LRS Thailand Property Process 2026 — A Real ₹2 Cr Walkthrough

Day-by-day, document-by-document. A live transfer for an Indian resident buying a roughly USD 238,000 Phuket condo (about ₹2.0 Cr at USD/INR 84). Two weeks from SPA signature to FET certificate in hand. Bank selection, Form A2 filing, Form 15CA / 15CB, FEMA declaration, the 20% TCS, and how to claim the refund in your ITR.

• 14 days

  SPA signed → FET certificate in hand

• USD 240K

  Worked example — single LRS, single FY

• 9 docs

  Total bank file — pre-formatted by India Desk

Step 1 — Pick the right AD-1 bank

You can use any AD Category-1 bank in India for LRS. In practice, we see four banks dominate Phuket purchases: HDFC, ICICI, Axis and SBI. Kotak is fine but slightly slower. Your existing primary banking relationship usually wins because the relationship manager already knows your salary inflows and ITR pattern. A few practical differences:

Indicative ranges based on observed 2025–26 client transfers. Your exact fee depends on your relationship tier and the prevailing TT card rate at wire time.

Step 2 — Build the 9-document bank file

1. Form A2 — purpose code S0023 (Investment in overseas immovable property). Bank's standard form, signed by you.
2. Form 15CA — self-declaration filed online on the Income Tax Department portal. Acknowledgement number printed and attached.
3. Form 15CB — CA-certified declaration that no Indian tax is due on the remittance. Mandatory above ₹5 lakh.
4. SPA copy — signed Sale-Purchase Agreement with the Thai developer. Should clearly identify the unit, the THB price, the receiving Thai bank account and the payment schedule.
5. PAN + Aadhaar + address proof — KYC at AD bank. Already on file for existing customers but updated copies usually requested.
6. Last 6 months salary slips OR last 3 ITR copies — source-of-funds verification.
7. Last 6 months bank statement — confirms funds in the resident account.
8. Sale deed / mutual fund redemption / fixed-deposit closure advice — if funds came from asset liquidation rather than savings.
9. FEMA declaration — bank's standard self-declaration that the buyer understands LRS limits and does not breach them with this wire.

Our India Desk pre-formats this entire pack for your chosen bank. We have versions ready for HDFC, ICICI, SBI, Axis and Kotak — including the bank-specific Form A2 layout and the Form 15CB template the CA fills in.

Step 3 — The 14-day timeline, day-by-day

1. Day 1 — SPA signature. Counter-signed SPA in hand. Receiving Thai bank account confirmed. Reservation deposit (THB 100K–500K) already paid in earlier weeks; this is the milestone day for the main wire.
2. Day 2 — CA briefed. Send PAN, ITRs, source-of-funds, SPA, bank statement to your CA. Brief them on the USD amount, target wire date, and your AD bank. Form 15CB turnaround is 2–4 working days.
3. Day 3 — AD bank pre-warned. Email your relationship manager: "I have an overseas immovable property remittance of approximately USD 238K coming this week — please flag the documentation room." Ask for the bank's exact Form A2 template.
4. Days 4–5 — Form 15CA filed online. File on the Income Tax e-filing portal. Acknowledgement number generated immediately. Print and add to the file.
5. Days 6–7 — Branch visit. Walk in with the 9-document pack. Bank locks the TT card rate, computes 20% TCS on the over-₹7-lakh portion (about ₹40 lakh on a ₹2 Cr wire), and books the wire instruction.
6. Days 8–10 — Wire executes. SWIFT MT103 instruction sent. Funds debited from your account. Debit advice and TCS challan emailed. The TCS amount appears in your Form 26AS / AIS within 7–10 days.
7. Days 11–14 — FET certificate. Bangkok Bank or SCB credits the developer escrow / receiving account. Within 7–14 working days the Thai bank issues the FET (Foreign Exchange Transaction) certificate confirming the inward remittance, the THB conversion rate and the property purpose. Original collected by the developer or our India Desk on your behalf, and stored for the eventual Land Office handover.

Step 4 — Reclaim the 20% TCS in your ITR

The TCS at 20% (under Section 206C(1G)) is collected at source by the AD bank on every LRS remittance above ₹7 lakh in a financial year. On a USD 238K wire (~₹2.00 Cr at USD/INR 84), the TCS is roughly ₹39.98 lakh, sitting with the Income Tax Department until ITR refund.

