Slowdown in the real estate sector is casting its shadow over Punjab’s revenue collection from stamp duty and registration fee. In the first five months (April-August ) of the current financial year, the state witnessed a decline of 15 per cent in receipts, compared to the same period in the previous financial year.
State government data reveal that revenue collected from stamp duty and registration fee was Rs 1,373.68 crore during the April-August 2011 period, while that for the current financial year stood at Rs 1,168.57 crore.
According to data and reports available with Business Standard, due to slump in the real estate market, it would be ‘near to impossible’ of meeting the benchmark of revenue target in the current financial year.
Senior officials of the state say that in the current financial year, the government has estimated revenue from stamp duty and registration charges for property transaction Rs 3,375 crore, a figure approximately 22 per cent higher than the corresponding collection during the last financial year. Comparatively, previous years revenue from stamp duty and registration fee recorded Rs 2,773.75 crore, an increase of 19 per cent over previous year.
Property dealers mentioned that in the current financial year, deals have been badly affected due to the slowdown of market. Property dealers are also of the view that the recent Punjab Cabinet’s decision of imposing cess on registration of land may also affect the market and would result in lesser number of transactions.
The Punjab Cabinet had, recently, approved the proposal of revenue department for levying the social infrastructure cess for health and education at the rate of 1 per cent on the time of registration of land. Also, the upper limit for registration fee had been increased from Rs 30,000 to Rs 2 lakh. The increase in mutation fee and facilitations charges at the Fard Kendras and suvidha centers had also been approved by the Cabinet. However, according to the state government, these proposals would fetch additional revenue of Rs 480 crore every year.