August 8, 2023: In a move that would substantially reduce the cost of property transfers among family members, the Uttar Pradesh government has fixed the stamp duty on gift deeds at Rs 5,000.
“Such gift deed, whereby the donor transfers immovable property in favour of family members such as son, daughter, father, mother, husband, wife, daughter-in-law, real brother (his wife in case of death of real brother), real sister, son-in-law, son/daughter of son/daughter, the maximum stamp duty will be Rs 5,000,” a notification issued by UP government principal secretary Leena Johri read.
An additional processing fee of Rs 1,000 has to be paid along with the Rs 5,000 stamp duty.
The Uttar Pradesh Cabinet, on June 15, 2022, had brought down the stamp duty and registration charges on property transfer within a family to Rs 7,000. This included Rs 6,000 stamp duty and Rs 1,000 processing fees. However, the waiver in stamp duty was valid only for a limited period of six months, for specific transfers, and it ended in December 2022.
Before that, property owners in UP had to shell out 7% stamp duty on property transfers with their family, along with 1% registration charge. This meant that to gift a property worth a crore, Rs 8 lakh had to be paid as stamp duty and registration charges.
“Previously, if a property owner wished to transfer their property to a close relative, they were faced with the limited options of either transferring or selling it. In cases of pre-death transfers, even when no monetary exchange occurred and the occupants remained the same, exorbitant stamp duty rates were levied. This deterred individuals from dividing property or settling ownership prior to death. The new regulation is designed to rectify this issue,” UP stamp and registration minister Ravindra Jaiswal told The Times of India.
See also: UP stamp duty and registration charges
Who are the family members for this purpose?
The reduced charges will be applicable only on gift deeds meant to transfer a property to a:
- Father
- Mother
- Brother
- Sister
- Spouse
- Son
- Daughter
- Son-in-law
- Sister-in-law in case of death of real brother
- Daughter-in-law
- Grand children from son
- Grand children from daughter’s side
Note that property transfers among family members can be done by drafting and executing a gift deed, a relinquishment deed or a partition deed.
Other terms and conditions
Type of property: The waiver is applicable only on gifting of agricultural and residential properties.
Type of donor: The waiver is applicable only in cases where an individual is gifting property to another. It is not applicable on companies, firms or trusts.
Waiver period: The reduced rates will remain effective till further orders.
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