Thiruvananthapuram: Finance minister Dr T.M. Thomas Isaac said that the stamp duty on family partition deeds would be partially withdrawn.
The finance minister said in the Assembly on Wednesday that he was willing to reduce the stamp duty from three per cent, but refused to restore it to levels when UDF was ruling.
During the UDF tenure, the stamp duty was fixed as Rs 1,000 for family property partitions, irrespective of the value of the land. The LDF’s decision to reduce the duty follows widespread opposition to the measure cutting across the political divide.
“The new stamp duty structure will be evolved at the Subject Committee meeting,” the minister said while replying to the discussion on motion for reference to subject committee of the Kerala Finance Bill, 2016. While increasing the duty, Dr Isaac had argued that the concessions given through fixing a maximum ceiling for Stamp Duty and Registration Fee for transactions among family members have benefited only a small segment, while causing a substantial reduction in revenue. Ironically, the hike in stamp duty has virtually stalled partition deeds, leading to a revenue loss for Kerala.
Dr Isaac also agreed to do away with the purchase tax on gold retailers with retrospective provided the opposition made such a demand. He said the ‘purchase tax’ now imposed on traders had come about as a result of an omission committed by the UDF government.
"I am ready to roll back the purchase tax on gold. But since former minister K.C. Joseph has cautioned me against the rollback of budget announcements with retrospective effect, I will not make the first move. Let the demand come from the Opposition itself,’’ he said. The ‘purchase tax’ issue too is expected to come up for discussion at the subject committee.
The finance minister said the government was open to the recommendations of the subject committee on the observations made by Congress MLA V.D. Satheesan that an unscientific tax structure was prompting builders to evade tax net.
