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Stamp Duty & Capital Gains Planner (India)

Sell one asset, buy a house: stamp duty and registration in 12 states, LTCG with or without indexation, and the Section 54 or 54F exemption, in one plan.

Updated · By Niraj Kumar · 16 sources

The house you are buying

₹

₹90 L

₹

Duty is charged on this instead when it is higher than the price.

In whose nameIn whose name

What you sold

The asset you sold wasThe asset you sold was
₹

₹1.5 Cr

₹
₹

₹50 L

₹

Held 135 months: long-term.

You

Resident in IndiaResident in India
Own 2+ other houses on the sale dateOwn 2+ other houses on the sale date
₹

Sets the surcharge band: 15% on this gain.

Tax saved by reinvesting₹9,48,993for ₹5,70,000 of stamp duty and registration in Pune
Stamp duty
₹5,40,000
6% of ₹90,00,000
Registration
₹30,000
1%, capped at ₹30,000
Saved by a woman's name
₹90,000
Against a man buying alone
Long-term capital gain
₹98,50,000
12.5% without indexation: the cheaper of the two methods
Section 54F exemption
₹63,47,778
On ₹95,70,000 reinvested, stamp duty included
Tax payable
₹5,23,582
On ₹35,02,222, with 15% surcharge and 4% cess
Tax saved
₹9,48,993
TDS by the buyer (1%)
₹1,50,000
On sales of ₹50 lakh or more

How much of the gain the new house covers

64% of the gain is exempt. Investing ₹1,48,50,000 in all, ₹52,80,000 more, would exempt all of it: under 54F that is the whole net sale price.

Not bought yet? Deposit the amount in a Capital Gains Account Scheme account before your return's due date to keep the exemption, and buy within 2 years or build within 3.

12.5% flat or 20% with indexationBought before 23 July 2024, a resident pays whichever is lower. Indexation uses CII 384 for 2026-27.
MethodCostGainExemptTax
12.5% without indexation (lower)₹50,00,000₹98,50,000₹63,47,778₹5,23,582
20% with indexation₹75,59,055₹72,90,945₹46,98,609₹6,20,087

How do stamp duty and Section 54F work together?

Stamp duty runs from about 5% to 8% of the value depending on the state, plus registration. If you are reinvesting a capital gain, that duty counts as part of the new house's cost. In the example, a woman buying a ₹90 L flat in Pune pays ₹5,70,000 in duty and registration. That money helps exempt ₹63,47,778 of the gain under Section 54F, which saves ₹9,48,993 in tax.

The planner joins the two halves of a property switch. Stamp duty and registration on the new house are part of what it cost, so they raise the Section 54 or 54F exemption on the old asset. Section 54 exempts the gain rupee for rupee up to what you reinvest; 54F, for anything other than a house, exempts the share of the gain that matches the share of the sale money reinvested.

stamp = max(price, circle value) × duty% (+ cess on duty); registration = value × reg% (capped in some states); new house cost C = price + stamp + registration, counted up to ₹10 crore; net consideration N = sale price − transfer costs; LTCG = N − cost (or N − indexed cost); Section 54 (82): exemption = min(LTCG, C); Section 54F (86): exemption = LTCG × C ÷ N, at most LTCG; tax = (LTCG − exemption) × 12.5% (or 20% indexed) × (1 + surcharge) × 1.04
N
Net consideration: sale price less brokerage and other selling costs
C
Cost of the new house, including its stamp duty and registration, counted up to ₹10 crore
CII
Cost Inflation Index, 384 for FY 2026-27, used only with the 20% indexed rate
Circle value
The state's minimum value for the property: ready reckoner, guidance or circle rate
CGAS
Capital Gains Account Scheme: where unspent money waits until the house is bought
Stamp duty and registration by state for a ₹1 crore home, urban (checked October 2026)
StateDuty: menDuty: womenRegistrationTotal for a man
Maharashtra6%5%₹30,000₹6,30,000
Karnataka5% + 12% of duty5% + 12% of duty₹2,00,000₹7,60,000
Delhi6%4%₹1,00,100₹7,00,100
Tamil Nadu7%7%₹4,00,000₹11,00,000
Telangana5.5%5.5%₹50,000₹6,00,000
Uttar Pradesh7%6%₹1,00,000₹8,00,000
Haryana7%5%₹50,000₹7,50,000
Gujarat4.9%4.9%₹1,00,000₹5,90,000
West Bengal6%6%₹1,00,000₹7,00,000
Kerala8%8%₹2,00,000₹10,00,000
Rajasthan6% + 20% of duty5% + 20% of duty₹1,00,000₹8,20,000
Madhya Pradesh7.5%7.5%₹3,00,000₹10,50,000

Worked example

A resident sells a plot for ₹1.5 Cr (₹1,50,000 brokerage), bought in June 2015 for ₹50 L, and buys a ₹90 L flat in Pune in a woman's name. Other income ₹18 L.

  1. 1Stamp duty in Pune: ₹90,00,000 × 6% = ₹5,40,000; registration ₹30,000
  2. 2Cost of the new house: ₹90,00,000 + ₹5,70,000 = ₹95,70,000
  3. 3Net consideration: ₹1,50,00,000 − ₹1,50,000 = ₹1,48,50,000
  4. 4LTCG at 12.5% without indexation: ₹1,48,50,000 − ₹50,00,000 = ₹98,50,000, tax before relief ₹14,72,575
  5. 5LTCG at 20% with indexation: ₹1,48,50,000 − ₹75,59,055 = ₹72,90,945, tax before relief ₹17,43,994
  6. 6Section 54F: ₹98,50,000 × ₹95,70,000 ÷ ₹1,48,50,000 = ₹63,47,778 exempt
  7. 7Tax on the remaining ₹35,02,222 at 12.5% without indexation: ₹5,23,582

₹9,48,993 of tax saved for ₹5,70,000 of stamp duty and registration. Investing ₹1.49 Cr in all would exempt the whole gain.

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between Section 54 and Section 54F?

Section 54 is for selling a house. The gain is exempt rupee for rupee, up to whatever you put into the new house. Section 54F is for selling anything else held long-term, such as a plot, shares, gold or a business. It exempts a share of the gain equal to the share of the sale money you reinvest, so to exempt the full gain you have to reinvest the whole net sale price. See the Section 54F calculator.

Is there a limit on the Section 54 and 54F exemption?

Yes. Finance Act 2023 capped the cost of the new house that counts at ₹10 crore, for sales from 1 April 2023. Spending more than that does not raise the exemption. Section 54 also lets you split the gain across two houses, once in a lifetime, if the gain is ₹2 crore or less.

Does stamp duty on the new house count toward the Section 54 or 54F exemption?

Yes. Stamp duty and registration are part of the cost of acquiring the new house, so they count as money reinvested. On a ₹90 lakh flat in Pune, about ₹5.7 lakh of duty and registration raises the counted cost to ₹95.7 lakh, and under 54F lifts the exemption by the same share of the gain. The planner adds it automatically.

What if I have not bought the new house before filing my return?

Deposit the unspent amount in a Capital Gains Account Scheme account at a bank before the return's due date. The exemption is then allowed as if invested. You must buy within 2 years of the sale or build within 3, or the unused amount becomes taxable in the year the period ends.

Section 54 and 54F under the Income-tax Act, 2025: what are the new numbers?

From 1 April 2026 the Income-tax Act, 2025 replaced the 1961 Act. Section 54 is now section 82 and section 54F is section 86. The rules carried over unchanged, including the ₹10 crore cap from Finance Act 2023 and the 3-year bar on selling the new house.

Sources

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