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Property, Sale

You are the seller. Apply before the buyer pays

The buyer is about to deduct tax on the whole price. You want a certificate that tells them a lower rate, and the screen is asking for a TAN the buyer does not have.

You are selling Indian property as a non-resident. You have read that a lower-deduction certificate keeps the buyer from withholding tax on the whole price. The application is Form 128, and the screen wants the buyer's TAN. Your buyer is a resident individual and says they do not have one.
Last reviewed: 28 October 20266 min readBy Vipul Sharma, Founder · Reviewed by Preetesh Maloo, CA

Confirm this with a practising CA before you act. The answer depends on the year and your documents.

The short answer

is your application, under section 395(1), for a certificate that tells the payer to deduct at a lower rate or at nil. It was under section 197. File it on for the tax year of the sale, and get the certificate before the payment you want it to cover. The published annexure has a column for the payer's or . The department's note also says the payer's details include a TAN. If the live screen will not take a PAN, raise a grievance. Do not invent a TAN. The long computation guide is the Form 128 learn page.

Selling, and the buyer is about to deduct?

Send the buyer's PAN and the payment date. A practising CA will say whether Form 128 can be filed before that payment.

Senior CA who specialises in NRI tax · we deal with the tax officer, you don't

What you are asking the officer for

The certificate, if the officer issues it, authorises the buyer to deduct at the rate and for the period written on it. Filing the form does not itself change what the buyer deducts. The note says you may file any time in the tax year. It does not say a certificate rewrites a deduction the buyer has already made. Apply before that payment.

The rate on the certificate is the officer's. This page does not state a rate you will be given. The buyer's duty to deduct, where you are non-resident, is (old Act). A successor section number is not stated here. The buyer-side change from 1 October 2026, including who no longer needs a , is on the Form 141 page.

If the screen will not take the buyer's PAN

Annexure I of the published form has a column headed / of the payer. The department's note of 7 March 2026 also lists the payer's details, including a TAN, for Annexure I and Annexure III. Both documents are official. They do not say the same thing in the same words.

Annexure II is the route where the people who will deduct are likely to exceed 100 and you do not know who they are when you apply. A sale to one buyer, whose name you know, is not that route. Do not use it to avoid a field.

If the live screen rejects the buyer's and insists on a the buyer does not have, the published next step is a grievance on the e-filing portal. The e-filing helpdesk is 1800 103 0025 or 1800 419 0025, and +91-80-46122000 or +91-80-61464700, Monday to Friday, 08:00 to 20:00. This page does not describe a temporary TAN, a paper filing, or any other bypass.

The note's own steps are: log in to , open e-file and view, file forms, , upload the support, e-verify, and wait for the officer. The certificate, if issued, is downloaded and given to the buyer.

Send the buyer's name and whether they have a TAN, and we will say what can be filed before the next payment.

If the tax is already deducted

A certificate for a later payment does not, on the note, undo tax already taken. The credit sits in or the once the buyer's statement is processed, and the return is where the excess is claimed. That path is the excess TDS page.

If the buyer used the 1% resident-seller challan by mistake, the fix is the 1% page. That is a different error from a missing on .

What's involved

What the CA actually does

  1. 1

    We prepare the application for this buyer

    Your computation, the buyer's or , and the payment that is still ahead of you.

  2. 2

    We file it on TRACES

    The note's path. If the screen rejects a , the grievance is the step. Not a made-up .

  3. 3

    We give the buyer whatever the officer issues

    The certificate controls the later payment. Tax already deducted stays on the return.

What to have ready

Documents you'll typically need

  • Your PAN and the draft sale papers
  • The buyer's PAN, and a TAN only if they have one
  • The cost papers for the computation

References on this page

  • Form 128 note: section 395(1), formerly section 197. Rule 213. File any time in the tax year. Payer details, including TAN, for Annexure I and III. https://www.incometaxindia.gov.in/documents/d/guest/fn-128
  • Form 128 itself: Annexure I column is TAN/PAN of the payer. Annexure II is where the deductors are likely to exceed 100 and are not known. https://www.incometaxindia.gov.in/documents/d/guest/form-no-128-1
  • e-filing grievance, if the screen will not accept what the form allows. https://www.incometax.gov.in/iec/foportal/help/all-topics/e-filing-services/managing-your-account/how-raise-grievances

Frequently asked questions

Common questions

No. The certificate does, and only for the period and the rate it states. The application is not the certificate.

The published annexure says TAN or PAN. The note also asks for a TAN on Annexure I. If the screen will not take the PAN, raise a grievance. Do not invent a TAN, and do not use the over-100 route for one known buyer.

