Þ      Repatriation is allowed up to US Dollars 1 Million per calendar year for any purpose from the balances in NRO accounts subject to payment of applicable taxes.

Þ      The limit of US Dollars 1 Million includes sale proceeds of immovable properties held by NRIs/PIOs for a period of 10 years.

Þ      In case a property is sold after being held for less than 10 years, remittance can be made if the sale proceeds have been held by the NRI/PIO for the balance period.

In case you are going in for a balance transfer by availing a loan from another housing finance company, then as per our arrangement with HDFC Standard Life, even if you were to transfer the existing loan-which has an insurance policy built around it-the policy will continue to be in force.

The policy will have to be reassigned in favour of the new lender so that in the event of death it ensures that your outstanding loan, up to the amount insured, is adjusted / repaid to the new lender.

On the other hand, if you prepay the loan through your own funds, then in this case the original policy continues and you will continue to be covered as per the policy schedule. Once the loan is prepaid the policy needs to be reassigned in your name so that in case of death the benefits as per the policy schedule are paid to your family.

In other words, when you prepay the loan, the benefit that accrues to you and your family from the policy will still continue in the same proportion as the loan amortisation schedule.

However, this is subject to a maximum amount of 85% of the total cost of the house, which includes the value of the property, stamp duty and registration expenses.

There is no difficulty in remitting the proceeds to the UK in respect of the sale proceeds of the inherited property. You can sell the house and repatriate the money abroad after payment of due tax. Presently, there is no lock-in period for such repatriation.

Valuation or assessment of the property is important especially in case of resale as the market value of one flat (property) could differ by 10-15% with the market value of another flat even in the same building.  

The price would depend on present condition of the flat, the view, the negotiating skills of the buyer, etc.  

Additionally, general factors that influence the price are the locality, facilities available both within the premises and in the vicinity, the existing infrastructure, future development prospects of the area, and so on.  

Property valuation is a comprehensive assessment that will give a fair indication of the real worth of the property based on which the loan amount will be worked out.  

There are several ways of having a valuation done. However, the best thing would be to speak with your loan provider if they could assist, as they would be comfortable giving the loan as well.

You may take advantage of technology and apply for a loan through the Internet.  

There are lenders that provide online application forms on their website, where you may fill your details/requirements for them to call you.  

Alternatively, you may also explore the SMS service that some loan providers offer.  

This is an instant service, where a customer service executive calls you to get the loan details in return to your SMS sent to them in their unique ‘short messaging code'.  

Once the customer executive has discussed the basic details, the customer executive arranges to send someone at your place of convenience, home or office, to take forward the loan process.  

Though these services add to customer convenience and help save time, it is always advisable to directly meet the loan provider before finalizing the loan.  

Buying a home is for most of us the single largest investment and involves a long-term financial commitment. Thus, it is important that you meet and discuss the details of the loan, understand the repayment options available and choose the one most suitable for you.  

Also, when you meet the lender, you generally get a feel of the lender's background-whether they seem to have adequate systems in place in terms of maintaining your documents safely and capabilities of providing you the desired service levels throughout the term of the loan as housing loans are of long duration.

He can surely take out a home loan for the property that he is buying for you and your wife. It is usually advisable that the main borrower should also be a co owner of the property because it makes the loan process simpler, although it's not a mandatory requirement.  

You may check with the lender about this before registering the property because the internal policies of different organizations vary.  

However, as property owners, you and your wife would need to be co-applicants for the loan.  

To answer your second question, the loan will be treated as an NRI loan because your son is an NRI and it's his income that is under consideration.

Therefore, if you are already servicing a home loan and availing of the tax benefit for the interest paid on the loan, then the combined overall limit for the tax deduction for interest paid on both the home loan and home improvement loan is Rs1,50,000.

In case the interest paid on the home loan is Rs1,20,000 or below, then you will be able to get the maximum benefit of Rs30,000 on the home improvement loan provided you have paid so much interest during the year.

However, unlike a home loan, there are no tax benefits available for the principal amount repaid on the home improvement loan under Section 80C

There is no limit on the tax benefit for the interest paid on housing loan for a rented property, unlike the tax benefits available for a self-occupied property, which is Rs. 1,50,000.

To elaborate, you can set off the entire interest payment in excess of net rental income (rent received less standard deduction for repairs) paid on the rented house against this income.

In your case, Rs. 2,66,000 can be set off against your rental income. This is determined through the following calculations: Net rental income = Rs. 1,20,000 (rental income) less Rs. 36,000 (standard deduction for repairs, which is 30% of rental income). This works out to Rs. 84,000. Therefore, since your interest outgo is Rs. 3,50,000, if you deduct Rs. 84,000 net rental income, the excess interest outgo works out to Rs. 2,66,000.

In addition, you can also claim tax benefit under Section 80C on repayment of principal amount. However, it will be part of the overall 80C benefits.

(b) Section 89 of the Income-tax Act refers to the grant of relief in respect of income-tax on account of assessment of total income at a higher rate due to receipt of salary in arrears or in advance, family pension in arrears etc. The relief in respect of such income-tax will be allowed on furnishing of an application to the assessing officer in Form No 10E.

(c) Section 90 refers to the double taxation relief. The Central Government enters into a double taxation avoidance agreement with the government of a foreign country with the main purpose of avoidance of double taxation of income in India and in the foreign country

(d) Section 91 refers to the grant of deduction (credit) on account of income-tax paid in another country with which no double taxation avoidance agreement exits.

(a) Since your total income from all sources does not exceed the maximum amount which is not chargeable to income-tax (in respect of senior citizen, the total income up to Rs. 1,85,000 is exempt from income-tax), you need not have to file your return of income.

(b) If the shares sold by your son (NRI) were held for more than 12 months and on which securities transaction tax (STT) is paid, the entire capital gain will be exempt from income tax. If the shares were held for less than 12 months and on which STT is paid, the capital gain will be taxed @ 10 per cent without any basic exemption limit.