GST on your Noida flat: what you should pay, and how to get excess GST back

If you have booked a flat with a builder in Noida, Greater Noida or along the Yamuna Expressway, GST is part of almost every instalment demand. Many buyers simply pay what the demand letter says. In July 2026, UP RERA said it had found cases where builders collected GST at rates higher than those prescribed. It told promoters to stop, and set out how buyers can get the excess back. This note covers what you should actually be paying, the usual overcharges, and how the refund works.

When GST applies to a flat, and when it doesn't

• Under-construction flat bought from the builder: GST applies to each payment made before the completion certificate.
• Ready-to-move flat that already has a completion certificate (or first occupation) when you buy: no GST. You pay stamp duty and registration only.
• Resale flat bought from another owner: no GST. It is a transfer of immovable property, and stamp duty applies.

Payments you make after the completion certificate is issued should not carry GST, even if the flat was booked under construction. This is one of the most common places where buyers overpay.

The GST rate on a residential flat

These rates have applied since 1 April 2019. The September 2025 GST rate changes cut the GST on cement and some other building materials, but did not change the 1% and 5% rates on flats.

A flat counts as affordable only if the price is up to ₹45 lakh and the carpet area is within the limit. Under the GST notification, Delhi NCR (including Noida, Greater Noida and Ghaziabad) is treated as a metropolitan area, where the limit is 60 square metres of carpet area. Check both conditions against your agreement before you accept a 5% demand on a small, low-priced unit.

The 5% and 1% rates are applied to the full amount you pay for the flat. The deduction for the value of land is already built into these rates. You should not see a separate land deduction, and you should not be charged 12% or 18%.

What else in the demand letter carries GST

• PLC, car parking and other charges that are part of the flat price: taxed at the same rate as the flat when they are charged as part of buying the unit.
• Stamp duty and registration: these are government levies. No GST should be charged on them.
• Maintenance charges after possession: separate from the flat. A residents' welfare association has to charge 18% GST only when a member's contribution exceeds ₹7,500 a month and the association's turnover is above the registration limit. Below that, maintenance contributions are exempt.

The overcharges we see most

• GST at 12% or 18% instead of 5% (or 1% for affordable units).
• GST on payments made after the completion certificate.
• GST added on stamp duty, registration fees or other government charges.
• GST on an affordable unit charged at 5% when the unit meets the price and area limits.
• GST still kept by the builder after you cancelled the booking.

Before raising it, lay out each demand letter and receipt with the date, the amount, the GST charged and the rate it works out to. The mismatch is usually obvious on one page.

Getting excess GST back: what UP RERA has said

UP RERA's July 2026 guidance says promoters must follow the notified GST rates and must not collect GST above them. It had already sent the rates to promoters and agents in a circular dated 8 January 2025. For buyers who have overpaid, there are two routes.

Route 1: the builder issues a credit note

If the builder can still issue a credit note, the builder must issue it or refund the full amount, including the GST. Write to the builder with your working, ask for a credit note against your unit, and keep the correspondence. If the builder doesn't act, you can take it up with UP RERA.

Route 2: you apply to the GST department yourself

This applies where the builder can no longer issue a credit note, for example when the project was cancelled, the agreement terminated or the allotment cancelled and time has passed.

1. Take a temporary registration on the GST portal using your PAN.
2. File Form GST RFD-01 under "Refund for unregistered person".
3. Attach proof of the GST paid, the cancellation or termination letter and a certificate from the builder.
4. The department verifies the claim before it pays the refund.

Two limits matter. The claim must be filed within two years of the cancellation or termination date, and claims below ₹1,000 are not entertained. With so many delayed and cancelled projects in Noida and Greater Noida, buyers who cancelled in 2024 or 2025 should check the date now.

GST you paid also counts for income tax

As a home buyer you cannot claim input tax credit, so the GST you paid on the flat becomes part of its cost. When you sell the flat later, add it to the cost of acquisition along with the price, PLC, parking, stamp duty and registration. It reduces your capital gain. Our note on selling a flat in Noida covers that calculation, and our note on TDS and stamp duty when buying in Noida covers the buyer's other obligations.

A short checklist for Noida buyers

• Check the date of the completion certificate for your tower, not just the project.
• Recompute the GST rate on every demand letter you have paid.
• Confirm whether your unit qualifies as affordable on both price and carpet area.
• Make sure no GST was charged on stamp duty or registration.
• If you cancelled a booking, note the cancellation date and the two-year limit.
• Keep every receipt: they support both the refund and your capital gains cost later.

How Vitt-Marg helps

We are in Sector 63, Noida. We review a buyer's demand letters and receipts, work out what GST should have been charged, and draft the letter to the builder. Where a credit note is no longer possible, we handle the temporary registration and the RFD-01 refund application. See our GST services in Noida.

General information, current as of October 2026, not advice for a specific case. GST and income-tax rules change often — check with us before acting on it.