What Is Stamp Duty | Documents | Charge List | Settlement Deed | Stamp Duty Impact | Influencing Factors | Payment Methods | Updates | FAQ

If you are a resident of Tamil Nadu, you may need to know the details of stamp duty charges and even the registration cost. These details are crucial for the sake of understanding the charges that will be incurred and thereby gives you complete detail of the total expenses. It is a fact that the stamp duty charges in the Tamil Nādu state are quite high especially when you compare it with the rest of the Indian states.

So, if you choose to buy a property in this state, you will end up giving a significant amount of money as stamp duty charges to the government. However, there is no way you can escape it as it is a part of the mandatory payment to the government on the different property transactions.

What Is The Tamil Nadu Stamp Duty?

Stamp duty is a fee that has to be paid. Let us see more details associated with it so that you will have a thorough idea of what each of these is.

Whenever you register a property under your name, you will need to pay the registration fee and the stamp duty. These fees are paid to the authorities and it is mainly to authorize the transaction and seal it with approval from the government.

Stamp duty is the tax that is levied by the government whenever you have any transaction that revolves around the property. No matter whether you are selling the land or it is just a change of ownership and is usually expressed as a percentage of the net transaction value.

The stamp duty charges are going to vary from one state to another. The registration charge is also one such charge and they are usually 1% of the deal value. It can vary from one state to the other as some states also charge a flat rate. The value usually depends on the worth of the property.

The Documents Needed For Tamil Nadu Stamp Duty

When you want to have your property registered, here is the list of documents that you need to have.

  • PAN Card
  • Sale Deed
  • Power Of Attorney
  • ID proof for both the witnesses and the property owners
  • The receipt of stamp duty
  • Municipal tax bill
  • NOC
  • 2 Passport Sized Photographs

The Charges List For The Documents

Here is a list of the different documents and their charges for the registration paper and the stamp duty as well. Make sure to once check the details as sometimes these rates are subject to charges.

Type Of Document The Stamp Duty Charges (TN) The Registration Charges (TN)
  Conveyance deed  7% of the market value  4% of the property market value  
  Agreement to sale  Rs. 20 1% on the total consideration  
  Gift               7% of the market value             4% of the market value  
  Simple Mortgage               1% of the net loan amount. Upper Cap: Rs. 40,000               1% of the net loan amount. Upper Cap: Rs. 10,000  
  Mortgage with possession                          4% of the net loan amount  1% of the loan amount Upper cap: Rs. 2,00,000  
Exchange  7% of market value on the higher valued property  4% of the market value on the higher valued property  
Partition among family members  1% of the market value Upper Cap: Rs. 25,000 for each share  1% of the market value Upper Cap: Rs. 4000 for each share  
Partition among non-family members  4% of the market value of the property (Only separated shares)  1% of the market value (Only separated shares)  
General power of attorney to sell property                           Rs. 100               Rs. 10,000  
  General power of attorney where it is transferred it a family member               Rs. 100               Rs. 1000  
General power of attorney to sell the property for other purposes  Rs. 100               Rs. 50  
  General power of attorney given for consideration               4% of the consideration amount               1% of the amount of Rs. 10,000 (the higher value is chosen)  
  Cancellation of deal               Rs. 50               Rs. 50  
  Settlement in favour of family members                         1% of the market value Upper Cap: Rs. 25,000               1% of the market value Upper Cap: Rs. 4,000  
Settlement in other cases               7% of the market value               4% of the market value  
  Agreement about building construction               1% of the higher amount among the cost of proposed construction value or conduction value or the consideration as specified in the agreement               1% of the higher amount among the cost of proposed construction value or conduction value or the consideration as specified in the agreement  
Memorandum of deposit of title deeds               0.5% of the loan amount Upper Cap: Rs. 30,000               1% of the loan amount Upper Cap: Rs. 6,000  
  Released among the family members               1% of the market value Upper Cap: Rs. 25,000               1% of the market value Upper Cap: Rs. 4,000  
  Releases among non-family members               7% of the market value               1% of the market value  
  Partnership deed where capital does not exceed Rs. 500               Rs. 50               1% on capital invested  
  Partnership deed (all other cases)               Rs. 300               1% on the capital invested  
Declaration of trust               Rs. 180               1% of the amount                
  Lease for less than 30 years                 1% of the total amount of rent, fines               1% of the amount Upper cap: Rs. 20,000
  Lease for a period of a maximum of 99 years               4% of the total amount of rent, fine               1% of the amount Upper Cap: Rs. 20,000  
  Lease for above 99 years or perpetually             7% of the total amount of rent, fine, etc             1% of the amount Upper Cap: Rs. 20,000  

 It is important to note that the stamp duty is always expressed in percentages.

Let us clear the details with the help of an example.

