Buyers budget for the flat price and get surprised by everything else. Across our three states, the everything-else runs 6% to 13% of agreement value. Here is the full list.
Stamp duty and registration by state
| State | Stamp duty | Women buyers | Registration |
|---|---|---|---|
| Maharashtra (Navi Mumbai, Mumbai, Thane) | 6% | 5% | 1%, capped ₹ 30,000 |
| Karnataka (Bengaluru) | 5% above ₹ 45 L | Same | 1% + 0.5% cess |
| West Bengal (Kolkata) | 4% – 6% by value and location | Same | 1% |
Maharashtra's 6% comprises 5% base duty plus 1% local body tax. The 1% concession for women buyers applies when the property is registered in a woman's sole name or jointly with only women — a genuine saving of ₹ 1.5 lakh on a ₹ 1.5 crore flat.
Karnataka adds a 0.5% cess that buyers routinely forget. West Bengal's rate varies by property value and by whether the property is urban or rural.
GST — the same everywhere
- Under-construction: 5% with no input tax credit.
- Ready with occupancy or completion certificate: nil.
- Affordable housing (under ₹ 45 lakh, within carpet-area limits): 1%.
- Commercial: 12% with input tax credit available.
That 5% is the single strongest argument for buying ready inventory, and it is routinely left out of comparisons between a ready flat and an under-construction one.
The charges nobody quotes upfront
- Society formation and share money: ₹ 15,000 to ₹ 30,000
- Legal and documentation: ₹ 25,000 to ₹ 60,000
- Advance maintenance: usually 12 to 24 months collected at possession
- Sinking fund or corpus: often ₹ 50 to ₹ 150 per sq.ft., one time
- Floor rise: ₹ 50 to ₹ 250 per sq.ft. per floor above a base level
- Preferred location charges: 2% to 5% for corner, park-facing or creek-facing units
- Infrastructure and development charges: frequently ₹ 100 to ₹ 250 per sq.ft.
- Utility connections: ₹ 40,000 to ₹ 90,000
- Home loan processing: 0.25% to 0.50% of the sanctioned amount
Worked example: ₹ 1.5 Cr under-construction flat in Navi Mumbai
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Agreement value | ₹ 1,50,00,000 |
| Stamp duty at 6% | ₹ 9,00,000 |
| Registration (capped) | ₹ 30,000 |
| GST at 5% | ₹ 7,50,000 |
| Corpus at ₹ 100/sq.ft. on 900 sq.ft. | ₹ 90,000 |
| Legal and documentation | ₹ 45,000 |
| Society formation | ₹ 25,000 |
| Advance maintenance (18 months) | ₹ 72,000 |
| Utility connections | ₹ 65,000 |
| Loan processing (0.35% on ₹ 1.2 Cr) | ₹ 42,000 |
| Total outflow | ₹ 1,70,19,000 |
That is 13.5% above the headline price — higher than the usual rule of thumb because GST applies. On ready inventory the same flat totals about ₹ 1.62 Cr.
What to do about it
Register in a woman's name where possible and save 1% in Maharashtra. Compare ready and under-construction on total outflow rather than agreement value. And get the line-item working in writing from the developer before you pay the booking amount — we ask for it on every transaction we handle.
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