Guides · 28 articles

Home loans, tax and costs

The money side of a property: the cash you need up front, how a home loan is approved and priced, and the taxes on buying, owning, renting out and selling. Figures and rules carry their source and the date they were checked; confirm the current position with your lender or tax adviser.

Read them in this order

11 MIN READ
Down payment and total cash needed to buy a home
The loan covers part of the price and none of the stamp duty on most homes. A line-by-line plan of the cash a purchase actually needs, with two worked examples: a resale flat and an under-construction one.
7 MIN READ
Stamp duty by state: how it is set and what changes it
Why the same purchase costs different amounts in different states, and the concessions worth asking about.
12 MIN READ
Home loan eligibility explained: income, FOIR, age, LTV and the property itself
Your eligible loan is the smallest of three numbers: what your income can repay, what the loan-to-value cap allows on the property, and what the lender will accept after checking the property. How each is worked out, with arithmetic.
11 MIN READ
Credit score for a home loan: what lenders read, and how to fix errors
Your credit report decides whether a lender says yes and, with many lenders, which rate you get. What is in the report, what lenders look at beyond the score, and how the Reserve Bank's rules help you correct a mistake.
11 MIN READ
The home loan process: from application to sanction, disbursement and getting your documents back
What happens between applying for a home loan and the lender paying the seller, what each document means, and what happens to your original property papers, including the Reserve Bank's 30-day rule and ₹5,000-a-day compensation when the loan is closed.
7 MIN READ
Home loan EMI, tenure and prepayment
How the instalment is built, what changes when you stretch the tenure, and when prepaying is worth it.
12 MIN READ
Fixed vs floating home loan rates: EBLR, repo, MCLR and your rights at a reset
Most home loans in India are floating, and since October 2019 new floating loans from banks follow an external benchmark such as the repo rate. How the rate is built, how often it moves, what happens to your EMI or tenure, and when a fixed rate or a switch makes sense.
10 MIN READ
Home loan charges and insurance: what you pay beyond the interest
The interest rate is not the whole price. What lenders charge around a home loan, what the Reserve Bank's rules say about disclosure and penal charges, and why you can decline, or buy elsewhere, the insurance often bundled with the loan.
7 MIN READ
Home loan tax benefits: sections 80C and 24(b)
What a home loan saves in tax, under which section, and why the regime you choose decides most of it.
6 MIN READ
TDS on a property purchase: the buyer's duty
Who deducts, when, on what value, and what goes wrong when the step is skipped.
13 MIN READ
GST on buying property: under-construction flats, ready homes, resale, maintenance and rent
GST is charged when you buy an under-construction flat from a builder — 5% of the price, or 1% for an affordable house — but not on a ready flat bought after the completion certificate, not on a resale and not on land. This guide covers commercial units, extras like PLC and parking, society maintenance and when residential rent attracts GST.
11 MIN READ
Rent vs buy a home: how to decide with your own numbers
Buying is not always better than renting, and renting is not always money thrown away. A step-by-step way to compare them on your own numbers, with the tax rules for each.
14 MIN READ
Long-term capital gains tax on property: rates, indexation and how to work it out
Property held for more than 24 months gives a long-term gain, taxed at 12.5% without indexation. A resident individual or HUF selling property acquired before 23 July 2024 pays the lower of that and 20% with indexation. This guide shows how the gain is built up, line by line, with worked examples.
15 MIN READ
Capital gains exemptions on property: sections 54, 54EC and 54F explained
Three exemptions can bring the tax on a long-term gain from property down to nil: reinvesting in a residential house (section 54, now section 82 of the 2025 Act), buying specified bonds (section 54EC, now section 85), and, for gains on assets other than a house, reinvesting the sale proceeds in a house (section 54F, now section 86). Each has its own deadlines, caps and lock-ins.
10 MIN READ
Government housing schemes in India: PMAY-Urban 2.0 and how to apply
What PMAY-Urban 2.0 offers, who qualifies, how the home loan interest subsidy actually reaches you, and where state housing boards and development authority schemes fit in.
11 MIN READ
Short-term capital gains tax on property: selling within 24 months
