Is Form 13 now called Form 128?
Yes. Effective 1 April 2026, under the Income Tax Act, 2025, Form 13 has been renumbered Form 128, and the certificate is now issued under Section 395 (previously Section 197). Nothing about the process, the documents needed, or the Assessing Officer's review has changed — only the form number and the section citation. This guide uses "Form 13" since it remains the more widely searched term.
What is a Lower TDS Certificate (Form 13) for NRIs?
A Lower (or Nil) TDS Certificate is issued by the Income Tax Department under Section 197 of the Income Tax Act, on an application in Form 13. It directs whoever is paying you — a property buyer, a tenant, or a bank — to deduct tax at your actual applicable rate instead of the higher default rate that Section 195 requires for payments to non-residents.
Why do NRIs need this more than resident taxpayers?
Payments to non-residents fall under Section 195, which requires TDS at flat, often high rates, regardless of the recipient's real tax liability. A resident selling property only has 1% TDS deducted under Section 194-IA; an NRI seller can have tax deducted at a much higher rate on the sale consideration or gain, with no automatic adjustment for cost of acquisition or exemptions. A lower TDS certificate corrects this at source instead of making you wait for a refund.
How much TDS does a buyer deduct on an NRI's property sale by default?
Without a certificate, buyers are expected to deduct tax on the applicable capital gains at the rates prescribed for non-residents, plus applicable surcharge and cess — and in practice many buyers, wary of penalties, deduct on the full sale consideration rather than just the gain. A lower TDS certificate fixes the rate to your actual computed tax liability after accounting for your cost of acquisition and any exemptions you're eligible for.
How long does it take to get a Lower TDS Certificate?
Under Rule 28AA, the Assessing Officer is expected to dispose of a Form 13 application within one month from the end of the month it's received in, though in practice — depending on the jurisdiction and how quickly queries are answered — it commonly takes around 4 to 6 weeks. Applying well before you sign a sale agreement or rent starts gives enough buffer. There's no fixed application deadline for a given financial year — despite a common claim online that Form 13 must be filed by 15 March, the Act and Rule 213 (formerly Rule 28AA) set no such cutoff; you can apply any time during the year. Applying early simply gives more runway before your transaction.
Is a Lower TDS Certificate the same as Form 15CA/15CB?
No — they solve different problems. A lower TDS certificate (Form 13) reduces how much tax is deducted when someone pays you in India. Form 15CA/15CB comes later, when you want to remit that money out of India to your overseas account — it certifies to the bank that applicable tax has been paid or deducted on the remittance. Many NRIs selling property in India need both: a Form 13 certificate at the time of sale, and Form 15CA/15CB when repatriating the proceeds abroad.
I already had excess TDS deducted — can this certificate help me now?
A lower TDS certificate only applies going forward, to payments made after it's issued — it can't reduce tax already deducted. If TDS has already been deducted at the higher rate, the only way to recover the excess is by filing your ITR in India and claiming a refund.
What documents do you need from me?
PAN, passport/OCI copy as proof of NRI status, the sale agreement or rent agreement (or interest certificate), the original purchase deed and payment proof for property sales, your prior ITRs if any were filed in India, and your NRO/NRE bank statements for the relevant period.
