The Finance Ministry is likely to move a proposal for rationalising stamp duty on transaction of shares to the Union Cabinet by this month-end.
The Department of Revenue in the Finance Ministry held a meeting on Tuesday to sort out differences on the proposed Act for uniform stamp duty, sources said.
“All the issues have been sorted out, bar one or two. Now, the Finance Minister will take a call on the rate and the proposal will then be moved for inter-ministerial consultations,” the sources added.
All states are on board, the sources claimed. Since stamp duty is a State subject, the rate has to be agreed upon by all states concerned. Only then a proposed law can be implemented.
At present, stamp duty varies from state to state. For instance, Maharashtra has a duty of 0.002 per cent on non-delivery-based trades and 0.01 per cent on delivery-based stands. It tops all states in stamp duty collection, with 42 per cent share in the total amount.
Under the proposed Bill, stock exchanges are likely to get the responsibility of collecting stamp duty from sellers. The exchanges will then disburse the amount to the states where trade has been executed.
On the apprehensions raised by some states on the uniform rates proposed by the Centre, sources said, “With the online trading system, investors now have wider options. So, competition will ensure that states move to uniform rates.”
Uniform stamp duty rate has been a long-pending demand by stock exchanges as well as the institutional investor community.