210. Taxes to be paid when

gifting property in India to son

Q: I have purchased a flat in India in 1998. I have hardly lived there except for very short holidays. I am a Uk citizen abd live there. The flat has never been rented out. How much tax I will have to pay, if i sell the flat? On sale can i bring back the money to UK? Can I transfer this flat to my son. He is also an NRI and lives in UK. If, I do so what taxes would I be paying? Would i be paying gains tax or any other tax? SATYAVEM JAYATE A. Regarding your questions: If you sell the flat you would have to pay the capital gains on the flat depending on your purchase and sale price. Transferring money abroad from the sale of property held in India is allowed, A few things length of ownership, sale price etc are factors that are used to determine what you can take abroad. Since you have already owned the flat for over ten years the time factor does not apply to you. The sale price will determine how much you can transfer abroad at a time. Normally you would have to deposit the sale proceeds to your NRO bank account and then transfer through legal channels. You can transfer the flat to your son by way of gift. In such cases capital gains normally come into play when your son decides to sell the flat. The price you paid will be used to calculate capital gains if your son sells the flat in future. There is no exemption of stamp duty in respect of gifts from relatives. Stamp duty would have to be paid to register the flat in your son's name. In most states , gifts to close relatives usually attract a lower rate of stamp duty.