New rules require ghar jagga purchases to go through a commercial bank in Nepal or other financial institutions. Learn what documents you need and how to register your property legally.

Let’s say you’re buying a piece of land. You’ve talked to the seller, agreed on the price, and are all set to register the property.

You reach the Land Revenue Office thinking it’s just a matter of signing some papers. But then the officer looks at you and says:

“Do you have a bank statement?”

You pause.
Bank statement? For buying land?

If you’ve done this before, you might be surprised. And if it’s your first time, you might be completely confused. After all, land deals in Nepal have mostly been done in cash for decades.

So, what changed?

Well, a new rule came into effect through the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter Terrorist Financing Regulations, 2082. Now, for many types of land and property transactions, you must show proof that the money was transferred through a bank, not paid in cash. In fact, in some cases, you can’t even register the land unless you attach a bank statement showing the transfer.

Why? Let’s talk about that.

Why Such A Huge Change? And Why Now?

At first, this might feel like unnecessary hassle. More documents. More steps. More confusion.

But there’s a reason behind all of it. And it actually has less to do with you, and more to do with the people who’ve been misusing land deals to hide illegal money.

Let’s break this down.

1. Money Laundering Through Real Estate

Imagine someone earns money in an illegal way; through bribery, smuggling, not paying taxes, or even criminal activities. This kind of money is in cash, and if they just keep it at home, it can raise suspicions.

So what do they do?

They buy land with that cash. Sometimes it's a ghar, sometimes it's just a plot, but it's always seen as a safe place to hide unaccounted money.

Why land? Because land is valuable, easy to sell later, and for a long time, nobody really asked questions about where the money came from.

Later, they might sell that land again, and now the money they get from the sale looks clean and legal. That’s what people mean when they talk about money laundering: turning “black money” into “white money” by running it through property transactions.

And here’s where it affects people like you and me.

When people start pouring piles of black money into land, it pushes the prices way up. Suddenly, land that should’ve cost 10 lakh is selling for 25. Who suffers? Honest buyers who actually save money, take loans, and pay taxes. They can’t compete in a market flooded with dirty cash.

Worse, this kind of unchecked cash dealing also opens the door for money to end up in very dangerous hands, even groups that finance violence or terrorism. That’s why the government had to step in.

2. Nepal’s Catch-Up Game: FATF Grey List 

All around the world, countries are tightening rules to stop illegal money from flowing through real estate and banks. Leading this global effort is an international body called the Financial Action Task Force (FATF).

So, what is FATF?

Think of it as the world’s financial watchdog. FATF sets rules to make sure countries are preventing money laundering and terrorist financing. If a country doesn’t follow those rules, it lands on a warning list called the grey list.

And yes, Nepal is already on that grey list.

What does that mean?

Being on the grey list doesn’t mean we’re breaking the law. But it does signal that our financial system isn’t fully trustworthy yet. As a result, investors get nervous, international payments face delays, and Nepal risks losing out on foreign support and opportunities.

To fix this, Nepal has promised FATF it will tighten its systems. And one of the biggest gaps? Property transactions, a sector long used for hiding and cleaning illegal cash.

That’s why the government introduced this new rule in 2082:

“For property deals above a certain value, you must use a bank. No more cash-only deals. And yes, you’ll need to show your bank statement too.”

This is not just about paperwork. It’s Nepal trying to build a cleaner, fairer system where hardworking people aren’t pushed aside by those throwing around black money.

And it’s also Nepal saying to the world:

“We’re cleaning up. We want off the grey list.”

What Do The Rules Actually Say?

Now that we know why these new rules exist, let’s talk about what they actually say.

The directive lays out a step-by-step process that buyers, sellers, and land offices must follow when carrying out land or property transactions. And this isn’t just for big investors, these rules apply to everyday people too.

Let’s walk through the main points:

1. KYC Form is Now Mandatory

Every time you buy or sell land, both the buyer and seller must fill out a form called a KYC (Know Your Customer) form.

Think of it as an ID verification form that helps the government know who’s involved in the deal. It includes your personal details like name, address, citizenship, source of income, and more.

This form has to be submitted along with the land transfer deed.

Depending on where you’re registering your land, here’s how it works:

• If the Land Service Center (भूसेवा केन्द्र) is active in your area, they’ll help you fill and upload the KYC form.
• If not, the Service Desk at the Land Revenue Office will do it.

This makes sure that people can’t hide their identity or use someone else’s name to carry out suspicious transactions.

2. Even Land Service Centers Must Submit KYC

If someone is opening a new Land Service Center, or renewing an old one, they also have to submit KYC.

In this case:

• The center itself has to fill a form (Schedule 3).
• The person running it has to fill a separate KYC (Schedule 2).

The government wants to make sure even the people handling land registrations are clean, verified, and traceable.

