Tamil Nadu charges 7% stamp duty, Telangana 5.5% plus 1.5% transfer duty, and Karnataka a slab of 2% to 5% by value plus cess. Duty is charged on the higher of your sale price or the government guideline value, never the lower.
Key facts
- Tamil Nadu: 7% stamp duty. Registration fee is disputed between sources at 2% and about 4% — confirm before budgeting.
- Telangana: 5.5% stamp duty plus 1.5% transfer duty plus 0.5% registration, commonly described as about 7.5% in total.
- Karnataka: slab-based stamp duty — 2% up to ₹20 lakh, 3% from ₹21–45 lakh, 5% above ₹45 lakh — plus cess and surcharge.
- Karnataka doubled its registration fee from 1% to 2% on 31 August 2025.
- Telangana revised market values upward from 5 June 2026 without changing the percentage rates, which raises the amount payable.
- Duty is charged on the higher of sale price or guideline value. Buying below guideline value does not reduce it.
- These figures come from secondary sources that disagree. Verify with the state registration department before you pay.
What are the stamp duty and registration rates in each state?
Set out below as published, including where sources conflict. We have not resolved the conflicts by choosing a favourite, because that would present a guess as a fact.
| State | Stamp duty | Registration fee | Concessions | What to note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tamil Nadu | 7% of the higher of sale price or guideline value | Sources disagree: 2% in one, about 4% in two others | Registration fee reduced for women where guideline value is up to ₹10 lakh, per one source | Ask the sub-registrar for the current registration percentage before you budget. The spread between 2% and 4% is large on any ticket. |
| Telangana | 5.5% stamp duty plus 1.5% transfer duty | 0.5% | No gender concession reported | Total commonly described as about 7.5% of market value. Market values were revised upward from 5 June 2026; the percentages did not change. |
| Karnataka | Slab-based: 2% up to ₹20 lakh · 3% from ₹21–45 lakh · 5% above ₹45 lakh, plus cess and surcharge on the duty | 2%, doubled from 1% on 31 August 2025 | No gender concession reported | In Bengaluru a BBMP cess applies. One source puts a home above ₹45 lakh at roughly 7.6% all-in. |
Compiled from published rate guides read 3 November 2026, which state their own figures as approximate and compiled from secondary sources. Rates and charges change, and published secondary sources disagree with each other. Confirm the current figure with the state registration department or your sub-registrar before you pay. Nothing on this page is legal or tax advice.
What is stamp duty actually calculated on?
Not simply what you paid. This is where most buyers' arithmetic goes wrong.
| Component | What it is | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Guideline / circle / guidance value | The government's minimum valuation for that location | Duty is charged on the HIGHER of this and your actual sale price. A bargain below guideline value does not reduce your duty. |
| Agreement value | What you and the seller agreed | If it is above guideline value, this is the base. |
| What is usually excluded | Parking, clubhouse and amenity charges, in some structures | Ask explicitly what is inside the registered value and what sits outside it. The answer changes your duty. |
| Undivided share versus construction | In many apartment sales these are two agreements | Stamp duty treatment differs between the land share and the construction agreement. Ask your lawyer how your transaction is structured. |
The rule that catches people out is the first one. If the government guideline value for your property is ₹90 lakh and you negotiate the price to ₹80 lakh, duty is charged on ₹90 lakh. Your negotiation saved you ₹10 lakh on the price and nothing at all on the duty.
The reverse is also true and more commonly misunderstood: if you pay ₹1.2 crore for a property whose guideline value is ₹90 lakh, duty is charged on ₹1.2 crore. There is no option to register at the lower figure, and attempting it is a serious matter rather than a tax-planning technique.
What has changed recently in each state?
Three changes matter if you are budgeting from older information.
Karnataka doubled the registration fee from 1% to 2%, effective 31 August 2025. Any guide written before that date understates your cost by 1% of the property value — on a ₹1 crore property, ₹1 lakh.
Telangana revised market values upward from 5 June 2026, reportedly by between 25% and 100% depending on location, without changing the percentage rates. This is the quieter kind of increase: the rate looks unchanged while the amount payable rises, because the base it applies to went up.
Karnataka guidance values were reported as proposed for a 10–15% increase in April 2026, not notified as of the sources we read. If you are buying in Karnataka, check whether that has since been notified — it would raise your duty without any rate change.
How should I budget for duty and registration?
Four steps that will get you a number you can rely on.
- Find the guideline value for the specific property, not the locality average. Tamil Nadu publishes it through tnreginet.gov.in; Telangana and Karnataka through their own registration portals.
- Take the higher of that and your agreed price. That is your base.
