Bhutan

Registering Property in

Bhutan

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: BTN 4,581,394.21
  • City: Thimphu

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No. Procedure Time to Complete Associated Costs
1 Complete and submit the Land Transfer Form to the Thimphu City Corporation (TCC)

A Land Transfer Form is completed by the seller with all required documents. It will take between 3 – 4 months for all internal process to take place.
(1) The Land Act requires TCC to issue to the seller a transaction ID number, verify if property is legally registered and if all tax liability is cleared.
(2) TCC Land Records Section surveys the plot to identify it and fix boundaries.
(3) TCC transfers the documents to the Land Commission for approval.
(4) The Land Commission approves the property transfer and transfers the Ownership Certificate to TCC.
(5) TCC will then inform the buyer to come and to pay the Transfer Tax at TCC


Agency: Thimphu City Corporation 		90 days No cost
2 Buyer pays transfer tax at the TCC Revenue Section

The buyer pays the transfer tax at the TCC Revenue Section and collects the Revenue Certificate, as proof of payment (separate building). The Revenue Section is closed on Thursday and Friday. From Monday October 18, 2010 the Revenue Section set up an office in the same building as the Land Records Section and company can pay in the same building. The company will pick up an already ready Revenue Certificate upon payment. The company must pay within 2 months otherwise the transaction will be cancelled.

Agency: Thimphu City Corporation 		1 day 5% of property value
3 Buyer collects Ownership Certificate and Revenue Certificate at the TCC Land Records Section

The ownership certificate guarantees all legal rights to the owner.

Agency: Thimphu City Corporation 		1 day no cost
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