Legal & tax
Rent agreements: why 11 months avoids registration, and what the Model Tenancy Act changes on deposits
The one-year rule in the Registration Act explains the 11-month agreement, but Maharashtra requires registration anyway. What the Model Tenancy Act says on deposits, overstaying and notice, how Tamil Nadu's law differs, and the deposit maths on a ₹30,000 flat.
TDS when you buy a flat: 1% from a resident seller, and a very different regime when the seller is an NRI
Under the Income-tax Act, 2025 the familiar 1% rule applies only to resident sellers. Learn which table entry applies to an NRI seller, how a lower-deduction certificate changes the figure, what changed for individual buyers on 1 October 2026, and what getting it wrong costs, with a ₹1.1 crore example.
Khata and property tax mutation after registration: why the paperwork decides your resale
A registered sale deed transfers ownership. The city's tax record, called the khata in Bengaluru and the property tax assessment in Pune, still names the old owner until you change it. This explainer covers what each document proves, what the law says, and what a delayed update can cost when you sell.
Landlord's guide to rent and tax under the 2025 Act: TDS on rent, annual value and the 30% deduction
Rules as of 12 October 2026. How a tenant deducts tax on rent above ₹50,000 a month under section 393, what happens without a PAN, and how to compute taxable house-property income under sections 21 and 22, with a Pune flat worked through under both tax regimes.
Selling a house in 2026: 12.5% without indexation or 20% with it, which is lower?
If you bought property before 23 July 2024, the law lets resident individuals and HUFs pay the lower of two capital gains figures. How each is worked out under section 197 of the new Income-tax Act, a worked example using the 2026-27 Cost Inflation Index of 384, and the case where the answer flips.
Transit rent, hardship and corpus in Mumbai redevelopment: what tax rulings say, and what to negotiate
The Mumbai tribunal keeps holding hardship compensation and displacement rent to be capital receipts, but tax officers keep taxing them. What the 2024–26 orders say, where they leave open questions, a worked tax example, and the clauses to get right before the agreement is signed.
Possession delayed: a step-by-step playbook from the first notice to RERA, the appeal tribunal and insolvency
What the RERA Act lets you claim when your flat is late, which forum hears what, the deadlines at each level, what a builder must deposit before appealing, and when insolvency is open to homebuyers, with a worked calculation of delay interest on ₹60 lakh paid.
Housing society maintenance in Maharashtra: sinking fund, non-occupancy charges and how to challenge a bill
New 2026 rules fix how a Maharashtra cooperative housing society can split maintenance, the minimum sinking and repair funds, a 10% cap on non-occupancy charges and 12% on late-payment interest. With a worked example, the GST test, and the steps to dispute a charge.
Self-redevelopment in Maharashtra: the GR, cooperative bank loans, and when it beats a developer deal
What self-redevelopment is, what we could and could not verify about the 2019 state resolution, why a society selling flats should expect MahaRERA duties, and a worked example showing how sale price and delay decide whether it beats a developer's extra-carpet offer.
Society redevelopment: why RERA protects flat buyers but not existing members, and what protects you
In a Mumbai society redevelopment, RERA covers the flats sold to outsiders but generally not your rehab flat. What MahaRERA and the Bombay High Court have said, what the 2019 section 79A directions offer, and what a delay costs in transit rent.
NRI selling property in India: TDS, the lower-deduction certificate, Forms 145/146 and repatriation
Why the buyer deducts tax on an NRI's sale under section 393(2) with no ₹50 lakh threshold, how a section 395 certificate can cut the deduction, a worked ₹1.6 crore example, the Forms 145 and 146 that replaced 15CA and 15CB, and the USD one million NRO limit.
Sections 82, 85, 86 of the new Income-tax Act: saving capital gains tax when you sell a flat or plot
The old sections 54, 54EC and 54F now sit at sections 82, 85 and 86 of the Income-tax Act, 2025. What each one covers, the reinvestment windows, the ₹10 crore cap, the ₹50 lakh bond limit, how the capital gains account works, and a worked example comparing all three.