Suppose you bought a property for say 70 lakhs and you have a stamp duty charge of 7%. Along with this, you will also need to pay an additional 4% as the land registration fee. So, in all, you will need to pay a total of 11% fee on the 70 lakhs as the state duty charges.

As per the different rules, the payment of stamp duty is mandatory and it is applicable for all the property transactions that happen in the state. It is also compulsory for some of the deeds. If you do not pay these charges, your property transfer process will not be completed and the process will not be legal.

What Is The Settlement Deed?

Have you heard of the settlement deed? If you have dealt in property transactions, it is one of the common deeds that you must have come across. Let us now see the details about it.

A settlement deed is a legal paper where the involved parties settle any property-related disputes that they may have. Mostly, these disputes are related to immovable properties like land.

For this paper to be valid, you will need to have it duly registered and there are several documents that you will need for the sake of registering it. Let us see what they are.

  • The original title document along with Patta 
  • The encumbrance certificate of property
  • Aadhar proof
  • ID proof

Here is the list of fees that one has to pay when executing the settlement deed.

  • Stamp duty charges are 1% of the actual market value of the property. There is an upper cap of Rs. 25,000.
  • The registration fee is 1% of the market value of the property and there is the highest cap of Rs. 4,000
  • In other cases, the fees applicable is 7% of the market value of the property, and the registration fee will be 4% of the market value of the property

The Charges for Women For Tamil Nadu Stamp Duty

In most states, men choose to register a property under the name of their spouse or mother. This is because women tend to have rebates as far as stamp duty and registration charges are concerned. However, Tamil Nadu likes to differ.

Both men and women need to pay the same fee in this state. If, however, you are looking to buy a property in the national capital Delhi, women have to pay stamp duty charges of 4% against the 6 % for men. So, the difference is present. Tamil Nādu however doesn’t make any difference between the two.

The Impact Of Tamil Nadu Stamp Duty On The Property Price

Whenever you are looking to buy a property, you have to be mindful of the total expenses that you will need to bear in its entirety. This is why you should be aware of the actual impact of the stamp duty charges on the net property price.

Tamil Nadu stamp duty
Source: Yuriy K / Shutterstock

Let us make things clear with an example.

If you decided to buy a property worth Rs. 50 lakhs in say Chennai city, here are the charges you need to pay.

  • The registration fee will be 4% of 50 lakhs which is Rs. 2,00,000
  • The stamp duty will be 7% of 50 lakhs which is Rs. 3,50,000
  • So, the net price of the property will end up becoming Rs. 55,50,000

Hence, you can see there is a major difference in the price of the property. This is the reason, that being aware of these fees is critical for the sake of ensuring seamless assessment.

The Tamil Nadu Stamp Duty Act

There are two rules in place for the sake of paying the stamp duty. It is the Indian Stamps Act, of 1899 and the Tamil Nadu Stamp Act, of 2019. All property transactions that are related to sales, partitions, leases, and even resale of the property will have to bear the stamp duty taxes. It is mandatory to pay these taxes or else the transaction will not be considered legit or valid.

How To Calculate The Tamil Nadu Stamp Duty?

Stamp duty is always governed by the state government. It is charged either on the ready reckoner rate or the circle rate which is also called the guideline value in Tamil Nadu or the consideration value of the property, whichever among the three is higher. The stamp duty will be calculated as a percentage of it.

The Governing Factors

If you want to know the different parameters that influence stamp duty, here they are.                                   

  • The location of the property
  • The age of the property
  • The market value of the property
  • The intended usage whether it is being made for residential use or commercial
  • The type of property
  • The number of floors in the property

How To Pay The Tamil Nadu Stamp Duty Online?

No matter whether you are looking to pay the stamp duty or the property registration fees or something else, all of it can be done online. You can avail the e-stamping facility.

The central government has appointed a central record-keeping agency which is the Stock Holding Corporation of India Limited. They generate e-stamp certificates all over the country.

  • All one needs to do is visit the SHCIL portal and they will be able to access the information on the transactions that need stamping.
  • You will then need to fill out the application form at any authorized collection centre.
  • The form needs to submit along with the money for the sake of obtaining the stamp certificate.
  • There are several different modes of payment as you can choose to pay via pay order, NEFT, RTGS, demand draft, cheque, account to account transfer and more.
  • You should make it a point to reach out to the nearest e-stamping centre before you use any of the online find transfer methods.

Offline Payment Of Tamil Nadu Stamp Duty

If you don’t warn to opt for an online payment method, you also have the option of doing it in an offline manner. Let us share the details with you.

All the property buyers can choose to pay the duty offline way by visiting the sub-registrar’s office. Make sure to look for the closest office in your area.

