What are the various kinds of taxes and charges you have to pay when buying a property, residential plot, or apartment in India?

Author: Sachin Gupta | Find me on Twitter Follow @sach_gupta

Ok, you have finalized your property; i.e. residential plot or an apartment. Now what? Well, in addition to paying the property price, there are other charges which are incurred and are broadly categorized as follows:

1. Transaction charges
2. Stamp duty and registration charges
3. Service tax
4. Value Added Tax (VAT)
5. Capital gains tax to be borne out by the seller for a resale transaction

Transaction charges:

Transaction charges are those that are spent in availing the services of property broker. In case, you are buying an under construction property from real estate developer, then transaction charges are Nil. However, if you are buying the property from resale market such as a residential plot or a completed apartment, you will be paying the brokerage fee which is equivalent to 1% of the property value.

Stamp Duty and Registration Charges:

Real Estate Stamp duty is a type of tax accumulation by the Government of India. Stamp duty is established on the agreement value or on the market value whichever is greater.

For other states across India, click stamp duty and registration charges in India

The procedure also includes a registration fee for properties costing more than Rs. 30,000, which is fixed at 1% of the market value or the agreement value, whichever is higher.

Service Tax:

Service tax is applicable for under-construction property. In other words, if you are buying in an under construction project (apartment, flat, villa, etc.) from real estate developer, then you will be liable for service tax on property price. 

Service tax under composition scheme stands at 3.71% of property price.

Value Added Tax (VAT):

Recently, supreme court of India ruling states that the sale of an under construction property would be liable to VAT. It is likely that real estate builders will pass on this additional VAT on buyers. The VAT under composition scheme stands at 3% of property price.

Here is an example showing different charges for buying an apartment in Gurgaon, Haryana.

So the question to be asked is, if you would like to purchase an under construction property or completed one? While, in an under-construction property you will pay as per the construction plan whereas in a completed project the entire amount is payable within mutually agreed upon time period of 2-3 months.

In an under-construction property, you can make payment through cheque (white) whereas for a completed property you will end up paying by cheque and cash (black). The amount of money you pay by cash is dependent on the market value of the property minus the value of property as per the government circle rate. Why do a seller prefer cash component? Well, to save on capital gain taxes which stand at 20%.

Now, that you have a bit of information about various charges and taxes in property transaction. You decide J

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