3. Payments Must Go Through a Commercial Bank in Nepal or Other Financial Institutions

If you’re buying or selling land worth more than Rs. 10 lakh (1 million), you can no longer pay in cash.

Here’s how it breaks down:

• For amounts between Rs. 10 lakh and Rs. 50 lakh:
  You must use a commercial bank in Nepal, this includes normal bank transfers or mobile banking apps.
• For deals above Rs. 50 lakh:
  You must pay either through:
  • Electronic transfer (like mobile or internet banking), or
  • A “Good for Payment” cheque (a special type of cheque guaranteed by the bank).

This creates a clear money trail and prevents cash-based land deals that are hard to trace or tax.

4. You Must Submit a Bank Statement

This is the big one. From now on, when you go to register a property, you must attach a bank statement that shows the money went from the buyer’s account to the seller’s account.

No statement = no registration.

It doesn’t have to be a full bank statement; just a proof of that specific transaction is enough.

It connects the land deed to a real financial transaction, ensuring the deal is legitimate and not just a paperwork formality.

5. Registration Fees & Taxes Must Also Be Paid from Bank Accounts

If the transaction value is over Rs. 10 lakh, all related government fees like:

• the registration charge (paid by buyer), and
• the capital gains tax (paid by seller),

must be deposited from their respective bank accounts into the official revenue account.

This ensures even the tax payments are traceable and not paid in cash under the table.

6. Even Advance Payments (Bainapatta) Must Be Bank-Linked

In many property deals, people sign a bainapatta (advance agreement) before the final sale. If the advance is over Rs. 10 lakh, and it has been certified by a local authority, then:

You also need to provide proof that the advance was paid through the banking system.

People often use bainapatta to underreport the actual price. This rule closes that loophole and ensures the real amount is reflected.

7. Big Deals Must Be Reported to Nepal Rastra Bank (FIU)

If someone buys or sells property worth Rs. 3 crore or more in a single day, even if it’s split across multiple transactions, the land office must report that person’s details to the FIU (Financial Information Unit) at Nepal Rastra Bank.

High-value property deals are closely watched worldwide for signs of money laundering. This helps the central bank monitor unusual patterns.

8. Suspicious Transactions Must Be Reported Even if They’re Small

It’s not just big transactions that raise red flags.

If a buyer or seller shows suspicious behavior like:

• Using someone else’s bank account,
• Providing false documents, or
• Suddenly buying expensive land with no clear source of income,

Then the land office must report the case to the FIU, even if the deal is below Rs. 3 crore.

This gives officials the power to report shady activity, no matter the amount.

9. These Rules Apply to Everyone, Not Just Individuals

The directive uses the word “person,” but that doesn’t just mean individual buyers and sellers. It also includes:

• Companies
• NGOs
• Institutions
• Cooperatives

No one gets a free pass. The same rules apply to all.

10. Everyone Is Responsible for Following the Rules

Buyers, sellers, banks, land offices, everyone involved in a property deal is legally required to follow these new rules.

The Department of Land Management will keep track, and if someone is found violating the directive, legal action can be taken under existing laws.

This isn’t a “maybe if you have time” type of rule. It’s mandatory, and there are consequences for ignoring it.

11. But What About the Source of Income?

You might ask:
“If this is about stopping money laundering, why doesn’t the land office ask where the money came from?”

Well, they don’t have to.
When you try to send over Rs. 10 lakh through the banking system, the bank itself asks for your source of income, especially if you’re transferring through a commercial bank in Nepal, which is required to follow strict transaction screening rules.

They might ask for salary proof, business earnings, or remittance slips. Without that, the bank won’t process the transaction.

So, even though the land office only asks for a bank statement of the payment, it works like a filter:

To get that statement, you already had to show where your money came from.

It’s a smart way of ensuring that only clean, traceable money is used, without adding more paperwork at the land office.

Some Unaddressed Concerns

The new directive may look good on paper, but it’s also brought up some genuine concerns that haven’t been properly addressed yet. These aren’t technical loopholes or legal debates. These are real problems people are already facing on the ground.

Let’s talk about them.

1. What about those who already paid for ghar jagga in cash?

This is probably the most common, and frustrating situation people are in right now.

These new rules were finalized on 2080/02/13.

What if you finalized a land deal, or maybe even your first ghar before that? Let’s say you paid the seller in cash, just like people have done for decades. The only thing left was to register the land.

But now, the land office tells you:

“We need a bank statement showing the payment.”

And you’re stuck. You can’t go back in time. The money was already handed over. The seller has no reason to return it just to redo it through the bank. And there’s no official guidance for situations like yours.

You didn’t do anything illegal. You followed the system that existed at the time. But now, the system changed, and you’re the one paying the price.

That’s not just unfair. It’s stressful, expensive, and deeply frustrating for families who acted in good faith.

