Economical Form 13 — lower or nil TDS certificate in India

Form 13 — who files it, when it is due, what late filing costs, and what we charge to prepare it. India (Income Tax Department). Economical Form 13 with a fixed fee agreed in writing before any work starts. Call the 24-hour helpline on +1 (416) 619-0068, or request a written quote today.

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  • 18,000+ clients served
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  • Fixed fee agreed before work starts
In 60 words

Form 13 is a certificate or waiver: The application for a certificate authorising deduction at a lower rate, or none, than the default. Non-residents whose Indian income will bear far less tax than the default deduction — most visibly NRIs selling Indian property.

Does this bind you?

Non-residents whose Indian income will bear far less tax than the default deduction — most visibly NRIs selling Indian property.

Everything else on this page follows from this. On a property sale the default deduction is computed on the whole sale consideration rather than the gain, so the certificate is the difference between financing a refund for a year and receiving the correct amount at closing.

Two of the firm’s advisers at the glass desk in the Delhi office

Form 13 India — priced before we start

A lower or nil TDS certificate is priced from the computation behind it: on an NRI property sale that means proving cost, improvement spend and ownership history, and where the purchase papers are decades old or the property is jointly held, the reconstruction is the work. The number of payers matters too, and the fee is agreed in writing first.

Lower TDS certificate application (Form 13) — India desk price

From $349

fixed, quoted before work starts

The lower-deduction certificate application: the computation, the cost evidence, the treaty position, and the follow-through to issue before the transaction closes.
See the full fee page

15CA/15CB remittance certification — fixed-fee price

From $349

fixed, quoted before work starts

The remitter declaration and the accountant's certificate on an outward Indian remittance, prepared to the standard the bank will actually accept.
See the full fee page

Individual tax filing

From $349

fixed, quoted before work starts

Returns for people whose tax position did not stay in one country, including the years residence itself is in question.
See the fee schedule

Foreign asset & information reporting

From $349

fixed, quoted before work starts

The reporting obligations that attach to owning something abroad, worked out from your holdings rather than from the tax return alone.
See the fee schedule

Non-resident & departure filings

From $349

fixed, quoted before work starts

Non-resident filings and the two part-year returns a move produces, sequenced so neither country taxes the same income twice.
See the fee schedule

Corporate cross-border filing

From $999

fixed, quoted before work starts

Corporate compliance for a group that trades or holds assets in more than one country, prepared on both sides together.
See the fee schedule

Estate & trust filing

From $799

fixed, quoted before work starts

The returns an estate or trust owes on each side, prepared together so relief for tax paid abroad is actually claimed.
See the fee schedule

Catch-up & voluntary disclosure

From $349

fixed, quoted before work starts

Missed years brought current under the disclosure programme that fits, with the penalty position worked out before anything is filed.
See the fee schedule

All published fees on one page — all of it on a single page, so the number you compare is the number you pay.

What the reporting test actually looks at

What decides whether Form 13 applies
What the application establishesLead-time constraint
The obligationThe application for a certificate authorising deduction at a lower rate, or none, than the default.
Who it bindsNon-residents whose Indian income will bear far less tax than the default deduction — most visibly NRIs selling Indian property.
Jurisdiction and authorityIndia — Income Tax Department
Category of filingCertificate or waiver — obtained before the money moves

When it is due

This is a before, not an after: the certificate or waiver has to be in hand before the payment, the closing or the remittance. Applied for afterwards, it usually cannot fix the withholding that has already happened — that becomes a refund claim instead. The date is confirmed for your year at the start of the engagement, not assumed from last year's.

What late or missed filing costs

There is often no penalty for not applying. The cost is cash: withholding computed on a gross amount rather than a net one, held by a tax authority for a year or more until a return recovers it. On a property sale or a large fee that difference is the whole point of the exercise. The practical response is not speed but order: mapping every affected year before contacting an authority is what keeps relief on the table.

The numbers, end to end

Put numbers against it and the shape of the answer is obvious.

Gross withholding against a net-basis return

A non-resident receives C$51,000 in the year. Assume withholding at 19% on the gross amount, and assume deductible costs of C$36,210 against it.

Gross withholding against a net-basis return
ItemAmount
Gross amount receivedC$51,000
Withheld at source (assumed 19% of gross)C$9,690
Deductible costsC$36,210
Net amount actually earnedC$14,790
Tax on the net amount (assumed graduated result)C$4,437
Difference recoverable by filingC$5,253

Filing on a net basis recovers C$5,253 of the C$9,690 withheld. That difference is the entire reason the elective return exists, and it is lost by not filing. That is an illustration of the mechanism, not a prediction about your file — the same computation on your figures is the first thing we do.

