NRI selling property in India — where does doing it myself start to cost money?
Some of it, yes — and we will say so on the call if that is the honest answer. The parts that are worth paying for are the ones where a missed election, a missed deadline or an unverified threshold costs more than the fee: a lower-deduction certificate obtained before closing sets the deduction at the real liability.
What if I have already filed and got it wrong?
That is a common starting point. We re-derive the position, identify whether an amendment or a disclosure route is the right vehicle, and tell you which one preserves the relief that is still available. The order matters more than the speed.
How long will it take?
It depends on the documents rather than on us. Once the pack is complete most filings turn around inside a fortnight; anything that needs a certificate from a tax authority runs on that authority's timetable, which we tell you at the start rather than at the end.
Why is tax being deducted on my full sale price, not the gain?
The deduction the buyer is required to make is computed on the whole sale consideration, not on the profit you actually made. On a flat held for many years, most of the sale price is your original cost, so the sum withheld routinely runs far ahead of the tax genuinely due. That is a mechanical feature of the collection system rather than an assessment of your liability. The gap is closed either by fixing the deduction before completion, or by filing afterwards and waiting for the department to return the excess.
Can I get the deduction lowered before the sale completes?
Yes, and this is the single decision that changes the outcome most. A lower-deduction certificate applied for ahead of closing directs the buyer to withhold an amount set against your real liability rather than against the whole consideration. It takes time to obtain and the application has to be made before the money changes hands, so the work belongs at the point you accept an offer, not at registration. Once the buyer has deducted on the full price that route has closed, and only a return will recover the difference.
How do I get the extra deducted tax refunded from India?
By filing an Indian return for the year of sale. Until you do, the excess simply sits with the department: there is no automatic reconciliation and nobody will return it unprompted. The return sets out what the property cost, how long you held it and the gain actually arising, and the deducted sum is set against the tax computed on that gain. The balance is refunded to a bank account held in your name. Most of the real work is documentary, establishing cost for a property bought decades ago or inherited.
Can I send the sale money to Canada as soon as I sell?
Not immediately. The bank handling the transfer wants its own certification that the tax position on the sum has been dealt with before it moves anything abroad, and that is a separate exercise from the deduction the buyer made. Sellers are often surprised to find the proceeds credited to an Indian account and then stuck there while the paperwork catches up. Planning the remittance alongside the sale, rather than after it, avoids money sitting idle for months. Call +1 (416) 619-0068 if a transfer has already stalled.
The buyer has already deducted the tax — what now?
The certificate route is gone, but the money is not. Your position now runs through the Indian return for the year of the sale, which computes the real gain and claims the difference back. Two things matter from here. First, that the deduction has actually been deposited and reported against your Indian tax identifier, because your credit follows that record rather than the buyer's word. Second, that you hold the documents establishing what the property cost you. Both are easier to assemble in the weeks after completion than a year later.
Do I need an Indian tax identifier before selling my flat?
In practice, yes. The deduction the buyer makes is reported against an identifier, and without one the tax paid on your behalf cannot be matched to you, which means it cannot be credited or refunded either. The same identifier is what a return is filed under, and what the bank will look for when the proceeds are remitted. Obtaining one is an administrative exercise rather than a difficult one, but it takes time, and starting it after a buyer has already deducted creates avoidable work.
How do I report the sale of a foreign property?
On your residence-country return, as a disposition, with proceeds and cost base converted at the rates for their own dates. Separately, the country where the property sits may require its own return and may hold back tax at closing until a clearance or certificate is issued — Canada does this for a non-resident vendor, and the United States withholds on a foreign seller of US real property. Those steps have their own deadlines, often before closing. See clearance certificates on a property sale.
What is the Liberalised Remittance Scheme?
The Reserve Bank of India framework under which a resident individual may remit up to an annual ceiling for permitted purposes — education, medical treatment, travel, maintenance of relatives, investment in shares or property abroad — with gifts and loans to non-residents inside the same ceiling. You declare the purpose to the bank on Form A2. The ceiling and the excluded purposes are set by the RBI and have changed more than once, so the figure to work from is the one current at the date of the transfer. See Form A2 and LRS remittances.
