Application for a Lower or Nil TDS Certificate on an NRI Property Sale (Form No. 128), with the Buyer's TDS Compliance Pack

Stamp duty

Form 128 itself isn't stamped — electronic, TRACES-filed, not a Stamp Act instrument; neither Punjab nor Chandigarh levies duty on it. What IS stamped: Part A's affidavit, Part B, and the sale deed. PART A AFFIDAVIT: Punjab Rs 25, Chandigarh Rs 100 — chargeable under Art.4 (Punjab Sch.I-A; Chandigarh Sch.I) where the AO wants the residential-status/computation declaration on affidavit. Punjab Rs 25 tracks GMADA's/GLADA's own affidavit panels; Chandigarh Rs 100 tracks the Estate Office's Annexure-2/the Sub-Registrar, 30 Bays Building counter — neither traced to a primary notification, so ask the vendor and buy higher if quoted higher. Every deponent needs own paper. Over-stamping is never a defect; under-stamping is. PART B: Rs 100 in both — buy BEFORE the paper goes abroad. Chargeable as an indemnity bond (Art.34→Art.57) or an agreement (Art.5), s.6 taking the higher; Rs 100 is the practice figure in both, unconfirmed against a notification — confirm with the Sub-Registrar (tehsil, Punjab; 30 Bays Building, Chandigarh) before buying, since the s.18 three-month window otherwise gets spent chasing a figure by phone. Print Part B on its own stamped paper, separate from the affidavit (s.5). BUYING THE STAMP. Punjab: e-stamp via SHCIL (igrpunjab.gov.in), in the deponent's/party's own name. Don't buy far ahead — an e-Stamp unlocked over four months gets locked (Punjab Revenue Dept circular No. 07/15/2026-ST-2(PF-1)/10837, 11 July 2026). Chandigarh: vendor paper up to Rs 50,000, above that via the Central Treasury (challan at SBI, Sector 17); a Rs 100 instrument can also be e-stamped via sampark.chd.nic.in (cap Rs 500/individual) or SHCIL's shcilestamp.com. POWER OF ATTORNEY. In Punjab, a sale POA outside spouse/child/parent/sibling/grandparent/grandchild costs 2% of consideration or Collector rate, whichever higher (entry 48(f), Sch.I-A, Punjab Amendment Act 2023/Act No.2 of 2024, in force from 15 January 2024); family POAs are exempt. No equivalent Chandigarh charge traced — confirm at Sector 17. A tax-file-only POA is nominal in both. THE SALE DEED. Punjab is 7.25% — 5% conveyance (entry 23) + 1% Social Infrastructure Cess + 1% PIDB fee + 0.25% SIDF (Notification S.O.25/P.A.8/2002/Ss.25 and 25-A/2023 dated 28 February 2023); a female buyer pays 3% not 5% (Notification dated 11 February 2010) — the concession is on duty alone. Base is consideration or the Collector rate (revised 1 April yearly), whichever higher. Chandigarh is 5%, no cess/board fee/gender concession — the widely repeated '6%' isn't supported (verified 5.00% via the Administration's calculator, 6 September 2026); a leasehold transfer is 3%. Chandigarh's Collector rate (setting the gain this application computes) was revised from 1 April 2026 to Rs 2,37,900/sq yd (Sectors 1–12), Rs 1,81,300 (14–37), Rs 1,33,200 (38+), Rs 1,53,900 (independent units) — but the Administration's online calculator still showed the old Rs 78,250 as of 6 September 2026. TIMING. An instrument executed only outside India can be stamped within three months of first reaching India (s.18(1)–(2), via the Collector of Stamps — in Punjab, the district DC). Record the receipt date the day the courier arrives; miss the window and s.35 makes it inadmissible, defeating Part B in exactly the dispute it exists to win.

