What is stamp duty?
Stamp duty is a state tax on documents such as the agreement for sale and the sale deed, at rates each state sets. In Maharashtra, a conveyance in a municipal corporation area pays 5% of the market value.
Also called stamp duty on property.
Stamp duty is a tax on documents. For property documents such as the agreement for sale and the sale deed, each state sets the rates: entry 63 of the State List in the Seventh Schedule to the Constitution covers rates of stamp duty on all documents except the few in the Union List, such as cheques and share transfers. So the rate, the documents it falls on and the concessions differ from state to state.
Example: Maharashtra. Under Article 25(b)(i) of the Schedule to the Maharashtra Stamp Act, a conveyance within a municipal corporation area carries duty of 5% of the market value. Explanation 1 to the article treats an agreement for sale as a conveyance where possession is transferred or agreed to be transferred, so an agreement for an under-construction flat that promises possession is stamped as a conveyance. If proper duty was paid on that registered agreement, a later conveyance executed without changes pays ₹100. The same compilation records a government order of 31 March 2021 that reduces the duty under Article 25(b) by one per cent, from 1 April 2021, where the buyers of a home are women. Source: IGR Maharashtra, article-wise compilation of the Stamp Act, 22 Jul 2026, read on 9 Nov 2026.
Unless the parties agree otherwise, the buyer pays the duty on a conveyance, and the document must be stamped before or at the time it is signed, or by the next working day at the latest (sections 30(b) and 17 of the Maharashtra Stamp Act, section-wise text to 13 Jul 2026). A document that transfers an interest of ₹100 or more in immovable property must then be registered with the sub-registrar (section 17 of the Registration Act, 1908), and the registration fee is separate, from a table of fees each state sets (section 78).
The stamp duty value also matters for income tax. It is the value a government authority adopts or would adopt for stamp duty; in Maharashtra that starts from the Annual Statement of Rates. A buyer deducts TDS at 1% of the price or the stamp duty value, whichever is higher, subject to a ₹50 lakh threshold (section 393(1), Table serial 3(i), of the Income-tax Act, 2025).