NRI & Foreign Buyers
Repatriating Property Sale Proceeds from India
Getting the money out is the part nobody plans for — and by the time it matters, the decisions that governed it were made years earlier.
The short answer
Two routes, and which one you get was decided when you BOUGHT.
1. Bought with NRE/FCNR funds or inward remittance: repatriate up to what you brought in, for a maximum of TWO residential properties. No annual cap on that amount.
2. Bought with NRO funds: capped at USD 1 MILLION per financial year from the NRO account.
The two routes
| Bought with NRE / FCNR / inward remittance | Bought with NRO funds | |
|---|---|---|
| How much can leave | Up to the amount you originally brought in | USD 1 million per financial year — total, from the NRO account |
| Number of properties | Maximum TWO residential properties may use this route | No property limit — but the annual cap applies to everything |
| The cap applies to | — | Everything from the NRO account, aggregated — rent AND sale proceeds together |
| Gains above what you brought in | Repatriate via the NRO route — subject to the USD 1m cap | Within the cap |
| Paperwork | Form 15CA + 15CB, source-of-funds proof | Form 15CA + 15CB, tax paid, ITR filed |
Read the second row carefully. The NRE route is limited to TWO residential properties. If you own five and want to sell them all, the third, fourth and fifth go through the NRO route and its annual cap — however you originally paid for them.
The USD 1 million cap — what it actually means
The USD 1 million limit is not per property, and not per type of income. It is the total that may leave your NRO account in a financial year.
So if you have been repatriating rental income all year, that has already eaten into the cap before the sale proceeds arrive.
On a ₹5 crore flat sold from an NRO account: at roughly ₹85 to the dollar, the proceeds are around USD 5.9 million. At USD 1 million a year, that is six financial years to bring your own money home.
This is the single strongest argument for buying with NRE funds or inward remittance in the first place. And it is a decision you can only make once — at the beginning.
If a property is jointly owned by two NRIs, each may repatriate their own share — up to USD 1 million each, per financial year.
That doubles the annual capacity. It is a legitimate and well-understood structure, and it is worth discussing with a CA before you buy, not after.
Form 15CA and Form 15CB — the gate
You cannot simply instruct a wire transfer. The bank will not process it without these.
| Form | What it is | Who does it |
|---|---|---|
| Form 15CB | A chartered accountant's certificate confirming the remittance is compliant — that tax has been correctly deducted or is not chargeable, that FEMA is satisfied, and that the transaction is not designed to evade tax. | A CA. Uploaded on the Income Tax portal. |
| Form 15CA | Your declaration, filed using the CA's Form 15CB reference number. | You (or your CA), on the Income Tax portal. |
The bank verifies both before remitting. There is no way round them, and there is no point trying to find one — the bank's own compliance depends on them.
The process
- Sell the property. The buyer deducts TDS under Section 195.
- Proceeds credited to your NRO account. This happens first, whatever the eventual route.
- Get Form 16A from the buyer — their proof that the TDS was actually deposited.
- Check Form 26AS. Did the TDS actually appear against your PAN? If the buyer didn't file properly, you cannot claim the credit.
- Pay any balance capital gains tax.
- FILE YOUR INDIAN INCOME TAX RETURN. For the year of sale. Even if no further tax is payable — return filing is required for repatriation.
- Engage a CA. They issue Form 15CB.
- File Form 15CA, using the 15CB reference.
- Submit to the bank: 15CA, 15CB, the registered sale deed, Form 16A, the ITR acknowledgment, passport and visa, Form A2, your foreign account details, and proof of the original source of funds.
- The bank remits. Typically a few working days once the file is complete.
“Proof of the original source of funds.”
To repatriate under the NRE route, you must prove that you brought the money in from abroad in the first place — with the SWIFT confirmations, the NRE debit statements, the FCNR withdrawal records.
From a purchase you made eleven years ago.
Banks change. Statements get archived. Emails get deleted.
Keep the source-of-funds file for as long as you own the property. Scan everything. Store it somewhere you will still have access to in fifteen years. That file IS your repatriation.
Plan it before you buy — because afterwards you cannot
1. Which account you buy from. NRE/inward remittance beats NRO, decisively, if you may ever want the money home.
2. Whether you buy jointly. Two NRI owners means two USD 1 million caps.
3. Whether you keep the paper trail. Every SWIFT confirmation, from day one.
4. Whether you have a CA who does NRI work. Not a general accountant. This is a specialism.
All four are decided at the beginning. None can be revisited at the end.
FEMA rules, tax rates and repatriation limits are amended by Budget, by RBI Master Direction, and by circular — sometimes more than once a year.
We have written this against the position as we understand it, and checked it. But we are not chartered accountants or lawyers, and this is not advice.
Before an NRI property transaction, engage a CA who does NRI work. On a transaction of this size, in a regime with a three-times penalty for getting it wrong, it is the cheapest insurance available.
Frequently asked questions
How much can an NRI repatriate from India?
It depends how you bought. If you paid with NRE/FCNR funds or inward remittance, you may repatriate up to the amount you originally brought in, for a maximum of two residential properties. If you paid with NRO funds, repatriation is capped at USD 1 million per financial year from the NRO account.
Is the USD 1 million limit per property?
No — it is the total that may leave your NRO account in a financial year, aggregated across rental income and sale proceeds. So if you have been repatriating rent all year, that has already eaten into the cap before the sale proceeds arrive.
What are Form 15CA and Form 15CB?
Form 15CB is a chartered accountant's certificate confirming the remittance is compliant — that tax has been correctly deducted, FEMA is satisfied, and the transaction is not designed to evade tax. Form 15CA is your declaration, filed using the CA's 15CB reference number. The bank will not remit without both.
Do I need to file an Indian tax return to repatriate?
Yes — for the financial year in which the property is sold, even if no further tax is payable. Return filing is a requirement for repatriation, and the bank will ask for the ITR acknowledgment.
What proof of source of funds do I need?
To repatriate under the NRE route you must prove you brought the money in from abroad in the first place — SWIFT confirmations, NRE debit statements, FCNR withdrawal records. From a purchase you may have made a decade earlier. Keep that file for as long as you own the property, scanned and stored somewhere you'll still have access to in fifteen years. That file IS your repatriation.