The West Bengal government has extended the two percent exemption on stamp duty and a 10 percent reduction in circle rates of property in the state until September 30, 2023, Bengal Finance Minister Chandrima Bhattacharya announced while presenting the state budget on February 15.
"In the interest of homebuyers, I propose to extend the 2 percent rebate on stamp duty and 10 percent rebate on circle rate of land/property for another 6 months up to September 30, 2023," the state budget speech mentioned.
The existing relief was ending on March 31, 2023. It was previously extended last year by the state government due to the economic slowdown caused by the Covid pandemic.
The state budget 2023-24 also announces that West Bengal Real Estate Regulatory Authority (WBRERA) and West Bengal Real Estate Administrative Tribunal have been established.
This comes after several requests and protests by homebuyers to make the state's RERA operational to protect homebuyers' interests.
Realtors welcome the move
Sushil Mohta, President, CREDAI, West Bengal & Chairman, Merlin Group said that the RBI repo rate is currently at 6.5 percent and has demotivated the buyers amid the high home loan rates.
"Moreover, the union budget has provided no relief to the taxpayers on the principal and interest amount of the borrowed property. However, the stamp duty rebate extension for another six months will impact the sales of the residential units in West Bengal," he added.
Realtors say that the extension will provide a compensation for homebuyers to come forward and complete transactions in the financial year 2023-24 while taking advantage of the reduced stamp duty.
Amit Goyal, CEO, India Sotheby's International Realty, said that the decision will have a positive impact on the demand in the housing sector. "Incentives like relief in the stamp duty and registration fee can help the positive impetus in the real estate sector to continue," he added.
As of February 15, about 91,266 sale deeds have been registered in the state, data from the Directorate of Registration and Stamp Revenue reveals.
According to real estate consultancy firm Knight Frank, the Kolkata Metropolitan Area saw 3,274 sales registrations in December 2022.
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