Stamp Paper and Stamp Duty

The sale of stamp and stamp papers generates revenue for the government and acts as a kind of transaction tax. Paying stamp duty is an essential part of almost any transaction you do in India like buying or selling a house, setting up a business agreement,  Agreements, Bonds, Powers of Attorney etc. 

The payment of proper stamp duty on a document creates its legality. Such document is admissible as evidence in a court of law. Documents that are not properly stamped, or are unstamped, are not admissible as evidence.  Some of the Documents for which stamp duty must be paid are Adoption Deed, Affidavit, Gift Deed, Indemnity Bond, Lease etc.

Stamp Duty is payable under Section 3 of the Indian Stamp Act, 1899. The levy of stamp duty is a state subject and thus the rates of stamp duty vary from state to state. The Centre levies stamp duty on specified instruments and also fixes the rates for these instruments. Rates of stamp duty payable for different types of documents.

Stamp duty is one of the major sources of revenue for every state. For the state of Maharashtra, stamp duty is the second largest source of revenue after sales tax.

It must be ensured that, in any event, stamp duty is purchased in the name of a person or company who is party to the document. If this does not happens, it will be treated as a document executed (signed) on unstamped paper. To get a refund for an unused stamp paper, you must file a claim within six months from the date of purchase of the stamp paper.

Stamp duty is payable as per the rates provided in the Indian Stamp Act or the State Stamp Act and pay accordingly. 

First step to calculate the Stamp duty is to identify which category the document or instrument falls under. 

There are three categories of transaction for the purpose of stamp duty calculation:

Under the first category, the stamp duty remains fixed no matter what value is mentioned in the document or instrument. Examples of such instruments are Administration Bond, Affidavit, Adoption Deed, Appointment in Execution of Power, Divorce, Apprenticeship Deed, Award, Article of Clerkship, Cancellation Deed, Duplicate, Charter Party, Copy of Extracts, Indemnity Bond, Power of Attorney, etc.

Under the second category, Stamp duty charges are dependent upon the value mentioned in the document. Such documents are Mortgage Deed, Lease Agreement, Title Deeds, Security Bond, Hypothecation Deed, Article of Association, etc.

Under the third category, the Stamp duty depend either on the value mentioned in the document or on the true market value, whichever is higher. Instruments like Conveyance, Agreement for sale, Gift exchange, Partnership Deed, Development Agreement, Transfer of Immovable Property, Trust Deed, Partition, and so on.

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.

Paying Tax by means of stamp papers, notarisation and registration are three different things. For example : Possession is the physical transfer of the property, but it is not sufficient. You also need to have legal evidence of ownership. For this you will have to get the property registered in your name in the local municipal records, with the seller documenting that the property is being transferred to you. At the time of registration, you will also have to pay a stamp duty which is a government tax levied on property transactions.

A person is considered the lawful owner of a property/vehicle only after he gets it registered in his name. Stamp duty is collected on the basis of property value at the time of registration. Stamp duty’s amount varies from state to state and also property type—old or new.

Notarisation is the act of a notary public authenticating by his signature and official seal, certifying the due execution in his presence of a deed, contract or other writing, or verifying some fact or thing about which the notary public has definite knowledge. In India notarisation is performed under Notaries Act, 1952.Documents are notarized to certify their genuineness and prevent fraud and to make sure they are properly executed. The Notary is considered as an impartial witness who verifies signers and ensures they have entered into agreements knowingly and willingly. In short, its objective is to determine everything is true and genuine on the document.

Registration means recording of the contents of the document. Registration of document  acts as notice to the general public.  The object of registration is conservation of evidence and title. Section 17 of the Indian Registration Act 1908, deals with the documents that are compulsory to be registered. 

Stamp duty is a legal tax payable in full and acts as an evidence for any financial transaction such as sale or purchase of a property.Stamp paper must be purchased in the state where the document is executed.