Sops to builders: 2 pc uniform stamp duty for JDAs, GPAs

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has announced a uniform stamp duty of two per cent on Joint Development Agreements (JDAs) and their consequent General Power of Attorney (GPA), a move seen as a boon to the builders, who are grappling with steep increase in prices of construction materials. However, property prices are unlikely to come down.

The Stamps and Registration department is currently charging one per cent and five per cent stamp duty for JDA and GPA respectively. And one per cent stamp duty is applied to only those JDAs wherein the landowners and the developers agree to sell their portions separately after completing the project.

If the developer and the land owner agree to share the proposed developed property, such agreements are being considered as sale conveyance and five per cent stamp duty is being collected.

Now, in the 2014-15 budget, a uniform two per cent stamp duty has been proposed on JDA and the related GPA. “Uniform stamp duty will help the ailing realty sector. So far, there was confusion on stamp duty to be collected for JDA,” Vijayraghava Reddy of Builders' Association of India, Bangalore, said.

But the move is unlikely to bring down the property prices as the builders consider it as only a minor relief. S Selva Kumar, advocate in property matters, said that though it is a welcome move, the government has to clarify whether the reduced stamp duty is applicable to only land portion or the proposed developed area.

Besides, the budget has proposed to exempt stamp duty on sale deed in respect of alternative site allotted by the BDA after the denotification of land and on instruments under the Aerospace Policy – 2013-14. Stamp duty is proposed to be reduced on instruments related to delivery order from the current 0.5 per cent to 0.1 per cent, on award relating to movable properties from 5 per cent to rates ranging from 0.25 per cent to 0.75 per cent on slab basis.

Other initiatives

Bhoomi software to be upgraded; re-survey of land in two phases. Bangalore Rural, Chikkaballapur, Ramanagar, Tumkur and Belgaum districts in first phase; and facility to issue khata by tahsildars to be introduced.