Stamp Duty and Registration in Telangana: What You Pay at Closing

If you are buying a villa, plot or farmland outside Hyderabad, the price on the agreement is only part of the money you need on registration day. Telangana charges stamp duty, transfer duty and a registration fee on the sale deed, and it charges them on whichever is higher: the price you agreed or the government's market value for that land. Since market values across the state were revised from 5 June 2026, that second number matters more than it did. This guide sets out the official rates, what changes inside a gram panchayat (GP), how the market value is checked, and what happens if a sub-registrar thinks a deed is undervalued. It is written for a non-resident Indian (NRI) buyer, and it is not legal or tax advice.

The Ready Reckoner published by the Registration and Stamps Department of the Government of Telangana lists the charges on a sale deed outside gram panchayats as 5.5% stamp duty, 1.5% transfer duty and a 0.5% registration fee (Registration and Stamps Department, read 4 Nov 2026). Adding them up, 5.5 plus 1.5 plus 0.5 comes to 7.5% in all.

The same department says the chargeable value for a sale deed is the market value or the consideration, whichever is higher. So the 7.5% is applied to the larger of two numbers: the price in your deed, or the market value the department has set for that village, survey number or apartment. Before you work out your bill, you need both numbers.

The department's home page says its stamp duty details follow Government Order (G.O.) Ms. No. 59 and its market values follow G.O. Ms. No. 58, both dated 20 July 2021 (Registration and Stamps Department, read 4 Nov 2026). The texts of those government orders we could not confirm on an official government site as of 4 Nov 2026. Our state-by-state guide to stamp duty and registration covers other states, and our Telangana guide and Hyderabad guide describe the market around the city.

The Ready Reckoner gives two lines for a sale deed (Registration and Stamps Department, read 4 Nov 2026):

• In other areas: stamp duty 5.5%, transfer duty 1.5%, registration fee 0.5%.
• In gram panchayats: stamp duty 5.5%, transfer duty nil, registration fee 2%.

On those lines the total is 7.5% in both cases; only the split differs. But the department's own Registration Fees page lists the registration fee for a sale as 0.5%, without a separate gram panchayat line (Registration and Stamps Department, read 4 Nov 2026). The two official pages do not agree on the gram panchayat registration fee. Do not rely on either figure alone: ask the sub-registrar office (SRO) that will register your deed what it will collect, and check the challan amounts it generates before you pay.

Several documents can come before the sale deed, and the Ready Reckoner rates them too (read 4 Nov 2026):

• Sale agreement with possession: stamp duty 5.5%, adjustable against the sale deed later; registration fee 0.5%, with a minimum of Rs (Indian rupees) 1,000 and a maximum of Rs 20,000.
• Sale agreement without possession: stamp duty 0.5%; registration fee 0.5%, with the same minimum and maximum.
• Agreement of sale cum general power of attorney (GPA): stamp duty 6.5%, of which 5.5% is adjustable and 1% is not; registration fee a fixed Rs 2,000.
• Conveyance: stamp duty 5%; registration fee 0.5%.

The word adjustable matters. Duty paid on an agreement with possession is set off against the sale deed later, so it is paid earlier, not twice. The 1% that is not adjustable on an agreement cum GPA is an extra cost. Ask your lawyer which document your developer plans to register, and when. For an under-construction villa, that is usually a question to settle before you pay a booking amount; our guide to area measurement across markets helps you read the area figures those documents rely on.

The Ready Reckoner lists no rebate for women or joint buyers, and any such rebate we could not confirm on an official government site as of 4 Nov 2026.

The department's home page carries this notice: market values are revised from 5 June 2026, and anyone who had already booked a registration slot is asked to pay a deficit challan, the additional amount, at the SRO at the time of registration (Registration and Stamps Department, read 4 Nov 2026). The government order behind that revision, and its number, we could not confirm on an official government site as of 4 Nov 2026. Newspapers reported large rises when the revision was announced; we do not repeat those figures here, because they did not come from the department.

What you can do is check the value yourself. The department's Market Value Search lets you choose a district, mandal and village and see the land or apartment value it uses (Registration and Stamps Department, read 4 Nov 2026). Do this for the exact survey number or project before you agree a price, and keep a printout or screenshot dated the day you checked. If the market value is higher than your price, the duty is worked out on the market value, not on what you paid.

The Indian Stamp Act 1899, in the copy hosted on the Telangana department's site, contains section 47-A on undervalued instruments (Registration and Stamps Department, read 4 Nov 2026). In that copy, if the registering officer has reason to believe that the market value has not been truly set out in a conveyance, or that the government guideline value has not been adopted, the officer may keep the deed pending and refer it to the Collector to decide the market value and the proper duty. No reference is made unless the party deposits 50% of the deficit duty the officer has worked out. The Collector then hears the parties before deciding.

