Form 13 and the Section 197 certificate

What it is

Section 197 lets a landlord ask for tax to be deducted at a lower rate, or at nil. Form 13 is that application. If it is granted, a certificate is issued with a rate on it, and your renter deducts at that rate instead of the roughly 31.2% that Section 195 would otherwise require. As of August 2026 this is the relief valve for over-withholding on rent paid to an NRI landlord.

A naming note first. From 1 April 2026 the Income-tax Act 2025 replaced the 1961 Act, and the familiar numbers changed with it: the lower-deduction power now sits in Section 395 of the new Act, with its own application form. This page keeps the 1961 names, Form 13 and Section 197, because that is what landlords, renters and most accountants still say, and the mechanism works the same way. An accountant will map the numbers for a live application.

Why the default rate is 31.2%, if you have landed here without that part.

Who applies

You do. The certificate is the landlord's application, not the renter's. Your renter cannot decide on their own judgement to deduct less, and should not be asked to: under Section 271C a renter who deducts less than the law requires is exposed to a penalty equal to the shortfall, plus interest. The certificate is what makes a lower rate lawful for them.

What it changes, and what it does not

It changes the rate. That is the whole of what it changes.

Everything else your renter has to do stays exactly as it was:

• a TAN;
• the deducted tax deposited by the 7th of the following month;
• Form 27Q, the quarterly return for payments to non-residents;
• Form 16A issued to you;
• where money moves abroad, Form 15CA, with Form 15CB from a chartered accountant where the rent is above Rs 5 lakh a year, on the reading your accountant takes of when those forms attach.

It also does not settle what you finally owe. Deduction at a lower rate is still deduction in advance. What you owe is worked out when the Indian return is filed, and that is where the balance is squared either way.

The practical sequence

1. Work out roughly what you actually owe. Municipal taxes come off the rent first, the 30% standard deduction applies to what remains, home loan interest comes off after that, and slab rates then apply. If that number is far below 31.2% of the rent, a certificate is worth applying for. If it is close, the paperwork may not be worth it.
2. Apply under Section 197 using Form 13. The rate you end up with is not the rate you ask for. It is the department's decision.
3. Get the certificate to your renter. The deduction is made by them, so a certificate they have never seen changes nothing.
4. From then on they deduct at the certificate's rate, and carry on with the rest of their obligations unchanged.
5. Plan on filing the Indian return anyway. That is where the final position is settled, and whether you must file, and what is due with it, is a question for a chartered accountant.

If you do not apply

Nothing breaks. The deduction stays at about 31.2%, and the excess comes back as a refund after you file. The certificate route is about not leaving the money with the department for a year. It is not a way of paying less tax overall.

Where Door-Let stands in this

Door-Let records what was charged and what arrived, which is the rent history an application like this describes. It does not deduct tax, does not file anything, and does not make anyone compliant. The application is yours, and the deduction is your renter's.

Related

TDS on rent paid to an NRI landlord, explained covers the default rate and the refund route. Renting out property in India as an NRI covers the account the rent goes into and what can be moved out of India. Both sit under the guides index.

If something here does not match your situation, write to support@doorlet.in.