Sell Property in Patna from Outside Bihar or Abroad: NRI 2026

Living elsewhere in India vs NRI: what changes

Step 1: get the papers right from where you are

Most of this is online. Open your jamabandi on Bihar Bhumi and match name, khata, khesra and area with your deed. Wrong or missing? Apply on Parimarjan Plus. Still in a dead parent's name? File the inheritance mutation online. Details: fix your land papers before selling.

What can't be done online: checking who is physically on the land, the boundary and the measurement. Have someone you trust walk the plot on a video call with an amin.

Step 2: come for the registry, or give a power of attorney

The executants must appear before the registering officer, and their fingerprint or iris is matched with Aadhaar. So there are two practical options:

• Come yourself: finish the papers, agreement and draft deed remotely, then come for 2–3 days for the registry. This is the safest route: no one stands between you and the buyer's money.
• Power of attorney: an agent holding a properly made POA can present the deed and admit execution for you. The POA must be authenticated, or registration can be refused. How to make one: power of attorney in Bihar.

• Stamp duty in Bihar (Registration Department's table): a POA to sell property in Bihar given to a family member (father, mother, spouse, son, daughter, brother, sister, daughter-in-law, grandchildren through a son or daughter): ₹1,000. Given to someone outside the family: the same duty as a sale on the MVR-based value. The table shows 6%, the old sale rate; it is 7% since 18 June 2026, so confirm. Registration and authentication fees are extra.
• Keep it narrow: a special POA for this one property and this sale. Write the minimum price and the bank account the price must go into. Not a general "do everything" POA. Revoke it when the sale is done.

Step 3: payment and TDS

• Every rupee by bank into your own account in India, not your agent's. Bayana of ₹20,000 or more in cash is barred by the Income-tax Act 2025. See bayana: a seller's checklist.
• Resident seller (living in another state): on a non-agricultural property of ₹50 lakh or more, the buyer deducts 1% in your PAN. Claim it in your return.
• NRI seller: the buyer must deduct tax at the rates in force on the sum chargeable, which is your capital gain. Without guidance, buyers often deduct on the whole price to be safe. You can ask the Assessing Officer for a certificate of lower or nil deduction. The buyer can also apply to have the chargeable portion fixed. Start this before the agreement; it takes time.

How the gain is worked out, and how a house or bonds can save the tax: capital gains tax on selling land in Patna.

Step 4: taking the money abroad (NRIs)

According to the Reserve Bank of India's FAQ on immovable property:

• Property bought in foreign exchange (inward remittance or from an NRE/FCNR account) under the foreign exchange law of the time: the sale proceeds can be repatriated, but for residential property, for no more than two properties.
• Other cases (for example, inherited property or property bought from rupee funds): remittance up to USD 1 million per financial year, together with other assets, under the Foreign Exchange Management (Remittance of Assets) Regulations, 2016.
• Selling agricultural land, a farmhouse or plantation: an NRI or OCI can sell it only to a person resident in India.

Protect yourself while you are away

• SMS alert on Bihar Bhumi for your khesras. You are told if anyone files a mutation or correction on them while you are away.
• Talk to the buyer yourself on video at least once; don't leave the whole deal to the agent.
• Read the draft deed on e-Nibandhan before anyone e-Signs, especially the price and payment details.
• Don't send original papers by courier to a broker. Originals go to the buyer after full payment.
• Revoke the POA once the sale is registered, and tell the registry office if it was registered there.

What should you do? (Our advice)

• Fix the papers online first, before telling anyone the plot is for sale.
• Come for the registry if you possibly can. If not, a special POA to a family member, for this property only.
• NRI? Apply for the lower-deduction certificate before the agreement, and plan the repatriation with your bank.
• All money into your own account, with the UTR written in the deed.
• The full sale process: how to sell land in Patna. Buying instead? buying in Patna from outside.

Selling Patna property from outside: frequently asked questions

1. Can registry be done by video call in Bihar?

   Not yet. The 2026 rules allow video-KYC identification only for document types the Inspector General of Registration notifies. As of 22 October 2026 we found no such notification in the Bihar Gazette. So the seller or a POA agent still has to appear at the registry office.

2. I signed the POA abroad. When must it be stamped?

   A document executed outside India can be stamped within three months of first arriving in India.

3. Can I "sell" by just giving the buyer a general POA?

   No. A POA is not a sale. Handing a buyer a general POA does not transfer ownership (Supreme Court, Suraj Lamp & Industries v. State of Haryana, 2011). The sale must be by a registered sale deed.

4. What will my bank ask for when I send the money abroad?

   The sale deed, proof of how the property was acquired, proof of tax paid and its own outward-remittance forms. Ask your bank and CA for the current list before the sale.

Written on 22 October 2026. Sources: the Registration Act 1908, the Bihar Registration Rules 2026, the Indian Stamp Act, the Registration Department's stamp duty table, the Income-tax Act 2025 and the RBI's FAQ on immovable property. Foreign exchange and tax rules change; check with your bank and a CA before selling.