Guidance Value in Bengaluru: The Floor Under Your Stamp Duty and Registration

A young couple hunting near Sarjapur Road found a resale flat they loved, and the seller offered to write a lower figure in the sale deed to trim the stamp duty. It sounded like a favour. Their lawyer stopped them cold. In Karnataka you cannot register a property below the guidance value, and the sub-registrar would simply reject the deed or charge duty on the higher official figure anyway. The couple would have gained nothing and risked a rejected registration. The number that mattered was not the one the seller had invented. It was the one the government had already fixed.

The short answer. Guidance value is the minimum value set by the Karnataka government at which a property can be registered, and you can check it free on the Kaveri Online Services portal. Your stamp duty and registration fee are calculated on whichever is higher, the guidance value or your actual sale price, so the guidance value acts as a floor under your costs. The trade-off worth understanding is this: a low guidance value can look like a chance to save on duty, but you still cannot register below it, and trying to understate the price gains you nothing while inviting a rejected deed. Check the current figure for your exact locality before you budget.

What is guidance value, and why does it matter?

Guidance value is the government set minimum price for a property in Karnataka, fixed by the Department of Stamps and Registration for each area and property type. It is also called the sub-registrar value or guideline value, and it exists so that property is not registered at artificially low figures that starve the state of duty and cloud the record. For a buyer, it is the single number that decides the floor of your registration cost, no matter what you and the seller agree between yourselves.

It matters because your two largest transaction costs, stamp duty and the registration fee, are pegged to it. If your negotiated price is above the guidance value, your duty follows your price. If your price is somehow below the guidance value, your duty is still charged on the guidance value. Either way, you cannot make the duty smaller by writing a smaller number, which is why understanding the guidance value early saves both money and surprises.

Where do you check the guidance value?

You check it free on the Karnataka government Kaveri Online Services portal at kaveri.karnataka.gov.in, which is the official source. Select the guidance value search, then enter your district, taluk, hobli and locality or the survey number, and the portal returns the current value for that property type. No login is required, so you can sanity check a seller's claim in a few minutes before you ever pay a token.

For rural and gram panchayat properties, the record generally sits on the separate e-Swathu system rather than Kaveri, so use the right portal for the right land. Whichever applies, pull a fresh figure close to your registration date rather than trusting a printout, because the state revises guidance values from time to time and a stale number can throw your budget off. Our step by step walkthrough on how to check the guidance value on the Kaveri portal shows each screen if you have not used it before.

Can you register a flat below the guidance value?

No. In Karnataka you cannot register a property below the guidance value, even when the seller is willing to accept and declare a lower price. The sub-registrar will not register a deed at a value under the floor, and if you tried, the duty would still be assessed on the guidance value. This is the point the Sarjapur couple nearly missed, and it is worth repeating because sellers still offer the underquoting trick as if it helps the buyer.

What you can do is register honestly at the correct value, which is the higher of your genuine sale price and the guidance value. If the guidance value happens to be below your price, you register at your price. If your price is below the guidance value, which is unusual but possible in a soft pocket, you register at the guidance value. There is no legitimate way to pay duty on less than the floor.

How does guidance value decide your stamp duty and TDS?

Stamp duty and the registration fee are charged on the chargeable value, which is the higher of your sale price or the guidance value. So the guidance value is not just a registration formality; it directly sizes the two cheques you write to the government at registration. Our guide on Karnataka stamp duty and registration charges walks through the actual rates that then apply to this value.

The same figure reaches into your income tax too. When a property crosses fifty lakh rupees, the one percent tax deducted at source by the buyer is worked out on the higher of the sale consideration or the stamp duty value, and the stamp duty value is this guidance based figure. In other words, a guidance value above your price can quietly raise both your stamp duty and your tax deduction, so it is worth knowing before you finalise numbers. A short check on the portal at the start of your search keeps all of these figures honest and leaves no room for a late surprise at the sub-registrar counter.

Is guidance value the same as market value?

No, and confusing the two leads buyers astray. Guidance value is a government set minimum for registration, while market value is what a willing buyer and seller actually settle on. In many Bengaluru localities the market price sits well above the guidance value, and in a few quieter pockets the two can be close. A project on the city's periphery, such as Shriram 107 SouthEast in Attibele, may carry a very different guidance value from a prime central address, because the value is set locality by locality.

Use each number for its purpose. Market value, and the bank's own valuation, tell you whether the price is fair and how much loan you can raise. Guidance value tells you the floor for registration and the base for your duty. Reading them as one figure is how buyers either overpay in surprise duty or misjudge how much they are really committing.

What happens when the state revises guidance value?

Karnataka revises guidance values from time to time, usually upward, to keep them closer to real market prices. When a revision takes effect, the floor for your registration and the base for your duty move with it, so a purchase that slips past a revision date can cost more in duty than one registered before. Because revisions are announced and applied by locality, the only reliable figure is the one live on the portal for your specific sub-registrar area on the day you register.

Guidance value is also more granular than a single area rate. Within the same locality it can vary by the type of property, the floor of the unit, the age of the building, and whether it is an apartment or an independent house, so two flats on the same road can carry different values. This is why entering your exact property details on the portal matters more than relying on a neighbour's figure or the rough per square foot number a broker quotes you over the phone.

The practical lesson is to treat the guidance value as a live number, not a fixed one. Check it at the start of your search to budget, and check it again close to registration to confirm nothing has moved. Then work through the steps below so the floor never surprises you.

1. Note your property's district, taluk, hobli and locality or survey number.
2. Open the Kaveri Online Services portal and run the guidance value search.
3. Use e-Swathu instead for rural or gram panchayat land.
4. Compare the guidance value with your negotiated sale price.
5. Budget stamp duty and registration on the higher of the two figures.
6. Remember the same higher figure drives your one percent tax deduction above fifty lakh.
7. Recheck the guidance value close to registration in case it has been revised.

Frequently asked questions

What is guidance value in Bengaluru?

Guidance value is the minimum value set by the Karnataka Department of Stamps and Registration at which a property can be registered. It is the floor for your registration, and your stamp duty is calculated on the higher of the guidance value or your actual sale price. You can check it free on the Kaveri portal.

Can I register a property below the guidance value?

No. In Karnataka you cannot register a property below the guidance value, even if the seller agrees to a lower price. The sub-registrar will not accept a value under the floor, and your stamp duty and registration fee are charged on the higher of the guidance value or the sale price. Budget for the floor.

Is guidance value the same as market value?

No. Guidance value is a government set minimum for registration, while market value is what the property actually fetches between a willing buyer and seller. In many areas the market price sits above the guidance value, and in a few it can be close. Use the market value to negotiate and the guidance value to budget your duty.

Where do I check the guidance value for my flat?

Check it free on the Karnataka government Kaveri Online Services portal by selecting the guidance value search and entering your district, taluk, hobli and locality or survey number. No login is needed. Pull a fresh figure close to your registration date, because the state revises guidance values from time to time and an old figure can mislead your budget.

Last updated 2026-09-01. PropNewz Team.