Quick answer
Beyond the base price, a Surat flat usually carries preferential location and floor-rise charges, parking, club membership, maintenance deposit and advance maintenance, a corpus fund, legal and society charges — plus 4.9% stamp duty, 1% registration and 5% GST. TDS of 1% is deducted from all of it. Get every item in an all-inclusive cost sheet, and in the agreement, before you pay more than 10%.
The all-inclusive cost formula
All-in cost = base price + PLC + floor rise + parking + club + deposits & advance maintenance + legal/society charges + GST + stamp duty + registration
Stamp duty, GST and TDS are all calculated on the consideration, and TDS law explicitly includes club, parking and maintenance charges in it — so extras raise the statutory costs too.
Every charge at a glance
| Charge | When paid | GST | Counts for 1% TDS? | Negotiable? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Base price | Stage-wise | 5% (under construction) | Yes | Sometimes |
| Preferential location (PLC) — view, corner, park-facing | With price | Same as flat if paid before completion | Yes | Often |
| Floor rise | With price | Same as flat (treated like PLC)* | Yes | Sometimes |
| Car parking | With price or separately | Composite with flat, or 18% if optional and separately priced | Yes | Rarely |
| Club membership | Before possession | Depends on how billed | Yes | Rarely |
| Maintenance deposit / advance maintenance | At possession | 18% on maintenance above ₹7,500/month* | Yes | No |
| Corpus / sinking fund | At possession | Taxable per one advance ruling | Yes | No |
| Legal, documentation, society formation | At agreement / possession | Varies | Yes, if paid to builder | Ask |
| Stamp duty 4.9% + registration 1% | At registration | — | — | No |
*Floor rise: no official ruling found; treated like PLC as analysis. Maintenance: see the GST section below.
PLC and floor rise
Preferential location charges price a better view, a corner or a garden-facing unit; floor-rise charges add a fixed amount per floor above a base level. The 54th GST Council (9 September 2024) clarified that location charges paid with the consideration before the completion certificate form part of the composite supply of construction — so they carry the flat's 5% rate, not 18%. Ask for both as a rate in the price sheet and confirm they appear in the agreement.
Parking
Whether parking is bundled or sold separately changes its tax. In Eden Real Estates (2023), the West Bengal appellate advance-ruling authority held that optional, separately priced parking is a separate supply at 18%. Advance rulings bind only the applicant, so ask your builder how parking will be invoiced, and confirm the number of allotted spaces in the allotment letter.
Club membership, deposits and the corpus
Club membership is often billed near possession. The maintenance deposit and one or two years of advance maintenance are collected at possession to fund the building until the society takes over. A one-time corpus or sinking fund is held for major future repairs; the Tamil Nadu advance-ruling authority held in 2025 that such a corpus is taxable. Ask for each amount in rupees, not "as applicable".
GST on society maintenance
Resident welfare associations are exempt from GST on member contributions up to ₹7,500 per member per month (Notification 12/2017-Central Tax (Rate), entry 77(c), as amended in January 2018). Above that — and only if the society's turnover also exceeds ₹20 lakh — GST is 18%. CBIC Circular 109/28/2019 says the whole amount is then taxable; the Madras High Court held in 2021 that only the excess is. Large luxury homes often cross ₹7,500 a month, so ask the builder for a maintenance estimate per sq ft.
Stamp duty, registration and TDS
For a ₹3 crore flat: stamp duty ₹14.7 lakh, registration ₹3 lakh (nil for a woman sole buyer) and GST ₹15 lakh if under construction. The buyer also deducts ₹3 lakh TDS and deposits it on Form 141 — on the whole consideration, including club and parking. Full details and a calculator: stamp duty and registration in Surat.
Booking: the 10% cap
Under RERA section 13(1), a promoter cannot take more than 10% of the cost as an advance or application fee without first entering into a written agreement for sale and registering it. Everything above that should follow the registered agreement's payment schedule. See the buying process guide.
Ask for these in writing before booking
- An all-inclusive cost sheet listing every charge in rupees
- PLC and floor-rise rates, and which apply to your unit
- Number of car parks, and whether parking is invoiced separately
- Club membership fee and when it is due
- Maintenance deposit, advance-maintenance months and the estimated monthly rate
- Corpus fund amount
- Legal, documentation and society-formation charges
- How GST will be applied to each line
Also compare homes on carpet area — see carpet vs super built-up. We obtain the full cost sheet for every project we represent.
Sources
- CBIC — 54th GST Council press release — 9 Sep 2024
- TaxGuru — GST on RWA maintenance charges — 8 Jun 2026
- Madras High Court — Greenwood Owners Association v. Union of India — 1 Jul 2021
- Taxmann — GST on right to use car parking (AAR) — 2023
- Income Tax Department — Section 393(1), formerly 194-IA (consideration includes club, parking)
- RERA section 13 — no advance without agreement (IBC Laws)
- GARVI — Stamp duty calculator (official) — checked 29 Sep 2026
Last reviewed 29 Sep 2026 by the Surat Niwas research desk under our editorial policy. Advance rulings bind only their applicants; confirm treatment with your chartered accountant. This guide is general information, not legal, tax or investment advice — confirm figures with the official portal, your bank or your advocate before you act.