INDIAN STAMP ACT AMENDMENTS

INDIAN STAMP ACT,1899

The Indian stamp act was introduced in the year 1899. This act is enforced by the Government of India for the charging of stamp duty on instruments for recording transactions. This act is for Consolidation and amendment of the law relating to Stamps.

AMENDMENTS

Through this new union budget, the government has planned to bring a couple of amendments to the prevailing Indian Stamp Act, 1899. These amendments are introduced through the Finance Bill, 2020.
The amended provisions of the act will come into force starting from 1st April 2020.

There have been a couple of additions in the acts through this finance bill, 2020.

1.    In section 9A of the Indian Stamp Act, 1899 (hereafter in this Part referred to as the Stamp Act), in sub-section (2), the following proviso shall be inserted, namely:––

“Provided that no such duty shall be chargeable in respect of the instruments of transaction in stock exchanges and depositories established in any International Financial Services Centre set up under section 18 of the Special Economic Zones Act, 2005.”

This proviso is inserted in the act stating that there will be no duty charged I .r.t. stock exchange transactions that are established in the International Financial Services Centre set up under section 18 of the Special Economic Zones Act, 2005.

2.    In the Stamp Act, after section 73A, the following section shall be inserted,namely:––

“73B. The Central Government may,––

 (a) issue directions relating to such matters and subject to such conditions, as it deems necessary;

(b) in writing, authorize the Securities and Exchange Board of India established under section 3 of the Securities and Exchange Board of India Act, 1992 or the Reserve Bank of India constituted under section 3 of the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934 to issue instructions, circulars or guidelines, for carrying out the provisions of Part AA of Chapter II and the rules made thereunder”.

The above section is to be added after section 73A in the Indian Stamp Act, 1899. This section is added as it empowers the central government to issue directions and to authorize certain authorities to issue instructions. 

CONCLUSION

The new Finance Bill has included the amendments in the Indian Stamp Act, 1899 so as to improve it by adding a new section i.e. ‘Section 73B’ and the ‘proviso for section 9A’ which are deemed necessary by the government.

Author:

eStartIndia Team