Rent agreement stamp duty calculator for Chennai and Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu charges 1% stamp duty on the average annual rent plus the security deposit. Registration fee is ₹500 (capped at ₹20,000) via the TNREGINET portal.
Live Stamp Duty Calculation
Enter the concession amount or rent details to preview duty, registration fees, and full arithmetic breakdown.
Tamil Nadu
₹2,600
Calculation breakdown
- Base: average annual rent (₹2,40,000) + deposit (₹20,000) = ₹2,60,000.
- Duty at 1% of ₹2,60,000 = ₹2,600.
- Duty at 1% of ₹2,60,000 = ₹2,600.
- Registration is optional for terms under 12 months (11 months), adding ₹0.
Charged under Article 35, Schedule I of the Indian Stamp Act, 1899 as applied to Tamil Nadu.
✓ Rate Verified Checked 6 Sep 2026 against Taxaj India Rent Agreement Calculator Reference 2025-26.
The rule in one table
| Instrument | Tenancy Agreement / Lease |
|---|---|
| Act | Indian Stamp Act, 1899 as applied to Tamil Nadu |
| Article | Article 35, Schedule I |
| Rate | 1% of the taxable amount |
| Taxable amount | 1% of (average annual rent + security deposit). Minimum duty ₹100. |
| Minimum duty | ₹100 |
| Registration | Registration optional for ≤11 months. ₹500 fee (capped at ₹20,000) for registered leases on TNREGINET. |
| Portal | TNREGINET |
Two obligations, not one
Stamp duty and Rent Authority registration are separate requirements in Tamil Nadu, and satisfying one does nothing for the other.
Stamp duty is a tax on the document, paid before signing, that makes the agreement admissible in court. Registration with the Rent Authority under the Tamil Nadu Regulation of Rights and Responsibilities of Landlords and Tenants Act, 2017 records the tenancy with the state and produces a tenancy registration number, with disputes going to the Rent Court rather than the ordinary civil courts.
A large number of Chennai tenancies are stamped and never filed. It is worth knowing which of the two you have actually done.
Why Chennai agreements cost more to stamp
Tamil Nadu adds the security deposit to the rent before applying its rate, and has no residential cap of the kind Karnataka uses. Chennai deposits are commonly several months of rent, and in parts of Adyar, Besant Nagar and Anna Nagar considerably more.
The result is that the deposit, not the rent, often drives the bill. A thirty thousand rupee flat with a five lakh deposit is taxed on a base well above the rent for the term. If you are comparing what you paid in Bengaluru with what you are being asked for in Chennai, this is why the two do not resemble each other.
The process in Tamil Nadu
- Agree the rent, deposit and term, and calculate the duty on that basis.
- Obtain an e-stamp certificate for the amount through an authorised counter or the state system.
- Execute the agreement on the stamped document with both parties and witnesses.
- Where the term reaches twelve months, register at the jurisdictional sub-registrar office through TNREGINET.
- File the tenancy with the Rent Authority to obtain a tenancy registration number.
What people miss in Tamil Nadu
- Believing a stamped agreement has been registered. They are different steps.
- Leaving the deposit out of the calculation, which understates the duty substantially here.
- Assuming the Karnataka cap applies. It does not exist in Tamil Nadu.
- Filing nothing with the Rent Authority and then finding the dispute route unclear.
Stamp duty city by city in Tamil Nadu
The rate is set by the state, so it does not change from one city to the next. What changes is local practice — deposit sizes, whether people register, and which office has jurisdiction. Jump to Chennai, Coimbatore, Madurai and Tiruchirappalli, Salem and Tirunelveli.
Chennai
Chennai is where Tamil Nadu's rule bites hardest. Deposits of five to ten months are common in Adyar, Besant Nagar, Anna Nagar and parts of Velachery, and because the state adds the deposit to the rent before applying the rate, the deposit rather than the rent usually drives the bill. There is no residential cap to soften it. Rent Authority filing applies here as everywhere in the state, and is separate from paying the duty.
Coimbatore
Lower rents and noticeably lighter deposits than Chennai, typically two to four months, which keeps the taxable amount and therefore the duty well down. The process is otherwise identical, with e-stamp certificates and TNREGINET registration where the term reaches twelve months.
Madurai and Tiruchirappalli
Independent houses make up more of the rental stock than in Chennai, and deposits are modest. The duty on a typical eleven-month agreement is small, though the deposit still forms part of the base — leaving it out of the calculation understates the figure.
Salem and Tirunelveli
Smaller markets on the same statewide schedule. Where the property falls outside municipal limits the rural registration fee applies, so check the location option before assuming the city figure.
Three worked examples
Calculated with the same engine that powers the tool above, for residential premises in a city area. Duty is rounded up, as it always is.
| Rent | Deposit | Term | Taxable | Duty |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ₹15,000 | ₹1,00,000 | 11 mo | ₹2,80,000 | ₹2,800 |
| ₹30,000 | ₹3,00,000 | 11 mo | ₹6,60,000 | ₹6,600 |
| ₹60,000 | ₹6,00,000 | 24 mo | ₹13,20,000 | ₹13,200 |
The Tamil Nadu rate was last checked on 6 September 2026 against Taxaj India Rent Agreement Calculator Reference 2025-26.