How do economic and systemic factors influence revenue from stamp duty and registration fees? an analysis of Kerala, India

Aswathy Rachel Varughese, Meenu Mohan and Ajithesh Menon

Journal of Property Research, 2026, vol. 43, issue 2, 99-123

Abstract: The present study examines the revenue receipts from Stamp Duty and Registration Fee (SRF) in the state of Kerala, India, over the past three decades, focusing on economic and systemic factors influencing the SRF revenue growth. Despite higher SRF rates, Kerala’s SRF revenue growth has recently stagnated and trails behind other South Indian states. Key economic factors, including sluggish economic growth and a consequent slowdown in real estate activities, have contributed to this stagnation. The study introduces a novel proxy which is the number of registered documents related to property transactions to capture the momentum of real estate activities during the study period. Besides, systemic issues related to the fixation of the fair value of land significantly impact SRF revenue receipts. The Auto Regressive Distributed Lagged (ARDL) approach reveals a weak co-movement between SRF and related economic and systemic factors in Kerala. To enhance SRF revenue and boost the State’s Own Tax Revenue (SOTR), policymakers must address these issues, especially in light of diminishing central transfers to Kerala.

Date: 2026
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DOI: 10.1080/09599916.2025.2542156

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