Lifting a stay on its own order barely a week after the new Democratic Front government took charge in the state, the state revenue department on Monday decided to levy a flat 1% charge on property registrations with immediate effect; until now the fee had been capped at Rs30,000.
Another order issued by the department directs stockbrokers from other states to pay stamp duty on their transactions.
The decision on the 1% property registration fee was taken by then revenue minister Patangrao Kadam early this year. After it drew harsh reactions, the order was stayed ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.
After taking over as revenue minister in the new state cabinet, Narayan Rane lifted the stay and cancelled the maximum cap of Rs30,000 for the registration fee on Monday.
This means that if the ready-reckoner value of a property according to the government is Rs1 crore, the registration fee to be paid will now be Rs1 lakh (it earlier stood at Rs30,000). This would earn the state exchequer Rs250 crore.
The revenue department has also cancelled its earlier decision of waiving stamp duty on transactions carried out by stockbrokers from other states. “It was observed that many local brokers evaded stamp duty by listing office addresses outside the state. This decision will yield Rs1,185 crore as revenue towards stamp duty,” a department official said.
But Ramesh Prabhu of the Maharashtra Societies Welfare Association has said his organisation will challenge the decision in court. “It’s not a source of earning revenue, but a service to society,” Prabhu said.
(With inputs from Rajshri Mehta)
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