Karnataka tables bill proposing steep hikes in stamp duties

Belagavi: The Karnataka government on Thursday introduced a bill in the assembly to hike stamp duty for the execution of legal documents such as powers of attorney, deeds and affidavits, in a move that is aimed at mobilising financial resources.

The Karnataka Stamp (Amendment) Bill proposes to double all duty levies and the increase is five-fold for some instruments.

Stamp duty and registration fees are crucial revenue streams for the state government and the target this fiscal is to collect Rs 25,000 crore.

As per the bill, stamp duty on adoption deeds will go up from Rs 500 to Rs 1,000. Affidavits that have a stamp duty levy of Rs 20 will be up to Rs 100.

Stamp duty on powers of attorney will be hiked from Rs 100 to Rs 500. When more than five but not more than 10 persons are authorised to act jointly, the stamp duty will go up from Rs 200 to Rs 1,000.

For partition deeds of properties located in urban areas, stamp duty is proposed to go up from Rs 1,000 per share to Rs 5,000. For properties located outside urban limits, it will be Rs 3,000 per share instead of the current Rs 500. Partitioning agricultural properties will attract a stamp duty of Rs 1,000 per share, up from Rs 250, according to the bill.

Stamp duty on divorce papers, too, will go up from Rs 100 to Rs 500. For certified copies, the bill proposes to hike stamp duty from Rs 5 to Rs 20.

Registering trusts will also get costlier as the government, through the bill, wants to hike stamp duty from Rs 1,000 to Rs 2,000.

In conveyance deeds involving amalgamation of companies, the prescribed stamp duty is 3 per cent on the market value of the property or an amount equal to 1 per cent of the aggregate value of shares. The bill proposes to hike this to 5 per cent of the market value of the property and 5 per cent of the value of shares.

According to the bill’s statement of objects and reasons, a separate provision is proposed regarding levy of stamp duty on bank guarantees.