NRI property-sale TDS & tax calculator

Short answer: When an NRI sells property in India, the buyer withholds TDS on the full sale price, not on the gain: roughly 13 to 15 percent of the whole value (12.5 percent long-term capital gains without indexation, plus surcharge and 4 percent cess) under Section 195. A Section 197 Lower Deduction Certificate limits it to tax on your actual gain.

Here is the number most NRIs learn too late: when you sell your flat, the buyer does not deduct TDS on your profit. They deduct it on the entire sale price. Sell for a crore and the tax department can hold roughly fourteen lakh before anyone has worked out your actual gain.

The gap between that withholding and your real tax is your own money, parked with the government for the year or more it takes a refund to arrive. This calculator shows you all of it: the real capital-gains tax, the TDS the buyer must cut, the refund that gets stuck, and how much a Lower Deduction Certificate frees up if you file it before you sign.

What it does

Real capital-gains tax at 12.5% (long-term, no indexation) with surcharge and 4% cess
The TDS the buyer withholds under Section 195, on the full sale value
The refund that locks up for 12 to 24 months without a certificate
What a Section 197 Lower Deduction Certificate (Form 13, Form 128 from April 2026) saves you
A downloadable report with the numbers, the checklist, and the documents

The number that ambushes NRI sellers: TDS on the whole price, not the profit

When a resident sells a flat in India, the buyer deducts 1 percent as TDS. When an NRI sells the same flat, the buyer deducts under a different section, Section 195, and the base is not your profit. It is the entire sale value.

Sell for one crore and the buyer must withhold roughly 13 to 15 percent of the full crore on a long-term sale, before anyone has calculated what you actually gained. That is 13 to 15 lakh out of the sale proceeds, on money that includes your original cost, not just your profit. The tax you owe is a fraction of that. The rest is your money, sitting with the Income Tax Department until a refund reaches you, which takes 12 to 24 months.

This is the single most expensive surprise in NRI property, and most sellers meet it at the closing table. The calculator above shows the four numbers that matter: your real capital-gains tax, the TDS the buyer must cut, the refund that gets stuck, and what a certificate frees up. Enter your figures and read them before you sign anything.

What the tax actually is: 12.5% long-term, and no indexation for NRIs

Property held for more than 24 months is a long-term capital asset. Since 23 July 2024, long-term capital gains are taxed at 12.5 percent without indexation, under Section 112 as amended by the Finance (No.2) Act 2024. Add surcharge, which the withholder reads off the sale value and which is capped at 15 percent on long-term gains, and a 4 percent health and education cess on top. That is where the effective 13 to 15 percent comes from.

There is a catch NRIs must understand. Residents who bought before 23 July 2024 get a choice: 12.5 percent without indexation, or 20 percent with indexation, whichever is lower. NRIs do not get that choice. The grandfathering option in the second proviso to Section 112(1) is written for resident individuals and Hindu Undivided Families only. An NRI computes the gain as sale price minus original cost minus improvement minus transfer expenses, with no inflation adjustment, and pays 12.5 percent on it. Sold within 24 months, the gain is short-term and taxed at slab rates, which is why the buyer often withholds at 30 percent plus surcharge and cess on a short-term sale.

The calculator applies each of these paths. Tell it you are an NRI and it drops indexation. Tell it the property was held under two years and it switches to the short-term rate. The full method and the sources sit in the capital gains tax on NRI property guide.

The lever that fixes it: a Lower Deduction Certificate, filed before you sell

You are not required to let the buyer withhold tax on your full sale price. Section 197 lets you apply for a Lower or Nil Deduction Certificate that tells the buyer to deduct TDS on your actual gain instead. Get it, and the withholding drops from a slab of the whole price to something close to the real tax. You keep your money at closing rather than lending it to the government for a year.

Two things decide whether this works. First, timing: you apply before the sale, not after. The certificate has to exist when the buyer deducts. Second, the form: the application has been Form 13 through the TRACES portal, and from 1 April 2026 it becomes Form 128 under the Income-tax Act 2025 and Rule 213. Most competitor pages still say Form 13 only. If a page you are reading has not caught the change, that tells you how current it is.

This is the highest-value move an NRI seller makes, and the one most miss because the sale moves fast and the certificate takes weeks. Start it early. The TDS on sale of property by an NRI guide walks the application step by step.

The buyer has duties too, and the liability is theirs if they get it wrong

If you are the one buying from an NRI, read this twice, because the shortfall is on you, not the seller. Buying from an NRI is not a 1 percent, Form 26QB, PAN-only transaction. You must:

Obtain a TAN (Tax Deduction Account Number). A PAN is not enough when the seller is an NRI.
Deduct under Section 195 at the capital-gains rate on the full sale value, unless the seller shows you a Section 197 certificate.
Deposit the TDS and file Form 27Q every quarter, then issue the seller Form 16A.

The common, costly error is treating an NRI sale like a resident one and deducting only 1 percent. The Income Tax Department recovers the shortfall, plus interest and penalty, from the buyer. If you are buying, confirm the seller's residential status in writing and deduct correctly. Our TDS on buying property from an NRI guide sets out the buyer's full checklist.

Cutting the gain itself: Sections 54, 54F, and 54EC

The certificate fixes the cash-flow. Reinvestment fixes the tax. Three exemptions matter after a property sale.

