Your home in India, rented short-term while you live abroad

You bought or inherited a flat in Bengaluru, a villa in Goa or the family house, and you now live in Dubai, London or Toronto. These guides set out what has to be in place before strangers sleep there, and who does what when you are thousands of kilometres away.

Most NRI owners we speak to are not short of ideas. They are short of certainty. Can I rent to tourists without being there? Who signs at the tourism office? Will my tenant or the platform deduct tax? Can the money leave India? Each question has an answer, but the answers sit in different laws, different offices and, often, different states. This site brings them together in the order you will actually meet them.

Four decisions to make before anything else

• Is short-term letting even allowed for your property? Rules are set state by state. Goa asks for registration with its Department of Tourism before operations start; Delhi repealed its Bed and Breakfast Act in August 2026 and is preparing a new homestay policy. Apartment societies can add their own restrictions.
• Who represents you on the ground? Some formalities need a signature in India. A carefully limited power of attorney, or a family member, can cover what you cannot do from abroad.
• How will the income be taxed? Rent paid to a non-resident is subject to deduction of tax at source under the Income-tax Act, 2025, which applies from 1 April 2026. A chartered accountant should look at your specific situation.
• How will you get the money out? Rent is treated by the Reserve Bank of India as current income, and the route runs through your NRO account and your bank's paperwork.

A suggested reading order

Start with short-term versus long-term letting: it tells you whether the extra effort of guest stays suits your property and your temperament. Then read managing from abroad for the operational picture, followed by power of attorney if nobody in India can sign for you. The tax and sending income abroad guides belong together, because the second depends on the first being done properly. Finish with foreign guests and Form C, the 24-hour reporting duty that catches many first-time hosts, and choosing a local manager, which is a checklist you can use with anyone, including us.

Where Hexuvium fits

We have run short-stay rentals for owners since 2015, starting in Brussels. In India we work under a management mandate: we prepare and publish the listing, set and adjust nightly prices, answer guests, organise check-ins, coordinate cleaning and maintenance, handle the reporting required for foreign guests, and send you a clear statement of what was earned and spent. The property stays in your name. Tourism registration stays in your name. You keep the final word on house rules, blocked dates and major repairs.

What we do not do is promise a figure. Earnings depend on location, season, the quality of the home, local rules and how much of the year you want it available. Anyone who quotes you a guaranteed annual return before seeing the property is guessing, or selling something else.

What these guides are, and are not

Each page is written from the owner's side of the table and cites the official texts it relies on, listed at the bottom. They explain how the system works; they are not tax or legal advice for your case. Residence status, treaty benefits and the way your income is classified can change the outcome significantly, so we always recommend confirming the numbers with a chartered accountant and, for documents, with a lawyer in the state where the property sits.

If you already know your state and city, the regional pages go further into local registration and market data. If not, begin with the comparison of short and long lets and come back here when you have made up your mind.