Chennai: Starting today, States across the country will collect stamp duty at a uniform rate on transactions of shares, debentures and other securities.
According to the Finance Ministry, provisions of the amended Indian Stamp Act, 1899, has come into effect from today.
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. The 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.
The Stamp Duty so far is a State subject and is collected by some states, mostly as a fixed amount, depending on the value of a securities transaction. While some states have abolished it on many transactions, different States used to levy it on different transactions at different rates.
Uttam Bagri, chairman of the Bombay Stock Exchange Brokers forum, said that after implementation of Stamp Duty at the national level, it will be levied proportionately as percentage of the value of securities transaction, which would increase the amount of duty than the fixed cap that is practiced in some States.