Stamp Duty and Registration Law & procedural aspects

By Sunit Gupta.
Real Estate Valuer & Co-Author of Stamp Duty Ready Reackoner

STAMP DUTY Stamp duty. Stamp Duty is a tax, similar to sales tax (VAT) and income tax collected by the government. Stamp Duty is payable under Section 3 of The Bombay Stamp Act, 1958. Different amount of Stamp Duty is payable for different types of document as per ScheduleI of The Bombay Stamp Act, 1958. Stamp Duty must be paid in full and on time. If there is a delay in payment of stamp duty, it attracts penalty. A stamp duty paid document is considered a proper and legal document and as such gets evidentiary value and is admitted as evidence in court. Document not properly stamped, is not admitted as evidence by the court.

Different types of stamps. There are different types of stamps under stamp act having different uses. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Share Transfer Stamps Insurance Stamps Notarial Stamps Revenue Stamps Court Fee Stamps Special Adhesive Stamps.

[6A. Foreign Bill Stamps 6B. Advocate Stamps, Vakil Stamps, Attorney Stamps 6C. Agreement Stamps, Brokers Note Stamps Note : - Types of stamps mentioned in numbers 6A to 6C exist in rule book with limited use and are noted here for information only. (See rule 19(a), (c) & (f) of The Bombay Stamp Rules, 1939)]

For payment of stamp duty following methods can also be adopted 7. Non Judicial Stamp Paper 8. Court Fees Stamp Paper 9. Franking of Stamp Duty 10. Adjudication Certificate.

Page 1

For all practical purposes Special Adhesive Stamps are used for all types of documents, however different stamps like Share Transfer Stamps is used on share transfer forms, Insurance stamps are uses by insurance companies on insurance policies, Notarial Stamps is used by Public Notary for Notarizing the documents, revenue stamps are used on receipts above Rs.5,000. Court fees stamp is not a tax but fees for judicial services granted and is used in all court, semi-judicial and government office while making applications. Instead of affixing Stamps for payment of stamp duty even stamp papers can be used. Non Judicial Stamp paper can be used instead of Special Adhesive stamps and has the same effect. Court fees stamp papers are used for court purposes, i.e. it is the method by which court fees is paid in the court, by way of submitting required amount of stamp paper to the court. Now a days instead of physical stamps or stamp papers, Stamp Duty Franking machine is used to affix Stamp duty by way of impression on blank paper. Further Stamp duty can also be paid directly to the collector of stamps who affixes his seal and stamp for the amount received after a procedure called adjudication and hence the same is called adjudication certificate.

Stamp duty, when payable. Stamp duty is payable either before execution of the document or on the day of execution of document or on the next working day of executing such a document. Execution of a document means putting signatures on the document by the persons who are party to the document. However it is advisable to pay stamp duty before executing the document, for all practical purposes.

Penalty for the delayed payment of stamp duty If stamp duty is not paid on time, it attracts penalty at the rate of 2% per month on the deficit amount of the stamp duty. However maximum penalty can be only 200% of the deficit amount of the stamp duty. Minimum penalty is Rs.100. Documents lodged with the sub-registrar/Collector of stamps prior to any amnesty scheme will attract a reduced penalty, as applicable under that amnesty scheme, as the case may be.

Page 2

Stamp duty, by whom payable. In the absence of any agreement to the contrary, the purchaser/transferee has to pay stamp duty or in case of exchange of properties, both parties have to bear stamp duty equally.

Documents on which stamp duty is to be paid Under The Bombay Stamp Act, 1959, stamp duty is to be paid on all the documents by which any right or liability is or purports to be created, transferred, limited, extended, extinguished or recorded but does not include a cheque, promissory note, bill of exchange, bill of lading, letter of credit, policy of insurance, transfer of shares, debentures proxy and receipt, which is charged under Indian Stamp Act, 1899.

Stamp duty payment, document v/s. transaction Stamp duty is payable on document and not on transactions. Stamp duty should be charged on the basis of the contents of the document only. If any information essential for working out stamp duty is missing in the document, stamp duty valuation officer can ask for the same. Information such as the Carpet or Built-up area of the flat, number of floors in the building, year of construction, name of Division/Village and C.S./C.T.S. number of plot of land on which property is situated must be mentioned in the agreement.

