The Indian Stamp (Tamil Nadu Amendment) Act, 2023 (Tamil Nadu Act 13 of 2024) (2024)

What the Act does

The Indian Stamp (Tamil Nadu Amendment) Act, 2023 changes Schedule I to the Indian Stamp Act, 1899 as it applies throughout Tamil Nadu. The printed legislative text states that it comes into force at once.

The Government stated that stamp duty for most instruments had not been revised since 2001 and that the cost of printing physical non-judicial stamp papers had increased substantially. The changes revise fixed duties, valuation wording and the treatment of certain deposits, powers of attorney, company documents and trust transfers.

Who may be affected

The Indian Stamp (Tamil Nadu Amendment) Act, 2023 may affect property buyers, owners, landlords, tenants, companies, trustees, beneficiaries and people granting powers of attorney. Registration officials were directed to take necessary action through Endorsement No.28442/C1/2018, dated 6 May 2024, issued by the Office of the Inspector General of Registration, Chennai.

Key provisions

• Article 35 now refers to an advance or security deposit, whether repayable or not, instead of an advance payable, for the relevant clauses.
• A power of attorney given without consideration to a family member to sell immovable property attracts stamp duty of one thousand rupees.
• A power of attorney given without consideration to a person who is not a family member to sell immovable property attracts one rupee for every one hundred rupees, or part, of the property's market value.
• Other cases under the substituted power of attorney provision attract one thousand rupees for each person authorised.
• The meaning of family for that provision follows the definition in the Explanation to Article 58.
• References to family members in Articles 45, 46 and 55 are expanded to include the legal heirs of a deceased family member.
• Articles of association of a company attract five hundred rupees for every ten lakh rupees of authorised capital or part, subject to a maximum of five lakh rupees.
• A memorandum of association of a company attracts two hundred rupees.
• Associations not formed for profit and registered under the Companies Act, 2013 are exempt under the provisions for articles and memoranda of association.
• Transfer of trust property from one trustee to another, or from a trustee to a beneficiary of the same trust, attracts one thousand rupees or the smaller amount chargeable under clause (c) of Article 62.
• Fixed duties in several other Schedule I articles are also increased, in many cases to five hundred rupees or one thousand rupees.