Guidance value in Karnataka: how to check it, and how it sets your stamp duty

Guidance value is the minimum value the Karnataka government notifies for a property in a given location, and it is the number your stamp duty is computed on. At registration the sub-registrar charges duty and the registration fee on whichever is higher — your actual sale price or the notified guidance value for that street, layout or apartment. You cannot register below the guidance value, and the gap between guidance value and the price you actually pay carries a tax consequence most buyers underestimate. Here is what guidance value is, how to check it on the Kaveri portal before you negotiate, and where the risk sits.

What guidance value is (and its other names)

Guidance value is the state's official floor price for registering a property in a specific area. In Karnataka it is also called the guideline value. Other states publish the same thing under different names — the ready reckoner rate in Maharashtra, the circle rate in Delhi and much of north India. Whatever the label, it does one job: it sets the minimum value on which stamp duty and the registration fee are charged, so the government collects duty on a realistic value even when a sale is under-declared.

The value is location-specific and granular. Two flats a kilometre apart can carry different guidance values; so can an apartment versus a plot on the same road. The Department of Stamps and Registration notifies these values and revises them from time to time.

Guidance value vs market value — the difference that matters

Guidance value and market value are two different numbers, and the gap between them is where buyers get caught out.

• Guidance value is the government's notified minimum for the area. It is a floor, not the going rate, and it often trails actual prices.
• Market value is what a buyer and seller actually agree — the price in the sale deed.
• Stamp duty and the registration fee are charged on the higher of the two. If your sale price is above the guidance value, you pay on the sale price. If your sale price is below the guidance value, you still pay on the guidance value.

In fast-moving Bangalore localities, market prices usually sit above guidance value, so duty is computed on the sale price. In slower or older pockets, or where a revision has pushed the notified value up, the guidance value can be the higher number — and then it becomes the floor your duty is calculated on regardless of what you paid. Either way, checking the guidance value before you negotiate tells you the minimum registration cost you are committing to. PropWatch's guide to stamp duty and registration charges in Bangalore sets out the slab and the full statutory cost that sits on top of this value.

How to check guidance value on Kaveri Online Services

You do not need a login to look up a guidance value. The Department of Stamps and Registration publishes it through the Kaveri Online Services portal, which covers the whole state including every Bangalore sub-registrar office.

1. Go to the Kaveri Online Services portal at kaverionline.karnataka.gov.in.
2. Open the guidance value / 'Know Your Property Valuation' service from the home page.
3. Select the district and the jurisdictional sub-registrar office (SRO) for the property.
4. Choose the area, village or locality, and then the specific street, layout or apartment as prompted.
5. Select the property type — apartment, plot, or agricultural land — and enter the built-up or site area where asked.
6. Fetch the valuation. The portal returns the notified guidance value for that property, which is the floor your stamp duty will be computed on.

Match the SRO, locality and property type to your actual document carefully — the valuation is only as accurate as the details you enter. If you are unsure which sub-registrar office a property falls under, the seller's earlier registered sale deed states it, and the same information appears on the encumbrance certificate. PropWatch's guide to pulling an encumbrance certificate on Kaveri covers that step.

The undervaluation risk — where the tax exposure sits

A common piece of bad advice is to register a property at the guidance value while paying the seller more in cash, to save on stamp duty. This is under-declaration, and it creates exposure under the Income-tax Act for both sides.

• For the seller: Section 50C treats the stamp duty value (the value on which duty was charged) as the sale consideration for computing capital gains, if it exceeds the declared price beyond a tolerance band. A seller who under-declares can still be taxed on the higher stamp duty value.
• For the buyer: Section 56(2)(x) treats the gap between the stamp duty value and a lower purchase price as 'income from other sources' in the buyer's hands, again beyond a tolerance band, and taxes it accordingly.
• Current law allows a tolerance of up to 10% between the declared price and the stamp duty value before these provisions bite. The precise limit and how it applies to a given transaction is a tax question — confirm it with a chartered accountant.

Beyond income tax, paying part of the price in undocumented cash to register at a lower value is a cash-transaction and black-money risk that sits entirely on the parties. The saving on stamp duty is small relative to the exposure. The safer position is to declare the real price and register on the higher of that price or the guidance value — which is what the sub-registrar charges duty on in any case.

What to do before you register

• Check the guidance value on Kaveri for the exact SRO, locality and property type before you agree a price.
• Compare it to the sale price — your duty is charged on whichever is higher.
• Budget stamp duty, the registration fee and the cess on that higher value, not on the lower one.
• Declare the actual sale price in the sale deed; do not register below the price you are paying to save duty.
• If the price is below the guidance value, ask a chartered accountant about the Section 56(2)(x) implication before you sign.
• Confirm the live guidance value on the portal on the day you register — notified values are revised periodically.

SourceDepartment of Stamps and Registration, Karnataka — Kaveri Online Services (guidance value / property valuation lookup)

SourceDepartment of Stamps and Registration, Karnataka — official website

SourceIncome-tax Act, 1961 — Section 56(2)(x): sum or property received for inadequate consideration

SourceIncome-tax Act, 1961 — Section 50C: stamp duty value as full value of consideration

SourcePropWatch — Stamp duty and registration charges in Bangalore (2026): the real cost

SourcePropWatch — How to get an Encumbrance Certificate online in Karnataka (Kaveri)

SourcePropWatch — Sale deed vs conveyance deed: the difference every buyer should know