Most buyers budget for the price of the flat and are surprised by everything after it. That gap got wider recently.
Registration charges rose from 1% to 2% of property value with effect from 31 August 2025. It applies to residential, commercial and plots alike. On a ₹1 crore flat, that single change added a lakh to your closing cost.
Stamp duty in Karnataka runs on slabs:
- Below ₹20 lakh, 2%
- ₹20 lakh to ₹45 lakh, 3%
- Above ₹45 lakh, 5%
On top of the stamp duty, two more charges are calculated on the stamp duty amount itself, not on the property value. This trips people up constantly.
- Cess: 10% of the stamp duty
- Surcharge: 2% of the stamp duty within BBMP limits, 3% outside
A ₹1 crore flat inside BBMP, in full:
| Stamp duty, 5% of ₹1,00,00,000 | ₹5,00,000 |
| Cess, 10% of stamp duty | ₹50,000 |
| Surcharge, 2% of stamp duty | ₹10,000 |
| Registration, 2% of value | ₹2,00,000 |
| Total | ₹7,60,000 |
That is 7.6% of the property value in statutory cost alone, before legal fees, Khata transfer, loan processing, GST on an under-construction unit, or anything you do to the flat after.
On a ₹1.2 crore purchase it works out at roughly ₹9.1 lakh that never appears in the brochure.
Two things worth doing. First, budget statutory cost separately from the property price, not as an afterthought. Second, check whether stamp duty is calculated on your agreement value or the government guidance value, because it is charged on whichever is higher, and in several Bengaluru micro-markets guidance value has been revised upward.
Rates as published, August 2026. Verify current rates on the Kaveri Online Services portal before transacting.