Rent Agreement Stamp Duty in Gujarat

For a typical residential agreement up to 11 months, Gujarat charges Flat ~₹300 in practice (some sources: 1% of average annual rent). Sources conflict: practice-oriented guides report sub-11-month agreements on flat ₹300 stamp paper, while others cite 1% of average annual rent (~₹1,680 on ₹14,000/month). Could not be resolved against the Gujarat Stamp Act schedule — verify via the Garvi portal before relying on an exact amount.

Under Section 17 of the Registration Act, a lease of immovable property for 12 months or longer MUST be registered with the sub-registrar — which costs time, registration fees, and higher stamp duty. An 11-month agreement stays below that threshold, so it can be executed on stamp paper without mandatory registration. That's the whole reason 11 months became India's default tenancy term.

Mandatory for leases of 12 months or more; 11-month renewable agreements are the standard way to stay outside registration.

E-stamp paper via SHCIL/authorised vendors; Garvi (IGRS Gujarat) for registration; platforms deliver e-stamped agreements with eSign.

An unstamped or under-stamped agreement is not admissible as evidence in court until the deficit duty plus a penalty (up to 10× the deficit in most states) is paid. Police verification, HRA claims, address proof, and eviction proceedings can all stumble on an unstamped agreement — the duty is small, so pay it upfront.

The law doesn't fix this; it's whatever the agreement says. In practice the tenant usually bears the stamp duty and registration costs in most Indian cities, though splitting 50:50 is common in some markets. Put the split in writing in the agreement itself.