Land Tax Kerala Online
paying karam on ReLIS, the rates, and getting the receipt
Land tax is the smallest bill attached to a piece of Kerala land and the one that causes the most trouble when it lapses. Here is how the payment works now that quick pay has gone, what the rates are, and why the name on the receipt matters more than the amount.
To pay land tax Kerala online, open revenue.kerala.gov.in (Revenue eServices, ReLIS), register once with your mobile number and OTP, then choose land tax payment, select district, taluk, village and block, and enter your thandaper number or survey number. The old Kerala land tax online quick pay route without login has been discontinued. Basic tax (karam) runs ₹5 to ₹8 per are a year in panchayat areas, ₹10 to ₹15 in municipalities and ₹20 to ₹30 in corporations depending on the size of the holding. The land tax receipt download Kerala owners need sits in payment history inside the same login.
Reviewed 19 September 2026 by J Group Consultancy, Ernakulam. Government portals, fees and timelines change — confirm the current position before you rely on it.
Kerala land tax payment, step by step
- 01
Open the Revenue eServices portal and register once
Go to revenue.kerala.gov.in and choose Citizen Registration. You give a name, a locality and an Indian mobile number, set a username and password, and confirm with the OTP. This is a one-time step; the same login later carries land conversion applications and their status.
- 02
Find land tax payment under the citizen services
After logging in, the dashboard lists the services. Land tax payment is among the quick links. Older articles describing a quick pay button on the home page without login are out of date — that route has been withdrawn.
- 03
Select the location of the land
Choose district, taluk, village and block. These come from your deed schedule or the previous receipt. The block is the resurvey block in villages where the digital resurvey is complete.
- 04
Enter the thandaper number or the survey number
The thandaper is the land-tax account number and is the most reliable identifier; the survey or resurvey number also works. The portal then shows the holder, the extent in ares and the amount due, including any arrears.
- 05
Check the extent before you pay
The extent shown is the extent the record now carries. If it does not match your deed — common in villages that have been digitally resurveyed — pay the tax to keep the account alive, then take the discrepancy up separately; see /services/real-estate/digital-resurvey.
- 06
Pay and download the receipt
Pay by card, net banking or UPI. The receipt is generated immediately and is also kept under payment history or transactions in your dashboard, which is where you return for a land tax receipt download later.
Kerala basic land tax rates per are
| Local body | Holding | Basic tax per are per year |
|---|---|---|
| Panchayat | Up to 8.1 acres | ₹5 |
| Panchayat | Above 8.1 acres | ₹8 |
| Municipal council | Up to 2.43 acres | ₹10 |
| Municipal council | Above 2.43 acres | ₹15 |
| Corporation | Up to 1.62 acres | ₹20 |
| Corporation | Above 1.62 acres | ₹30 |
Published by the Land Revenue Commissionerate. Tax is charged on the extent in ares, not in cents — 25 cents is 10.12 ares, so a 25-cent plot in a panchayat costs about ₹51 a year. Convert your extent at /tools/ares-to-cent. Rates are revised by government order; the portal figure at payment is the amount due.
What the land tax receipt actually proves
- It is the cheapest evidence of possession. A continuous run of receipts in your own name is the first thing a Village Officer, a bank or a court looks for when possession is questioned. It does not prove title, but an unpaid account invites trouble.
- It gates almost every other document. Possession and location certificates, land conversion under Form 6 or Form 7, building permits and mutation all ask for a current receipt. A lapsed account stalls the file.
- The name on it must be yours. A receipt still in a parent’s or a seller’s name means mutation was never done. Fix that first at /guides/pokkuvaravu-mutation-kerala.
- It protects land nobody is watching. For NRI-owned land, an unbroken tax record in the owner’s name is one of the few defences against a quiet encroachment claim.
- It is not the same as building tax. Land tax is the Revenue Department’s levy on land; the annual property tax on the building belongs to the local body. See /guides/building-tax-property-tax-kerala.
When the portal will not take the payment
The thandaper is not found
Usually the district, taluk or village is wrong, or the account sits under an old survey number in a resurveyed village. The Village Office can read out the current thandaper against your name and survey number.
