Buying property in India vs United Arab Emirates

The United Arab Emirates. A Dubai buyer pays 4 percent of the price to the Dubai Land Department, plus AED 250 for the title deed, AED 225 for the unified map, and AED 4,000 with VAT to the registration trustee on a sale of AED 500,000 or more, and Abu Dhabi charges 2 percent. India comes to about 7 to 8 percent, and that figure moves with the map and, in several states, with the buyer. Stamp duty is a state tax of roughly 3 to 7 percent: Maharashtra charges 6 percent in Mumbai and 7 percent in Pune, Thane and Nagpur, in each case 1 percentage point lower for a woman buyer, with a registration fee of about 1 percent on top that some states cap, Maharashtra stopping it at Rs 30,000. The base differs as well as the rate. The Emirati fee is charged on the price agreed, while Indian stamp duty is charged on the price or the state's circle rate for that locality, whichever is higher, so a low contract figure does not produce a low bill. Purchase prices are a separate question, and the two markets do not price in the same currency.

In India: Lawyer or document writer (document writer is called a deed writer in some states), with the transfer recorded at the Sub-Registrar's office (under each state's Inspector General of Registration). In the United Arab Emirates: Real estate broker (wasit) - optional; legal adviser or conveyancer - recommended, with the transfer recorded at the Dubai Land Department (DLD) via Registration Trustee offices; Abu Dhabi Department of Municipalities and Transport (DMT) via DARI. In both countries the oversight comes with the transfer itself, so it applies whether or not an agent introduced the parties.

The headline purchase tax in India is the Stamp duty (paid by the buyer). In the United Arab Emirates it is the Transfer or registration fee. Each country guide covers the full list, including the smaller registry and filing charges.

Agent commission typically runs 1 to 2% of the price in India and 2% in the United Arab Emirates, and commission is negotiable in both markets. Owners can also sell without an agent in either country, which turns the commission into a choice rather than a fixed exit cost.

India decides this by the buyer's status under exchange control law rather than by the address. A non-resident Indian or an Overseas Citizen of India cardholder may buy any immovable property other than agricultural land, a farmhouse, or plantation property, and needs no Reserve Bank approval to do it. A foreign national of non-Indian origin living outside India sits in a different category entirely: that buyer cannot purchase at all and is limited to a lease of up to five years, though property can still come to them by inheritance, and the door opens if they become a person resident in India under Section 2(v) of FEMA, which turns on the length and purpose of the stay and the visa held rather than on owning a home. Citizens of Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, China, Iran, Nepal, Bhutan, Hong Kong, Macau, and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea need specific Reserve Bank permission whatever their residence, a restriction that does not apply to an OCI. The money is regulated alongside the buyer: payment has to reach India through banking channels or come out of an NRE, FCNR(B), or NRO account, and cannot be settled in foreign currency notes or travelers checks. The Emirates asks nothing about who the buyer is and everything about where the building stands. Inside the areas designated for the purpose, a buyer from outside the GCC takes freehold with no residency condition attached; outside them, ownership stays with UAE and GCC nationals and the companies they own.

Deducting the seller's tax, and the rate depends on where the seller lives. Under Section 194-IA, a buyer of immovable property other than rural agricultural land from a resident seller deducts 1 percent of the sale consideration or the stamp duty value, whichever is higher, once either figure reaches Rs 50 lakh. No TAN is needed for that deduction, so the buyer files under their own PAN using Form 26QB, and the rate rises to 20 percent under Section 206AA if the seller does not supply a PAN. Where the seller is a non-resident the deduction moves to Section 195 and becomes much heavier: on a long-term gain, meaning a property held more than 24 months, tax is deducted from the gain at 12.5 percent for a transfer on or after 23 July 2024, and a short-term gain is deducted at 30 percent for an individual or firm and 35 percent for a foreign company, with surcharge and health and education cess on top in every case. That calculation depends on figures the seller holds rather than the buyer, which is why a non-resident seller usually applies for a lower or nil deduction certificate before the sale. The consequences of getting it wrong land on the buyer, not the seller: an assessee in default owes the tax with interest, and Sections 271C and 276B provide for penalty and prosecution. A buyer in the Emirates has no equivalent duty at all, since individuals pay no income tax or capital gains tax on a property sale there and nothing is withheld from the proceeds.