UNIFORM STAMP DUTY IN SECURITIES

UNIFORM STAMP DUTY OF DEALS IN SECURITIES 

Finance Ministry said States will collect stamp duty at a uniform rate on transactions of shares, debentures and other securities from July 1 

Provisions of the amended Indian stamp act, 1899, will come into effect 

With this, the stamp duty will have to be paid by either the buyer or the seller of a financial security, as against the current practice of levying the duty on both

Present system of collection of stamp duty on securities market transactions led to multiple rates for the same instrument, resulting in multiple incidences of duty 

Stamp duty is a tax that is levied on single property purchases or documents 

Physical stamp had to be attached to or impressed upon the document to denote that stamp duty had been paid before the document was legally effective 

Duty is thought to have originated in Venice in 1604 

More modern versions of the tax no longer require an actual stamp

Indian laws require stamp duty payments on a limited category of transaction documents

Broadly, documents affecting rights and titles to property require stamp duties to be paid

Central government requires stamp duty to be paid on several classes of transaction documents, primarily focused on securities, under the Indian Stamp Act, 1899

Stamp duty may be charged by the state government for other transactions depending on state-specific legislation