Stamp Duty cut a relief for property owners in West Bengal
The year 2014 began with a good news for about 85,000 flat owners owning flats in co-operative housing societies in Salt Lake, Rajarhat, North Kolkata, Burdwan and Durgapur and other places in West Bengal.
State Finance department, Government of West Bengal issued an order in January 2014, allowing the original members of co-operative housing societies across the State to pay stamp duties as per the cost of construction of their property, not on the prevailing market price at the time of such registration.
Due to skyrocketing prices of real estate during the last 5 -6 years, flat owners had not got their flats registered as the stamp duty is payable at the price of the property at the time of registration. Persons who had purchased flats or constructed houses during the last 5-6 years and had not registered their properties due to some reason at that time, were required to pay abnormal stamp duty if they wanted to get their property registered at present due to escalation in market price of the property in the intervening period.
Mutation of property
The effect of such non-registration of property was detrimental to the interest of both, the property owners as well as the state Government. Such flat owners could not become legal owners of their property as the property was not mutated in their name(s).
Mutation can be done only after completion of the registration and after mutation the new owners’ name is registered in the Government’s Record of Rights (ROR). The state Government also could not collect property tax on these properties as there were no legal owner(s) and as such exchequer, state government and different municipal corporations including Kolkata Municipal Corporation were incurring heavy losses.
Who will get this benefit?
The Government of West Bengal tweaked the registration rule and has allowed, by a notification, original members of co-operative societies to pay stamp duty according to cost of construction of the property. Post notification, all the owners of flats or houses constructed on or before March 2013 through co-operative housing societies will get this benefit.
All flats under construction by housing societies will also get the benefit if these are registered within 24 months of completion. Middle class people of West Bengal will be immensely benefited by this notification. However the benefit notified by the notification will not be applicable for transfer of property by any member of the society to a third party (buyer).
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This article is contributed by -IndianPropertyLawyers, simplifying property
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