Karnataka: Property deals to cost more, registration fee hiked to 2%

Bengaluru: Citizens will have to pay more during property transactions as the registration fee has been hiked from 1% to 2%, a move estimated to generate an additional Rs 2,500 crore for the cash-crunched government.

The hike will come into effect from August 31, the government announced on Saturday.

This hike joins a long list of levies and tariffs revised by the Siddaramaiah administration, which is facing financial constraints due to the implementation of the Congress’ flagship ‘guarantee’ schemes, on which nearly Rs 96,000 crore have been spent so far.

In a statement, Inspector General of Registration and Commissioner of Stamps Mullai Muhilan M P said the registration fee was hiked “to rationalise, strengthen administrative processes and ensure better service delivery”.

The government pointed out that it was necessary to “rationalise” as Karnataka had “one of the lowest” stamp duty and registration fee on immovable property transactions when compared with neighbouring states.

Last revised in 2003, registration fee is applicable on a dozen instruments such as sale agreement, lease agreement, conveyance deed, exchange deed, gift deed and trust deed.

At present, citizens pay the government 5% as stamp duty, 1% registration fee and 0.6% in other duties or cess, totalling to 6.6%. Now, with registration fee hiked, the total will be 7.6%.

For a property worth Rs 10 lakh, a citizen had to pay the government Rs 66,000. Now, it will go up by Rs 10,000. Similarly, a property worth Rs 1 crore will now fetch the government Rs 7.6 lakh.

Applicants who have already paid the registration fee will be required to pay the difference amount through the official portal, Muhilan said. Applicants will receive a message with necessary instructions, he added.

To those who have already submitted documents for verification, the registration fee will be recalculated at the revised rate of 2%.