# NRI selling Indian property faces same tax whether buyer is NRI or resident 2026-10-28T15:41:20+00:00 | Business & Economy | Indian Opinion Desk Corroboration: 1 independent outlet An NRI in Singapore who owns residential property in India will face the same capital gains tax whether they sell the property to another NRI or an Indian resident, according to Harshal Bhuta of Ascentium India. Since the property is in India, the capital gains accrue in India and are taxable there. Long-term capital gains (held over 24 months) are taxed at 12.5% plus surcharge and cess, without indexation, short-term gains are taxed at slab rates. The buyer must deduct tax at source (TDS) on payments to a non-resident, computed on the taxable capital gains. In practice, buyers often insist on a lower deduction certificate from tax authorities, or else TDS is deducted on the full sale consideration. As a Singapore tax resident, the NRI can claim the India-Singapore DTAA, but India retains the right to tax capital gains from immovable property in India. The NRI can repatriate the entire sale proceeds if the property was acquired under foreign exchange laws and paid via banking channels or NRE/FCNR(B) accounts, but only for two residential properties in their lifetime. Otherwise, the $1 million per financial year remittance facility applies. ## Indian Opinion Analysis The key takeaway is that the buyer's residency does not change the tax outcome for the selling NRI, the property's location in India triggers tax regardless. The practical complication lies in TDS: without a lower deduction certificate, the buyer may deduct tax on the entire sale consideration rather than just the capital gains, increasing the seller's upfront cash burden. The NRI can reduce long-term capital gains tax by reinvesting in another Indian residential property or specified bonds, which could lower the effective cost of the sale. The repatriation cap of two residential properties per lifetime also limits future sale flexibility. ## Coverage - livemint.com The article presents tax rules as a factual Q&A with no editorial slant or government stance. This brief was synthesised by AI from the source linked above. Tags: Ascentium India, capital gains tax, India-Singapore DTAA, NRI, TDS Canonical: https://indianopinion.org/nri-selling-indian-property-faces-same-tax-whether-buyer-is-nri-or-resident/ License: Summary and commentary (c) Indian Opinion, reusable with attribution. Facts belong to the linked sources. Cite: https://indianopinion.org/nri-selling-indian-property-faces-same-tax-whether-buyer-is-nri-or-resident/#story-in-brief How this brief was made: an AI model read the report linked above and wrote this summary and analysis, which were published automatically. Published briefs are sampled every hour by an automated quality check; the editor verifies its findings and approves corrections, and corrected briefs carry a dated correction line. We do no original reporting. Methodology: https://indianopinion.org/ai-use-policy/