The state government has extended the deadline from December 31 to January 15 for flat purchasers seeking to pay stamp duty under the amnesty scheme framed in June this year. However, it will not register any agreement after December 31.
The government took the decision after its stamp duty and registration offices at Bandra and Fort were thronged by huge crowds of flat purchasers seeking to avoid levy of the 200% penalty for non-payment of stamp duty before the December 31 deadline expired.
The scheme which commenced on June 9 was earlier extended till September, and thereafter, till December 31. Under the scheme, buyers who purchased flats between July 4, 1980 and December 10, 1985 had to pay stamp duty.
The current stamp duty rate is Rs100 for a flat valued up to Rs2.50 lakh, Rs100-plus (3%) for a flat valued between Rs2.50 lakh and Rs5 lakh and Rs7,600-plus (5%) for a flat valued above Rs5 lakh.
Considering that the average cost of a flat in Mumbai was Rs3 lakh to Rs4 lakh in the early 1980s, the stamp duty under the amnesty scheme would be a mere Rs1,600 to Rs4,600.
Government officials said that those who bought flats between 1980 and 1985, avoided paying stamp duty as the then rates were perceived to be “very high’’.
“They would just enter into an agreement without getting it registered. The stamp duty rates at that time were as high as 15% for flats costing over Rs1 lakh,’’ said an official.
It was only in December 1985 that the state government drastically reduced the stamp duty rate to as low as 1% for flats costing up to Rs2.5 lakh. It also amended the Bombay Stamp Act, making the payment of stamp duty mandatory on the agreement itself without waiting for the actual conveyance to take place.
