Calling the present stamp duty and registration charges in Assam as exorbitant and the highest in the country, the Assam real estate builders want rationalisation of these duties.
They say, an undesirable trend has started in the state as people now prefer to take possession of their homes without the sale deeds to by-pass paying these exorbitant duties. “The stamp duty in Guwahati at 8 per cent and the registration charge at 8.5 per cent totalling 16.5 per cent is the highest in India and is charged at the same rate for completed apartment and vacant land. Governments across the country have accepted the fact that the rates of stamp duty and registration cannot be the same for land sales and apartment sales,” said P K Sharma, president of Assam Real Estate and Infrastructure Developers Association (AREIDA).
He said that in addition to stamp duty and registration charges, Guwahati Municipal Development Authority (GMDA) charges an additional one per cent for NOC (no objection certificate) for sale permission adding the total duties for sale deed to a huge 17.5 per cent. “The common man is finding it impossible to pay such huge amounts and it appears that the people are now preferring to take possession of their homes without the sale deeds, thus setting off an undesirable trend,” said Sharma.
“This is on account of the fact that such duties payable on purchase of land and subsequent construction will attract duty on the value of land only, whereas in case of apartments it will be combined value of land and building, even though the value of a property constructed after land purchase is many times higher than an apartment,” he added.
The builders, under the banner of AREIDA, have called upon the state government to bring down rate of registration fees to a maximum of Rs 500 per sale deed in tune with rates in other states and the combined burden of taxes for sale deeds be kept within five per cent of the cost of the property.
Assam builders also want combined burden of all taxes on housing be kept within 10 per cent, including Value Added Tax (VAT), service tax, stamp duty, registration, labour cess, NOC fees, etc, in tune with the National Habitat Policy.