Tamil Nadu’s sub-registrar offices registered 33,22,857 documents in 2023-24 and collected Rs 18,825.32 crore in stamp duty and registration fees, according to the Registration Department’s policy note. Provisional state accounts show that receipts from stamps and registration then rose to Rs 25,510.92 crore in 2025-26, about 17% more than the year before.
Chennai sits at the centre of this. The department’s own policy note says the Chennai zone alone brings in around 45% of the state’s registration revenue. Here is the long series, what changed year to year, and what the figures do and do not tell you about Chennai’s property market.
Documents and revenue, 2013-14 to 2023-24
The figures below come from Table 4.1 of the 2023-24 policy note and, for the last year, the 2024-25 policy note. “Documents” covers every deed registered: sales, gift and settlement deeds, mortgages, leases, partitions, powers of attorney and so on, not only home purchases.
| Year | Documents registered | Revenue (Rs crore) |
|---|---|---|
| 2013-14 | 26,53,291 | 8,055.74 |
| 2015-16 | 25,28,561 | 8,562.38 |
| 2016-17 | 20,27,916 | 7,007.74 |
| 2017-18 | 22,10,595 | 9,121.53 |
| 2018-19 | 25,73,478 | 11,071.02 |
| 2019-20 | 25,87,816 | 11,028.23 |
| 2020-21 | 26,95,650 | 10,643.08 |
| 2021-22 | 29,98,048 | 13,913.65 |
| 2022-23 | 34,41,248 | 17,296.84 |
| 2023-24 | 33,22,857 | 18,825.32 |
The policy note itself flags 2016-17 as the trough: documents fell by about 20% and revenue by 18% that year, the year of demonetisation. Since then the series has climbed almost every year. Between 2020-21 and 2022-23, documents rose by about 7.5 lakh and revenue by about Rs 6,650 crore.
Revenue rising faster than deeds
The most useful thing in this series is the gap between the two columns. In 2023-24 the number of documents actually fell slightly from the previous year, yet revenue still went up by about Rs 1,530 crore. Dividing revenue by documents gives a rough average of Rs 39,500 per document in 2020-21 and about Rs 56,650 in 2023-24.
That average is a blunt measure, because a single large commercial sale can outweigh hundreds of small deeds. But it fits with what the department has reported: guideline values were revised, and stamp duty is charged on the higher of guideline value or the declared price. For current rates, see the department’s stamp duty schedule on TNREGINET.
The latest year: 2025-26
The department’s policy note for 2025-26 was not available online when this was checked, so the most recent full-year figure comes from the Comptroller and Auditor General’s monthly accounts for Tamil Nadu. These are unaudited and provisional, and they count the stamps and registration fees head of state revenue rather than documents.
| Measure (stamps and registration fees) | Amount |
|---|---|
| Actual receipts, 2024-25 | Rs 21,878.27 crore |
| Budget estimate, 2025-26 | Rs 26,109.88 crore |
| Actual receipts, 2025-26 (provisional) | Rs 25,510.92 crore |
So 2025-26 receipts were about 98% of the budget target and about 16.6% higher than 2024-25. The CAG accounts head is slightly broader than the department’s “revenue” column, so the two series should not be joined into one line.
Within each year, registrations are uneven. Days considered auspicious in the Tamil calendar bring queues at sub-registrar offices. For people who want a fixed slot, the department sells Tatkal tokens: 7,623 were booked in 2023, earning Rs 3.81 crore, according to the 2024-25 policy note.
Where Chennai fits
The department does not publish a clean “Chennai city” number for documents or revenue. What it does say is that the Chennai zone, which in the 2023-24 note covered six registration districts (Chennai Central, Chennai North, Chennai South, Chengalpattu, Kancheepuram and Tiruvallur), contributes around 45% of state revenue. The 2024-25 note lists the Chennai zone with four districts: Chennai Central, Chennai North, Chennai South and Tiruvallur, so zone boundaries have been redrawn.
The state as a whole had 582 sub-registrar offices, 56 registration districts and 11 zones in 2024-25. The Chennai zone also held 61,949 registered societies and 2,57,475 partnership firms on 31 March 2024, out of 2,72,206 societies and 6,06,646 firms statewide. That second figure means about 42% of the state’s partnership firms are registered in the Chennai zone.
Other registrations in the same offices
Sub-registrar offices also register marriages, chits and firms. In 2023-24 they recorded 78,324 marriages under the Tamil Nadu Registration of Marriages Act 2009, 35,829 under the Hindu Marriage Act and 8,006 under the Special Marriage Act. E-stamping has grown fast: certificates issued rose from 18.5 lakh in 2021-22 to 30.5 lakh in 2023-24.
Quick answers
How many property documents are registered in Tamil Nadu a year?
33,22,857 in 2023-24 and 34,41,248 in 2022-23, according to Registration Department policy notes.
How much does Tamil Nadu earn from registration?
Rs 18,825.32 crore in 2023-24 per the department, and Rs 25,510.92 crore in stamps and registration receipts in 2025-26 per provisional CAG accounts.
What share comes from Chennai?
The department says the Chennai zone contributes around 45% of total revenue.
How many sub-registrar offices are there?
582 in the 2024-25 policy note.
For legal or tax questions on a specific deed, consult a lawyer or your sub-registrar office.
Information checked against official sources on 18 October 2026. Fees, dates and rules can change; confirm on the linked official pages before acting.
Sources
- Commercial Taxes and Registration Department Policy Note 2023-24, Stamps and Registration (Finance Department, Government of Tamil Nadu)
- Commercial Taxes and Registration Department Policy Note 2024-25, Stamps and Registration (Government of Tamil Nadu)
- Tamil Nadu Monthly Accounts at a Glance, March 2026, provisional (Comptroller and Auditor General of India)