Stamp duty on documents relating to transfer of immovable property Except transfer by will and by nomination in a co-operative housing society all transfer documents including agreements to sell, conveyance deed, gift deed, mortgage deed, exchange deed, deed of partition, power of attorneys, leave and licence agreement, agreement of tenancy, lease deeds, power of attorney to sell for consideration etc have to be properly stamped before registration. In our opinion when a nominee transfers the flat subsequently in the name of legal heirs, that transfer Document is to be stamped as a Transfer as per Article 59 of Schedule I of The Bombay Stamp Act, 1958, as nominee is a trustee and legal heirs are beneficiary. If you have purchased a flat in a co-operative housing society on or after 10-12-1985 you have to pay the stamp duty on market value as per the Ready Reckoner. A flat purchased through an agreement for sale on or before 09-12-1985 required stamp
Page 3

paper of Rs.5 only. However a flat purchased on or before 09-12-1985 will require stamp duty on market value at the time of conveyance of the property in favour of the society. The concept of payment of stamp duty on market value was introduced from 04-07-1980. Property purchased prior to 04-07-1980 will be charged on agreement value only.

Relevance of the dates 10-12-1985 and 04-07-1980. A flat purchased in a co-operative housing society on or after 10/12/1985, attracts stamp duty on market value at the time of signing the agreement itself. However, prior to 10/12/1985, such transactions of agreement for sale required a stamp paper of Rs.5 only at the time of signing the agreement. However stamp duty on market value will have to be paid on all such transactions at the time of conveyance of the property in favour of the society. From 04-07-1980 market value concept was introduced to pay stamp duty. However, prior to 04-07-1980 there was no market value concept hence agreement value was accepted for stamp duty payment.

Rate of stamp duty. Stamp duty is chargeable on various documents as per different rates as per Schedule I of the Bombay Stamp Act, 1959. Stamp duty on document relating to sale/purchase of residential flat in a co-operative housing society and buildings covered under Article 25(d) of Schedule I of Bombay Stamp Act, 1958, attracts concessional rates depending upon it's market value as follows.
Market Value of Flat Upto Rs.2,50,000/Between Rs.2,50,001 to 5,00,000/Rs.5,00,000/Above Rs.5,00,000/Stamp Duty Rs.100 Rs.100 + 3% of the value above Rs.2,50,000/Rs.7,600/Rs.7,600 Plus 5% of the value above Rs.5,00,000/-

Stamp Duty on Non-Residential Property is straight away 5% of the market value.

Stamp duty on document relating to Leave & Licence under Article 36A(a)(i)(1) of Schedule I of Bombay Stamp Act, 1958, for residential property in city of Mumbai is as follows.

Page 4

Annual average rent, including advance rent & deposit Upto Rs.2,50,000/Between Rs.2,50,001 to 5,00,000/Between Rs.5,00,001 to 20,00,000/Rs.20,00,001/- & Above

Stamp Duty Rs.750 for each period of 12 months or part thereof Rs.1,500 for each period of 12 months or part thereof Rs.3,000 for each period of 12 months or part thereof Rs.5,000 for each period of 12 months or part thereof

Stamp Duty on Leave & Licence of Non-Residential Property is double of residential property.

Purchase of stamp paper. From 01/05/1994 stamp papers are to be purchased in the name of one of the parties to the document. If the stamp paper is not in the name of the parties and if it is used for preparing the agreement then such agreement will be treated as if no stamp paper was used. However, it will not make the agreement invalid and can be enforced in law if proper stamp duty is paid subsequently. Prior to 01/05/1994 stamp paper could be purchased in any name.

Validity period of a stamp paper. Stamp paper purchased upto 30/11/1989 was valid for any period of time. However from 01/12/1989 all stamp paper (whether purchased before, on or after 01/12/1989) is valid for a period of six months only from the date of purchase thereafter it is treated as ordinary paper as if it has no stamp. However Court fee stamps and Court fee paper is valid for any period of time as there is no time limit specified in The Bombay Court fees Act, 1959, for its use.

Ascertaining the amount of stamp duty & adjudication. One can find out the market value of a property and the proper stamp duty with the help of Stamp Duty Ready Reckoner released every year on 1st January. One should know the District Name, Taluka Name, Village name and Gat No./ Survey No./ CTS No. as applicable to the property. This information is available from property card or 7/12 extracts of the land on which the property is situated and a copy of property card or 7/12 extracts is generally available from the society office or from Original Builders agreement or original purchase / conveyance deed.

