Property registrations in Karnataka are all set to get dearer from this weekend. The State government on Friday doubled the registration fee for all properties from 1% to 2%.This move comes in the context of the Department of Stamps and Registrations falling severely short of revenue targets both in 2024-25 and the first quarter of 2025-26.The State used to levy a stamp duty of 5% of the guidance value of a property, 1% registration fee, 0.5% cess and 0.1% surcharge, adding up to 6.6%. With the registration fee now doubling to 2%, the total fee payable for any property transaction is 7.6% from August 31, Sunday.Among the lowestMullai Muhilan M.P., Inspector-General of Registration and Commissioner of Stamps (IGR&CS), Karnataka, told The Hindu that despite this hike, the total fee payable for any property transaction in Karnataka is among the lowest among all neighbouring States in South India. For instance, in Tamil Nadu it is 11%, he said.The government order issued on Friday also doubled the registration fee for Joint Development Agreements (JDA) and General Power of Attorney (GPA) for JDAs from 1% to 2%. The impact of this is expected to be big, as these are usually large parcels of land and will impact the real estate sector dear.The realty sector has been slow for multiple quarters now. As against an initial revenue target of ₹26,000 crore, the department collected only ₹22,500 crore in 2024-25 and in the first quarter that ended on June 30 the Department has fallen back by 35% against the proportional target for the year, set at an ambitious ₹28,000 crore. Criticism from buildersBuilders blame this on the e-Khata mandate for property transactions which they term a “bottleneck”, among other factors. They argue that doubling registration fee is not the answer to missing revenue targets.While there was a proposal to increase the stamp duty by 1%, following a performance review meeting of the Department of Stamps and Registrations chaired by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah in June earlier this year, the decision was taken to hike registration fee by 1%. Karnataka continues to be one of the few States to impose a lower stamp duty of less than 6%.Asked what is the additional revenue expected through this hike, Mr. Muhilan said they were working towards achieving the revenue target set, but did not put a number to it.Published - August 29, 2025 10:52 pm IST