The figures here are an illustration, not an engagement: amounts are picked so the mechanism is easy to follow, and every rate or threshold is an assumption of the example. Before anything is filed for you, each one is confirmed with the issuing authority for your own tax year.

How we prepare and file it, and what it costs

We quote Form 13 before we start, as part of the return set it belongs to rather than as a line item you discover afterwards. If the work turns out to be smaller than the quote, the quote is what you pay; if it turns out to be larger, we re-quote before continuing. See the TDS when buying property from an NRI (s.195) for comparable engagements.

What working with us looks like

  1. 1Confirm the applicable route and the lead time before the transaction date
  2. 2Prepare the computation the authority needs to reduce the amount
  3. 3File the application and follow it through to issue
  4. 4Hand the certificate to the payer or closing agent before funds move
  • Consultations scheduled to your working day rather than ours.
  • Your existing accountant keeps the domestic file; we take the cross-border piece, with the boundary in writing.
  • Nothing is filed until you have read it.

Send us the facts and we will tell you what has to be filed and what it costs.

Reviewed against current guidance for the 2025 and 2026 filing seasons by Udit Gupta, Cross-Border Tax Expert, Legal Quotient Consultants. General guidance only. Your own facts decide the answer, so bring them to a call before relying on this.

Where double tax agreement India comes into this file

Readers arrive here searching for double tax agreement India, and Form 13 is what the page is about. Below: who it catches, what has to be filed, and what it costs — quoted in writing, before anything is done.

On a property sale the default deduction is computed on the whole sale consideration rather than the gain, so the certificate is the difference between financing a refund for a year and receiving the correct amount at closing.

How the engagement runs, phase by phase

  1. Start with a conversation about the facts

    Dates, residence, where the income arose. Fifteen minutes is usually enough to know what applies.

  2. Scope and price, both written down

    You get the scope and the fixed fee together, so there is no question later about what was included.

  3. Prepared by one team, reviewed by a named practitioner

    The same people see both sides of the file, and the reviewer signs their name to it.

  4. Filed, then followed through

    Submission is not the end of the engagement — the queries that arrive afterwards are part of it.

How form 13 India is handled here

Factor Legal Quotient Hourly billing model
Pricing A fixed fee, agreed in writing before work starts Hourly, billed as incurred
Experience 15+ years of cross-border work, 18,000+ clients Varies by file
Both sides of the border Prepared together by one team, so relief is claimed exactly once One country at a time, reconciled later
Who reviews it A named practitioner, published on the page Whoever the queue reaches
Where the work happens Our offices in India, the USA, Canada and the UAE Whichever single office you can travel to

The vocabulary this page leans on

Published fee
A fee listed on this site for a defined scope, so the number is known before the first call. Legal Quotient Consultants publishes every fee it charges and confirms the one for your engagement in writing before any work starts.
Schedule FSI
The Indian schedule reporting foreign-source income and the tax paid on it, country by country, from which the foreign tax credit claim is built.
GAAR
A general anti-avoidance rule allowing an authority to recharacterise an arrangement whose main purpose was a tax benefit, even where each step complied with the law.
Deemed disposition
A rule that treats property as sold at market value even though nothing was sold — on emigration, on death, or on a change of use. Tax arises without a cash event.
form 13 India: How we read this one

On a property sale the default deduction is computed on the whole sale consideration rather than the gain, so the certificate is the difference between financing a refund for a year and receiving the correct amount at closing.

Whichever way the facts cut, you keep the same footing: a fee agreed in writing beforehand, a named practitioner reviewing the file, and nothing filed until the work is delivered and approved.

Fixed fees around form 13 India

Timing changes the engagement as well. An application made before the sale closes runs alongside the buyer's deduction obligation, and the assessing officer's queries on valuation or past returns have to be answered while the parties wait; an application left until after completion becomes a refund claim instead. Each is quoted in writing.

Foreign asset & information reporting

$349fixed, before work starts

Covers: Foreign holdings mapped once — accounts, real property, shareholdings — then reported to each authority in the form it requires.

See this fee page

Non-resident & departure filings

$349fixed, before work starts

Covers: Non-resident filings and the two part-year returns a move produces, sequenced so neither country taxes the same income twice.

See this fee page

The difference a dedicated cross-border team makes

You deal with the person who did the work

The practitioner who prepared and reviewed your file is the one who answers the question about it.