Page 5

From the Ready Reckoner, locate valuation zone and sub-zone with the help of the village name and and Gat No./ Survey No./ CTS No. of the property. From the Ready Reckoner, find the market rate per square metre, then multiply the rate with the built-up area of property in square metres. You will get a value. Reduce or increase this value for lift and depreciation as per valuation factors given in the Ready Reckoner and you will get the market value. Find out the stamp duty amount with the help of stamp duty rates table. The Stamp Duty Ready Reckoner is public document which can be inspected in the sub-registrars office. The Department also does this procedure, which is known as adjudication. (i) For adjudication, one can apply to the Collector of Stamps along with a copy of the agreement containing details of the property. (ii) Adjudication fees payable is Rs.100/-. (iii) In case of a signed document, adjudication must be done within one month otherwise two per cent interest per month will be levied as penalty from the date of signature. (iv) An adjudicated unsigned document is valid up to six months from the date of adjudication order or up to December 31 of that year, whichever is earlier.

Payment of Stamp duty after adjudication. If the agreement is signed before adjudication, one has to pay stamp duty with interest and penalty as applicable. However, in the case of an unsigned agreement, one may ignore the adjudication order and close the matter if so desired.

Stamp duty payable on family transfer. Stamp duty will be the same as applicable to conveyance. However, in the case of a gift deed between family members, the stamp duty amount is arrived as per article 25 relating to conveyance or 2% of the market value, whichever is lower.

Stamp duty payment centers. Stamp duty can be paid legally without adjudication, on the basis of the Stamp Duty Ready Reckoner, at various banks, post office and financial institutions, who are
Page 6

granted licenses on this behalf by the Stamp duty department, and does stamp duty franking on blank documents. Apart from above offices there are also various authorised stamp vendors from whom stamp paper of the required amount can be purchased and agreement made on them, which is another way of paying stamp duty. Stamp vendors sell stamp papers of face value up to Rs.10,000. A list of Licenced Stamp Vendors is displayed at General Stamp Office. However it is advisable to pay stamp duty by way of franking for big amounts for all practical purposes.

Refund of stamp duty Refund is granted on (i) spoiled paper, (ii) blank document, (iii) document executed but afterwards found to be unfit due to some reason and (iv) in some cases of documents executed and registered. as follows. (a) In case of spoiled paper or blank document whether franked or on stamp paper, refund should be claimed within six months from the date of purchase of stamp paper or franked Document. (b) In case of document executed but afterwards found to be unfit due to some valid reason, refund should be claimed within six months from the date of purchase of stamp paper or franked Document. (c) In case of documents which are executed and registered but for some reason physical possession of property mentioned in the Document has not been handed over to the purchaser then in that case refund should be claimed within two years from the date of document. (Government is considering to grant refund also in case the builder has cheated the flat buyer) An application for refund on a standard format should be submitted at the concerned Collector of Stamps office, along with the original document and an acknowledgement should be obtained. Subsequently one must follow up with the officer concerned for early disposal of the case. Standard format of refund application along with checklist/formats of other papers/affidavits/power of attorney required with application is available at concerned collector of stamps office.

Page 7

Refund is granted strictly as per the provisions of section 47 to 52A of The Bombay Stamp Act, 1958 and relevant rules and notification. Hence one is requested to thoroughly check about provisions, rules and notifications and treat above information only as a general guideline. Collector of Stamps are very strict in regards to refund and a mistake in any of the refund application paper will lead to rejection of refund hence proper legal help should be availed if one is not very clear about the provisions of law.

Some consultants claim to get the market value reduced to save a substantial amount of stamp duty. Is this correct? Many people are under the impression that some consultants can help them in reducing the stamp duty. This is warn them that this can be done only by furnishing misleading information like wrong Gat No. / Survey No. / CTS No., less area of premises/flat, longer age of building and a building with a lift as not having a lift. This would prove to be very detrimental and harmful when, in future, they receive a notice from the department for under-valuation due to concealment of facts. Even a registered document can be reopened anytime within ten years from the date of registration and adjudicated documents within six years from the date of adjudication. Please note that writing misleading information in the agreement is an offence under the Stamp Act, which is punishable with fine and imprisonment.

