Afghanistan

Registering Property in

Afghanistan

Listed below is a detailed summary of the steps, time and cost involved in registering property, assuming a standardized case of an entrepreneur who wants to purchase land and a building that is already registered and free of title dispute.

The information appearing on this page was collected as part of the Doing Business project, which measures and compares regulations relevant to the life cycle of a small- to medium-sized domestic business in 183 economies. The most recent round of data collection for the project was completed in June 2011.

  • Standard Property Transfer

  • Property Value: AFN 1,165,470.76
  • City: Kabul

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No. Procedure Time to Complete Associated Costs
1 Obtain application form and two Circular forms from Primary Court

The seller must file an application at the primary court in the relevant district in which the land is located. The Judge of the Primary Court signs the application form in order to initiate a search of Makhzan records.

Agency: Primary Court 		3 days no cost
2 Submit signed Circular Form to the Chief of Makhzan to initiate the search of registered deeds

The applicant gives the signed Circular forms to the Makhzan to initiate the search of the Makhzan historical records of registered deeds.
Once the application is filed, the validity of the property’s legal deed must be verified in the Court of Appeals registry by the Head of the Makhzan.
The Makhzan keeper searches for deeds in archives based on the details provided by the applicant (registry number and photos). The clerk then ensures that the information on the Circular form matches the records of the Makhzan. The keeper gives the deed book and the owner’s property deed to the Chief of Makhzan, who will check for the correctness of ownership and sign again the Circular Form.


Agency: Chief of Makhzan 		8 days no cost
3 Submit Circular Forms to the property Office (Milkiat-ha) in the Municipality

The applicant takes the Circular Form to the Milkit-ha for certification of location and valuation of property and checking of the ownership. An Imlak committee establishes the value of the land after an inspection of the property. The value is entered on the Circular Form and 1% on that is charged, to be paid at the bank.

Agency: Municipal Land Office (Imlak) 		15 days 1% of the property value (paid in Procedure 7)
4 Submit the Circular Form to the Revenues and Collection office of the Mustufiat (Ministry of Finance Provincial Revenue Department)

The applicant takes the Circular Form to the Tax Collection Office of the financial department of the local Mustofiat for certification of property taxes owed. The Ministry of Finance also charges 1% on the value determined by the Municipal committee.

Agency: Ministry of Finance Provincial Revenue Department (Mustufiat) 		5 days 1% of the property value (paid in Procedure 7)
5 Submit the Circular Form to the Human Resource Directorate for certification of signatures

The Circular Form is submitted to the Human Resources Directorate to certify the signatures of the local and provincial (regional) Mustofiat staff.

Agency: Mustofiat 		3 days no cost
6 Submit back the completed Circular Form to the Primary Court judge

The completed Circular Form is reviewed by the Primary Court judge. The clerk writes a tariff for the applicant to pay the taxes.

Agency: Primary Court 		1 day no cost
7 Seller pays property taxes at a designated bank

The seller pays the property taxes, indicated in the Circular Form, at a designated bank.

For property values below AF 1 million, the registration fee is 2%. For property values above AFN 1 million (DB case), the registration fee is 3% of total property value (this is not a sliding scale). The Presidential decree and the decision of commune commission of two chambers of Parliament published on April 9th, 2009 introduced a fee schedule for registration fees in Afghanistan.

Agency: Bank 		1 day 3% of property value to the Court (Makama) (registration fees for property values above AFN 1 million; otherwise the rate is 2%)+ 1% municipallity, 1% Mustofiate (Ministry of Finance department) fees
8 Submit the completed Circular Form, with payment receipts, to the Primary Court

The applicant returns to the Primary Court with the completed Circular Form and the receipts as proof of payment.
The judge will order the clerk to prepare a new deed in two copies. The new deed is scrutinized by the Primary Court Judge, who signs both copies.
The Konda (stub copy) is maintained in the Primary Court until the full record book is passed on to the Makhzan for storage. This takes place at the end of every financial year.
The property transfer tax of 5% has been eliminated by Presidential decree dated July 14, 2008.


Agency: Primary Court 		31 days no cost
9 The buyer applies for title transfer

The applicant brings the new Deed to the Milkiat-ha Directorate to change the names in the books (Safia book), as well as for all utilities.

Agency: Milkiat-ha Directorate 		1 to 365 days no cost
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