Q. What is stamp duty?
A. It is a tax collected by the government, which must be paid on time. If there is delay in payment, it attracts penalty.
Q. Is stamp duty payable on the instrument or transaction?
A. It is payable on instruments and not on transactions. Stamp duty should be charged on the basis of the contents of the instrument only. If any information essential for working out stamp duty is missing in the instrument, valuation officer can call for the same. However if information is already given like, area of flat, No. of floors, year of construction etc. he should not ask for a certificate to that effect from builder or society.
Q. Why should stamp duty be paid?
A. A stamp duty paid instrument/document is considered a proper and legal instrument/document and as such gets evidentiary value and is admitted as evidence in courts. The instruments/documents not properly stamped are not admitted in evidence by the court.
Q. What are the instruments on which stamp duty is to be paid?
A. Instruments include every document by which any right or liability is or purports to be created, transferred, limited, extended, extinguished or recorded but does not include a bill of exchange, cheque, promissory note, bill of exchange, bill of lading, letter of credit, policy of insurance, transfer of shares, debentures proxy and receipt.
Q. Is stamp duty payable on transfer of a flat from husband to wife or children and vice- versa?
A. Yes. Stamp duty will be same as applicable to conveyance. However 10% rebate could be expected during valuation, at the discretion of the valuation officer.
Q. Is stamp duty payable on all I instruments/documents relating to transfer of immovable property?
A. Except transfer by will (or by nomination in a co-operative housing society) all transfer instruments/documents including agreements to sell, Conveyance Deed, Gift deed, Mortgage
Deed, Exchange Deed, Deed of Partition, Power of Attorneys, Leave and License agreement, Agreement of tenancy, lease deeds, etc. has to be properly stamped before registration.
If you have purchased the flat, in a co-operative housing society, on or after 10-12-1985 you must pay the stamp duty on market value as per ready reckoner. Flat purchased on or before 09-12-1985 required stamp paper of Rs.5 only. However on flat purchased on or before 09-12- 1985 will require stamp duty on market value at the time of conveyance of the property in favour of the society. The concept of payment of stamp duty on market value was introduced from 04-07-1980. Property purchased prior to 04-07-1980 will be charged on agreement value only.
Q. What is the relevance of dates 10-12-1985 and 04-07-1980?
A. Any flat purchased in a co-operative housing society on or after 10-12-1985 is required to pay stamp duty on market value at the time of signing the agreement itself. However, prior to 10-12-1985 such transactions required a stamp paper of Rs.5 only at the time of signing the agreement, however stamp duty on market value has to be paid on all such transactions at the time of conveyance of the property in favour of the society.
In case of the property not covered under co-operative housing society, they are required to pay stamp duty on market value from 04-07-1980 onwards. This payment is required at the time of execution of the document. However prior to 04-07-1980 there was no market value concept hence agreement value was accepted for stamp duty payment.
Q. What is the stamp duty payable in case of exchange of properties?
A. In this case stamp duty is payable only on the value of that property, among the two properties exchanged, whose value is higher.
Q. When is stamp payable?
A. It is payable duty either before execution of the document/instrument or on the day of execution of document/instrument or on the next working day of executing such instrument/document. Execution of document/instrument means putting signatures on the instrument by persons executing the instrument/s.
Q. What is the penalty for the delayed payment?
A. If stamp duty is not paid on time, attracts the penalty at the rate of 2% per month on the deficit amount of the stamp duty. However maximum penalty can be only 2 times of the deficit amount of the stamp duty. (This amendment has come into force from 01-05-2001)
Documents lodged with sub-registrar/superintendent of stamps prior to any amnesty scheme will attract lump sum penalty of Rs.250 or Rs.300 only, as the case may be.
Q. What is the rate of stamp duty?
A. Stamp duty on ownership residential flats in a co-operative housing society attracts concessional rates depending upon it's value.
On first 10 lakhs, it is Rs.38,750/- and above that it is 8% of the amount above Rs.10.
Lakhs.
On non-residential properties either in a co-operative society or not, it is at a flat rate of
10% of the value. However non-residential property for the use of nursing home or bank have some relief in it's valuation. Garage which is a part of the resident flat is valued at 25% of the rate applicable to flat in that zone.
On Leave and Licence agreement for one year stamp duty is Rs.2,000/- and for 3 years it is Rs. 10,000/-, For more then three years it will be charged as per lease agreement. Leave and Licence agreement can be for any length of period and not necessarily for 11 months, which is a misconception. If there is any deposit, refundable or not, additional stampduty will be charged at the rate of 1% of the deposit amount, irrespective re of the period of the agreement.