Stamp duty payment. Agreement value V/s. Market value. Stamp duty is payable on the market value of property. Market value of any property is determined by the stamp duty Authorities on the basis of the Stamp Duty Ready Reckoner issued by the government every year on January 1. If the consideration amount is higher than the market value, the consideration amount will be treated as market value. However where property is sold or allotted by a government or semi- government body or a government undertaking or a local authority such as LlC, CIDCO, AMC, the Income Tax Department on the basis of predetermined price, then that value is accepted as market value for the purpose of stamp duty.

Market value. Market value in relation to any property which is the subject matter of the document means the price which such property would have fetched if sold in the open market on the date of execution of such document or the consideration stated in the document, whichever is higher. However, for payment of stamp duty, market value is

Page 8

the value as worked out as per the Stamp Duty Ready Reckoner or the consideration stated in the document, whichever is higher. As per Section 50C in the Income Tax Act, the market value for the purpose of capital gain tax for seller is the same as the market value for stamp duty payment, which is worked out as per the Stamp Duty Ready Reckoner. Hence it is advisable that the seller should record the actual selling price worked out with the help of Ready Reckoner and avoid under-valuation with the intention of saving capital gain tax. Further as per newly inserted Section 56(2)(vii) in the Income Tax Act, w.e.f. 01/10/2009 if the difference between the stamp duty value and the consideration amount exceeds Rs.50,000 then such difference shall be treated as income from other sources of the purchaser of immovable property. Thus it has become very important for a professional to know all the intricacies of working of stamp duty value as, after recent amendments, now all purchase or sale of immovable properties will result into litigation with Income Tax authorities as it will result into higher capital gains tax (Section 50C) for seller & also higher income tax on Income from other sources (Section 56(2)(vii)) for the purchaser.

Depreciation. Depreciation is allowed on structure which is more than 2 years old. It is allowed on the full value of the property which includes land component. Though in realty it is the structure which depreciates and not the land. Depreciation varies from 5% to 70% of the value. However if by this method, value comes below the land value then value of land + depreciated cost of construction is taken.

Other additions or deductions to the market value If the building has lift its value will increase by 5% to 20% depending upon the floor on which the flat is situated. If the building is only of ground + four floor or less without lift then 2nd, 3rd and 4th floor qualifies for 5% to 20% deduction.

Stamp duty on exchange of flats. Stamp duty is payable as per Conveyance Deed on the market value of the property of the greatest value.

Page 9

Generally one copy of Exchange Agreement is made and Registered and then various practical difficulties arise at a later date, like as to who will keep the original, what in case if one of them wants to take the loan against his flat, what if both of them want to take loan from different banks for their respective flats, what if the person having original sells and goes away and new owner does not co-operate with original owner. Following precautions should be taken to avoid any complications in future. a) Assuming there is one Flat-A owned by Person AA and he wants to exchange it with Flat-B owned by Person BB. In the Exchange Agreement there should be a clause where it states that original agreement will be considered original agreement for Flat-A and will remain with its new owner Person BB and second copy will be considered original agreement for Flat-B and will remain with its new owner Person AA. b) Agreements should be made in duplicate. Original Agreement will be charged with full Stamp Duty and second copy of Agreement will be charged only with Rs.100. c) Both of the agreements must be registered. Original agreement will be charged with full registration fees and second copy will be charged very nominal amount of registration fees below Rs.500. d) Both the persons must keep their respective copies and will be free from each other in all respects without any botherations.

Mode of measurement. Stamp Duty charged on the basis of Built-up area of the premises. Built-up area is taken to be 20% more than the carpet area. Hence all the documents must record either carpet area or Built-up area in Sq.Mtrs only. There is no recognition to Super built-up area or Saleable area hence the same should be avoided in the agreement to avoid excess payment of stamp duty. Rates mentioned in the stamp duty ready reckoner for Land is per Sq.Mtr. considering F.S.I to be 1 and rates mentioned for buildings whether Residential, Office, Shop (Commercial) or Industrial are for per Sq.Mtr. Built-up area (Rate is inclusive of the value of land). Stamp duty should be paid on Built-up area only and not on carpet area or super built up area. Previously when it was difficult to determine built-up area and if carpet area was mentioned in the agreement then the same was increased by 20 percent to arrive at built-up area. Also if Super Built-up area was mentioned in the agreement then 20 percent was reduced from Super Built-up area i.e. 80 percent of Super built-up area
Page 10

was Built-up area. But Stamp Duty and Registration department has now withdrawn above method partially and adopt uniform method as mentioned in valuation factor. This mode of calculation was primarily a shortcut to an acceptable solution when built-up area was not mentioned in the document. It should never be adopted to calculate carpet area from the super built-up area or vice versa, because arithmetically it will never give correct figure. Relation Between Square Feet & Square Meter 1 Sq.Mtr. = 10.764 Sq.ft. 1 Sq.Ft. = 0.0929 Sq.Mtr.

