KARACHI, Feb 3: The recovery of stamp duty in Sindh crossed the Rs1 billion mark in January 2002, thus setting a new record on this count.
According to official figures, the stamp wing of the Board of Revenue recovered over Rs1.0512 billion during the period from July 2001 to January 2002 as compared with Rs938.911 million recovered during the corresponding period of the last financial year.
This increase was attributed by official sources to the administrative steps taken by the stamp wing of the Board of Revenue despite the fact that the government of Sindh had reduced the stamp duty from nine to five per cent and a further cut in the valuation table by 10 per cent in Karachi in May 2001.
The increase in the recovery of stamp duty comes to about 6.85 per cent, which is a record.
According to the stamp wing sources, the government of Sindh has further reduced 10 per cent in the valuation table for all districts of Sindh with effect from February 1, 2002 for a period of 3 months after the expiry of which the valuation table will reverse to the level prior to May 15, 2001.
On the registration fee side, the department recovered Rs167.681 million during the period from July 2001 to January 2002. This was also higher as compared with the collection of Rs143.276 million made during the same period of the last financial year. The increase comes to about Rs24.405 million which is about 17.03 per cent.
Meanwhile, the Registration, Stamp and Evacuee Property (RSEP) wing of the Board of Revenue detected 345 cases of evasion in the payment of proper stamp duty involving an amount of Rs70.079 million. The wing recovered an amount of Rs46.803 million out of the evaded stamp duty.
The RSEP wing has moved a proposal to the Sindh government for cash rewards to be given to the inspecting staff in cases of detection of stamp duty evasion. It has been proposed to pay 5 per cent of the amount recovered on account of deficit or evaded stamp duty as cash reward to the government functionaries.
The proposal calls for payment of the 10 per cent of deficit amount in case of detection of deficiencies by informers who are not government functionary.
The proposal also suggests that 20 per cent of the evaded stamp duty should be paid to informers in cases where counterfeit/fake stamps or re-used stamps are used.
However, the proposal calls for payment of such cash rewards only after deficit/evaded stamp duty is recovered and credited into the government kitty.
The governor of Sindh has approved a proposal of the RSEP wing for enhancing the existing limit for the sale of nonjudicial impressed and court fee impressed stamp as prescribed in the Sindh Stamp Supply and Sale Rules, 1940, from Rs300 to Rs2000 and from Rs45 to Rs500 respectively for a single transaction.
The maximum limit of sale of nonjudicial and court fee stamps through the licensed stamp vendors were fixed at the rate of Rs75 and Rs45 respectively for a single transaction which was raised to Rs150 in 1945 and then to Rs300 in 1951 in respect of nonjudicial impressed stamp.
However, the limit for sale of court fee impressed stamp had remained unchanged since 1940 and it is now in 2002 that the government has enhanced this limit to facilitate the public.—APP
