Repatriation of Funds from India: the USD 1 Million NRO Window

An NRI or PIO may remit up to USD 1 million per financial year out of NRO balances, including the proceeds of inherited property, and what usually holds the money up is not the limit but the certification chain behind it.

Last verified: 5 September 2026 · Applies to: Tax Year 2026-27 / FY 2026-27

Contents

• The limit, stated precisely
• The financial year is April to March, and that is a planning lever
• The certification chain: Form 146 first, then Form 145
• Inherited property: the evidence the bank will ask for
• Agricultural land, plantations and farm houses
• Illustrative example: sequencing USD 1.6 million across two years
• What actually delays a repatriation
• Frequently asked questions
• How BVACA can help

The limit, stated precisely {#the-limit}

USD 1 million per financial year, per NRI or PIO, out of NRO balances and the sale proceeds of assets, including inherited assets. That position was confirmed in the RBI's FAQ dated 16 January 2025 and has not been amended in 2025 or 2026.

Three features of that sentence do the work:

• It is per person, not per property or per transaction. Two siblings who inherit a house jointly each have their own window.
• It is per financial year, which in India runs 1 April to 31 March.
• It covers inherited assets. A common worry, that money which came to you through a will is somehow outside the ordinary route, is misplaced. Inherited proceeds sit inside the same window, subject to producing evidence of the inheritance.

Above USD 1 million in a financial year you need prior RBI approval. That is an application, not a formality, and it should be planned around rather than discovered in week two of a deal.

NRE and FCNR balances are fully repatriable without the USD 1 million ceiling — that is the whole point of those account types. The USD 1 million window applies only to remittances out of an NRO account. A transfer from an NRO account to an NRE account, though internal, counts against the USD 1 million per financial year window because it moves rupees out of the taxable-in-India NRO bucket into the repatriable NRE bucket. So sequencing an NRO-to-NRE transfer for early April, rather than late March, is often the difference between two windows worth of headroom and one.

RBI approval above the USD 1 million limit is not a formality. Realistic turnaround is four to eight weeks on a complete application, longer if the source of funds needs additional documentation. Plan around the sale rather than into it.

The financial year is April to March, and that is a planning lever {#the-financial-year}

This is the most useful practical point in the whole area and it is routinely missed by people who think in calendar years.

The window resets on 1 April. So a sale that completes in February leaves you two windows within eight weeks: one for the financial year ending 31 March, and a fresh one from 1 April. A sale completing in May gives you a single window and then an eleven-month wait for the next.

Where the total exceeds USD 1 million, sequencing across two financial years is often simpler and quicker than an RBI approval application, and it is a decision to take before the sale rather than after the money lands. If you are still negotiating a completion date with a buyer, this is a reason to care which side of 31 March it falls on.

One constraint on sequencing: all instalments must go through the same authorised dealer, meaning the same bank branch that handled the first tranche. Changing banks between tranches is where files get lost and evidence has to be rebuilt from scratch.

The certification chain: Form 146 first, then Form 145 {#the-certification-chain}

The tax side of a remittance runs on two forms that changed number on 1 April 2026:

The order is fixed and it catches people out. The CA files Form 146 first, and its acknowledgement number is what feeds Form 145 Part C. You cannot complete the remitter's declaration and then obtain the certificate afterwards.

Form 145 has four parts, and which one applies depends on the amount and the nature of the remittance. This is set out in Rule 220 of the Income-tax Rules, 2026, which replaced the old Rule 37BB, with the underlying obligation to furnish information now in s.397(3)(d) (the old s.195(6)):

Two things are now captured in the forms that were not always insisted on before: the UDIN on the CA's certificate, and the payee's TRC. Certain remittances are outside the requirement altogether, including LRS individual remittances, IFSC units and specified RBI purpose codes.

The full mechanics, including how Part D is used and what the CA is certifying, are covered in our note on how Forms 145 and 146 replaced 15CA and 15CB.

The 33-item specified list from old Rule 37BB carries over unchanged into Rule 220 of the Income-tax Rules, 2026 — same categories (imports, subsidiary remittances, family maintenance under LRS, and so on) still fall outside the Form 145/146 requirement.

Inherited property: the evidence the bank will ask for {#inherited-property}

Where you are repatriating the proceeds of a property that came to you by inheritance, the authorised dealer works to a documentary standard that goes beyond the tax forms. Expect to produce:

1. Documentary evidence of the inheritance. A will, a probate or succession certificate, a legal heir certificate, or the mutation record showing how title came to you. Where the chain runs through two generations, expect to evidence both steps.
2. Evidence of acquisition by the deceased, where the bank asks how the property entered the family.
3. A tax clearance or no-objection from the income-tax authority.
4. Form 146 from your Chartered Accountant, then Form 145 from you as remitter.
5. Proof that the sale itself was tax-compliant, which in practice means the buyer's TDS deposit and return. If the sale is recent, see TDS on the sale of property by an NRI, because the deduction and the repatriation are sequential problems and the first one gates the second.

And, again, all instalments through the same authorised dealer.

The tax-clearance step for inherited property proceeds runs off the CA-certified Form 146 (old 15CB) plus the underlying computation trail; there is no separate NOC beyond what the authorised dealer bank's own KYC and RBI reporting policy asks for. Where the individual bank's compliance team asks for additional evidence — the deceased's PAN, a probate copy, or the mutation record — treat that as the bank's internal file, not a fresh statutory requirement.

Agricultural land, plantations and farm houses {#agricultural-land}

This is a separate regime under FEMA and the rules are asymmetric in a way that catches families in Punjab and Haryana in particular, where ancestral holdings are frequently agricultural.

