Bill passed, stamp duty set for hike

BELAGAVI : The legislative council on Tuesday passed the Karnataka Stamps and Registration (Amendment) Bill, 2023, which provides for a hike in stamp duty on non-registrable instruments such as rental and lease agreements and bank guarantees. The bill has already been passed in the legislative assembly.

Revenue minister Krishna Byregowda, who piloted the bill, told the house that as many as 51 instruments and articles and 181 sub-instruments have been classified as non-registrable instruments for which registration is optional. He said duty on them has not been revised for a long time. For instance, Rs 20was fixed on affidavits in 2000 and it is now being hiked to Rs 100.

He said the amendment will help the government ramp up revenue as stamp duty on registrable instruments at present accounts for 90% of annual revenue of Rs 20,000 crore and non registrable instruments contribute only 10%.

“This measure will give people legal protection since instruments without registration will not have any legal sanctity,” Byregowda said. He defended the hike saying stamp duties in other states like Maharashtra are much higher.
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