For the advance already deducted, the note does not say the certificate undoes it. It can still cover a later payment. The advance goes through the return. See the excess TDS page.

You. Form 128 is the payee's application. The buyer's reporting, Form 141 or the TAN route, is a different form.

The exceptions that change the answer

Where the general rule stops applying to you

Every rule below has a carve-out, a cut-off date or a condition that flips the answer. These are the ones that decide real cases.

TDS rate when buying property from an NRI

Right now: 12.5% plus surcharge and cess on LTCG

Where it works differently

The gain is short-term
TDS is at the applicable slab rate, effectively 30% plus surcharge and cess for most NRI sellers.
s.195 requires deduction at 'rates in force' for the actual character of the income.
No lower-deduction certificate is obtained
TDS applies to the ENTIRE SALE CONSIDERATION, not to the gain.
s.195 operates on the sum paid unless the AO determines otherwise. This is the whole commercial case for Form 13 / Form 128.
There are joint NRI sellers
TDS is deducted separately against each seller's PAN in their ownership proportion.
Rule 37BA. Deducting entirely against one PAN strands the other's credit.
The buyer deducts 1% under s.194-IA
Wrong section. The buyer becomes an assessee-in-default under s.201 for the shortfall plus 1% per month interest and penalty under s.271C.
s.194-IA applies only where the seller is a RESIDENT.

Commonly got wrong

  • TDS on property purchase is 1% over Rs 50 lakh. That is s.194-IA, for RESIDENT sellers only. For a non-resident seller it is s.195 at the full capital-gains rate, with no threshold.1% applies only if the seller is a resident. NRI seller means s.195 at 12.5% plus surcharge and cess on the whole consideration unless a certificate is obtained.
  • The buyer files Form 26QB. 26QB (Form 141 from 1 April 2026) was for s.194-IA resident sellers. Until 30 September 2026 an NRI-seller purchase needed a TAN and Form 27Q (Form 144 from 1 April 2026). From 1 October 2026 a resident individual or HUF buyer uses Form 141's new Schedule E against their PAN, but still deducts at the s.195 / s.393(2) rate, not 1%.Buying from an NRI, you deduct at the full capital-gains rate, not 1%. If you pay on or after 1 October 2026 and you are a resident individual or HUF, you report it on Form 141 Schedule E against your PAN and give the seller Form 132; no TAN is needed. Payments before that date needed a TAN and Form 27Q or Form 144.

How a resident individual buyer deposits TDS on an NRI's property

Right now: No TAN needed: a resident individual or HUF buyer deposits and reports the TDS on Form 141 Schedule E against their PAN and issues Form 132 to the seller

Where it works differently

The buyer is a company, firm, trust or an NRI
Still needs a TAN and files Form 144.
s.397(1)(c) as amended by the Finance Act 2026 (and the Fifth Amendment Rules that follow it) covers only resident individual and HUF buyers.
The payment is rent or interest to a non-resident
Not covered. The payer still needs a TAN.
The amendment is limited to consideration for transfer of immovable property.
The seller has no PAN
Schedule E asks for the seller's foreign contact details, Tax Residency Certificate details and foreign Tax Identification Number.
Used to decide the applicable rate.
Instalments straddle 1 October 2026
The route follows the date of each payment: instalments paid on or before 30 September 2026 go through TAN and Form 27Q / Form 144, later ones through Form 141 Schedule E.
Both the s.397(1)(c) amendment and the Fifth Amendment Rules take effect on 1 October 2026; neither source we read carves out agreements already signed, so treat the payment date as decisive and confirm on the portal.

Commonly got wrong

  • The TAN rule is gone, so the buyer deducts 1% like a resident sale. Only the reporting route changed. The rate is still the s.195 / s.393(2) rate on the whole consideration unless there is a lower-deduction certificate.From 1 October 2026 you do not need a TAN, but you still deduct at the full capital-gains rate for a non-resident seller and report it on Form 141 Schedule E.
  • Every buyer from an NRI can now skip the TAN. Only resident individuals and HUFs are covered.If the buyer is a company, firm, trust or itself a non-resident, it still needs a TAN and files Form 144.

Selling, and the buyer is about to deduct?

Send the buyer's PAN and the payment date. A practising CA will say whether Form 128 can be filed before that payment.

Senior CA who specialises in NRI tax · we deal with the tax officer, you don't

Selling, and the buyer is about to deduct?

Send the buyer's PAN and the payment date. A practising CA will say whether Form 128 can be filed before that payment.

No card, no obligation. All certification and filing work is handled by ICAI-registered practising Chartered Accountants.