Maharashtra: Now, pay 6% stamp duty on property deals

Mumbaikars will have to pay 1 per cent stamp duty surcharge in addition to the existing 5% stamp duty on property transactions, effective February 8. This additional levy on sale, gift and usufructuary mortgage of property in the jurisdiction of BMC will help raise funds for infrastructure projects like Metro and sealinks. The government hopes to mop up additional Rs 1,000 crore with imposition of 1 per cent surcharge on stamp duty.
Although the government had passed a Bill in the Winter Session in November, the state urban development department issued the notification last week.
The state legislature had approved an amendment to the BMC Act 1888. Currently, stamp duty is collected at the rate of 5 per cent of the ready reckoner (RR) rate on sale transactions and also on gift deeds made to a third person.
Usufructuary mortgage is a special type of mortgage where the mortgagor hands over possession to the mortgagee till the repayment is done. Following the amendment, it has now been increased to 6 per cent.
CREDAI-MCHI president Nayan Shah said the government should have waited as the realty sector is passing through a difficult phase. ”The stamp duty has risen by 20% (one per cent on five per cent). This is a substantial rise,” Shah said.