on India rent at all, which sounds like good news and makes one thing matter more than it looks: the tax India takes first is the only tax you can do anything about. The Consulate General of India, Houston serves Arkansas, Kansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Texas, and the consulate says so on its own site.

Texas levies no personal income tax. That covers the large majority of Indian-origin owners in this jurisdiction, from Sugar Land to Plano to Round Rock. Arkansas, Kansas, Louisiana and Oklahoma each tax income, so the picture changes the moment you cross a line.

The consulate, and the queue behind it

Consulate General of India, Houston sits at 4300 Scotland Street. We have a separate walkthrough of its attestation process in attestation of a power of attorney at the Houston mission.

The step to plan around is the one that changed in August 2025. Miscellaneous consular services for Indian missions in the US, attestation of powers of attorney and property affidavits among them, are processed through VFS Global rather than at the counter. Appointment, courier out, courier back. Build weeks into your plan, not days, and start before a tenancy or a sale date is fixed.

No state tax is not no tax

Living in Texas removes the state layer. It does not remove India, and it does not remove the IRS.

India goes first and India goes hard. Rent paid to a non-resident owner carries 31.2% withheld at source from the first rupee. That is 30% base plus the 4% health and education cess, and it holds while your total Indian income for the year stays under 50 lakh. There is no threshold below which it stops. A resident landlord letting the same flat at 45,000 a month has nothing deducted. The rule sat in Section 195 of the Income-tax Act 1961 and moved to Section 393(2) when the Income-tax Act 2025 came into force on 1 April 2026. Same rate, new number.

The IRS then taxes the same rent, because it taxes citizens and resident aliens on worldwide income. Your India rent goes on Schedule E in dollars, with the building depreciated over 30 years rather than the 27.5 you may know from a US rental, because a foreign residential rental runs on the alternative depreciation system. The Indian tax comes back on Form 1116.

So the whole of your tax planning sits on the India side. Withholding is the lever. A lower-deduction certificate, filed as Form 13 and renamed Form 128 under the 2025 Act, caps what the tenant or buyer takes out at your actual computed tax rather than at the headline rate. It takes three to eight weeks. Filing it late is the single most expensive piece of inaction in this whole business, because the money sits with the Indian tax department for a year.

If you live in Arkansas, Kansas, Louisiana or Oklahoma, add one question for your preparer and get it in writing: does this state give any credit for tax paid to India. Several states define their credit to reach other US states, US territories and Canada, which leaves a foreign country out.

Eleven and a half hours from the flat

Houston runs on Central Time. India Standard Time sits 10.5 hours ahead in the US summer and 11.5 hours ahead in the US winter. India has no daylight saving, so the gap moves twice a year because the US moves its clocks.

Run a working day through that. The bank in Hyderabad that holds your NRO account opens at 10 in the morning and it is half past eleven the previous night in Houston. It closes at 5 and you are asleep. By the time you are at your desk, the Indian working day ended three and a half hours ago. There is no overlap to schedule a call into, which is why owners end up conducting a tenancy through voice notes sent at midnight.

A geyser fails on a Tuesday. A society notice wants a signature by Friday. A contractor wants a decision and an advance before he starts. None of that is a message problem. It is a presence problem.

The account, the signature, the file

An NRO account for the money. Rent from an Indian property has to land in a Non-Resident Ordinary account in your name, and that is the account any later repatriation runs out of. Open it before a tenant pays anything. See NRO accounts and rent taxation.

A narrow power of attorney for the signatures. One named person, one named property, a listed set of acts, and no more. From the US the route is a notary with two independent witnesses, an apostille from the Secretary of State of your state, a courier to India, and stamp-duty adjudication within three months of arrival under Section 18 of the Indian Stamp Act. Indian passport and OCI holders can use mission attestation in place of the apostille. See granting a power of attorney from the USA to India.

A paper trail that survives two filings. Every rent receipt, every withholding certificate, every repair bill, in one place, in date order. You will answer India with documents and the IRS with the same documents converted to dollars. If you are selling rather than letting, selling property in India from the USA walks both halves.

What we run from India

We have no office in Houston and none anywhere in the United States. Our people are in India: teams on the ground in Bangalore and Hyderabad, and vetted broker partners in Mumbai, Pune, Chennai and Gurgaon. We print that rather than let anyone assume a national payroll.

For your flat: one named manager rather than a queue, itemized billing to the rupee, dated photographs when work is done, and rent into your NRO account with the withholding paperwork tracked.

Before you hand anyone keys or a power of attorney, buy proof. A Property Health Check is that proof, and it needs neither. Site visit, boundary and encroachment survey, encumbrance certificate, khata and mutation status, tax dues, occupancy, written up as a risk report.

What it costs

Property Health Check at 20,000 rupees, one time. Quarterly photo proof on a vacant property, priced per property on the same page. Full management from 5% of monthly rent, minimum 2,500 rupees a month. Tenancy placement from one month's rent. Table on pricing, scope on services, calculators on tools, and a proposal for your own flat. The mission map for the whole country is on the US owner's hub.

FAQ

Which Indian consulate covers Texas? Houston. The consulate states its jurisdiction as Arkansas, Kansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Texas. New Mexico is not in it, despite bordering Texas; New Mexico belongs to Los Angeles.

I live in Texas. Do I owe state tax on my India rent? Texas levies no personal income tax, so there is no state return taking a share of your India rent. Your federal return still reports it and India still taxes it first. Arkansas, Kansas, Louisiana and Oklahoma each do run an income tax, so the answer changes if you move within the jurisdiction.

What is the 31.2% my tenant is deducting? Tax withheld at source on rent paid to a non-resident owner: 30% base plus a 4% health and education cess. It applies from the first rupee with no threshold, while your total Indian income stays under 50 lakh. It is not your final tax. You reconcile it on your Indian return, and a lower-deduction certificate can cap it at your real liability.

How long does the Houston attestation take? Plan in weeks. Since August 2025 the mission's miscellaneous consular services run through VFS Global, which adds an appointment and two courier legs. The original still has to reach India and be adjudicated for stamp duty within three months of arrival.

Do you have an office in Houston? No. Our people are in India. The thing you cannot buy from Texas is somebody standing in front of your flat during Indian business hours.

Can I sell my India flat without travelling there? Yes, with a registered property-specific power of attorney and a lower-deduction certificate filed before the sale closes. Without the certificate the buyer withholds up to 14.95% of the full sale price rather than of your gain.

Saurabh Garg, founder, 66 MG Road

Sources

Information on this page is as on 2026-08-25. Rules, rates, deadlines and government portals change without notice, so verify against the official source before you act. This page is for information only. It is not tax or legal advice, and it is not a substitute for a qualified adviser who knows your position.