Stamp Duty and Registration Charges: What You Really Pay

Duty is charged on the higher value

States levy stamp duty on the greater of your agreement value and the government's circle rate, ready-reckoner rate or guidance value. In falling markets buyers occasionally pay duty on a value above what they actually paid, so check the circle rate for the exact survey number before you negotiate.

How cities compare

Delhi charges 6% duty plus 1% registration; Uttar Pradesh and Haryana levy 7% plus 1%, though Haryana caps registration at ₹50,000. Maharashtra's headline 5% becomes 6% in Mumbai with metro cess and 7% in Pune and Thane once local body tax is added, with registration capped at ₹30,000.

Karnataka works out to about 5.6% all-in with cess and surcharge, and drops to 3% below ₹45 lakh. Telangana totals 6.5% including transfer duty. Tamil Nadu is the outlier: 7% duty plus 4% registration, so roughly 11% of value.

GST applies only to under-construction homes

Ready-to-move and resale properties attract no GST. Under-construction homes attract 5% without input credit, or 1% for affordable housing — defined as up to ₹45 lakh with a carpet area limit of 60 sq m in metros. A completion certificate flips a project from taxable to exempt, which is why possession-ready inventory often costs less in total than a cheaper-looking launch.

Deductions that offset part of the cost

Under the old tax regime, stamp duty and registration paid are deductible under Section 80C in the year of payment, within the overall ₹1.5 lakh limit. Home loan interest up to ₹2 lakh a year is deductible under Section 24(b) for a self-occupied property. The new regime removes most of these, so run both before choosing.