In case of transfer of tenancy, stamp duty is charged at the rate of Rs.200 per Sq.Mtr for Residential premises and Rs.2,000 per Sq.Mtr. in case of non-residential premises, irrespective of the location of the property.
Q. Some agents claim to get the valuation reduced to save substantial amount of stamp duty. Is it correct?
A. Many people are under the impression that some consultants and agents can help them in reducing the stamp duty. We would like to wam them that this can be done only by furnishing misleading information like wrong C.T.S. No. & zone, less area of flat, longer age of building and building having lift es not having lift. This would prove to be very detrimental and harmful when, in future, they receive notice from the department for under valuation due to concealment of facts. Even a registered document can be reopened anytime within 10 years from the date of registration. Please note that writing misleading information in the agreement is offence under Stamp Act, which is Punishable with fine and imprisonment.
Q. Who is liable to pay stamp duty?
A. In the absence of any agreement to the contrary the purchaser/transferee has to pay stamp duty or in case of exchange of properties both parties have to bear stamp duty equally.
Q. In whose name are the stamp papers required to be purchased?
A. From 01/05/1994 stamp papers are to be purchased in the name of one of the parties to the instrument/document. If the stamp paper is not in the name of the parties and it is used for preparing the agreement it will be treated as if no stamp paper is used. However, it will not make the agreement invalid and can be enforced in law if proper stamp duty is paid subsequently.
Prior to 01/05/1994 stamp paper could be purchased in any name and was valid for any period of time. However, from 01/05/1994 stamp paper has a life of six months only and after that it is treated as ordinary paper as if it has no stamp.
Q. Is stamp duty paid on the consideration amount stated in the document or on the market value of property as determined by stamp duty authorities?
A. Stamp duty is payable on the market value of property. Market value of any property is determined by the stamp duty Authorities on the basis of ready reckoner issued by the government every year on 1st of January. However, where value is decided by government or semi- government bodies like LIC, CIDCO, BMC MHADA, Income Tax Department etc. then that value is accepted as market value for the purpose of stamp duty.
Q. What needs to be done to know the amount of stamp duty payable on an instrument before executing the instrument?
A. One can work out the stamp duty amount with the help of ready reckoner easily available. Alternatively, one of the parties to the instrument should get the instrument adjudicated with the stamp duty authorities. Adjudication means determination, by collector of stamps, of proper stamp duty amount, which will become payable if the instrument is executed. For adjudication one of the parties to the instrument can apply to the collector of stamps by furnishing a true copy or an abstract of the instrument on which stamp duty is to be determined along with the details of the property pertaining which the stamp duty is to be determined along with payment of the adjudication fees of Rs. 100.
In case of a signed document, adjudication must be done within one month otherwise two per cent interest per month will be levied as penalty. An adjudicated unsigned document is valid up to 31st December of that year for the purpose of the valuation.
Q. What is the market value of a property?
A. Market value in relation to any property which is the subject matter of the instrument means the price which such property would have fetched if sold in open market on the date of execution of such instrument or document or the consideration stated in the instrument whichever is higher. However, for payment of stamp duty, market value is the value as worked out as per ready reckoner.
Q. What if after adjudication one does not pay stamp duty?
A. If the agreement is signed before adjudication, one has to pay stamp duty with interest and penalty as applicable. However, in case of an unsigned agreement, one may ignore the adjudication order and close the matter if he so desires.
Q. Where can a person pay stamp duty?
A. Stamp duty could be paid legally without adjudication, on the basis of the Ready Reckoner, at the following offices. An amount up to Rs.25,000 is accepted in cash and an amount above that is to be paid by bank draft or pay order drawn in favour of the "Superintendent of Stamps, Mumbai" payable at Mumbai. An amount above Rs.25,000 can also be paid in cash at Reserve Bank of India, through a duly authorised challan. A duly authorised challan can be obtained from General Stamp Office at Fort.
General Stamp Office,
Town Hall Building, Ground Floor, Near Horniman Circle, Fort,
Mumbai 400001.
Office of The Sub Registrar and Administrative officer Old Custom House, Ground Floor,
Near Horniman Circle, Fort, Mumbai 400 023.
General Stamp Office,
Extended Sales Counter, MMRDA Building, 1st Floor, Near Sales Tax office,
Bandra Kurla Complex, Bandra East, Mumbai - 400 051.
Office of The Sub Registrar, New Administrative building, Near Ration Office,
Ramkrishna Chemburkar Marg, Chembur, Mumbai 400 071.
