All About Stamp Duty In West Bengal
There may have been times where you had to repeatedly ask questions to relatives or neighbors who had prepared legal documents to know how to go about paying Stamp Duties. Against all practical assumptions, it yet remains as something not taught at any point of our lives. Hence, like the many necessities of life, it is acquired with experience and repetition of mistakes! However, internet really does solve these problems for all of us, from buying Stamp Papers to even registering legal documents. If you’re surprised and do not follow, read on to find out LegalDesk.com’s endeavors to solve the quintessential problem in every common man’s life – acquiring Stamp validated Legal documents!
What Is Stamp Duty?
Stamp Duty refers to the tax paid to the government in exchange for Stamp Papers, or to be more precise, to give legal validation to documents. It is a legal formality mandated by the Indian Stamp Act, 1899. Without the payment of Stamp Duty, a document ceases to be an instrument, which is a ‘document in writing’ that serves as an evidence in the event of money/asset transaction. Stamp Duty levied on a particular service or transaction of property depends on the instrument at use. For some documents Duty is fixed while for others, different rates are fixed depending on the fluctuating values of the property or asset in question. An example for dynamic rates of Stamp duty is Rental Agreements.
Documents We Help You Create
Drafts of many documents that require the payment of Stamp Duty are available on LegalDesk.com. You can also customise the draft to suit your requirements. Our Support Team will be able to help you out with the customisations.
| Nature Of The Document | Description | Stamp Duty |
| Rental Agreement | Rent agreement where rent is fixed and duration doesn’t exceed a year Rent agreement where monthly rent is fixed and duration of 1-10 yearsDuration of 10-30 yearsDuration exceeding 30 years |
4% of the whole amount paid, payable, or deliverable under such lease. 5% for a consideration of twice the amount or value of the average annual rent received if the property is in the panchayat area.6% for the consideration of twice the amount or value of average annual rent. 5% for a consideration of thrice the amount or value of the average annual rent. (in a panchayat area); 6% for the consideration of thrice the amount or value of average annual rent. (for municipal or corporation area) 5% of the market value of the property in panchayat area. 6% of the market value of the property in Municipal or Corporation Area. (1% additional Stamp Duty if the market value exceeds 40 lakhs) |
| Gift Deed | When made to a member of a family
When made to others |
0.5% of the market value of the property. 5% of the market value of the property in panchayat area. 6% of the market value of the property in Municipal or Corporation area. (1% additional Stamp Duty if the market value exceeds 40 lakhs) |
| Power of Attorney | When given to a developer for construction, sale or transfer of immovable property, Market value does not exceed 30 lakhs 30 – 60 lakhs 60 lakhs – 1 crore 1 crore – 1.5 crore 1.5 crore – 3 crore More than 3 crores |
Rs. 5,000 Rs. 7,000 |
| Affidavit | All kinds of Affidavits | ₹ 10 |
| Partnership Agreement | Upto ₹ 500 Upto ₹ 10,000 Upto ₹ 50,000 Exceeding ₹ 50,000 |
₹ 20 ₹ 50 ₹ 100 ₹ 150 |
Apart from the above, other instruments that elicit the payment of Stamp Duty can be classified into three categories –
- Fixed Stamp Duty, irrespective of the change in value of the instrument – Administration Bonds, Adoption Deed, Divorce, Apprenticeship Deed, Award, Cancellation Deed, Indemnity Bond, etc.
- Stamp Duty dependent on the value of the property / asset concerned in the instrument – Title Deed, Mortgage Deed, Security Bond, Hypothecation Deed, and Articles of Association.
- Stamp Duty depends either on the market value of the asset concerned or the value of the instrument – Agreements for Sale, Conveyance, Gift Exchange, Development Agreement, Transfer of Property, Partnership Deed, Partition, Trust Deed, and more.
Let LegalDesk Do The Job For You!
Now that you know the kind of documents that we help you prepare, it is time to register and start drafting your agreement. However, if your draft is all ready, you can choose us to pay your Stamp Duty apart from having the agreement printed and delivered to your doorstep. Use our Print and Deliver service to have to document delivered to your doorstep.
Types Of Stamp Papers
Based on the type of instrument, the usage of Stamp Papers vary. Stamp Papers in West Bengal can be broadly classified into two types –
Impressed Stamps
Impressed Stamps have Stamps affixed on them by the respective officer authorised to do so. Stamps are either embossed or engraved by franking machines which can be found in post offices as well as certain banks. The use of franking for payment of Stamp Duty has been introduced under Finance Department for franking impression of different kinds of Stamps either by officers or by Authorised Users. Centurian Bank, Standard and Chartered Bank, Alliance Bajaj Ltd. are some among the 44 other Authorised Financial Institutions.
Adhesive Stamps
Instruments with Adhesive Stamps are those on which the respective Stamp is affixed or stuck. For Adhesive Stamps there is another method of paying Stamp Duty where, serialized authenticated bank receipts are used executed with the help of SABR especially for non-Judicial Stamp Paper above ₹ 5,000. The SABR are supplied to every branches of State Bank of India for the payment of the Duty. Adhesive Stamp Papers can be further characterized as –
- Postal Stamp Paper – They are used for transactions within the circle of Post offices.
- Non Postal Stamp Paper – Non Postal Stamp Paper on the other hand can be Revenue Stamp, Court fee Stamp, Notarial Stamp, Foreign Bill Stamp, Special Adhesive Stamp, Broker’ Note, Insurance Policy Stamp, Share Transfer Stamp and more.
Remember – It is Either Stamp Duty Or Penalty!
None of us want to be muddled in a legal dispute but again that is something not in your control. Legal Disputes are nothing short of quick sands as they are infamous to lead to financial droughts in everyone’s lives. However, if you should find yourself stuck in one such vexation, God forbid, having all your documents legally validified by paying the Stamp Duty, there is a substantial reduction in the risk factor. Also not paying the Stamp Duty goes against law, as it is equalled to non-payment of taxes which is why it can attract penalty many times more than the actual duty and in worst case scenario, even imprisonment upto three months. Keeping all this mind we hope you do come back to our portal with the resolve of paying the Stamp Duty from our Print and Delivery service.
