Reduction in stamp duty for power of attorney sought

The real estate developers have demanded reduction in stamp duty levied during execution of Power of Attorney (PoA) and its cancellation. Odisha chapter of Confederation of Real Estate Developers’ Association of India (CREDAI), on Wednesday claimed that the registration authority was charging seven per cent of market value of land for PoA and its cancellation in the absence of specific provision for both the purposes. State council Chairman of CREDAI, DS Tripathy said the sector is being adversely affected due to huge charges on land for issuance of PoA for joint development projects. “The stamp duty of Odisha Government is much higher than other States, which have provisions for a separate category for Development Agreement-cum-General Power of Attorney (DAGPA) and their charges are very nominal,” he said. While Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Karnataka are charging one per cent of the land value and Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Bihar levying two per cent, West Bengal has a provision of charging maximum `75,000 depending on the volume of land. DAGPA is considered as a contractual obligation, which is subject to cancellation in case of non-compliance of the terms and conditions in the agreement or failure to take up projects for any reasons and getting the mandatory approvals in time. “We demand the State Government to make a provision like DAGPA and charge `50,000 or one per cent of the benchmark value of land, whichever is highest at the time of PoA execution, and only `200 for cancellation of the agreement, which was the practice earlier,” said Tripathy. Claiming that the unreasonable charges shoot up prices of houses and force developers to sell homes at high rates, CREDAI president Binay Krishna Das said the reduction in stamp duty will facilitate small and medium scale entrepreneurs to fulfilling the dreams of millions of affordable home seekers. “By denying a level-playing field to developers, the authorities are not allowing us to compete with prominent developers in neighbouring States. Such reformative measures will enable the authorities to earn three to four times more revenue at the time of registration as property values become higher by five to six times after development,” he added. Comparative rates Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Karnataka are charging one per cent of the land value Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Bihar levying two per cent West Bengal has a provision of charging maximum `75,000 depending on the volume of land.