A gain on land or a building held for 24 months or less is a short-term capital gain. It is added to your other income and taxed at your slab rates under the regime you choose. This guide shows how to compute it, how the basic exemption and rebate interact with it, and how losses can be set off.
12 MIN READ
TDS on rent: when tenants must deduct tax, at what rate, and how to file
Individual and HUF tenants not under tax audit who pay rent above ₹50,000 a month deduct 2% once a year and file it with their PAN — no TAN needed. Companies, firms and audited individuals deduct 10% on rent for land and buildings above ₹50,000 a month, every month. From 1 April 2026 both rules sit in section 393 of the Income-tax Act, 2025, and Form 141 replaces Form 26QC.
13 MIN READ
TDS when buying property from an NRI: rates, lower deduction certificate and the forms
When the seller is a non-resident, the buyer must deduct tax at the rates that apply to the seller's capital gain — 12.5% plus surcharge and 4% cess on a long-term gain — not the flat 1% that applies to resident sellers, and from the first rupee. The seller can get a certificate for a lower deduction. From 1 October 2026, resident individual and HUF buyers no longer need a TAN for this.
14 MIN READ
Income tax on rental income: how rent from a flat, house or shop is taxed
Rent from a house, flat, shop or office is taxed under 'income from house property'. You deduct municipal tax paid, then a flat 30% for repairs, then home loan interest. The result is added to your income. A loss can reduce other income by up to ₹2 lakh under the old regime, but not at all under the new regime.
12 MIN READ
Municipal property tax in India: how it is calculated, paid and why it matters
Property tax is a yearly tax charged by your city or town on the land and buildings you own. Each city fixes it by its own method — annual rental value, unit area value or capital value — and its own rates. Pay it on time for the rebate, keep the receipts in the owner's name, and deduct it from rental income when you let the property.
13 MIN READ
Tax on inherited and gifted property: receiving it, and selling it later
Receiving a property by inheritance or as a gift from a relative is not taxed. Selling it later is: the gain is worked out using the previous owner's cost (or the 1 April 2001 value) and their holding period, so it is usually a long-term gain. Gifts from non-relatives and gifts to a spouse have their own rules.
12 MIN READ
Tax on jointly owned property: home loans, rent and capital gains for co-owners
When a property is owned jointly, each co-owner is taxed separately on their own share — of rent, of the gain when it is sold — and claims their own deductions and exemptions. A co-owner who is also a co-borrower can claim home loan benefits up to their own limits. Who actually paid for the property matters: if one spouse funded the other's share, clubbing can move the income back.
10 MIN READ
Loan against property (LAP): uses, limits, rates and risks
A loan against property lets you borrow against a home or commercial property you already own, for almost any legitimate purpose. It is cheaper than unsecured credit, but your property is the security. How it works and what to watch.
11 MIN READ
Plot loans and construction loans: financing land and building your own house
Buying a plot and building on it needs two kinds of finance, and lenders treat both differently from a flat. What a plot loan covers, why lenders set a construction deadline, how a construction loan is released in stages, and what papers you need.
11 MIN READ
Home loans for NRIs: FEMA rules, repayment, power of attorney and documents
Non-resident Indians and OCI cardholders can borrow from Indian banks and housing finance companies to buy a home in India, on the same broad terms as residents, with a few foreign-exchange conditions. What those conditions are and how to manage the loan from abroad.
10 MIN READ
Home loan balance transfer and top-up loans: when switching pays
A lower rate elsewhere is only half the sum. What a balance transfer costs, how to work out whether it pays, why asking your own lender first is often better, and what a top-up loan is good and bad for.
10 MIN READ
Women and joint home loans: stamp duty, co-borrowers, co-owners and tax
Buying in a woman's name or jointly can lower stamp duty in some states, raise eligibility and double some tax deductions. But a co-borrower is not automatically a co-owner, and every borrower is liable for the whole loan. How to set it up properly.
11 MIN READ
Property valuation methods in India, and how to read a valuation report
There is no single 'value' for a property. A comparable-sales figure, the circle rate, a yield-based figure for a rented property and a cost-based figure each answer a different question. This guide explains each method, when it is used, and how to read the report a bank's valuer gives you.

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Home loans, tax and costs

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