The Hindu : Government to review fair value of land

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Feb 06, 2004

Kerala

Kerala

Government to review fair value of land

By Our Special Correspondent

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, FEB. 5. The Finance Minister, K. Sankaranarayanan, announced in the Assembly on Thursday that the Government would set up a system for reviewing and revising the fair value of land in the State.

The Minister was replying to a debate on the Kerala Stamp (Amendment) Bill during which members complained about the discrepancies in the fair values fixed by the Government recently. Mr. Sankaranarayanan said that the fair values announced now were not final.

They would be revised on the basis of complaints. He recalled that some States, which had introduced the system, had revised the values as many as 18 times. He said the Government would decide on the demand for lower stamp duties for partition deeds later.

The Minister clarified that the surcharge on stamp duty levied by local self-governments would be on the value of the property. Panchayats were not likely to incur any loss on account of the reduction of the maximum surcharge from five to two per cent. If it results in loss, the matter would be examined.

After the Minister's reply, the House passed the Bill. The Bill proposes reduction of the stamp duty on transfer of land in village areas from Rs. 6 to Rs. 2 for every Rs. 100 or part thereof of the fair value of the property or the amount or value of consideration.

In municipalities and municipal corporations, the rate will be Rs. 3 and Rs. 4 respectively for every Rs. 100 or part thereof against the previous rate of eight per cent. The surcharge levied by the panchayats would have to be paid over and above these rates. The Bill seeks to replace an Ordinance promulgated in December last year.

Participating in the debate, the Leader of the Opposition, V.S. Achuthanandan, said that though the rates had been brought down, the fair values had been fixed at 10 times the actual value in some places. This would hit property transactions. People should be given more time to prefer complaints, he said.

The CPI(M) member, T.M. Thomas Isaac, who had appended dissent notes to the Bill in the Subject Committee, said the law should have been given effect only after the fair values came into effect. Lower rates should be fixed for partition deeds.

He criticised the Government for effecting the reduction in surcharge through an amendment to the Stamp Act instead of the Panchayat Raj and Nagarapalika Acts. The losses on account of the reduction should be made up to the panchayats and municipalities. Surcharge, he noted, was usually charged on the tax and not the amount involved in the transaction.

C.P. Mohammed (Congress) complained that the fair values were fixed arbitrarily by officials. The discrepancies should be corrected. T.K. Devakumar (CPI-M) said that some areas had been left out while fixing fair values.

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