News: Haryana Stamp Duty Waiver Covers Daughters’ Children-27-08-2026

Grandchildren through a daughter are covered by Haryana’s 100% stamp duty exemption on lifetime transfers of immovable property within a family, just as a son’s children are, the state government has clarified.

The confusion arose from a 2014 notification. Its English text spoke broadly of "grandchildren", but the Hindi version used pautra-pautri, generally understood as a son’s son or daughter. Some sub-registrar offices therefore denied the zero-duty benefit on transfers to a daughter’s children.

A corrigendum published in the Haryana Gazette on August 13 replaces pautra-pautri with pautra-pautri, dohata-dohati/nati-natin, expressly covering daughters’ children.

Sumita Misra, financial commissioner, revenue and disaster management department, told the Hindustan Times newspaper that the corrigendum removes a long-standing linguistic ambiguity. On June 16, 2014, she explained, the government had remitted 100% stamp duty under Section 9 of the Indian Stamp Act, 1899, on transfer deeds executed during the owner’s lifetime in favour of blood relations, including parents, children, grandchildren, siblings and spouses. Issuing the clarification as a corrigendum to that order gives retrospective legal clarity across revenue and registry offices, she noted.

The clarification creates no new benefit. It confirms that daughters’ children were always meant to be covered where other conditions were met.

The issue has gained prominence as property values have risen and families have become more conscious of women’s equal property rights, with more parents wanting to pass assets directly to their daughters’ children. According to media reports, the government received representations over the past year seeking equal treatment. For high-value property, the change can save lakhs of rupees.

Suman Kumar Jha, Founding and Managing Partner of Corp Legex, said the corrigendum is dated July 24, 2026, and was published on August 13, 2026. As the government has described it as a correction of the 2014 position, it is not a new concession beginning in 2026. Maternal and paternal grandchildren are now both covered by the full remission of ad valorem stamp duty on a qualifying lifetime intra-family transfer, he explained.

Where duty beyond the legally chargeable amount has already been paid in circumstances covered by Section 45(2) of the Indian Stamp Act, 1899, a refund application may be made to the Chief Controlling Revenue Authority, subject to statutory conditions and the limitation period, Jha said. The clarification is not an automatic right to a refund in every case.

The remission does not necessarily extend to registration fees, mutation charges, computerisation/service charges, pasting charges or other statutory or administrative charges, he added.

Other states treat such transfers differently.

Uttar Pradesh: The August 3, 2023, notification under sub-section (1) of section 9 of the Indian Stamp Act, 1899, lists eligible relatives including "son/daughter of son/daughter", covering grandchildren on both sides. For qualifying residential and agricultural property, duty is capped at Rs 5,000, with conditions including a five-year restriction on re-gifting.

Delhi: Duty on a Gift Deed generally depends on the donee’s gender: 6% stamp and transfer duty for a male donee and 4% for a female. No distinction is made between a son’s and a daughter’s children, Jha explained.

Maharashtra: Against the general conveyance duty of 4-5%, Article 34 of the Maharashtra Stamp Act sets duty at only Rs 200 where residential or agricultural property is gifted to a husband, wife, son, daughter, grandson, granddaughter or the wife of a deceased son. Other property gifted to specified family members attracts a concessional 3%. The Article refers to a "lineal ascendant or descendant", which includes both maternal and paternal grandchildren, Jha added.