The extent has changed
After the digital resurvey the recorded extent may be a few ares more or less than the deed. Pay, then object — the correction route and its one-month appeal window are at /services/real-estate/digital-resurvey.
Arrears from earlier years
The portal totals the arrears with the current demand. Long gaps are payable but worth checking against the Village Office record before paying, especially if the land changed hands during the gap.
The holder is a deceased parent
Tax cannot be moved to an heir without mutation, and mutation on inheritance needs a legal heir certificate — see /guides/legal-heir-certificate-kerala.
Portal slow or timing out
The Revenue portal is heavily used in the evenings and shows a waiting screen for ten to twenty seconds. Let it load rather than refreshing; the State IT Cell helpline for portal faults is 8547610009.
Paying from abroad
Payment instruments are fine; registration needs an Indian mobile for the OTP. We pay and send receipts for NRI clients as part of /services/nri-services.
Questions about Kerala land tax
How do I pay land tax online in Kerala?
Open revenue.kerala.gov.in, the Revenue eServices (ReLIS) portal, and register once as a citizen with your mobile number and an OTP. After logging in, choose land tax payment, select district, taluk, village and block, enter your thandaper number or survey number, check the amount the portal shows and pay by card, net banking or UPI. The receipt downloads at once and stays in your payment history.
Is there a Kerala land tax online quick pay without login?
Not any more. The portal used to allow a quick payment against a thandaper number, and many older guides still describe it, but the Revenue Department has moved land tax behind Citizen Login. Registration takes a few minutes with a mobile number and an OTP, and it is worth doing because the same login carries your payment history, receipts and land-conversion applications.
What is the land tax rate in Kerala?
Basic tax (karam) is charged per are per year and depends on the local body and the size of the holding. In panchayat areas it is ₹5 per are up to 8.1 acres and ₹8 per are above that; in municipal council areas ₹10 per are up to 2.43 acres and ₹15 above; in corporation areas ₹20 per are up to 1.62 acres and ₹30 above. Rates are revised by government order, so treat the portal figure as final.
How do I get a land tax receipt in Kerala, and a land tax certificate?
Log in to revenue.kerala.gov.in with the mobile number you registered, open your dashboard and click payment history or transactions in the left sidebar. Every payment made through the portal is listed with a downloadable receipt. A receipt for a payment made at the Village Office counter is not in the portal — ask the Village Office for a duplicate.
What do I need before paying — thandaper number or survey number?
Either will usually find the record, but the thandaper number is the reliable one because it is the land-tax account itself. It is printed on your last receipt, and the Village Office can retrieve it from your name and survey number. Keep the district, taluk, village and block handy too; see /guides/thandaper-number-certificate-kerala for how the numbering works.
The receipt is in the previous owner’s name. What do I do?
That means mutation (pokkuvaravu) was never completed, and paying the tax does not fix it. Until the thandaper is transferred, you cannot get a possession certificate, a building permit or a bank loan in your own name. Apply for mutation at the Village Office with the registered deed and the last receipt — /guides/pokkuvaravu-mutation-kerala explains the route — then pay the tax against the corrected account.
What is the difference between land tax and building tax in Kerala?
Land tax (basic tax or karam) is a Revenue Department levy on the land itself, paid every year at the Village Office or on revenue.kerala.gov.in. Property tax, often called building tax, is a separate annual levy by the panchayat, municipality or corporation on the building, now paid through the KSMART portal. A third levy, the one-time building tax, is charged once when a building is completed. See /guides/building-tax-property-tax-kerala.
Can an NRI pay Kerala land tax from abroad?
Yes. The portal takes Indian cards, net banking and UPI, so an NRI with an NRE or NRO account can pay directly; the only friction is that registration needs an Indian mobile number for the OTP. Where that is a problem we pay on behalf of clients and send the receipt, which also keeps the annual paper trail that protects land left unattended — see /services/nri-services.
Land in Kerala you cannot get to?
We pay the land tax, keep the receipts in your name, check the record every year and act the moment something looks wrong — for owners here and for NRIs abroad.