The Yogi Adityanath government has introduced major reforms that will slash stamp duty on family transfers.
Instead of paying a percentage of the property’s value, families now pay a flat fee of Rs 5,000. The move has been welcomed as a major relief, particularly in smaller towns and villages where property values are modest and disputes common.
“This is a very welcome step,” said SK Jaggi, COO of Eldeco and member of CREDAI (Confederation of Real Estate Developers’ Associations of India). “By introducing a flat fee for family transfers, the government has removed a major pain point for ordinary people. Families can now pass on property without worrying about exorbitant charges or prolonged paperwork. It encourages transparency, reduces disputes, and makes property transactions within families smoother and hassle-free.”
Advocate Abdul Rahman, a Lucknow-based expert in registration and property law, underlined how the reform could transform rural families’ approach to property division. “Earlier, people would shy away from registering a partition deed because of the cost. They relied on oral arrangements, which later turned into bitter disputes. By fixing the fee at Rs 5,000, the government has ensured affordability and legal clarity,” Rahman said.
He added that the change could also help clear a large backlog of property-related cases. “Stamp duty litigation forms a huge portion of disputes in revenue courts. If families find it easier to register deeds, that load will eventually come down,” Rahman explained.
Alongside relief for families, the Yogi Adityanath-led Cabinet has expanded the scope of stamp duty exemptions for women. Property purchases in women’s names now qualify for an extra 1 per cent stamp duty exemption on transactions up to Rs 1 crore—a major increase from the previous Rs 10 lakh threshold.
“Earlier, women received a rebate of six per cent on property purchases up to ?10 lakh, and for properties above that, the rebate was capped at ?10,000,” Rahman said. “Now, the rebate has been raised to seven per cent. This could mean direct savings of up to ?1 lakh on property registration for eligible buyers, making home ownership more accessible and financially advantageous.”
SK Jaggi echoed this sentiment. “The exemption aims to boost women’s homeownership, empower middle-class female buyers, and strengthen the Mission Shakti women’s empowerment campaign,” he said and added: “Other government department should take a leaf out of Stamp and Registration Department and implement such progressive rules that help common man.”
Officials also claim the change has cut red tape. A partition deed that once took days of paperwork can now be registered in minutes if family members are in agreement. Revenue officers say the reform encourages families to formalise arrangements rather than rely on oral settlements that later unravel.
Yet outside of family transactions, the old pressures remain. For regular property sales, Uttar Pradesh continues to levy one of the highest stamp duties in the country. Men pay around seven per cent of the property value, while women enjoy a rebate of one per cent. Joint ownership attracts rates between six and seven per cent, depending on the gender of the buyers. Add to that a one per cent registration fee, and the overall burden is significant. In cities like Noida and Lucknow, where circle rates—the government’s minimum value for property—are far higher than market prices, buyers end up paying tax on inflated values.
“Stamp duty is the invisible tax that pinches every buyer,” said Rajesh Srivastava, a Lucknow-based property broker. “Even when the market is slow, circle rates don’t come down, so buyers pay duty on values that don’t match reality.”
The result is a parallel problem. Many buyers understate property values in sale deeds to cut tax liability, risking notices later from stamp authorities. Courts in the state are flooded with cases where buyers challenge reassessments or additional demands from the collector.
For families, however, the new system has brought tangible relief. Consider the case of a farmer in Barabanki who wanted to divide his ancestral land among three sons. Under the old rules, the family would have faced a duty bill running into lakhs of rupees. Under the new flat-fee structure, the entire partition was settled for six thousand rupees. “We could not have afforded the earlier charges. This rule has saved us both money and quarrels,” said the farmer’s eldest son.
Gender-based rebates have also encouraged women to register properties in their own names, though activists argue the relief is too modest to truly transform ownership patterns. Still, the symbolic value of women holding title documents is seen as important in a state where patriarchal norms remain entrenched.
Urban buyers remain less fortunate. In Noida, stamp duty alone can add several lakhs to the cost of a flat. Developers argue that this keeps demand suppressed in an already slow housing market. Some have suggested the government consider a uniform reduction in duty to spur sales.
The government, however, insists that stamp duty is a key revenue source. In 2023–24, Uttar Pradesh collected ?26,961 crore from stamp duty and registration, and is projected to touch ?38,150 crore in 2025–26. That makes up roughly 13 per cent of the state’s own tax revenue.
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