Buying property in Phuket from India
Indian buyers are the fastest-growing group I meet on Phuket, and almost all of them arrive with the same two questions: am I allowed to send the money, and what do I have to tell the tax office at home. Both have clear answers. What follows is the route as it stands, with the places where I would send you to a chartered accountant marked honestly.
Yes, an Indian resident may buy property abroad
Acquisition of immovable property outside India is a permitted capital account transaction for a resident individual, governed by FEMA Notification 7(R)/2015-RB. The money moves under the Reserve Bank's Liberalised Remittance Scheme, and the limit is USD 250,000 per individual per financial year, April to March. PAN is mandatory, and the account used has to have been maintained for at least a year before the remittance.
A Phuket studio at the entry level of the market sits around 4.5 million baht, a one-bedroom of 50–55 square metres from 6.5 million, a two-bedroom of 85–95 from 10.8 million, and villas from 18 million. Run those against the LRS limit before anything else — for a large part of the market, one year's allowance from one person does not cover it.
Pooling the family limit works, but only one way
Family members may each remit their own USD 250,000, and for a property purchase the Reserve Bank's position is that clubbing works only where the relatives are co-owners. In other words, a spouse and two adult children can fund one apartment between them — provided all of them appear on the Thai title. Each remits from their own account under their own PAN.
TCS: a cash-flow cost, not a tax
Tax Collected at Source applies to LRS remittances. For a property purchase — which falls under “other purposes” rather than education or medical — nothing is collected up to an aggregate of 10 lakh rupees in the financial year, and 20% applies above that. Education and medical remittances sit at a lower rate, and an education remittance funded by a loan is nil.
The important part: TCS is not a cost, it is a prepayment. It is adjusted against your final liability when you file, and refunded if there is nothing to adjust it against. What it does affect is timing — you need the cash at the moment of remittance. Rates here follow the current position as reported by the banks and the tax portals; your CA should confirm them for the year you actually remit.
What you must declare at home
A resident and ordinarily resident discloses foreign immovable property in Schedule FA of the return, whether or not it produces income, with cost and dates. This is the point where people get hurt, because non-disclosure is not treated as an ordinary tax error: it sits under the Black Money Act, with a penalty of 10 lakh rupees per year of default.
And a detail worth knowing before you buy rather than after. The small-value relief introduced in 2024, which removes the penalty where undisclosed foreign assets stay under 20 lakh rupees, expressly excludes immovable property. A Phuket condo gets no relief at any value. Declare it.
Tell me your budget and how many co-owners you have, and I will check the quota on specific units and set out the remittance sequence.
Message me on WhatsApp →Where the rental income is taxed
Thai rent is Thai-source income and is taxed in Thailand — for an individual on the progressive scale after a deduction for expenses, and the 15% often quoted as “the non-resident rate” is withholding paid in advance, largely recovered on the Thai return, not a final rate.
India then taxes the same income as worldwide income of a resident, and the India–Thailand double taxation treaty, in force since 2015, handles the overlap: income from immovable property may be taxed where the property is, gains on its disposal likewise, and India allows a credit for the Thai tax, capped at the Indian tax on that income. The credit is claimed on the prescribed form, and the form itself has been changing — another line for your CA rather than for me.
If you are an NRI, the route is different
LRS does not apply to non-residents, so neither does TCS on it. An NRI buys with funds already held outside India. Moving money out of India uses the remittance of assets facility instead — up to USD 1 million per financial year from NRO balances, sale proceeds or inherited assets, against a bank undertaking. Above that needs approval.
Two things follow. Schedule FA applies to residents and ordinarily residents, so a genuine non-resident does not report the condo — reporting starts in the year the status changes. And OCI status makes no difference here: the rules look at residence, not at the passport.
The Thai side, specifically for Indian buyers
- Freehold is available on condominiums only, inside the 49% foreign quota of the building's residential area. The quota has to be checked on your specific unit, not on the project.
- The money must arrive in foreign currency and be converted in Thailand, evidenced by the bank's FET form. That document and your LRS receipts are what make the purchase defensible on both sides.
- Transfer fee of 2% of appraised value at registration, plus the running costs of ownership.
- Visas change. From 15 September 2026 Indian passport holders moved to 30 days visa-free rather than 60. Longer stays need a visa category, and that is handled by my visa partners, not by me.
- Flights are direct. Delhi to Phuket runs nonstop, which matters more than it sounds for anyone planning to use the apartment as well as let it.
How I would sequence it
Decide the ownership structure and who the co-owners are; check the LRS headroom of each of them for the financial year; check the foreign quota on the specific unit; agree the wording of the remittance with the Thai bank before sending anything; keep the FET and the remittance receipts; and disclose in Schedule FA in the year of purchase. In that order.
In short
There is no legal obstacle to an Indian resident owning a Phuket apartment. There is a paperwork sequence, and it runs across two jurisdictions, so it rewards being planned rather than improvised. I handle the Thai half and introduce you to people who handle the Indian half. Nothing here is tax advice — have your CA confirm the current rates and forms before you remit.
- Investment property selection — net yield calculated on specific units
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Legal, visa and tax work is not mine — it belongs to partners I use constantly
I am an investment strategist: I select the property, calculate the net return, check the developer and run the transaction. Anything that needs a legal, immigration or tax qualification goes to specialists I have worked with for years.
- Thai lawyers — document and contract review, land title, registration at the Land Office, wills, powers of attorney, corporate questions
- Visa partners — choosing and filing the right route for your situation: investment-based, LTR, Thailand Privilege, retirement, DTV
- Tax specialists — reporting in your country of tax residence, treaty credit for Thai tax, declarations on foreign assets
- Company formation in Thailand — when a structure is genuinely needed and lawful
- Rental management and concierge — letting the property, transfers, yachts, events
I introduce partners personally, matched to your actual question, so that you speak to the specialist who handles it rather than to a general inbox. Message me and I will make the introduction.
Frequently asked
Can an Indian resident buy property in Phuket?
Can my family combine LRS limits to buy one apartment?
Is TCS payable when I remit money to buy property abroad?
Do I have to declare a Thai condo in my Indian tax return?
Does this apply to NRIs?
Lyubov Fortunova
Investment strategist and founder of Fortunova Capital Group. I have lived on Phuket for more than five years and run every deal myself: I select the property, calculate the net return, check the developer and hold the process together until the keys are handed over. Lawyers, visa and tax specialists come from my own circle.
“I count net, not dreams”
Tell me your budget and how many co-owners you have, and I will check the quota on specific units and set out the remittance sequence
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