Both sides prepared together

Two returns built against each other by one team, so relief is claimed exactly once and nothing falls between the two systems.

A named reviewer on every file

Every page on this site and every file we deliver says which practitioner reviewed it — a person, not a team inbox.

Late and missed years are ordinary work

An unfiled history is not a reason to wait longer. We assess what is still open and what relief the delay attracts before the first return goes in.

Two of the firm’s advisers and the team in the open-plan office

Form 13 India — the four phases

Step 1

The opening call

A call to our 24-hour helpline to establish the facts and the dates that matter

Step 2

Scope in writing

A written scope and a fixed fee before any work starts

Step 3

Prepared and checked

Preparation, then a named reviewer's sign-off before anything is filed

Step 4

Filed, then supported

Filing, then payment — after you have seen and approved the result

The firm’s founder at his desk in the Delhi office

The engagement, start to finish

  • Step 1: Send what you already have – Slips, statements, prior returns — in any order. We list what is still needed after reading them.
  • Step 2: A fee agreed in writing – Quoted from those documents, before the work starts, and it does not move once you accept it.
  • Step 3: Each side drafted against the other – The returns are built together rather than in sequence, so relief is claimed once and in the right country.
  • Step 4: You approve before it is filed – The finished return comes to you first. Nothing is submitted on your behalf unseen.

Quoted up front, in writing.

Contact Us 24-hour helpline +1 (416) 619-0068

Keep reading, sideways

Every link below is a full page of its own — the same depth as this one, for its own subject.

The work we do for clients like this

Green card holder living in Canada The full guide to green card holder living in Canada tax, with the fee fixed before any work starts.
Assignment letters & secondments Its own page: assignment letters & secondments — mechanism, deadlines and published fees.
CRA foreign income audit Everything on CRA foreign income audit, at the same depth as this page.
Canadian working in the US — taxes on a TN, H-1B or L-1 Canadian working in US taxes — the guide, the FAQ and the fixed fee.
Quiet disclosure — why not to The full guide to quiet disclosure why not, with the fee fixed before any work starts.
Pensions and annuities — the treaty article Its own page: pensions annuities treaty article — mechanism, deadlines and published fees.
Working remotely from abroad — the tax implications Everything on tax implications working remotely abroad, at the same depth as this page.
Simplified vs normal GST/HST registration Simplified vs normal GST/HST registration — the guide, the FAQ and the fixed fee.
RNOR determination (India) The full guide to RNOR determination India, with the fee fixed before any work starts.

Clients who arrive with this exact page

Tax for construction workers abroad The full guide to construction workers abroad tax, with the fee fixed before any work starts.
Seafarers & mariners — relief you're probably missing Its own page: seafarers & mariners relief you're probably missing — mechanism, deadlines and published fees.
Investors & property owners cross-border tax Everything on investors & property owners cross border tax, at the same depth as this page.
Twitch & live streamers — your filing calendar Twitch & live streamers your filing calendar — the guide, the FAQ and the fixed fee.
Media & production companies cross-border tax The full guide to media & production companies cross border tax, with the fee fixed before any work starts.
Franchise owners — what you owe in each country Its own page: franchise owners what you owe in each country — mechanism, deadlines and published fees.
Tax for teachers abroad Everything on teachers abroad tax, at the same depth as this page.
Tax for diplomatic & consular staff Diplomatic & consular staff tax — the guide, the FAQ and the fixed fee.
Software developers — your filing calendar The full guide to software developers your filing calendar, with the fee fixed before any work starts.

The corridors we work every week

Finland tax for expats — country guide The full guide to Finland tax for expats, with the fee fixed before any work starts.
Mexico tax for expats — country guide Its own page: Mexico tax for expats — mechanism, deadlines and published fees.
Canada–Philippines tax corridor Everything on Canada Philippines tax, at the same depth as this page.
Ghana tax for expats — country guide Ghana tax for expats — the guide, the FAQ and the fixed fee.
Netherlands tax for expats — country guide The full guide to Netherlands tax for expats, with the fee fixed before any work starts.
Nigeria tax for expats — country guide Its own page: Nigeria tax for expats — mechanism, deadlines and published fees.
Sri Lanka tax for expats — country guide Everything on Sri Lanka tax for expats, at the same depth as this page.
Chile tax for expats — country guide Chile tax for expats — the guide, the FAQ and the fixed fee.
Japan tax for expats — country guide The full guide to Japan tax for expats, with the fee fixed before any work starts.

