How do I register property in India?

1Why registration matters

Under the Registration Act 1908, a sale of immovable property worth ₹100 or more must be registered. Registration is what legally transfers ownership and creates a public record of your title. An unregistered sale deed does not convey ownership and can't be used as the primary proof of title in court.

In short: paying the seller isn't enough — the registered sale deed is what makes you the legal owner.

2The registration process

The core steps are:

1. Prepare the sale deed, drafted with the correct details and printed on/with stamp duty of the right value.
2. Book an appointment at the sub-registrar's office with jurisdiction over the property's location.
3. Both buyer and seller appear with two witnesses and their PAN/ID; biometrics and photos are captured.
4. Pay the stamp duty and registration fee, the deed is registered, and the registered document is returned to you after processing.

3The costs

The two main charges, both paid by the buyer, vary by state:

• Stamp duty: typically 4–7% of the property's value (often lower for women buyers in many states)
• Registration fee: usually around 1% of the value
• These are calculated on the higher of the sale price or the government's 'circle rate'/guideline value

4Checks to do before you register

Registration transfers only what the seller legally holds, so verify the property first:

• Title check — confirm the seller actually owns it and has clear title (a chain of past deeds)
• Encumbrance certificate — to ensure there's no existing loan/mortgage or charge on it
• Approved building plan and necessary approvals/occupancy certificate
• No pending dues — property tax, maintenance, utility bills

5The four-month deadline, and the penalty for missing it

A document requiring registration must be presented within four months of its execution. This is not a soft date.

Where it is missed, the Registrar may accept the document for a further four months on payment of a penalty, which can run up to ten times the ordinary registration fee. Beyond eight months there is no route back — the document cannot be registered at all, and a sale deed that cannot be registered does not transfer title.

Where the delay is caused by the seller's absence, the buyer's remedy is a suit for specific performance rather than waiting, because the clock does not stop while you negotiate.

6What registration does not give you

Registration records a transaction. It does not certify that the seller owned what they sold, and this is the single most important thing to understand before relying on it.

The Registrar does not investigate title. A registered sale deed from someone with no title transfers nothing, and the registration will still appear perfectly regular. India follows a system of registered deeds rather than guaranteed title, which is why the pre-purchase checks matter more than the registration itself.

The practical protections are the encumbrance certificate covering at least thirty years, the parent documents tracing the chain of ownership, a public notice inviting objections, and — where the amount justifies it — a title search by an advocate.

7The buyer's tax obligation at registration

Two tax consequences attach to the buyer at the point of purchase, and both are the buyer's responsibility rather than the seller's.

Where the consideration or the stamp duty value is ₹50 lakh or more, TDS at 1% must be deducted under section 194-IA and reported in Form 26QB. Since 1 October 2024 the threshold is tested on the aggregate across all buyers and sellers, so joint purchases that previously fell below it now qualify.

Separately, where a property is bought for less than its stamp duty value, the difference is taxable in the buyer's hands as income from other sources if it exceeds the higher of ₹50,000 or 10% of the consideration. Buying below circle rate is not free money.

8A power of attorney is not a sale

Property is still widely transferred through a package of a general power of attorney, an agreement to sell and a will, to avoid stamp duty. It does not work, and buyers who accept it are usually the ones who lose.

In Suraj Lamp & Industries v State of Haryana (2011) the Supreme Court held that such transactions convey no title. Immovable property can be transferred only by a registered deed of conveyance. A power of attorney is an agency document; it authorises someone to act, it does not make them or their buyer the owner.

The practical consequences follow from that: no mutation in the revenue records, no loan against the property, and no ability to give clear title to the next buyer.