Also, there are various authorised stamp vendors from whom stamp paper of the required amount can be purchased and agreement made on them, which is another way of paying stamp duty. Stamp vendors sell stamp papers of face value up to Rs. 10,000 and one can purchase as many stamp papers as one wants from them.
Q. How does one get a refund of stamp duty?
A. Refund should be claimed within six months from the date of purchase of Stamp. Refund is granted on spoiled paper, blank document or document executed but afterwards found to be unfit due to some mistake. An application should be made to Collector of Stamps, Mumbai.
Q. Where to get market value rates from year 1985 to 2001 for stamp duty valuation?
A. The publisher of this ready reckoner, The Architects Publishing Corporation of India, have published these rates and they may be contacted for further details.
One should refer ready reckoner of the year in which property is purchased so as to arrive at proper market value for payment of stamp duty on old agreements. Even they have also published market value as on 01-04-1981 in Mumbai, for capital gains tax purpose.
Q. Within how much time one should register a document?
A. The document should be registered within four months from the date of the execution. If the document could not be registered within four months, then it can be registered within an additional period of four months after making an application, with reason for the delay, to the sub-registrar and paying penalty as imposed by the sub-registrar. Penalty can be legally upto 10 times of registration fees, which is very high. However, registrars are lenient on this account and may impose a nominal penalty.
Q. What should be done if more than eight months have passed and one wants to register an instrument?
A. If more than eight months have passed since execution of documents and if it is to be registered then one should prepare a deed of confirmation and the said document should be attached as an annexure to the deed of confirmation. One should register the deed of confirmation to which the original agreement has been annexed.
Q. Where can one get copy of the Property Card?
A. For copy of property card following offices may be contacted.
For Mumbai City District. For Mumbai Suburban District
The Superintendent The Superintendent of Lands & Records Mumbai City Survey & Land Records, Mumbai Suburban District,
1st Floor, Old Custom House, Fort, 10th Floor, New Administrative Building,
Shahid Bhagat Singh Marg, Housing Board Colony, Near Chetna College, Mumbai 400 023. Mumbai 400 051.
Tel: 266 1231 Tel: 642 9874
Q. What are the other requirements before registration?
A. A document/instrument should be correctly stamped as per the Ready Reckoner so as to confirm that proper stamp duty has been paid, otherwise the sub-registrars do not register the document.
In view of recent ruling by the Hon. Mumbai High Court Sub-registrars are now accepting the documents and keep it pending for its market value clearance.
For registration of printed and typed documents relating to property in Mumbai city, one should go to Old Custom House, Fort, along with the original document and one photocopy.
For Registration for property in Mumbai Suburb i.e. Borivli and Andheri Taluka is done at MHADA Building, Bandra East and Family Cout Building, Bandra Kurla Complex, Bandra East and for Kurla Taluka registration is done at Administrative Building, Chembur.
For registration at Bandra or the Chembur offices one photocopy with the original are required. The agreement must be typed on 90 GSM Paper on one side only. Photocopies should be taken on only one side of paper and paper should be of 90 GSM quality and there should be a butter paper in between two sheets of the photocopy.
One should go with two witnesses or with a valid passport, for registration.
It is proposed to register document with the help of computer and the original document will be returned after scanning on the same day. Hence photocopy will not be required in future.
Q. Is registration compulsory for all types of transfer of immovable properties?
A. Except in case of transfer of share of co-operative housing society and Housing Limited Company where registration is optional, virtually in all cases of transfer of immovable property like family arrangement, agreement to sell, conveyance, gift deed, lease deed (above one year), Leave & Licence agreement, tenancy agreement, declaration deed, mortgage deed, exchange deed etc. has to be registered compulsorily under Indian Registration Act 1908 otherwise the proper legal title will not pass on to the purchaser/Transferee i.e. title will be defective if registration of document is not done.
However, in view of amendments with effect from 01-01-2002 in the Indian Registration Act, 1908., many legal practioners are of the opinion that even the document of co-operative housing society should also be registered.
Q. In what languages should the document be written so that it can be registered in Mumbai?
A. It should be normally in English, Hindi, Marathi and Gujrati only.
Q. After how long is the document given for registration returned?
A. Documents lodged for registration prior to October 1 1995 are sent to Pune, after it is indexed, for microfilming and then only it is returned to the party which may take a few years. All the documents lodged for registration on and from October 1 1995 are returned to the party within a few days of indexing the same because only the photocopy is sent to Pune for Microfilming.