REGISTRATION

Registration As per section 17(1) & Section 17(1A) of The Registration Act, 1908, various documents relating to transfer of movable and immovable properties are required to be registered. Registration is legal formality wherein the document, which is required under the law to be registered, undergoes the following procedure by the SubRegistrar of Assurance of the respective district. After completion of these procedures, the document is regarded as being registered. The Sub-Registrar of Assurance does the following: (i) He verifies the document to ascertain whether it is legal to register such a document.

(ii) He further verifies that full stamp duty is paid on that document before registration. (iii) In his presence all parties, executing the document, admit that they have executed the document presented for registration. Parties who are present and admitting to execute the document are then personally identified by two independent witnesses. All the parties and all the witnesses present, again sign in the presence of sub-registrar on an additional page attached to the document. (iv) Parties to the document are photographed and their left hand thumb impression is taken and such photograph and thumb impression is affixed on additional pages attached to the document apart from coloured photographs
Page 11

and thumb impression which a person affixes in the agreement while executing the document. Now a days photographs & left hand thumb impression of witnesses is also affixed. (v) He puts his official seal on each page and puts a unique numbering block on each page of the document including the additional pages. On the last page he signs the document as being registered. (vi) After completing the above procedure, he records the content of the document, including the additional pages, either by photocopying the content or by scanning the content of the document. The photocopy or scanned image is permanently retained by him in his records so that in future whenever a copy of the document is required it can be obtained. Such copy becomes a public document, which anybody can inspect by paying the requisite inspection fees and can obtain a certified true copy. (vii) After taking a copy of the document, as mentioned above, on the record and after completing the above formalities original document is handed over to the party for obtaining one photocopy of the registered document. Photocopy should be taken on only one side of paper and paper should be of 90 GSM thickness and there should be butter paper in between two sheets of the photocopy. After original and photocopy is given back to sub-registrar, he verifies the original and the photocopy and then the original document is returned to the party presenting the document for registration. This completes the whole process of registration.

Registration of transfer of immovable properties Except in case of transfer of shares of a co-operative housing society and housing limited company where registration is optional, virtually in all cases of transfer of immovable property like family arrangement, agreement to sell, conveyance, gift deed, lease deed, leave and licence agreement, tenancy agreement, declaration deed, mortgage deed, exchange deed, power of attorney to sell for consideration etc has to be registered compulsorily under Indian Registration Act 1908 otherwise the proper legal title will not pass on to the purchaser/transferee i.e. the title will be defective if registration of the document is not done.

Languages of the document. Document should be normally in English, Hindi, Marathi and Gujarati only, in Maharashtra.

Page 12

Effect of non-registration. If a particular document is required to be registered under the act and is not registered then as per Section 49 of The Registration Act, 1908, that document becomes inadmissible in the court of law. In other words it loses its legal validity in the eyes of law.

Return of registered document. After February 1, 2002, when the registration process was computerised, normally documents are returned on the same day within half an hour. All the documents lodged for registration on and from October 1, 1995 upto January 31, 2002 are returned to the party within a few days of indexing the same because only the photocopy is sent to Pune for Microfilming / Scanning. Documents lodged for registration prior to October 1, 1995 are sent to Pune, after it is indexed, for microfilming / Scanning and then only it is returned to the party, which may take a few years. The above mentioned procedure is one of the reasons but the major reasons due to which the document remained pending at the office of sub-registrar and not being indexed and not returned to the owner, are as follows: (a) Stamp duty was not paid according to the market value. (b) Income Tax Clearance certificate U/s 230 was not attached where required. (See Note (i) below.) (c) N.O.C. of Appropriate Authority in Form 37-1 was not attached where required. (See Note (ii) below.) (d) N.O.C. under Urban Land Ceiling Act was not attached where required. (See Note (iii) below.) (e) Certain parties to the agreement had not admitted execution in front of the Sub-registrar. The above deficiencies were always pointed out by the sub-registrar at the time of registration by way of remark (such as MV, 230A, 37-1, NOC, ADM) on the registration receipt itself but due to ignorance, owners have never cared to clear them and hence documents have, over the years, got accumulated in the office of the Subregistrar. With effect from 17/08/2000 Sub-registrars are accepting documents which do not have any of the deficiencies mentioned under point (a) to (d). However deficiency relating to non-admission is tolerated and the document is accepted and kept pending for admission only.
Page 13

