Chartered Accountant · ICAI M.No. 153926 · FRN 136869W
First, settle the tax
Sale proceeds go into your NRO account. Before repatriating, make sure the Section 195 TDS was deducted and the capital-gains tax is dealt with — the CA certificate you need will confirm this. Settling tax first avoids the transfer being held up.
The USD 1 million route and paperwork
Under FEMA you can repatriate up to USD 1 million per financial year from NRO balances, which comfortably covers most property sales. The bank requires Form 15CA (your declaration) and Form 15CB (a CA’s certificate) before releasing the funds.
A worked example
Example: you sell a flat and ₹90 lakh (net of TDS) sits in your NRO account. Your CA issues Form 15CB confirming the gains tax position; you file Form 15CA; the bank then remits the money to your account abroad. All of it fits within one year’s USD 1 million limit. Keep the sale deed, TDS proof and tax computation ready. If the property was originally bought with funds from your NRE account or while you were a resident, that history can affect how much is freely repatriable versus capped, so it is worth confirming the source before you start. Money sitting in NRO earns taxable interest in the meantime, so there is little reason to leave it there once the tax is settled. Our NRI repatriation & FEMA service manages it.