The last row is where transactions fail. A buyer who is willing, funded and resident in India may still be ineligible under Punjab or Haryana land law to hold agricultural land, and that eligibility question sits with the state's revenue framework rather than with FEMA or the Income-tax Act. It needs to be settled before an agreement is signed, not at registration.

Separately, note that the RBI approval route is required not only above USD 1 million but generally for property that was not acquired by inheritance or in foreign exchange. A flat bought years ago out of rupee income stands differently from one bought by inward remittance.

Illustrative example: sequencing USD 1.6 million across two years {#illustrative-example}

Illustrative example. An NRI in Australia inherits a house in Chandigarh from her father, sells it, and after TDS and tax has an NRO balance equivalent to USD 1.6 million. The sale completes in January 2027.

Total elapsed time between the two tranches: potentially a few weeks, because the sale happened to complete on the right side of the financial year.

Had the same sale completed in May 2027, the whole USD 1.6 million would have sat against a single window, and she would have faced a choice between waiting until April 2028 for the balance or applying to the RBI for approval.

Rupee amounts are not given here because the rupee equivalent depends on the exchange rate on the date of each remittance. Figures are illustrative.

What actually delays a repatriation {#what-actually-delays}

In practice, the limit is rarely the binding constraint. These are:

• The inheritance chain is incomplete. Mutation was never done, or was done in one heir's name for convenience twenty years ago, or a co-heir's consent is missing. This is a revenue-record problem in India that can take months and cannot be fixed from abroad by email alone.
• The TDS on the sale has not been reported. The buyer deducted, deposited late, or never filed the quarterly return, so the credit does not appear and the tax position cannot be closed.
• The tax clearance or no-objection has not been applied for, because everyone assumed the CA certificate was the whole of it.
• The client changed banks between tranches, so the second authorised dealer starts the file from zero.
• Documents are stale. Statements, valuations and certificates all have shelf lives in a bank's checklist, and a file that sits for two months often needs half of it refreshed.
• Time zones and signature logistics. A form that needs a wet signature from Melbourne or Toronto, couriered to Panchkula, adds a week per iteration. Getting the document set right the first time is worth more than speed on any single step.

A separate point worth knowing if your Indian holdings include listed shares: the FEMA (Non-Debt Instruments) (Third Amendment) Rules, 2026, notified on 15 June 2026, raised the individual portfolio investment cap in a listed Indian company from 5% to below 10% and the aggregate cap from 10% to 24%, widened eligibility from NRIs and OCIs to any individual resident outside India, and permitted a designated repatriable rupee account so post-tax sale proceeds can be repatriated without multiple account structures. It was implemented by RBI Notification FEMA 395(4)/2026-RB. A breach of the cap triggers a 5-day divestment window or reclassification as FDI.

Frequently asked questions {#frequently-asked-questions}

How much money can an NRI send out of India in a year?

Up to USD 1 million per financial year, per NRI or PIO, out of NRO balances and the sale proceeds of assets including inherited assets, confirmed in the RBI's FAQ dated 16 January 2025. Above that figure, prior RBI approval is required. The financial year runs 1 April to 31 March.

Can I repatriate the sale proceeds of a property I inherited?

Yes, within the USD 1 million per financial year window and out of your NRO account, on production of documentary evidence of the inheritance and a tax clearance or no-objection from the income-tax authority, together with Form 146 from your CA and Form 145 as remitter. All instalments must go through the same authorised dealer.

Is Form 15CB still valid, or is it Form 146 now?

For remittances after 1 April 2026 it is Form 146, the Chartered Accountant's certificate that replaced Form 15CB, and Form 145 in place of Form 15CA. The mechanics sit in Rule 220 of the Income-tax Rules, 2026, which replaced Rule 37BB. The CA files Form 146 first and its acknowledgement number feeds Form 145 Part C.

Can I sell agricultural land I inherited in Punjab and take the money out?

You may inherit it without RBI approval, but you may only sell it to a resident Indian who is eligible to hold agricultural land under that state's land-ceiling and agriculturist laws. Confirm the buyer's eligibility under state law before signing. Repatriation of the proceeds then follows the ordinary NRO route.

What if I need to move more than USD 1 million?

Two routes. Sequence the remittance across two financial years, which is often faster where the sale timing allows it, or apply for prior RBI approval. Which is better depends on when the sale completes relative to 31 March and on how quickly you need the funds abroad.

How BVACA can help {#how-bvaca-can-help}

Bachhal Vijender & Associates handles the India-side certification for NRI remittances: reviewing the underlying transaction and its tax position, issuing Form 146 with UDIN, and preparing Form 145 so the two are filed in the right order and match the bank's file. Where the funds come from inherited property, we work on the documentary chain as well, which is usually the part that determines the timeline.

From Panchkula we deal regularly with property and succession matters across Chandigarh, Mohali, Zirakpur, the wider Tricity, Punjab and Haryana, and with authorised dealer branches in those places. Work is done remotely as a matter of course, with calls scheduled to your evening in North America, the UK, the Gulf or Australia, and with a specific power of attorney arranged where something in India genuinely needs a physical signature.

If a sale is in progress and the completion date is still movable, it is worth a conversation before it is fixed, because which side of 31 March it falls on can decide whether you need one window or two. See our NRI repatriation and remittance certification work, our cross-border tax consultancy, or the wider NRI and cross-border services page.

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Author box: CA Vijender Singh Bachhal, Managing Partner, Bachhal Vijender & Associates (FRN 028355N), Panchkula. About the firm

Disclaimer: This article is general information current as at 5 September 2026, not advice for a specific situation. Tax and corporate law in India changed materially on 1 April 2026; verify the position before acting. Illustrative examples are not client matters.