Section 54: reinvest the long-term capital gain from a residential house into another residential house in India (one house, or two once in a lifetime if the gain is up to 2 crore). Buy one year before or two years after the sale, or build within three years.
Section 54F: sold a long-term asset that is not a house, such as a plot? Reinvest the whole net sale consideration, not just the gain, into one residential house, and you exempt a proportionate amount.
Section 54EC: park the gain, up to 50 lakh in a financial year, in capital-gains bonds within six months of the sale. Five-year lock-in. The issuers are now REC, PFC, and IRFC. NHAI stopped issuing these bonds, so any page still listing NHAI is stale.

Each exemption is available to NRIs, provided the reinvestment happens in India. Model the trade-off in the capital-gains exemption planner before you commit the money.

After the sale: getting the money out of India

Selling is half the journey. Moving the proceeds abroad is the other half, and it runs on its own rules. Sale proceeds go into your NRO account, and FEMA lets you repatriate up to USD 1 million per financial year from that account, covering sale proceeds and other capital. Each transfer needs Form 15CA, and a chartered accountant's Form 15CB where the remittance crosses the threshold. Do not confuse this USD 1 million NRO scheme with the USD 250,000 LRS limit, which is for residents.

Plan the sale and the repatriation together, because the TDS, the refund timing, and the USD 1 million window all interact. The repatriation calculator shows how much you can move and what paperwork each transfer needs, and the repatriating sale proceeds guide covers the sequence.

Where 66 MG Road fits

We run this chain for NRI owners who are selling from abroad: the valuation and the paperwork, the Lower Deduction Certificate application filed before the sale so your money is not held for a year, the buyer's TDS compliance checked so the deduction is correct, and the repatriation coordinated once the deal closes, with dated proof at every step and billing at actuals. We do not give tax opinions; a chartered accountant signs those, and we run the errands, the documents, and the timeline so the right form is filed at the right moment. We run property with our own teams in Delhi NCR and Bangalore. A Property Health Check or Watch covers the rest of India through vetted local partners. See the services or request a proposal.

Common questions

Is TDS on an NRI property sale deducted on the sale price or the profit?

On the full sale price. Under Section 195 the buyer withholds tax on the entire sale consideration, not on your capital gain, unless you obtain a Section 197 Lower Deduction Certificate first. On a long-term sale the effective withholding is about 13 to 15 percent of the whole price. The amount above your real tax comes back only as a refund, which takes 12 to 24 months.

What is the TDS rate when an NRI sells property in India in 2026?

For a long-term sale (property held over 24 months), the base rate is 12.5 percent without indexation, effective 23 July 2024. Add surcharge, read off the sale value and capped at 15 percent for long-term gains, plus 4 percent cess, giving an effective 13 to 15 percent of the full sale value. Short-term sales are taxed at slab rates, so the buyer often withholds around 30 percent plus surcharge and cess.

Can an NRI claim indexation on property capital gains?

No. Since 23 July 2024, long-term capital gains on property are taxed at 12.5 percent without indexation. The alternative of 20 percent with indexation is available only to resident individuals and HUFs who acquired the property before that date. NRIs are excluded from that option and compute the gain without any inflation adjustment.

How can an NRI reduce the TDS on a property sale?

Apply for a Lower or Nil Deduction Certificate under Section 197 before you sell. It is Form 13 today and becomes Form 128 from 1 April 2026. The certificate directs the buyer to deduct TDS on your actual capital gain rather than on the full sale price, so you keep your money at closing instead of waiting a year or more for a refund.

Does the buyer need a TAN to buy property from an NRI?

Yes. A buyer purchasing from an NRI must obtain a TAN, deduct under Section 195, deposit the TDS, file Form 27Q each quarter, and issue Form 16A to the seller. Deducting only 1 percent under Section 194-IA, as you would for a resident seller, leaves the buyer liable for the shortfall plus interest and penalty.

How long does an NRI wait for a TDS refund on a property sale?

Typically 12 to 24 months from filing the return. That lag is exactly why the Lower Deduction Certificate matters: without it, the excess TDS withheld on your full sale value is locked with the tax department until the refund is processed. With the certificate, less is withheld in the first place.

How accurate is this calculator?

It applies the current post-Budget-2024 rules: 12.5 percent long-term without indexation, the NRI exclusion from indexation, surcharge capped at 15 percent on long-term gains, and 4 percent cess, and it shows the full-value TDS and the certificate saving. Surcharge is estimated from the sale value as a buyer would apply it, and DTAA and your total income can shift the final figure. Treat it as a close estimate and confirm with a chartered accountant before the transaction.

More free tools

NRI residential status & RNOR calculator — NRI, RNOR, or Resident? The full test, not half of it.
NRI repatriation calculator (NRO to NRE) — How much you can send abroad, and the forms each transfer needs.
Cost of managing property from abroad — The gap between the headline rent and what you keep.
Retire-in-India corpus calculator — How much you need, and what to save each month to get there.
NRI rental income tax & tenant-TDS calculator — Rent tax from both sides: what you owe, and who must deduct.
Capital-gains exemption calculator (54 / 54F / 54EC) — You sold. Now cut the tax by reinvesting the gain.