Maharashtra Slashes Stamp Duty To 2% Until Dec 2020. Know How Will It Benefit You

Here's all you need to know Stamp Duty: It is to be noted that stamp duty is not uniform across states and varies according to the type of documents. This also varies depending on the gender of the owner of the property.

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Mumbai: In order to provide relief to the battered real estate sector affected by Covid-19 pandemic, the Maharashtra government on Tuesday decided to temporarily reduce stamp duty on housing units from 5 per cent to 2 per cent until December 31, 2020. Here is some cheer for those looking to buy property in the state. As per the report in personal finance website MoneyControl, the Stamp duty from January 1, 2021, until March 31, 2021, will be 3 percent. The decision in this respect has been taken after real estate developers were constantly urging for a reduction in stamp duty to encourage homebuyers for buying properties. Also Read: Tata Group Aims 'All-In-One' E-Commerce App To Take On Amazon, Reliance Currently, the state charges stamp duty of 5% in cities like Mumbai, Pune, Nagpur, and Nashik. The decision regarding the stamp duty was taken at the state cabinet meeting on August 26. On August 15 state revenue minister Balasaheb Thorat has earlier hinted at a 2 to 3 percent reduction in stamp duty on property registrations in the state. Here’s what you should know about the stamp duty. What is stamp duty? The stamp duty is levied by the state to register a document with the registrar. It is basically an agreement or transaction document between two or more parties. The amount is usually fixed depending on the nature of the document or is charged at a certain percentage of the agreement value stated in the document. It is to be noted that stamp duty is not uniform across states and varies according to the type of documents. In case of a registration of a property paper, stamp duty is charged on the transaction value or circle rate (minimum price of the property, as per the government), whichever is higher. This also varies depending on the gender of the owner of the property. For example in New Delhi, a woman has to pay 4% stamp duty, compared with 6% for a man. For a male in Haryana, he has to pay 8% stamp duty in urban areas and 6% in rural areas, while a woman has to pay 6% and 4%, respectively. Remember that a homebuyer can claim a deduction against payment of stamp duty and registration fee under the overall limit of ₹1.5 lakh under Section 80C of the Income-Tax Act, 1961.