However, if proposed computerisation takes place documents will be returned on the same day.
Q. Why does so document to return to the owner?
A. The above-mentioned procedure is one of the reasons but the major reasons due to which the document remains pending at the office of sub-registrar and not being indexed and not returned to the owner, are as follows:
- Stamp duty is not paid according to "MARKET VALUE".
- Income Tax Clearance certificate U/s 230 is not attached where
- O.C. of Appropriate Authority in Form 37-1 is not attached where required.
- O.C. under Urban Land Ceiling Act is not attached where required.
- Certain parties to the agreement has not admitted execution in front of Sub-registrar
The above deficiencies were always pointed out at the time of registration by way of remark (such as MV, 230A 37-1 NOC, ADM) on the registration receipt itself but due to ignorance, owners have never cared to clear them and hence documents have, over the years, got accumulated in the office of the Sub-registrar. With effect from 17/08/2000 Sub-registrars where accepting documents which do not have any of the deficiencies mentioned under point
(a) to (d). However, deficiency relating to non-admission is tolerated and document is accepted and kept pending.
However, in view of order dated 12-10-2001 by Hon. High Court of Judicature at Mumbai, the sub-registrars will now accept the documents presented to them even if it is not stamped as per Market Value on the basis of Ready Reckoner. But such document will be kept pending till the Market value Dispute is not settled.
Note: Income tax clearance certificate under Section 230A of Income Tax Act, 1961, is now not required from 01-06-2001 even for documents accepted for registration before 01-06- 2001 as requirement for such certificate was on the day of registration and a document is considered to be registered on the day it is Indexed and if it is not indexed uptill now no Income Tax Clearence certificate is required even for old cases.
Q. What is the Registration fee?
A. Registration Fee is a fee for the service provided by the sub- registrar's office, of recording and storing the document for years together and in proper condition. If one does not pay registration fees, he will not be able to register the document and will be deprived of these services but there is as such no penalty for nonpayment as is the case in stamp duty. So whenever a person goes for registration he is charged the same registration fees as is chargeable on his document on the date of registration and no interest etc. is charged.
Registration fees is one percent of the Market Value or Rs.20,000/- whichever is less in case of documents pertaining to sale or conveyance. This is applicable from 01-04-1997 upto date. However, for documents lodged with sub-registrar during 01-09-1995 to 31-03-1997 maximum fees was Rs.10,000/-and for documents lodged with sub- registrar during 01-01- 1984 to 31-08-1995 this fees was maximum Rs.5,000/- and also documents lodged with sub- registrar prior to 01-01-1984 fees was maximum Rs.250/-.
Therefore if a document is lodged on above respective periods the registration fees will be maximum upto what is indicated for that period even if it is was kept pending at sub- registrars office and is indexed now.
Registration fees in case of Leave & Licence agreement is Fixed at Rs.1,000/- only.
Q. Is society bound to check the payment of stamp duty before transfer of the flats?
A. Society is not bound to check and ascertain if the stamp duty is paid as per market value on the agreement of the incoming members. However it is desirable that all incoming members should pay stamp duty as per true market value of their flats. It will help the society to expedite conveyance process with builders in future. Society can refuse the transfer, if stamp duty is not paid as per market value.
Q. What is restriction on sale of flat?
A. A Member can in Transfer his interest in the capital/property of the said society unless he has held the same for one year.
Q. Can H.U.F. become member of Co-operative Housing Society?
A. Under section 22 of the Maharashtra Co-operative Society Act, an H.U.F. is not included in the list of persons eligible to become members of the Co-operative Housing Society. As such
H.U.F. cannot be admitted as member.
Q. Can a member give his flat on Leave & Licence to outsiders?
A. A member can give his flat on leave & licence only after obtaining permission from the society. In such case society can charge non- occupancy charge which will not be be more than 10% of the maintenance charge of the flat.
Q. What is the transfer fee which a society can charge?
A. Society cannot charge more than Rs.25,000/- transfer fee from incoming/outgoing member.
Q. Why builders do not convey the property in favour of society?
A. It is observed that after the builder hands over the possession of respective flat purchasers, he is expected to convey the property in favour of the society. But in most of the case it is not done because of the following reasons.
- Stamp duty must be cleared of all the members or defaulter must pay stampduty with penalty at the time of conveyance.
- Under land ceiling NOC must be produced.
- Income Tax NOC certificate from competent authority must be produced
Since owner is not interested in producing above certificates and members avoid to contribute their share of stamp duty, builders have good excuse and conveyance is not done in favour of the society.