The people on your file

Five named practitioners, each with the part of a cross-border file they carry. Every page on this site says who reviewed it, and the reviewer is one of these people rather than an unnamed team.

Udit Gupta

Udit Gupta

Cross-Border Tax Expert

CA (ICAI), In-Depth Tax Trained

Reviews and signs off the practice's cross-border positions, and carries final responsibility for the treaty analysis on every file that leaves the office.

Abhinav Gupta

Abhinav Gupta

Canada Tax / International Tax

Canada Tax, International Tax, Cross-Border Tax, Transfer Pricing

Canadian returns with foreign income, non-resident filings, and the transfer-pricing documentation that runs alongside intercompany work.

Raghav Gupta

Raghav Gupta

International Tax

International Tax, Transfer Pricing Specialist

Benchmarking, method selection and the local-file and master-file sets that support a group's pricing policy under examination.

Anmol Mittal

Anmol Mittal

Canada and US tax

CPA Canada, CPA USA, CA (ICAI)

Files that have to be right on both sides of the border at once — dual filings, streamlined catch-ups, and the foreign tax credit reconciliation between them.

Vinayak Indolia

Vinayak Indolia

CFO advisory

CPA, CA. Fractional CFO and Senior Advisory Specialist

Groups that need the tax position and the finance function to agree: structure reviews, intercompany policy, and the reporting a board can act on.

Meet the whole team

Files that look like this one

Case study 1

Tax Deducted When Buying From an NRI

Withholding on a sale by a non-resident is applied to the sale value rather than to the gain, so it routinely exceeds the tax due. A lower-deduction certificate obtained before completion avoids locking the difference up.

Read how this one runs
Case study 2

Indian Rent Collected While Resident Somewhere Else

Rent from Indian property is taxed in India and again where you live, with relief on one side only. The file gets the Indian deduction right first, then claims the credit on the home return against what was actually paid.

Read how this one runs
Case study 3

A Foreign Affiliate Return Filed Years Late

The reporting obligation on a company held abroad runs separately from the corporate return and carries its own exposure. The work is reconstructing the surplus position across the open years before any filing goes in.

Read how this one runs
Case study 4

A Certificate Obtained Before the Money Moved

An application for a reduced or nil deduction is made in advance and decided on the computed liability, not on the gross amount. Applying after the payment leaves a refund claim in place of a certificate.

Read how this one runs
Case study 5

The Two-Year Window After Returning to India

Returning residents pass through a transitional status in which foreign income is largely outside the Indian net. The engagement establishes when the window opens and closes, and puts the transactions that benefit inside it.

Read how this one runs
Case study 6

A Country-by-Country Report and Who Files It

The obligation sits with the group and the filing can fall on a surrogate where the parent's jurisdiction does not exchange. Establishing who files where comes before preparing anything.

Read how this one runs
Case study 7

A Distribution From a Trust Set Up Abroad

A distribution can be capital in the trust's country and income here, and the reporting attaches to the beneficiary rather than the trustee. The work is characterising the payment before it is received where possible.

Read how this one runs
Case study 8

Deemed Resident or Factual Resident — Not the Same File

The two statuses attract different returns, different credits and different provincial treatment, and the label is decided by facts rather than chosen. Establishing which applies is the work; the filing follows from it without argument.

Read how this one runs

All case studies — every published engagement in one place.

Core International & Cross-Border Tax Services

International Tax Planning & Advisory

Strategy and compliance for income, assets and families spread across borders.

One coordinating team: filings on every side of the border are sequenced so treaty relief and foreign tax credits are claimed once — and in the right country.

U.S. & Cross-Border Tax Returns

Dual filers: U.S. citizens in Canada and Canadians with U.S. income run two parallel systems — we prepare both, in the right order, every year.

Expat & Emigration Tax

The move year is its own project: the elections and valuations filed that year decide the next decade of both countries’ returns.

Non-Resident Canadian Tax

Default withholding is 25% of gross: elective returns routinely turn over-withheld rent and pensions into refunds.

Transfer Pricing & BEPS

Documentation prepared with the return is the cheapest insurance in international tax; reconstructing it during an audit is the most expensive.

Cross-Border Estates & Trusts

Wills drafted for one country routinely misfire in the other — deemed disposition here, estate tax there, credits in between.

Cross-Border Corporate Tax

Expansion raises the same four questions every time — entity, PE, repatriation, payroll. We answer them before the tax authorities do.

India Tax for NRIs & Returning Residents

The deduction is taken on the sale price, not the gain — which is why an NRI property sale strands cash unless the certificate is applied for before closing.