Notes:
(i) Income tax clearance certificate under Section 230A of Income Tax Act, 1961, is now not required from 01-06-2001 even for documents accepted for registration before 01-06-2001 because requirement for such certificate was on the day of registration and a document is considered to be registered on the day it is Indexed and if it is not indexed uptill now no Income Tax Clearance certificate is required even for old cases, hence for all such cases one should pursue the matter and his document will be registered. (ii) N.O.C. of Appropriate Authority in Form 37-I is also not required from 01-07-2002. As above NOC is now unobtainable this is applicable even for old cases. (iii) Urban Land Ceiling Act is repealed from 6th December 2007 in the state of Maharashtra, hence producing this N.O.C. is no longer required.

Time limit of registration. The document should be registered within four months from the date of the execution. If the document could not be registered within four months, then it can be registered within an additional period of four months after paying penalty as imposed by the sub-registrar. Penalty can be legally upto 10 times of registration fees. Normally this penalty is charged at the rate of 2.5 times of the registration fees per month for the delay beyond the permissible 4 months. After a period of 8 months from the date of the execution, the document cannot be registered.

Registration fee The registration fee is a fee for the service provided by the sub-registrar's office, of recording and storing the document for years together and in the proper condition. If one does not pay registration fees, he will not be able to register the document and will be deprived of these services but there is as such no penalty for non-payment as is the case of stamp duty. So whenever a person goes for registration he is charged the same registration fees as is chargeable on his document on the date of registration and no interest etc. is charged. However one must keep in mind that when one goes for registration after four months and before eight months of execution of document he is charged a penalty which could be up to 10 times of registration fees. This is the penalty for delay in presenting the document before the registrar and is not a penalty for non-payment. Normally this penalty is charged at the rate of 2.5 times of the registration fees per month for delay beyond the permissible 4 months. The Registration fees is one per cent of the market value or Rs.30,000, whichever is less in case of documents pertaining to sale or conveyance. This is applicable from 01-04-2003 to date.
Page 14

Registration fees is payable by Pay-Order and Computer Service charges is to be paid in cash at the time of registration. Computer service charges at the rate of Rs.20/- per page is charged in addition to above Registration fees. i.e. if document to be registered is of property with market value of Rs. 35,00,000/- and having 30 pages then total registration fees plus service charges would be Rs.30,000/- + Rs.600/- = 30,600/- of which amount an official receipt would be issued. It is advisable that along with Pay-order exact cash amount should be paid at registration counter in ones own interest.

Requirements at the time of registration. Document should be correctly stamped as per the Stamp Duty Ready Reckoner so as to confirm that proper stamp duty has been paid. Stamp Duty Ready Reckoner is a public document and is available for inspection at sub-registrars office, it is easily available in the market in any law book shop. For registering documents relating to property, one should go to their respective Registration Office along with, original document. The document must be printed or typed on one side only and in black colour. Apart from a properly executed and fully stamp duty paid document which is to be registered following other documents are also required before registration procedure is initiated. (1) If the land belongs to Government or Semi-government body or to Charitable trust, the No Objection Certificate of such Government or Semi-government body or of Charity Commissioner. (This requirement is struck down by the Hon.
Supreme Court, however this document is still asked under some pretext or the other.)

(2) Property Card of the Land on which the property is situated. This requirement is irrespective of whether land is sold or building is being sold or any part of the building is being sold and also irrespective of whether the seller of property is recorded as owner on property card or not. In other words even flat owners are expected to produce this paper at the time of registration. (3) If property sold/purchased is in old building and benefit of depreciation is claimed on Market value then photocopy of any one of the following documents is to be produced as a proof of old construction (a) Municipal assessment bill of the building OR
Page 15

(b) Building Completion certificate OR (c) Building Occupation Certificate OR It is better to get the document adjudicated in case building is very old and proper depreciation is not given by the sub-registrar. (4) Original stamp duty payment receipt. (5) One should go along with two witnesses along with their photographs, identification and residence proofs like pan card, ration card, driving licence etc. (6) Photocopy of Commencement Certificate or Completion Certificate or Occupation Certificate or I.O.D issued by the Municipal Corporation is required to prove that the Building is an authorized structure. (This requirement is
struck down by the Hon. Supreme Court, however this document is still asked under some pretext or the other.)