Registration

Nothing here is compulsorily registrable — s.17(1) doesn't reach an application, a computation statement, or an indemnity undertaking. Optional Part B registration under s.18 exists, but a properly stamped counterpart gives the same protection free. What MUST register is the sale deed, and its clock matters because the s.395(1) certificate must be in hand before money moves: present within four months (s.23), extendable four more on a fine up to 10x the fee (s.25) — after eight months, no registration. PUNJAB. File at the tehsil Sub-Registrar via Easy Registry (NGDRS, all 22 districts), which locks the e-stamp at registration. Fee 1% (cap Rs 2,00,000); facilitation Rs 1,000/3,000/5,000 (≤10L/≤30L/>30L); pasting Rs 200; mutation Rs 600, later, separately. CHANDIGARH. File at 30 Bays Building, Sector 17. Fee 1% (cap Rs 10,000), pasting Rs 20 — online, cashless; the table's footer shows a 3 May 2022 update, so confirm at the counter. AFTER REGISTRATION. In Punjab, mutation is sanctioned by the Tehsildar/Naib Tehsildar (ss.34–37, Land Revenue Act 1887), appeal to Collector then Divisional Commissioner then Financial Commissioner; a fard from the tehsil Fard Kendra (in flux since April 2025 — ask which counter is open). In Chandigarh there's no jamabandi — the Estate Officer's file IS the title, mutation auto-triggers since 2025 (no later fix-it window); a leasehold site needs prior NOC plus one-third unearned increase, and transfers outside four permitted categories (10 February 2023 notice) may not be possible. Exception: villages/periphery (Manimajra, lal dora/phirni) DO need a fard. NRI-SPECIFIC. A Seller's POA needs authentication under ss.32(c)/33(1)(c) (Notary, Court, Judge, Magistrate, Indian Consul, or Central Government rep) in EVERY case, even where the same attorney executes and presents the deed — G. Kalawathi Bai v. G. Shashikala, 2025 INSC 851 (15 July 2025), despite tension with Rajni Tandon (2009) and an unresolved referral as of September 2026.

Notarisation

Form 128 itself isn't notarised — verified on TRACES by digital signature/EVC. Notarisation attaches only to the AO's affidavit and to Part B if signed abroad. In Punjab/Chandigarh: swear the affidavit before a Notary or an Oath Commissioner — both Punjab and Haryana High Court appointees, so either serves both jurisdictions. Identify from the original passport (and OCI card); check the notarial register's serial number is on the endorsement. Abroad: two routes. Registration Act s.33(1)(c) allows an Indian Consul/Vice-Consul, OR a local Notary plus apostille (India's a Hague member since 2005) — legally adequate either way. But Punjab Sub-Registrar offices reportedly insist on consular attestation regardless (no confirming circular either way, as of September 2026) — use the consular route for a Sub-Registrar/Estate Officer destination, local notarisation-plus-apostille for the AO alone. Either way, the s.18 three-month clock starts the day the document first reaches India. The Buyer's side of Part B needs no notarisation if signed in India; a bank/Estate Office wanting a copy gets a notarised photocopy, with the stamped original kept.

Witnesses

Part A carries no witnesses — verified on TRACES by digital signature/EVC; a filed affidavit is authenticated by the Notary's/Oath Commissioner's seal instead. Part B is attested by two witnesses: full name, father's name, address, photo-ID number each, signing before both parties. Not statutory (TP Act s.3 covers only attested transfers), but essential for provability under the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam 2023 when a short-deduction demand arrives years later and an abroad Seller disputes agreeing. Choose findable witnesses, not the broker, not a minor. If the Seller signs abroad, witnesses attest before the same Consul/Notary; separate counterparts with their own two witnesses are fine (clause 12.1). At the sale deed's registration, s.32 requires the parties or an authenticated attorney to appear, and both states' Sub-Registrars require two identifying witnesses with Aadhaar/photo ID (the attorney also gives photo/fingerprints under s.32A) — the same two can do both jobs.