JOIN USStamp duty paid in excess will be refunded
The Department of Stamps and Registration has decided to either refund the excess amount or adjust it at the time of sale deed registration. The department is yet to assess the number of people who have paid extra stamp duty.
Due to a mistake while printing the gazette notification dated March 31, 2010 amending the Karnataka Stamp Act, wherein the stamp duty on the sale agreement is wrongly mentioned as one per cent instead of 0.1 per cent, hundreds of people have paid excess duty in the last one month.
Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa, in his 2010-11 budget, announced to cut the duty from 0.25 per cent to 0.1 per cent with effect from April 1, 2010.
Assistant Inspector General of Stamps and Registration Bhojanayak said it has been decided to adjust the excess amount paid at the time of registration of the document (sale deed) under the Section 20 the Karnataka Stamp Act. A provision for adjusting the excess duty under the Act was made recently, he added.
Similarly, he said, excess amount will be refunded to all those who have already registered the sale deed under Section 44 of the Act. The Inspector General of Stamps and Registration has powers to order the refund.
Ordinance
Steps have been initiated to rectify the mistake. The Department of Parliamentary Affairs is drafting an amendment for this purpose. The Government may shortly promulgate an ordinance in this regard.
According to Bhojanayak, the Parliamentary Affairs Department committed the mistake while drafting the Bill and that the Stamps and Registration Department has no role in it.