The Indian Stamp Act, 1899 was enacted to consolidate and amend the law relating to Stamps in India. The Indian Stamp Act, 1899 addresses the tax payable in the form of Stamps on instruments of transfer of any real land or estate, as provided under the Constitution of India. It is the primary objective of the Stamp Act to bring up revenue for the State. The Stamp Act lays down provisions for payment of Stamp Duty to the local government by purchasing a non- judicial stamp paper. The value of Stamp Duty depends upon the rental period, lease term and value of sale of the property in question.
According to the Stamp Act every instrument, is liable to be charged with stamp duty, by which any right or liability is, or intends to be created, transferred, limited, extended, extinguished or recorded. Laws relating to Stamp Duty can be enacted by both the Central and State Government but it is required that State Laws shall not conflict with Central Laws. The list of Instruments on which Stamp Duty is payable are distributed amongst both the State and the Centre and thus the proceeds of stamp duty on chargeable instruments are shared by and between the Centre and the State. The rates of Stamp Duty prescribed by Parliament in the Indian Stamp Act are applicable only for Union territories of India and the rates prescribed by individual States are applicable in case of States.
