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Netherlands NRIs · Rental Income Tax

Rental income tax for NRIs in the Netherlands

Renting out Indian property from the Netherlands means your tenant must deduct tax on the gross rent. Set it up right and reclaim the heavy over-deduction.

When you rent out Indian property while living in the Netherlands, the rent is taxed in India. Under the India-Netherlands treaty, income from immovable property is taxable where the property sits, so the rate doesn't drop for living abroad. Because you're a non-resident landlord, your tenant is legally required to deduct tax at source on the rent under Section 393(2) (Section 195 until 31 March 2026), at the 31.2% non-resident rate on the gross rent, not under the lighter resident-landlord rule. That deduction is heavier than your actual tax, because you get a 30% standard deduction when you file, so most of the gap comes back as a refund.

India-Netherlands key facts: rental income tax

Default non-resident TDS rate31.2%
What the treaty changes hereIt sets no lower rate on this income. What a treaty decides here is which country gets to tax it.
Treaty article / basisSource country (India); reported on the Dutch IB return with Box 3 implications
Your TRC issuing authorityBelastingdienst (Dutch Tax Authority)

Rates reflect India's domestic withholding under Section 393(2) (Section 195 until 31 March 2026) and the India-Netherlands treaty. Surcharge applies on top; the 4% cess is already included in this figure.

How it works on the India side

A tenant paying rent to an NRI landlord must deduct TDS under Section 393(2) (Section 195 until 31 March 2026), the provision for any payment to a non-resident, which means the tenant has to take a TAN, deduct each month on the gross rent, deposit it, file a quarterly Form 144 (the old Form 27Q) against your PAN, and issue you a TDS certificate. The common, costly mistake is the tenant using Section 194-IB, the 2% resident-landlord rule, which doesn't apply to a non-resident landlord and leaves both sides exposed.

The deduction on gross rent is more than you actually owe, because your taxable rental income is much smaller: a flat 30% standard deduction comes off under Section 24(a), and home-loan interest comes off too. When you file your return, the TDS the tenant deposited is set against your real liability and the excess is refunded, but only if the tenant's quarterly statement correctly reports it against your PAN, which is why setting the tenant up right from the start matters. If you'd rather not wait a year for that refund, a lower-deduction certificate on Form 128 under Section 395 (the old Form 13 under Section 197) can cut the monthly deduction at source instead.

What changes because you live in the Netherlands

For Dutch residents, Indian savings and investments fall in Box 3, which taxes a deemed (notional) return on the value of the assets rather than the actual Indian income they earned, effectively a wealth-style tax on the asset base. For 2026 the deemed return is applied at a flat rate after a per-person tax-free allowance, with the long-promised actual-return system not expected until 2028, so the mechanic remains in transition. Double-taxation relief still applies, and the Netherlands grants a proportional reduction for the foreign (Indian) portion under the treaty, but because the Dutch charge is built on asset value rather than income, it won't simply mirror the Indian rate shown here.

Frequently asked questions

Common questions from Dutch NRIs

Under Section 393(2), the successor to Section 195, because you're a non-resident landlord. The tenant has to take a TAN, deduct on the gross rent at the 31.2% non-resident rate, deposit it, file a quarterly Form 144 (the old Form 27Q) against your PAN and give you the TDS certificate. Section 194-IB, the 2% rule most tenants know (it was 5% until 1 October 2024), applies only to resident landlords and is the wrong provision for a non-resident.

Yes. The deduction is on the gross rent, but your taxable rental income is much smaller, because you get a flat 30% standard deduction under Section 24(a) plus any home-loan interest before tax is computed. The over-deducted amount comes back as a refund when you file your Indian return, provided the tenant's quarterly statement correctly reports the TDS against your PAN. Dutch NRIs who don't want to wait for that refund apply for a Form 128 certificate instead.

No. Income from immovable property is taxable where the property sits, so Indian rent stays taxable in India regardless of where you live. the Netherlands may tax the same rent, with a credit for the Indian tax paid, though whether it does turns on remittance and residence-year rules the note below sets out. The treaty stops double taxation. The saving comes from the 30% standard deduction and reclaiming the over-deducted TDS, not from a lower treaty rate.

Rental Income Tax sorted, by an Indian CA who works with Dutch NRIs

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