Which Valuation Does an NRI Need?
Living in one country and owning property in another usually means two sets of paperwork with two different dates. Answer five questions and see exactly what your case needs.
Want the exact figure? Send us what you have worked out and we will tell you exactly what an official valuation report involves.
The WhatsApp button carries everything you typed and everything this worked out, so you do not have to type any of it again.
Nothing you type here leaves your browser.
The two country problem, in one paragraph
India taxes the property under Indian rules, using Indian dates. The country you live in taxes you under its own rules, using its own dates. Neither cares that the other exists, and the treaty between them only decides who gets the tax, not which paperwork you can skip.
So a single property routinely needs two valuations at two different dates, prepared to two different standards. Most people find this out halfway through, after ordering the wrong one.
The date of death trap for inherited property
This is the one that costs the most money when it goes wrong.
For Indian tax, an inherited property carries the previous owner's cost, and if they acquired it before April 2001, the 1 April 2001 value. Your own inheritance date is irrelevant to that computation.
For United States tax, the same property generally gets a stepped up basis at the date of death, which can wipe out decades of gain. Canada applies a deemed disposition on death. Both need a value as at the date somebody died, sometimes years ago.
Two different dates, two different numbers, and you need both. Valuing retrospectively is normal professional work when it is done with evidence from the right period, and it is a large part of what we do for NRI clients.
Divorce and foreign courts
Family courts abroad require full and frank disclosure of everything you own, anywhere. An Indian flat is not out of reach because it is far away.
What causes trouble is not the property. It is a figure with nothing behind it. A court that sees an unevidenced number treats it as a credibility problem, and the other side's lawyer will make sure of that. A signed report from a credentialed valuer, based on an inspection with dated photographs and comparable sales, closes the argument.
What you should do first
Work out which dates matter in your case before you order anything. Then order the valuations for those dates together, from one valuer, so the figures are consistent and the underlying evidence is the same.
Doing it in that order costs less and takes less time than discovering three months in that you needed a second report at a different date.
Our engineer visits the property in India, measures it, checks the construction and photographs everything. Every photograph records the date, the time and the exact location automatically, so you can see for yourself that somebody stood at your property on that day. You get the photographs the same day and the signed report by email in 48 to 72 hours.
Questions people ask us
- Why would I need two valuations of the same property?
Because India and your country of residence use different dates. India works from the original cost or the 1 April 2001 value, while the United States and Canada generally work from the value on the date the previous owner died. Both figures are needed and they are not the same number.
- Can a property be valued as at a date years ago?
Yes. A retrospective valuation is normal professional work. It is built from the notified rates and recorded transactions of that period rather than from today, which is exactly why it has to be done by a valuer with access to those records.
- Will a foreign court accept an Indian valuation?
Generally yes, when it comes from a credentialed valuer, rests on an actual inspection with dated evidence, and is signed. We have prepared reports used in Australian and United States proceedings. More on that here.
- Do I have to come to India for this?
No. Our engineer inspects the property, photographs it with the date, time and location recorded automatically, and the signed report reaches you by email. Most of our NRI clients never travel for it.
Checked by Parish Rao, Chartered Engineer and Government Approved Valuer.
Page last checked on 27 August 2026.