2. What about people in rural areas?

Nepal isn’t just Kathmandu and Pokhara.

In most villages and small towns:

• People still deal in cash.
• Many don’t have PAN numbers or regularly used bank accounts.
• Internet banking? That’s still a luxury for a lot of folks.

So what happens when someone from a rural area wants to sell their land? Or an honest buyer doesn’t have a smartphone or isn’t literate in digital systems?

This directive assumes everyone is already financially included, which isn’t true.

Many people in rural areas still don’t have active accounts with any commercial bank in Nepal, or other financial institutions, making it hard to follow these new procedures.

Without strong support systems; like help desks, mobile banking access, or simplified forms, this law could unintentionally push genuine, law-abiding citizens out of the formal system.

And when that happens, people either delay their transactions, or go back to informal methods, defeating the whole purpose.

3. Are land office staff trained enough to flag suspicious transactions?

The directive says suspicious transactions must be reported to the FIU at Nepal Rastra Bank. That’s good in theory, but here’s the big question:

Do land revenue staff have the tools, training, and confidence to actually do this?

Can they tell the difference between a poorly filled bank statement and a shady transaction? Will they question a suspicious deal between relatives? Will they report it if they’re unsure?

The reality is: most staff at the local level already have too much workload, limited digital systems, and very little investigative training. If this system depends entirely on their judgment, it could lead to:

• Some fishy transactions slipping through, and
• Some honest ones being unfairly flagged

This could create more confusion than clarity, and put both buyers and officers in uncomfortable positions.

4. Are honest people about to get caught in bureaucratic red tape?

Here’s the part no one likes to talk about.

In trying to catch people with black money, the burden is falling hardest on those trying to follow the rules.

If you’re an average Nepali:

• You save for years,
• Do everything the bank asks,
• Gather all your documents,
• And still, at the land office, you might be told something’s missing.

Maybe it’s one page of your bank statement. Maybe your PAN copy is slightly outdated. Maybe your KYC form wasn’t filled out just right.

And suddenly, your registration gets delayed. Or worse; cancelled.

That’s not fighting corruption. That’s punishing good citizens for a system that’s still catching up with its own rules.

If the process feels scary, confusing, or unpredictable, people will start avoiding it. And that’s exactly what we shouldn’t want.

 The Road Ahead

There’s no doubt that Nepal’s new directive on property transactions is bold, and necessary.

For years, land deals have been one of the easiest ways to park black money. Cash payments, undervalued agreements, and zero financial trails made it almost impossible to track real ownership or real income. So yes, it was time for change.

And this new rule? It sends a clear message:
“From now on, land deals must be clean, traceable, and accountable.”

But rules alone don’t fix systems.

The way this law is implemented will determine whether it becomes a true step forward, or just another layer of bureaucracy that ordinary people have to struggle through.

If this reform is going to work in the long run; for both the system and the people, it needs three things:

1. Clear Transitional Support

There must be proper guidance for those stuck in the middle, like buyers and sellers who paid in cash before the law took effect. The government should issue clear instructions or case-by-case mechanisms to deal with these grey areas without punishing people who acted in good faith.

2. Strong Public Awareness and Assistance

Right now, most people outside of city centers have no idea what this rule means, what documents they need, or how to prepare. The government (or local bodies) must:

• Run awareness campaigns in simple Nepali
• Provide help desks or mobile legal support
• Offer printed and online guides in rural municipalities

Otherwise, large parts of the population will be locked out of the formal property system. Not because they want to cheat, but because they don’t understand the process.

3. Capacity Building for Land Revenue Offices

Land revenue offices are now expected to verify KYC forms, check bank statements, flag suspicious activity, and upload documents, all while handling hundreds of daily visitors.

Without proper staffing, training, and digital systems, this new rule risks becoming unmanageable. Not just for buyers, but for government employees too.

They need resources and support if they’re going to be the front line of compliance.

Final Thoughts

This law has opened the door to cleaner, more transparent property deals in Nepal. Now, the challenge is to make sure everyone can walk through that door. Not just those with legal knowledge, digital access, or urban privilege.

This directive is more than a policy shift. It’s a cultural shift. It’s about moving Nepal away from informal, handshake-based deals toward a system that protects buyers, increases government revenue, and builds long-term trust.

But this transition needs care.

Because if we don’t get the basics right; access, understanding, fairness, then honest people will be the ones paying the price. And that’s not reform. That’s just exclusion with a legal name

And if we can get there; step by step, we won’t just fix a system.
We’ll build one that works better for everyone.

Additional Resources:

• 0% Tax Rate in Nepal for Startups: Real Relief or Just Hype? 
• Simplified Method of Taxation for Small Businesses in Nepal 
• VAT Scrapped: What It Means for Fonepay & Connect IPS Users 
• Nepal Rastra Bank, Credit Cards & the Neo Bank Illusion