Stamp duty waiver on property transfer for blood relatives in Jammu and Kashmir

The Jammu and Kashmir government has announced that from April 1, there will be no stamp duty on property transfer among blood relatives in the state. According to officials, if a person transferred his blood related to the property through a gift deed, he will be exempted from stamp duty. Chief Minister Omar Abdullah announced this decision in his budget speech on 7 March. 20 days after this announcement, on 27 March, the Finance Department issued a notification formally implemented this exemption.

The notification issued by Santosh D. Vaidya, Principal Secretary, Finance Department, states, “Under Section 9 of the Stamp Act, 1977 (XL), the government is deciding to waive a stamp duty on property transfer between blood relatives, as it is necessary in public interest.”

Definition of blood relatives

According to the notification, the benefit of this exemption will be found only in cases where the property transfer and receives will present two documents such as the base, pan or passport. The following relations are included in the category of blood relatives:

• Father
• Mother
• Brother
• Sister
• Son
• Daughter
• Grandfather
• Grandmother
• Grandson
• Granddaughter

Benefits of new law

Chief Minister Omar Abdullah had stated in his budget speech that the purpose of this policy is to simplify the process of property transfer and reduce legal disputes. He said, “Currently, stamp duty ranging from 3% to 7% is taken for this type of transaction, which discourages formal registration. To overcome this problem, we have decided to zero the stamp duty for blood relatives. This will promote legal documentation, reduce family property disputes, and families will get financial relief.”

This new initiative will make property transfer in Jammu and Kashmir more transparent and easy, which will give great benefits to the people.