India property from California: your consulate and your rails
You live in California. Your property paperwork goes to the Consulate General, Los Angeles, at 707 Wilshire Boulevard, under the consular jurisdiction map effective 15 July 2025. Which mission handles you is decided by where you live, not by the city you travel from.
California is the only state split between two Indian missions. Ten southern counties (Los Angeles, Orange, San Diego, Imperial, Riverside, San Bernardino, Ventura, Santa Barbara, Kern and San Luis Obispo) sit with Los Angeles. The rest of the state sits with San Francisco.
The hours you are working across
California runs 12.5 hours behind India in US summer, 13.5 in winter. India keeps no daylight saving, so a gap that moves, moves because the US moved its clocks.
What California does about the tax India already took
California taxes residents on income from all sources, your India rent included, and its own instructions exclude tax paid to a foreign country from the credit it offers. The Indian tax comes back on the federal return through Form 1116, and not on the California return.
India goes first either way. Rent paid to a non-resident owner carries 31.2% withheld at source from the first rupee, with no threshold, under the rule now carried in Section 393(2) of the Income-tax Act 2025. On a sale the buyer withholds on the full price rather than on your gain, at 13% to 14.95%, unless you hold a lower-deduction certificate.
Sending a power of attorney from California
One named person, one named property, a listed set of acts. Sign before a notary with two independent witnesses, apostille through the authority that issues them where you live, courier the original to India, and adjudicate stamp duty within three months of arrival. Indian passport and OCI holders can use mission attestation instead. Since August 2025 the mission side runs through VFS Global, which adds an appointment and two courier legs.
The full POA route from the USA · What the tenant must deduct · What the IRS wants
Also served by Los Angeles
All nine Indian missions in the USA · The full US owner’s guide · Property Health Check