Reclaim mechanics:

• The TCS deduction appears in your Form 26AS and AIS within 7–10 days of the wire.
• File ITR-2 (most salaried buyers) or ITR-3 (business owners) for the assessment year covering your LRS wire.
• The TCS is auto-populated from Form 26AS and netted against any tax liability — refund of the balance is processed alongside any other refund, typically within 4–8 months of e-verification.
• Keep the bank's TCS challan and the LRS wire confirmation as supporting documents in case of a notice — overseas property remittances are a common assessment trigger for HNI buyers.

Practical implication: budget the TCS as working-capital float, not as a sunk cost. For a ₹2 Cr ticket, that is ~₹40 lakh sitting outside your liquid pool for roughly 12 months between wire and refund. Many of our buyers fund it from FD liquidations or short-term overdraft facility lined up specifically for this purpose.

When you need the long version

This page is the operational walkthrough for one common ticket size (₹2 Cr, single LRS, single FY). For multi-year staging on ₹4–10 Cr purchases, joint LRS structuring with your spouse, NRI funding routes that bypass LRS entirely, or the bank-by-bank fee tables across all 12 AD-1 banks, see our long-form LRS Scheme Thailand Property 2026 — full Indian buyer guide. For the FEMA framework that sits behind LRS, see FEMA & RBI rules.

Three Indian buyer scenarios — bank choice and timeline

Three real Phuket closings 2024–25 across different ticket sizes and bank choices. Use as a sanity check against your own profile before you walk into the branch.

Decision framework — pick your bank in 6 questions

Run before you contact your relationship manager. Banks behave very differently on LRS for property; the wrong choice costs 5–10 days and ₹50K–₹2 lakh in unnecessary spread.

1. 1. Do you have a private-tier relationship (HDFC Imperia / ICICI Wealth / Axis Burgundy / Kotak Privy League)? Yes → use that bank, your wire is fast-tracked through a dedicated LRS desk. No → consider switching primary banking 2–3 months before the SPA.
2. 2. Is timing critical (developer reservation expires in 30 days)? Yes → HDFC Imperia or ICICI iLRS, 11–13 day cycle. No → SBI works fine and saves 0.15–0.25% on FX spread.
3. 3. Is the wire size above USD 200K? Yes → FX spread starts to dominate; SBI's tighter spread saves real money. No → process speed matters more than spread; HDFC / ICICI win.
4. 4. Do you have NRI family with NRE / NRO accounts at SBI? Yes → SBI's NRI desk integrates the source-of-funds workflow naturally. No → not relevant.
5. 5. Are you splitting across two FYs (late March + early April)? Yes → use one bank for both tranches to reuse the same Form 15CB and source-of-funds package. Don't split across banks.
6. 6. Do you need a CA referral? Yes → request via India Desk; we route to a Mumbai BCAS member, Delhi or Bangalore equivalent who has filed Form 15CB for Phuket purchases before. No → use your existing CA but confirm they have done overseas property 15CB previously.

Risks & pre-wire checklist — what slows the LRS down

Six things that have pushed real Indian buyers from a 12-day cycle to a 25-day cycle. Each is fully avoidable with one extra hour of preparation.

• SPA arriving late or unsigned by developer. The signed SPA is the trigger document. Push the developer for SPA signature at least 7 days before your target wire date — gentle but persistent.
• CA who has never filed property 15CB before. Generic 15CB takes 1 day; property 15CB from a generalist CA can take 7–10 days because they research the position. Use a CA who has done it before.
• Wrong purpose code on Form A2 (S0001 / S0007 instead of S0023). Bank documentation officer flags it, refile happens, 3–5 days lost. Always S0023 for overseas immovable property.
• Source-of-funds gap. If funds came from sale of unlisted shares or business profits, audit-supported source proof is required. Without it, Form 15CB cannot be issued and the AD bank refuses the wire.
• Missing FET certificate at the Land Office. Bangkok Bank issues automatically within 7–14 days for any inward wire above USD 50K, but the developer needs to physically collect the original. Confirm in writing who is collecting.
• TCS funding shortfall. If you instruct USD 240K wire but only have USD 240K + ₹20K available, the bank cannot debit both wire and TCS together — wire fails. Always confirm TCS amount with bank 24 hours before the wire and pre-fund.

Related — for Indian buyers

• India Desk hub
• FEMA & RBI rules — full compliance pack
• Buy Property in Phuket from India
• NRI Phuket Investment Guide
• Indian community in Phuket
• LRS Scheme Thailand Property 2026 — full master guide
• FET certificate Thailand: complete guide
• Phuket Property for Indians 2026 — master guide