  • First of all, you will need to fill out an application form and submit all the required documents along with the payment charges for the land registration.
  • When the whole process is done, you will get the stamp duty certificate. You can make the payment via several methods like cash, demand draft, cheque, debit card, and more
  • You can also choose to obtain the stamp paper from the treasury. You can also choose a franking method and then you will need to pay the franking charges.
  • The moment the property papers are stamped, the property will become legit and valid.

The Latest News And Updates

Let us see some of the news and updates in the state of Tamil Nadu concerning property registration. All states have their own stamp duty and updates. for instance, Andhra Pradesh stamp duty updates will be entirely different from Tamil Nadu.

Government plans to revise the guideline value for real estate 

The Tamil Nadu government is all set to kickstart the whole process of revising the real estate guideline value.

There are reports that a steering committee and a high-level committee will be created for the sake of rationalizing the market value guideline. This will kickstart the process for the 18th time.

It was back on September 1st, 1981 that the guideline value was first revised. The Tamil Nadu stamp rules 2010 came into effect after that and then in April 2012, it was the 16th time when the guideline value was revised again.

Tamil Nadu government plans to boost revenue through property registration

As the Covid seemed to have hit the state collection badly, the state minister wanted to do something to revive the sector. As soon as the second wave of the pandemic passed by, the government was looking for means by which they could once again generate the right revenue. They want to improve the overall collection because they are looking to make the economy stronger.

Property Registrations Revenue Reaches Record High For Tamil Nadu In September 2021

Once the covid wave died down, there was a massive surge in the real estate sector in Tamil Nadu. A lot of people chose to buy properties after that and therefore the state found a massive increase in property registrations.

The land and property registrations clicked for as much as Rs. 1500 crore revenue in September month alone. This was the highest in any month recorded in a year.

Further, the income generated in September alone accounted for 25% of the total revenue generated during the period from April to September in the financial year 2021-22

The Chennai zone which includes Chennai city along with Chengalpattu, Kancheepuram, and Tiruvallur districts clocked almost 45% of the revenue for the state. This shows that there were massive property registrations in this part of the state.

The revenue from the Tamil Nadu stamp duty charges goes strong year by year

The registration department of the state reported that every successive year post covid seems to get doing well for the state as far as revenues from the stamp duty and registration are concerned. The collections from April to November in the year 2021 were Rs. 8448.42 crores.

The government generated an incredible 13,914 crore from property registration

Tamil Nadu government surpassed all records and collected their highest-ever revenue in the last ten years in FY 2022. They earned total money of Rs. 13,913.65 crores simply from the money received from property registration in the financial year 2022. This was a total increase of 31% over the previous year as the revenue in the previous year was around 10,643.08 crores.

Even when it comes to the number of properties that were registered, the numbers saw a sharp increase. The number of documents registered in 2020-21 was 26,95,650 and it increased to 29,98,048. So, the year seemed promising for the government and massive money was minted by the government in terms of revenue.

Tamil Nadu Government To Allow Property Registration On Auspicious Days

As the government was looking to generate more revenue, in the post-pandemic days, they decided to allow the registration of property on a few of the days that are considered auspicious.

Previously, the sub-registrar office used to be closed on Thai Possam and Aadi Perukku. But the office will now be open on these days. However, those who choose to register their property on these days will have to pay some extra charge.

Reduction Of Tamil Nadu Stamp Duty

After the 2015 floods that were very destructive and badly hit and affected the lives of too many people, there was a dip in the financial power of the people. Again, the pandemic took a heavy toll on the lives of too many people and the livelihood of several people was affected.

Both the state and the economy were badly hit and despite that, the government knew that they needed to do something to offer relief to home buyers.

It is then that the reduction in charges came into effect in 2021. The stamp duty and registration charges that were initially fixed at 11% came down to 5% for stamp duty and 1% for registration. This was a permanent change. To offer more help to the people at that time when they were still reeling from the after-effects of the pandemic and the economic dip, the stamp duty was cut to 4% for a short period.

This was the proposed plan at that time.

FAQ

Is it compulsory to register your property in Tamil Nadu?

Yes, it is mandatory to register your property in Tamil Nadu. This came into effect with the Registration Act, of 1908. If you do not register your property, it will not be considered valid.

Can you pay the stamp duty charges online?

Yes, you can pay the charges in both an online and offline manner. Several payment methods are acceptable and you can choose the one you deem fit.

Do you need supporting documents for the property registration?

Yes, several documents are needed when you are registering the property. We have offered the complete list.

Where can you pay the stamp duty charges in Chennai?

You can choose to pay the charges online or even offline at the registrar’s office

Can you use your credit card for paying the stamp duty charges?

Yes, you have several options for payment. You can choose a credit card, debit card, NEFT, IMPS, and more. Check out the different options while making a payment and then proceed with whatever you prefer.

Did the Tamil Nadu government make a record revenue last year?

Yes, the Tamil Nadu government recorded a ten-year high revenue from property and stamp duty charges as they managed to make a huge amount of money.