Stamp duty shall remain unchanged till further orders. Due to COVID and lockdown the work required for updating ready reckoner rates couldn’t be carried out.
By Varun Singh
Theres a major announcement, and it is that for now stamp duty shall remain unchanged
This might come as a relief for certain section of home buyers, however, the developer community has given its verdict against it. Builders wanted it reduced.
The stamp duty that existed for the financial year of 2019-20 shall continue till fresh orders come in.
The ready reckoner rates that are released by April 1, every year for the forthcoming financial year got delayed this time.
The reason being COVID 19 pandemic and the following lockdown. Because of which the work on preparing the ready reckoner which comprises of stamp duty and other information couldn’t be released on time.
Inspector General for Registration Omprakash Deshmukh confirmed that ready reckoner for time being shall remain unchanged. He immediately added that this is not for the entire financial year of 2020-21 but till new orders come in.
According to Deshmukh, COVID and lockdown is the reason why the new ready reckoner rates couldn’t come in as work had stopped.
How does this impact a home buyer, every year the government comes with fresh ready reckoner rates and in most likelihood they are hiked.
On a purchase of an apartment the home buyer has to pay the stamp duty and the registration fees. The stamp duty is calculated based on the ready reckoner rates published by the government.
So till new orders come in, a home buyer buying a home and registering it shall be paying the same stamp duty as he would have paid in the last financial year.
Though news has left builders unhappy. Manju Yagnik, Vice Chairperson, Nahar Group and Vice President NAREDCO (Maharashtra) say, “The Ready Reckoner Rates for the year 2019-20 would be applicable for the year 2020-21 also till further orders, has left the real estate industry disappointed. The industry is reeling under slowdown followed by lockdown due to Covid19 expected reduction in RR rates which are already higher.”
Developers say the reduction in RR rates would have provided some respite to home buyers and developers both.
Though unchanged RR rates imply that home buyers will not have to spend more on stamp duty or registration fees, besides keeping residential prices stabilized.
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