Stamp duty cut impact: Registration up by 92%, revenue 59.10% during Dec in Maharashtra

There is good news for the cash-strapped Maharashtra government as the stamp duty and registration charges for December 2020 alone shot up by a record 59.10 per cent at Rs 4,314.99 crore against Rs 2712,2 crore collected during the corresponding period last year.

The number of documents registered in December 2020 stood at 4, 59, 607 against 2,39, 292 during the same period last year, a rise of 92 percent.

During September-December 2020, in all 12, 56, 224 documents were registered against 8, 44, 636 documents during the corresponding period last year witnessing a jump of 4,11,588 documents. The government has mobilised Rs 9,622.63 crore against Rs 9, 254.9 crore which is a rise of 3.97 per cent with additional revenue of Rs 367.73 crore. This was attributed to the state government’s decision to reduce the stamp duty by 3 percent during September-December 2020.

During April-December, the revenue from stamp duty and registration was reported at Rs 14,598.83 crore which is 97.33 per cent of the target of Rs 15,000 crore.

Revenue Minister Balasaheb Thorat said, “The reduction in stamp duty has given a much needed boost to the construction sector and it has helped to put the state's economy back on track. In 4 months, registrations are up by 48 per cent and the revenue by Rs 367 crore as compared to the same period last year. As a result, the state's economy and industry have gained momentum.”

He said the decrease in stamp duty has benefited the home buyers and also led to a boom in the construction sector.

Thorat reiterated that the decision to slash stamp duty rates was taken keeping in mind the interest of both the home buyers as well as the need to infuse new energy in the real estate sector.

Thorat said apart from big cities like Mumbai and Pune, the dream of homebuyers in smaller cities has also come true. “The stamp duty cut has helped home buyers especially in the big cities, as the price of the flats and the stamp duty to be paid were quite high. The pandemic had also crippled the state’s economy. The reduction in stamp duty helped bring money into the coffers and benefited both consumers as well as developers,” he noted.