Chavan govt's revenue need makes new homes costlier in Maharashtra

The devil is in the detail. Property purchasers in Maharashtra would now have to shell out more towards payment of stamp duty after the stated ‘rationalisation and simplification’ of duty structure proposed in the annual Budget. The government is expected to get another Rs 600 crore yearly.

In Mumbai, both residential and non-residential purchasers would have to pay a five per cent stamp duty on the market value of the property or an additional Rs 17,400 per transaction. In Mumbai alone around 200,000 such transactions take place annually, meaning the government would get an extra Rs 350 crore.

Under the garb of simplification of stamp duty, the government has deleted Article 25 (d) of the Bombay Stamp Act, 1958, which was essentially for residential premises. With this, residential and non-residential transactions have been brought at par. Before the rationalisation and simplification, the stamp duty in Mumbai was charged at Rs 7,600 but it has now increased to Rs 25,000 per transaction. Or, a 3.48 per cent extra for transactions up to Rs 5 lakh.

In rural areas, the stamp duty has been revised to three per cent from one per cent of the market value of the residential property.

About 150,000 such transactions take place annually and the government would get Rs 250 crore.

A government official, who did not want to be identified, told Business Standard: “The government's annual revenue mobilisation will increase by Rs 600 crore. This is crucial, especially when nearly 15 per cent of revenue is annually mobilised through stamp duty and registration charges.”