Canadian Tax with a Foreign Element

Residency is decided on facts, not on a form — and the year you arrive or leave is the one where the largest amounts turn on the smallest details.

UAE Tax for Expats & Their Home Country

A zero-tax country is only half the answer — the question that decides the bill is whether the country you came from still treats you as resident.

Industries & Client Types We Serve Worldwide

Global E-commerce & Marketplaces
Technology & SaaS
Professional Services Firms
Cross-Border Real Estate
Importers, Exporters & Manufacturers
Athletes, Artists & Entertainers
Remote Workers & Digital Nomads
Investment Funds & Holding Companies

Global E-commerce & Marketplaces

  • Foreign VAT / GST / sales tax registrations
  • Marketplace withholding reviews
  • Inventory nexus & PE analysis
  • Multi-currency books reconciled
Explore E-commerce & Marketplaces

Technology & SaaS

  • Cross-border revenue sourcing & withholding
  • IP structuring with real substance
  • Equity for cross-border teams
  • U.S. expansion: entity & PE setup
Explore Technology & SaaS

Importers, Exporters & Manufacturers

  • Transfer pricing documentation (s.247)
  • Customs value vs transfer price
  • Foreign affiliate reporting (T1134)
  • Country-by-country reporting
Explore Trade & Manufacturing

Athletes, Artists & Entertainers

  • Reg 105 & U.S. CWA agreements
  • Multi-state & country calendars
  • Touring income allocation
  • Royalty & image-rights withholding
Explore Athletes & Entertainers

Remote Workers & Digital Nomads

Working from anywhere doesn't mean taxed nowhere: residency defaults, employer payroll exposure and treaty relief decide where income actually lands.

Working from another country does not by itself end tax residence in the one you left, and it can start one where you are sitting. Day counts, ties, the employer's own exposure and the treaty tie-breaker all point at the same question, and the year you move is the year it has to be answered on paper.

  • Residency analysis before moving
  • Employer payroll exposure
  • Totalization & social security
  • Foreign tax credits
Explore Remote Workers

Investment Funds & Holding Companies

  • Treaty access & PPT reviews
  • FAPI & surplus computations
  • Withholding-efficient routing
  • Governance & substance
Explore Funds & Holdcos

Form 13 — questions we are asked

Do I file Form 13 even if no tax is owed?

Certificate or waiver obligations of this kind are generally required on the facts rather than on the tax result, so a nil position does not remove one. Non-residents whose Indian income will bear far less tax than the default deduction — most visibly NRIs selling Indian property.

What happens if I have missed Form 13 for several years?

Missed years are dealt with as a package rather than one at a time, because the route chosen for the first year affects the relief available for the rest. We map the years and the obligations before anything is filed.

Is Form 13 the same as the other reports I already file?

No. The application for a certificate authorising deduction at a lower rate, or none, than the default. Satisfying a different obligation, even one covering the same accounts or entity, does nothing for this one.

Which kind of investor income is most exposed to double taxation?

Dividends from a foreign corporation. They have already borne corporate tax, the source country withholds on payment, and your residence country taxes the receipt — three layers, only two of which a credit can reach. Interest and royalties carry the same source withholding without the corporate layer. This is why the withholding article and the paperwork that reduces it matter more for portfolio income than for salary. See dividends, interest and royalties articles.

Is money received in India from abroad taxable?

Receiving your own money is not income, and a gift from a specified relative is exempt however large. Two things do bite. A gift from someone outside that relative list is taxable to the recipient once the year's receipts pass the threshold in the gift provisions. And money that is really payment for something — fees, rent, interest, a share of profit — is taxed as that income whatever the bank narration says. The paperwork should match the substance. See gifting money to family in India.

How do I get back tax withheld in another country?

By the route that country provides, and it is rarely automatic. Where an elective return is available — on rent or pension income, for instance — filing it recomputes the tax on net income and refunds the difference. Where it is not, you file a refund claim with the withholding authority, supported by evidence of your residence and entitlement to the treaty rate. Both take time, which is why fixing the rate before payment is worth more. See withholding refund and recovery.

15+ years of cross-border experience

Talk to us about Form 13

One call to the 24-hour helpline is enough to tell you what has to be filed, what it costs, and whether you need us at all.

  • Your existing accountant keeps the domestic file
  • Rated 5.0 out of 5 stars on Google
  • 18,000+ clients served

Our practitioners are alumni of leading accounting and tax institutions

Where our partners studied — CPA Canada (In-Depth Tax Program), AICPA, the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India and the Malaysian Institute of Accountants.

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