To fulfill a dream to own a beach-side home in Goa has just become costlier. In the budget for 2008-09, the state government has increased stamp duty on property from the average 2 percent to varying rates depending on the value of the property.
So while the state will continue to charge 2 percent stamp duty for land valued up to Rs 30 lakh, an additional duty of Rs 90,000 or more will be charged for a property worth between Rs 30 lakh and Rs 50 lakh. Property worth above Rs 50 lakh will be charged a stamp duty of 4 percent, while a 5 percent stamp duty will be levied for property costing more than Rs 1 crore.
State finance minister Mr. Dayanand Narvekar said, “Everyone wants to own a piece of land in Goa, so let them pay more”. Aware of the danger of properties being undervalued to save on stamp duty, the government has also proposed setting up a benchmark for property prices, based on which duty will be charged.
The state has also raised infrastructure tax from Rs 40 per square meter to Rs 50 per square meter for residential constructions and Rs 100 for commercial developments. Meanwhile, buoyed by a 12 percent growth rate with a revenue surplus of Rs 141.41 crore, the state has decided to waive off all loans taken by farmers from the state agricultural department. Goa state government will also write-off the housing loans of farmers taken from the director of panchayats. The state will also offer farmers bank loans up to Rs 5 lakh at 4 percent interest. It has also decided to pay the difference in interest rate to banks.