Whether that hosted text is the version currently in force we could not confirm on an official government site as of 4 Nov 2026. The current section 47-A text may differ. In practice, assume a deed priced below the market value may be held and referred for valuation, and that you may need to deposit money before that happens. The simplest way to avoid it is to know the market value before you sign.

These are examples only, with our arithmetic, and they assume the listed price is at or above the market value. Check the real market value on the department's search before relying on any of it.

Example one: a villa listed at Rs 34,50,000 in Mahabubnagar district, as listed on avacasa.life on 4 Nov 2026. In other areas, stamp duty at 5.5% of 34,50,000 is Rs 1,89,750; transfer duty at 1.5% is Rs 51,750; and the registration fee at 0.5% is Rs 17,250. Added together, 1,89,750 plus 51,750 plus 17,250 is Rs 2,58,750, which is 7.5% of the price. On the Ready Reckoner's gram panchayat line, stamp duty is the same Rs 1,89,750 and the registration fee at 2% is Rs 69,000, so 1,89,750 plus 69,000 is again Rs 2,58,750. At the 0.5% fee on the Registration Fees page, the registration fee would be Rs 17,250 instead, so 1,89,750 plus 17,250 is Rs 2,07,000. Because the two official pages conflict, confirm which gram panchayat figure applies at the SRO before you pay.

Example two: a villa listed at Rs 1,05,00,000 in Kandukur, as listed on avacasa.life on 4 Nov 2026. In other areas, stamp duty at 5.5% is Rs 5,77,500; transfer duty at 1.5% is Rs 1,57,500; and the registration fee at 0.5% is Rs 52,500. So 5,77,500 plus 1,57,500 plus 52,500 comes to Rs 7,87,500. If the market value for that property were higher than the price, all three charges would be worked out on the market value instead, and the bill would rise in step.

Agricultural land in Telangana now sits under the Telangana Bhu Bharati (Record of Rights in Land) Act 2025, Act No. 1 of 2025, which repealed the 2020 Act behind the Dharani portal and replaced references to the Dharani portal with the Record of Rights portal (Government of Telangana gazette, read 4 Nov 2026). The Bhu Bharati portal was launched on 14 April 2025 (National Informatics Centre, Telangana, read 4 Nov 2026). How agricultural land is registered through Bhu Bharati, and what that route costs, we could not confirm on an official government site as of 4 Nov 2026. Our guide to checks on a villa near Hyderabad covers approvals and land records.

Tax deducted at source (TDS) is separate from the closing bill. It is money you hold back from the price and pay to the tax department for the seller, not an extra cost to you. Reports of the Income-tax Act 2025 describe 1% TDS on a transfer of immovable property other than agricultural land, worked out on the consideration or the stamp duty value, whichever is higher, where the amount is Rs 50 lakh or more, with payments from 1 April 2026 quoted under section 393 and reported on Form 141. We could not confirm this on an official government site as of 4 Nov 2026, so check the current rule with a tax adviser. If 1% applied to example two, 1% of 1,05,00,000 would be Rs 1,05,000, withheld from the seller's payment. Our guides to TDS on a property purchase and the Form 13 lower TDS certificate for NRIs go further.

Before registration day:

• Print the market value for your survey number or unit from the department's search, dated.
• Confirm with the SRO which Ready Reckoner line applies, and the gram panchayat registration fee if relevant.
• Ask which agreement, if any, will be registered first, and whether its duty is adjustable.
• If you booked a slot before 5 June 2026, expect a deficit challan.
• Agree TDS with your tax adviser before paying.

If you are abroad, our guide to what needs you there when buying remotely covers powers of attorney, and our guides to land records in Lepakshi, land conversion in Jaipur and the Kanakapura Road micro-market show how other states handle the same questions. For specific areas, see our guides to Shadnagar, Mokila and Vikarabad.

This is not for buyers of resale flats inside Hyderabad who already know their market value. It does not cover gifts, settlements, leases or mortgages, which have their own Ready Reckoner lines. It is not legal or tax advice, and it makes no claim about what a property might earn or be worth later.

In Telangana, a sale deed costs 7.5% across stamp duty, transfer duty and registration fee, on the higher of your price and the government market value. The split inside a gram panchayat is unsettled between two official pages, so confirm it at the SRO. Market values were revised from 5 June 2026, and a deed priced below them may be held and referred for valuation. Look up the market value first, then work out the bill.

• Registration and Stamps Department, Telangana: Ready Reckoner
• Registration and Stamps Department, Telangana: home page
• Registration and Stamps Department, Telangana: Registration Fees
• Registration and Stamps Department, Telangana: Market Value Search
• Indian Stamp Act 1899, Telangana copy
• Telangana Bhu Bharati (Record of Rights in Land) Act 2025, gazette
• National Informatics Centre, Telangana: Bhu Bharati portal launch