Chartered Accountant · ICAI M.No. 153926 · FRN 136869W
Steps one to three
- Register on TRACES with your PAN as a taxpayer.
- File Form 13 online, entering the buyer’s PAN and TAN, the sale value, your cost of acquisition, and a computation of the expected capital gain.
- Attach supporting documents — the sale agreement, proof of cost, and any reinvestment plan.
Steps four and five
The jurisdictional TDS officer reviews the application under a faceless process and may raise a query — answer it promptly. Once satisfied, the officer issues a certificate stating the rate or amount of TDS. You then hand it to your buyer, who deducts accordingly. The certificate is buyer- and transaction-specific.
Timing — an example
Example: aiming to register on 31 July, you file Form 13 in mid-June, clear one document query, and receive the certificate by mid-July — in good time. Processing can take two to four weeks or more — apply early. The reward is large: the buyer deducts on your gain, not the full price. Two practical tips: file from the same PAN on which you will report the sale, and make sure the buyer’s TAN is correct on the application, because the certificate is issued against that buyer and a wrong TAN means starting again. If you have more than one buyer for a single property, each needs to be named. Our NRI property service runs the whole process for you.