(7) Registration fees is payable by Pay-Order and Computer Service charges is to be paid in cash at the time of registration (8) Mentioning of Income Tax PAN number is mandatory in all case of sale / purchase document of value above Rs.5,00,000/-. Those who do not have PAN number must file Form 60 along with documents. (9) For property value above Rs.30,00,000/- an additional input form is to be filled so that the sub-registrar can comply with formalities of All India Return under Income Tax Act.

Process of registration. (a) Visit the sub-registrars office with your document and he will inform you about the amount of registration fees payable. He will also inform you about Stamp Duty amount payable. Obtain a Pay-order of specified amount favouring that Sub-registrar for registration fees. Pay specified stamp duty on the document. (b) Take input form for registration from the registrar.

Page 16

(c) Fix up appointment for registration 1 or 2 days prior to the intended date of registration. Submit a photocopy of pay-order for registration fees on the day of taking appointment. (d) On appointed date and time bring complete document along with other documents mentioned above. (e) Submit the document along with input form at token window at least 30 minutes before the time allotted for that token number. d) On appointed time and on your number being announced all parties to the document must present themselves before the sub-registrar to admit execution of the document, photographed, thumb impression and signature taken on additional sheet of paper in presence of sub-registrar. Now even witness has to provide his 2 colour photograph and identification proof like pan card , driving licence etc.

(f) Pay the exact registration fees by way of Government Challan or Pay Order and computer service charges in cash as per the receipt. (Computer service charges are @ Rs.20 per page) (g) Document will be returned within 30 minutes of getting the receipt. (h) Please deal only with officers and staff of Registration department who always display government identity card with government seal.

If any person who has executed the document is unable to come to Subregistrars office on medical grounds then what should he do? In case a person is unable to attend the office of Sub-registrar on medical grounds then he should apply to sub-registrar through a duly authorised representative stating the fact. Sub-registrar is bound to visit such person after office hours i.e. morning 9.00 am to 10.00 am and in evening 5.00 pm to 6.00 pm. That person shall admit execution in presence of that Sub-registrar, affix his photograph and sign and put his thumb impression on the document. Sub-registrar will take the document along with him and complete all the formalities and process of registration.

Procedure if more than eight months of signing the document have passed.

Page 17

If more than eight months have passed since execution of document then the document cannot be registered. However to safeguard and protect the interest of the purchaser from any claim by seller or his legal heirs in future both the parties to the documents should prepare a deed of confirmation and the said document should be attached as an annexure to the said deed of confirmation. Both the parties should register the deed of confirmation to which the original agreement has been annexed. Original document must have been fully stamped and penalty upto the date of registration/adjudication must have been paid. In such a case it is the deed of confirmation which is considered as registered and agreement annexed is not registered, however in future selling party will not be able to raise any objection to such an transfer on grounds of non-registration.

If vendor dies after signing the document but before registration. In such unfortunate circumstances there are two options. a) All the legal heirs of the deceased vendor should apply to court for probate/succession certificate and appeal to the court for passing and order granting one of the legal heirs right to admit execution in front of Sub-registrar on behalf of the deceased vendor. This option, although is the most correct option, but as observed, court procedures do sometime take very long time to complete and meanwhile mandatory 4 months period under which the registration can be done passes away. Some time extended period of next 4 months also passes away till the time court gives its order. b) Under above circumstances, second best option is that the purchaser should get the document registered single sided and then make a deed of confirmation stating the fact of the circumstances and should be signed by the purchaser and all the legal heirs of the vendor and this deed of confirmation along with copy of original single sided registered document attached to it as annexure should be got registered. This will prevent all the legal heirs, in future, from claiming any right in the property.

Certified copies of document/search report/Index II. One must approach the concerned Sub-Registrar and make the required application at his office.

Page 18

In case the document/search report/Index II copy required is relating to period prior to 01-02-2002 then the same will be available with in 7 days of making application. . In case the document/search report/ Index II copy required is relating to period after 01-02-2002 then the same will be available on the same day of making application between 5.00 P.M. to 5.30.P.M. Office timings of Sub-Registrars are 10.00 am to 5.45 Pm.

Page 19