Yes, you can sell property in India and bring the money to the USA, but it requires compliance with the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) rules. Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) can repatriate up to USD 1 million per financial year (April-March) from NRO accounts for sales proceeds, subject to paying necessary capital gains taxes in India and obtaining a Chartered Accountant certificate.
If the money is in an NRE account, just wire transfer it. Pretty straightforward. If it's in an NRO account or Cash, then you will need the bank to help you place it in an NRE account to repatriate, usually they can only do it for the amount that the property was sold for on record.
Non-resident Indians (NRIs) can repatriate a maximum of $250,000 without stringent formalities on money transfers from India to the USA. As per Section 206C(1G) of the Income Tax Act, there is no applicable TCS when NRIs transfer money from their NRO to their NRE account.
Selling property abroad comes with a double tax obligation for American citizens and residents. You'll owe taxes in the country where the property is located, and the US requires all taxpayers to report and pay taxes on worldwide income, including capital gains from foreign property sales.
You can send money directly from your bank account in India to the recipient's bank account in the USA. Most Indian banks (like State Bank of India, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, etc.) offer wire transfer services. This can be done either online or by visiting the branch.
Selling property bought as an NRI
If you have: Purchased the property with foreign currency or using your Non-Resident External (NRE)/Foreign Currency Non-Resident (FCNR (B)) accounts you can repatriate the entire sale proceeds of the immovable property.
To claim an exemption under Section 54, the taxpayer should purchase another house within one year before or two years after the date of transfer of the old house or should construct another house within three years from the date of transfer.
Maximum marginal rate is the highest rate of tax at any income level. This means for those with incomes between Rs 2 crore and Rs 5 crore, 39% will be the highest applicable tax rate, and for those with incomes above Rs 5 crore, it will be 42.74% — the highest tax rate since 1992.
The "36-month rule" for capital gains tax (CGT) primarily refers to the UK's Principal Private Residence (PPR) Relief, where the final 36 months (or 9 months for most) of a property's ownership period are tax-exempt, even if not lived in, provided it was a main home at some point. In the US, the relevant rule for home sales is the "2-out-of-5-year rule" for the Section 121 exclusion, allowing up to $250k/$500k profit tax-free if owned and used as a main home for 2 of the 5 years before sale, with exceptions for unforeseen circumstances.
Resident Indians are liable to pay taxes (Tax Collected at Source) when they make a foreign outward remittance depending upon the remittance amount and purpose for which they are sending money abroad. Read more on the applicability of taxes. For expert advice, consult your tax advisor or explore the FAQs section below.
You can generally transfer large sums from overseas to the U.S. without paying income tax if the money is a gift, inheritance, or personal transfer, but you must report amounts over $10,000 to FinCEN (via your bank) and potentially file IRS Form 3520 for foreign gifts over $100,000 (from individuals) or around $19,570 (from foreign entities in 2024) to avoid penalties, as the IRS tracks large inflows for anti-money laundering and tax compliance, even if the money itself isn't immediately taxed as income.
FEMA & RBI Compliance Checklist
Under the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) and RBI's Liberalized Remittance Scheme (LRS): Up to USD 250,000 per individual per year is permitted for eligible transactions.
How much tax do I pay on the sale of property in India? Long Term Capital Gain is taxable in India at a flat rate of 20% + 4% cess + surcharge based on the level of income. Short Term Capital Gains are however taxed as per the normal slab rates.
In her 2025 Budget speech, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman shared big news. Under the new regime, if you earn up to Rs 12 lakh, you will not have to pay any income tax. Salaried taxpayers get an extra benefit too. The standard deduction, which was Rs 50,000 before, has now gone up to Rs 75,000 for the new regime.
“At a salary of one crore, the average tax rate is 29.26% in the New Regime, compared to 32% in the Old Regime. As the salary increases, the average tax rate in both regimes also increases, reaching 38.42% in the New Regime and 42.46% in the Old Regime for ₹10 crore income,” the CEO of Tax2win added.
According to government reports, while over 7 crore people file tax returns, only a fraction of them actually pay taxes because many fall below the taxable income threshold or use deductions to reduce liability.
During the sale of property by an NRI, the buyer is responsible for deducting Tax Deducted at Source (TDS). The standard NRI TDS on property sale is 20%. However, if the property is sold before two years (as calculated from the date of purchase), a higher TDS for NRI property sale (30%) will be applicable.
The "6-year rule" for Capital Gains Tax (CGT) in Australia allows you to treat a former main residence as tax-exempt for up to six years after you move out, even if you rent it out, enabling you to avoid CGT on any growth during that period. You qualify by moving out, choosing to treat it as your main home for tax, and can reset the rule by moving back in. If you rent it out for longer than six years, only the portion of the gain after the six-year mark becomes taxable.
Yes, but the IRS cannot directly access foreign bank accounts. Instead, the agency relies on tax treaties, mutual collection assistance requests, and other international agreements like the Tax Information Exchange Agreement to identify and pursue funds held offshore.
You can transfer large amounts of money, but transactions over $10,000, especially in cash or structured deposits, trigger mandatory reporting (like IRS Form 8300 or Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) reports), not necessarily taxes, to fight money laundering. Banks file reports for cash over $10k (CTR) or suspicious activity (SAR) if they see patterns to avoid reporting (structuring), which can flag accounts even for smaller amounts like $200 if part of a pattern.
Yes, you can deposit $50,000 cash in a bank, as there's no legal limit on cash deposits, but the bank must report it to the IRS by filing a Currency Transaction Report (CTR) because it's over the $10,000 threshold; expect potential scrutiny and be prepared to provide documentation about the source of funds, and never try to avoid reporting by "structuring" smaller deposits, which is illegal.