Amendments to Table of Fees and Revision of Maximum Ceiling Limit of Stamp Duty and Registration Fee under the Indian Stamp Act, 1899 and the Registration Act, 1908 (2023)

What the notification changes

G.O. Ms. 69, Commercial Taxes and Registration (J2) Department, dated 7 July 2023, contains five notifications issued by the Commercial Taxes and Registration Department of the Government of Tamil Nadu. They amend the Table of Fees and earlier notifications under the Registration Act, 1908 and the Indian Stamp Act, 1899. All the amendments come into force on 10 July 2023.

The changes matter to property buyers, owners, borrowers, developers and professionals who register documents or use services at registration offices.

Registration fees for important documents

The amended Table of Fees includes these provisions:

• A construction agreement is charged a registration fee of Rs. 3 for every Rs. 100 or part of Rs. 100 of the value or amount on which stamp duty is payable.
• A sale certificate issued by a Civil Court or Revenue Authority is charged Rs. 2 for every Rs. 100 or part of Rs. 100 of the amount on which stamp duty is payable.
• A sale certificate issued by another authority, including an authorised bank officer or a court appointed official liquidator, is charged Rs. 4 for every Rs. 100 or part of Rs. 100, based on the amount to which conveyance deed stamp duty applies.
• A duplicate or counterpart attracts a fixed fee of Rs. 5,000 when the claimant or beneficiary is one person. Duplicates or counterparts of leases and agreements are excluded from this provision.

Mortgage and title document ceilings

G.O. Ms. 69 revises several maximum limits:

• The registration fee ceiling for an agreement relating to deposit of title deeds rises from Rs. 6,000 to Rs. 8,000.
• The registration fee ceiling for a mortgage without possession rises from Rs. 10,000 to Rs. 15,000.
• The ceiling for an instrument imposing a further charge on mortgaged property without possession rises from Rs. 10,000 to Rs. 15,000.
• The ceiling for a security bond or mortgage deed rises from Rs. 10,000 to Rs. 15,000.
• The stamp duty ceiling for an agreement relating to deposit of title deeds rises from Rs. 30,000 to Rs. 40,000.
• The stamp duty ceiling for a mortgage without possession rises from Rs. 40,000 to Rs. 50,000.
• The stamp duty ceiling for an instrument of partition rises from Rs. 25,000 to Rs. 40,000.

Other registration office charges

The amended Table of Fees also increases multiple fixed charges. Scanning charges become Rs. 200 for the first ten pages and Rs. 100 for each additional page. Endorsement pages are excluded when counting pages for originals and office generated duplicates.