Stamp duty in Maharashtra: Article 25 rates and Mumbai cess

What the Act says

The sale deed, called a conveyance, is Article 25 of Schedule I. For immovable property it reads, in the version modified up to 1 June 2022:

• (i) inside a municipal corporation, a cantonment area annexed to it, or an urban area not mentioned in (ii): 5 per cent of the market value of the property;
• (ii) inside a municipal council, Nagar Panchayat, an annexed cantonment, a rural area within the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority’s limits, or the “Influence Areas as per the annual statement of rates”: 5 per cent;
• (iii) inside a Gram Panchayat area or any area not covered by (ii): 4 per cent.

The Act’s own footnotes show that the 5% in (ii) and the 4% in (iii) were substituted by Maharashtra Act 59 of 2017 with effect from 7 September 2017; the earlier rates were 4% and 3%. The text read is a consolidated copy of the schedule, not the Gazette itself. No later amendment appears in it, but a change after 1 June 2022 would not.

If the deed covers both movable and immovable property, Article 25(c) charges the same duty as clauses (a) and (b).

The base: market value

Article 25 charges duty on the “true market value”. The text refers to the “annual statement of rates published under the Bombay Stamp (Determination of True Market Value of Property) Rules, 1995”. That annual statement is the ready reckoner, and the guide on circle rate and guidance value covers the idea. The Inspector General of Registration’s portal (igrmaharashtra.gov.in) is where the rate for your survey number or locality is published; it refused connections from outside India, so the figures could not be read.

Payotte did not read, in so many words, that duty is charged on the higher of the declared price and the ready reckoner value in Maharashtra. Ask the sub-registrar which value applies to your deed.

Mumbai: the metro surcharge

Section 144F was inserted into the Mumbai Municipal Corporation Act by the 2018 amending Act (gazetted 17 December 2018). It says the stamp duty on instruments of sale, gift and usufructuary mortgage of immovable property in the Brihan Mumbai Municipal Corporation area, where one or more Vital Important Urban Transport Projects are notified, and executed “on or after such date as may be specified by the State Government”, shall be “increased by a surcharge at the rate of one per cent., in case of instrument of sale or gift, on the value of the property”.

What is and is not established:

• The surcharge rate for a sale is 1% of the value. It is in the Act.
• The start date is set by Government notification. The Inspector General’s circular list names a Mumbai Metro notification of 1 March 2017 (a Marathi notification declaring the metro projects, without a rate), a Pune Metro notification of 10 May 2018 and a Thane Metro notification of 31 July 2019. The last two are scanned and were not read.
• Whether the same surcharge applies in Pune, Thane or other cities, and at what rate, is not established here.
• The circular list also carries 2013-2014 circulars on a 1% local body tax for several cities; their current status was not verified.

Payotte’s calculator applies the 1% to Mumbai only, on that basis.

Women buyers

An editor’s note in the consolidated text says that an order of 31 March 2021 (R&FD, Mudrank-2021) reduced the duty by one percentage point from 1 April 2021 on a conveyance or agreement to sell of a residential unit between “the women/women purchaser/s and any seller”. This is an editor’s note, not the order, and Payotte did not read the order. It is not confirmed at the source, and how it interacts with the Mumbai surcharge is not established. See stamp duty concession for women.

Registration fee

Payotte did not find the registration fee schedule on a readable official site, and no figure is given here. Some websites quote a percentage and a ceiling; those are not official sources and are not repeated. Ask the sub-registrar’s office, or read the fee table on the Inspector General’s portal.

Which professional to consult

A property lawyer (advocate) enrolled with the State Bar Council can confirm the surcharge in force for your ward and the ready reckoner value. A registered valuer can give an independent value if you think the ready reckoner is out of line with your property.