I have just let out my flat in India — what should I do first?
Deal with the deduction obligation before the first rent payment moves, because that is the part that cannot be fixed neatly afterwards. Rent paid to a non-resident owner attracts deduction at source, and the duty sits with the tenant even where the tenant is a private individual who has never deducted tax. Tell them in writing at the start, give them your Indian identifier, and agree how the deduction will be remitted and evidenced each month. Everything else — the return, the standard deduction on house property, the interest relief — follows from a clean deduction record and is much harder without one.
What documents do I need before anything can be filed on Indian rent?
The letting agreement, the ownership documents for the property, your Indian identifier, bank statements showing the rent credits, the lender's interest statement if the property was bought with borrowed money, and whatever the tenant can produce to evidence deductions remitted. If the property is jointly owned, the same paperwork is needed for each owner, because the income and the reliefs follow ownership. Gathering these first is not administrative tidiness: the taxable figure, the reliefs and the credit for tax deducted are each read off a specific document, and a file assembled in this order is filed once rather than amended.
Do I need to tell my tenant anything before the first rent payment?
Yes, and it is the most useful thing you can do. A private tenant will usually assume rent is simply paid across in full, because that is how every tenancy they have had before worked. Explaining at the outset that the owner is non-resident, that a deduction at source is required, and what the tenant needs to do about it saves both sides from a retrospective clean-up. Put your Indian identifier in the tenancy paperwork so the remittance runs against the right record from the first month, and agree that the tenant will send evidence of each remittance.
Should I sort out the Indian side or my home country side first?
India first, in almost every case. The treaty's immovable-property article settles which country has the first claim on rent from Indian property, and the country claiming second is the one asked to relieve tax paid to the first. So the Indian figure and the tax actually remitted have to be established before a return in your country of residence can be completed properly. Starting at the other end tends to produce a relief claim for an amount that never appeared against your Indian record, and then two filings to amend instead of one to file.
My rent goes into an Indian bank account — does that change anything?
It does not change who is taxed or where, but it changes the evidence. The account becomes the record of what rent arrived and when, so it is worth keeping the rent separate from other credits rather than mixed into a general family account. Where rent is paid into an account in someone else's name for convenience, the question of whose income it is arises, and it has to be answered with ownership documents and the letting agreement rather than with the bank record. Sorting that at the start avoids an argument about it later.
How do I check whether tax has actually been deducted from my rent?
Do not rely on the tenant's word or a handwritten receipt. What matters is whether the deduction was remitted against your Indian identifier, because that is what the return can claim credit for. Ask for the deductor's evidence of each remittance and check that it names your identifier, the property and the correct period. Mistyped identifiers are common and produce remittances that exist but sit nowhere useful. Checking before a return is prepared, rather than after it is filed, is the difference between a correction the deductor makes and a credit the owner loses.
Do I pay tax when I inherit property abroad?
The inheritance itself is often not income to you, but three other things can create tax: the estate may owe tax where the deceased or the property was situated, some countries tax the recipient directly, and the gain from the date you inherit to the date you sell is yours. Reporting obligations can also attach to holding the asset. See inheriting property abroad.
What are Form 15CA and Form 15CB?
They are the certification pair required before certain remittances leave India. Form 15CA is the remitter's declaration filed online; Form 15CB is the accountant's certificate supporting the tax treatment and the rate applied, including any treaty relief. Which combination you need depends on the nature and size of the payment, and banks will generally not process the remittance without them. See Form 15CA.
