Stamp duty and registration rates to rise by 20 per cent

They will be higher in some pockets, but for those going for redevelopment, the new fee will be calculated for the extra space the owner gets in the new flat

Come 2015, and you will be paying almost 20 per cent more for the stamp duty and registration of your new flat in Mumbai. The new ready reckoner rates will be out on January 1, and as per sources in the Inspector General for Registration Office, Maharashtra, these are moving up by nearly 20 per cent across the city on an average, and will be higher in some pockets.

But there’s good news for those who already have flats and may go in for redevelopment. For alternative accommodation e.g. those going for redevelopment the fees shall be calculated for the extra space the owner gets, and not on the existing space he owns.

Vinod Sampat, president, Stamp Duty and Registration Payers’ Association, said that though the sales this year haven’t been that good, the prices are going high. “The ready reckoner rates will be nearly 20 per cent higher than what they were for the year 2014.

However, the alternative accommodation rates have been kept the same, thus benefiting homeowners in a building which will undergo redevelopment.” Sampat says the government should stop calculating the fees on built-up area and should start charging only on the carpet area.

On buying a property, the owner has to pay five per cent stamp duty and one per cent or Rs 30,000 (whichever is less) of the total flat value to the state government. This is mandatory for every sale and purchase of the property.

Dr Sanjay Chaturvedi, executive editor, Accommodation Times, also agreed that the ready reckoner rates are going up, but believes these rates are determined through a flawed technique. The ready reckoner rates are calculated for areas on the basis of the sale agreement registered in the registrar’s office.

The registrars observe the trend that is, if flats are going at higher prices, then the ready reckoner rates will go up or vice versa. “Why should the government charge these rates? Why not charge the buyer at the rate at which he or she has purchased the property? This whole process is irrational,” said Chaturvedi.

How the fee will be charged
If a person owns a 1,000 square feet flat, and after redevelopment he gets a 1,500 square feet flat, he will be charged the fee based on the construction cost for the existing 1,000 square feet, as per the old rates. On the additional 500 square feet he has received, the government will be charging him on the new ready reckoner rates.

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