Telling the CRA about your Indian property

By Parish Rao · 4 September 2026 · 6 minute read

Canadian accountants ask their Indian origin clients one question every year that almost nobody can answer straight away: what is the cost amount of your property in India. If it was inherited, there is no receipt to point at.

What has to be reported

Canadian residents have to report specified foreign property once the total cost amount of everything they hold outside Canada goes above one hundred thousand Canadian dollars at any point in the year.

Indian real estate held as an investment, or rented out, sits inside that. Property genuinely kept for personal use is treated differently, and that distinction is worth confirming with your accountant rather than assuming.

The threshold looks at cost, not at what the property is worth today. A flat bought decades ago for very little may sit under it even though it is now worth a great deal.

The phrase that causes the trouble

Cost amount. If you bought the property, it is documented and the question is easy.

If you inherited it, there is nothing to point at. No purchase, no receipt, no invoice. And the figure is not simply what the property is worth now, which is what people tend to guess.

This is where a valuation earns its fee. The figure has to be established from evidence at the relevant date and shown to be reasoned, not estimated.

How we establish it

The same way we build any past date value. The official rate position for that area in that year, registered transactions of comparable property from that period, and the physical property as it stood then rather than as it stands now.

The report shows the working, so your accountant can rely on it and, if anyone ever asks, explain where the number came from. Our post on valuing a property as it stood years ago explains the method.

Currency

The Canadian form works in Canadian dollars, so the figure has to be converted. Which rate and which date apply is your accountant's call, and it depends on how the property was acquired.

Our reports state the rupee value, which is the real valuation, and where you need it we also show a converted figure with the rate and date used, so the conversion can be checked.

What we are not doing

We are not telling you whether you must file, which part of the form applies, or what the penalties are. That is your Canadian accountant's work and they are the right person for it.

What we do is give them a property number that stands up. In our experience the accountant is usually relieved, because the alternative is a client estimate they cannot defend.

While you are at it

If you inherited the property, ask your accountant whether they also need a value at the date of death. If the answer is yes, get both from the same inspection rather than commissioning again later.

And remember the Indian side works differently. India ignores the date you inherited and looks at the previous owner's cost, or the 1 April 2001 value for older property. See one inherited property, two valuations.

See our Canada page, or tell us what your accountant has asked for.