- Ask the sub-registrar's office for the current stamp duty and registration percentages that apply to your transaction type. Not a website, not a calculator, not this page — the office that will register it.
- Ask how your transaction is structured. Many apartment purchases are split into an undivided share of land and a construction agreement, which are treated differently. Your lawyer should confirm what duty applies to each part.
Then add the result to your all-in cost alongside PLC, floor rise, parking, clubhouse, corpus, maintenance advance and GST. Duty and registration are among the largest of those lines and among the least negotiable.
Why does this page not just give one number?
Because giving one would be less accurate than showing you the disagreement.
The published sources we read differ on Tamil Nadu's registration fee by a factor of two, describe Telangana's structure in two different ways, and present Karnataka's slabs inconsistently between table and body text. Every one of them carries its own advice to verify with the state department. Picking the most common figure and presenting it confidently would look more useful and be less true.
What we can state with confidence: the stamp duty headline rates, the slab structure in Karnataka, the registration fee change of 31 August 2025, the Telangana market value revision of 5 June 2026, and the principle that duty applies to the higher of price or guideline value. Those are consistent across sources.
The risk of getting this wrong is concentrated at the worst moment. Duty and registration are payable at registration, in full, and they are not financeable in the way the purchase price is. A buyer who budgeted 2% registration in Tamil Nadu and faces 4%, or who used a pre-September 2025 Karnataka figure, discovers a six-figure shortfall on the day the transaction is meant to complete. That is the drawback of treating any published table as settled — this one included.
Rates and charges change, and published secondary sources disagree with each other. Confirm the current figure with the state registration department or your sub-registrar before you pay. Nothing on this page is legal or tax advice.
Questions buyers ask
Answered from this page's own research. Last reviewed 3 November 2026 by the PropIQ World research desk.
What is the stamp duty in Tamil Nadu?
Published sources consistently give 7% of the higher of sale price or guideline value. The registration fee is where they disagree — one source gives 2% and two give about 4%. On an ₹80 lakh registration that difference is roughly ₹1.6 lakh, so confirm the current figure with the sub-registrar's office rather than any guide.
What is the stamp duty in Telangana?
5.5% stamp duty plus 1.5% transfer duty, with a 0.5% registration fee — commonly described as about 7.5% of market value in total. No gender concession is reported. Telangana revised market values upward from 5 June 2026 without changing the percentages, which raises the amount payable.
What is the stamp duty in Karnataka?
Slab-based on property value: 2% up to ₹20 lakh, 3% from ₹21 to ₹45 lakh, and 5% above ₹45 lakh, plus cess and surcharge calculated on the duty amount. In Bengaluru a BBMP cess applies. The registration fee is 2%, doubled from 1% on 31 August 2025.
Is stamp duty calculated on the price I paid?
On the higher of your agreed price and the government guideline value. If guideline value is ₹90 lakh and you negotiate to ₹80 lakh, duty is charged on ₹90 lakh — your negotiation saved price but not duty. If you pay ₹1.2 crore where guideline value is ₹90 lakh, duty is charged on ₹1.2 crore.
Do women pay less stamp duty in these states?
Not on the headline stamp duty rate in any of the three. One source reports a reduced registration fee for women in Tamil Nadu where guideline value is up to ₹10 lakh. Telangana and Karnataka are reported as having no gender concession. Confirm with the state department, as concessions change.
Did Karnataka raise its registration fee?
Yes. Karnataka doubled the registration fee from 1% to 2% with effect from 31 August 2025. Any guide written before that date understates the cost by 1% of property value — on a ₹1 crore property, ₹1 lakh. Check the date on any source you are budgeting from.
What is guideline value and where do I find it?
It is the government's minimum valuation for a location, and duty is charged on the higher of it and your sale price. Tamil Nadu publishes it through tnreginet.gov.in; Telangana and Karnataka publish theirs through their own registration portals. Look up the specific property rather than a locality average.
Why do published stamp duty figures disagree with each other?
Because most are compiled from secondary sources, states change rates and valuation bases at different times, and some guides conflate stamp duty, transfer duty and registration fees. Several of the sources we read carry their own advice to verify with the state department. Treat every published figure, including these, as indicative.
Is stamp duty charged separately on land and construction?
It can be. Many apartment purchases are structured as an undivided share of land plus a separate construction agreement, and the two are treated differently. Ask your lawyer how your specific transaction is structured and what duty applies to each part, before you budget.
How should I get an accurate figure for my purchase?
Find the guideline value for the specific property, take the higher of that and your agreed price, then ask the sub-registrar's office that will register the transaction for the current percentages. Not a website, not a calculator, not this page. Then add the result into your all-in cost alongside the developer's charges and GST.