Gujarat Stamp Act, 1958
(1) Every instrument of conveyance, exchange, gift, certificate of sale, deed of partition or power of attorney to sell immovable property when given for consideration, deed of settlement or transfer of lease by way of assignment, pre-XVI of seated for registration under the provisions of Registration Act, 1908, shall be undervalued accompanied by a true copy thereof: Provided that, in case of such instruments executed on or after the 4th July 1980, to the date of commencement of the Bombay Stamp (Amendment) Act, 1985, an extract of the instrument to be taken from the registration record shall be deemed to be the true copy accompanying the instrument, presented for registration for the purpose of sub-section (1). (2) (a) If any officer registering such instrument has reason to believe, on the basis of the information available with him in this behalf, that the market value of the immovable property which is the subject matter of such instrument has not been truly set forth therein, he may, immediately after presentation of such instrument, give a notice to the person who is liable to pay the stamp duty under section 30, calling upon such person to pay the deficit amount of stamp duty and a penalty at the rate of 2 per cent. of the deficit portion of the stamp duty, for every month or part thereof from the date of execution of such instrument. If such person is willing to pay the amount of the deficit stamp duty and penalty thereon, the registering officer shall accept the payment. The procedure laid down in sub-section (3) of section 10 shall, mutatis mutandis, apply to such payment. (b) If such person does not make the payment within one month of receipt of the notice referred to in clause (a), then the registering officer shall, before registering the instrument, refer the true copy of such instrument to the Collector of the District for determination of the true market value of such property and the proper duty payable on the instrument. (c) It shall be lawful for the registering officer to issue similar notices in respect of the instrument presented for registration before the date of commencement of the Maharashtra Tax Laws (Levy, Second Amendment and Validation) Act, 1996, where the true market value of the immovable property which is the subject matter of such instrument has not been determined by the Collector of the District. On receipt of such notice, if the person liable to pay the stamp duty makes such payment within one month from the date of such receipt, and also pays the fixed penalty of rupees 250, he shall not be liable to make any further payment of penalty at the rate [of 2 per cent. of the deficient portion of the stamp duty, for every month or part thereof] from the date of execution and on such payment being made, the reference already made to the Collector of the District shall abate.] (3) If any person referred to in section 33, before whom any such instrument is produced or comes, in the performance of his functions, has reason to believe that the market value of the immoveable property which is the subject matter of such instrument has not been truly set-forth therein, he may, after performing his function in respect of such instrument, refer the instrument alongwith a true copy of such instrument to the Collector of the District for determination of the true market value of such property and the proper duty payable on the instrument: 2[ Provided that if the person, before whom any such instrument is produced or comes in performance of his functions, is an officer appointed as the Collector under clause (f) of section 2, and he has reason to believe that the market value of the immoveable property which is the subject-matter of such instrument has not been truly set-forth therein, he shall, for the purpose of assessing the stamp duty, determine the true marked value of such property in the manner laid down in the Bombay Stamp (Determination of True Market Value of Property) Rules, 1995.] (4) On receipt of the instrument or the true copy of the instrument as the case may be, under sub-section (2) or (3) ,the Collector of the District shall, after giving the parties concerned a reasonable opportunity of being heard and in accordance with the rules made by the State Government in that behalf, determine the true market value of the immoveable property which is the subject matter of the instrument and the proper duty payable thereon, upon such determination, the Collector of the District shall require the party liable to pay the duty, to make the payment of the amount required to make up the difference between the amount of duty determined under this sub-section and the amount of duty already paid by him and shall also require such party to pay in addition, 3[a penalty 4[of 2 per cent. for every month or part thereof] from the date of execution of the instrument on differential amount of stamp duty] and such on payment, the instrument received under sub-section (2) or (3) shall be returned to the officer or person referred to therein: Provided that, no such party shall be required to pay any amount to make up the difference or to pay any penalty under this sub-section, if the difference between the amount of true value as setforth in the instrument and the market value as determined by the Collector of the District does not exceed ten per cent. of the market value determined by the Collector of the District: 5[ Provided further that, in respect of references pending with the Collector of the District, before the commencement of the Maharashtra Tax Laws (Levy, Mah. IX of 1997, Second Amendment and Validation) Act, 1996, for determination of true market value of the immoveable property which is the subject-matter of the instrument, the person liable to pay the stamp duty under section 30 shall not be liable to pay a penalty exceeding rupees 250 if, he makes the payment of the stamp duty and penalty within one month from the date of receipt of the order of the Collector of the District, by him.] (5) The Collector of the District may, suo motu or on receipt of information from any source, within 1[ten years] from the date of registration of any instrument referred to in sub-section (1), the instrument upon which an endorsement has been made under section 32 or the instrument or the instruments in respect to which the proper duty has been determined by him under sub-section (4) or an instrument executed before the 4th July 1980), call for the true copy of an abstract of the instrument from the registering officer and examine it for the purpose of satisfying himself as to the correctness of the market value of the immoveable property which is the subject matter of such instrument and the duty payable thereon; and if, after such examination, he has reason to believe that the market value of such property has not been truly and fully setforth in the instrument he shall proceed as provided in sub-section (4). 2[ (6) It shall be lawful for the Chief Controlling Revenue Authority or the Collector of the District to transfer to any other Officers any reference received by the Collector of the District under this section, for disposal in accordance with the Bombay Stamp (Determination of True Market Value of Property) Rules, 1995.]