West Bengal extends stamp duty, circle rate reductions till Dec 31

The West Bengal government has decided to extend the 2% stamp duty relief and 10% reduction in the property circle rate until December 31.

The chief minister announced this at an administrative review meeting in Kurseong on Tuesday.

The original measure, which was announced during the budget in July and was supposed to be in place until October 30, was aimed at stimulating demand in the residential real estate segment and filling government coffers as a result of an increase in the volume of transactions.

For properties up to Rs 1 crore, stamp duty is now 4% in urban areas and 3% in rural areas, respectively, and 5% and 4% for properties above that ceiling.

According to a report released earlier this month by property consultancy Knight Frank, the duty reduction had the desired impact on the market. In the Calcutta Metropolitan Area, 15,160 residential sales deeds were registered between July and September, representing a 122% increase over the same period a year ago.

Developers had been pleading with the government for an extension, and CREDAI West Bengal had written a letter to the chief minister on October 9 in response to the positive response.

Nandu Belani, head of CREDAI in Calcutta, told the media that the decision must be ratified by the Assembly, the extension may not take effect until November 1.

It is recommended that the government consider extending it until March 31.

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Also read: Stamp duty in Gujarat surges 148% in Q1 FY22