Stamp paper purchased up to 30/11/1989 was valid for any period of time. However from 01/12/1989 all stamp papers (whether purchased before,on or after 01/12/1989)is valid for a period of six months from the date of purchase and after that it is treated as ordinary paper as if it has no stamp. However Court fee stamps and Court fee paper is valid for any period of time as there is no time limit specified in The Bombay Court fees Act, 1959, for its use.

Agreement for sale is a mere agreement wherein parties to the agreement agree to certain terms and conditions,part payment is made by purchaser to seller towards consideration amount,possession of the property may or may not be given to purchasing party at the time of executing the agreement and purchaser reserves the right to obtain possession,if not given earlier, and a conveyance in his favour from the seller,on payment of full consideration.Mere Agreement for sale does not transfer any right,title and interest in the property; hence it was stamped with Rs.5 only prior to 10.12.1985 under article 5(h). Conveyance(Sale Deed)is full and final document which transfers the right,title & interest of selling party to the purchasing party where in purchasing party makes full payment of the consideration to selling party and selling gives the possession of the immovable property to the purchasing party and when conveyance is fully stamped and registered,it becomes the conclusive proof of the such transfer.Hence it is stamped as a conveyance under Articles 25.

Many people are under the impression that some consultants san help them in reducing the stamp duty.This is to warn them that this can be done only by furnishing misleading information like wrong C.S./C.T.S.NO.,less area of premises/flat, longer age of building etc.This would prove to be very detrimental and harmful when ,in future,they receive a notice from the department for under – valuation due to concealment of facts. Even a registered document can be reopened anytime within ten years from the date of registration and adjudicated documents within six years from the date of adjudication,please note that writing misleading information in the agreement is an offence under the Stamp Act,which is punishable with fine and imprisonment.

Stamp Duty is charged on the basis of Built-up area of the premises.Built-up area is taken to be 20% more than the carpet area.Hence all the documents must record either carpet area or Build-up area in Sq.Mtrs only. There is no recognition to Super built-up area or Saleable area hence the same should be avoided in the agreement to avoid excess payment of stamp duty. Rates mentioned for Land is Sq.Mtr.considering F.S.I to be 1 and rates mentioned for Building whether Residential, office, Shop/Commercial or Industrial are for per Sq.Mtr.Built-up area (Rate is inclusive of the value of Land) Previously when it was difficult to determine built-up area and it carpet area was mentioned in the agreement then the same was increased by 20 percent to arrive at built-up area. If Super Built-up area was mentioned in the agreement then 20 percent was reduced from Super Built-up area i.e.80 percent of Super built-up area was Built-up area.But Stamp Duty and Registration department has now withdrawn this method partially and adopt uniform method as mentioned in valuation factor. This mode of calculation was primarily a shoutcut to an acceptable solution when built-up area was not mentioned in the document. It should never be adopted to calculate carpet area from the super built-up area or vice versa, because arithmetically it will not give correct figure.

Relation Between Square Feet & Square Meter
1 Sq.Mtr. = 10.764 Sq.ft.
1 Sq.Ft. = 0.0929 Sq.Mtr.

As per section 17(1A) of The Registration Act,1908, various documents relating to transfer of movable and immovable properties are required to be registered. Registrations is legal formality wherein the document. Which is required under the law to be registered, undergoes the following procedure by the Sub-Registrar of Assurance of the respective district. After Completion of these procedures,the document is considered as registered.

The Sub-Registrar of Assurance does the following:
• I) He verifies the document to ascertain whether it is legal to register such a document.
• II) He further verifies that full stamp duty is paid on that document before registration.
• III) In his presence all parties, executing the document, admit that they have executed the document presented for registration. Parties who are present and admitting to execute the document are then personally identified by two independent witnesses. All the parties and all the witnesses present again sign in the presence of sub-registrar on an additional page attached to the document.
• IV) Parties to the document are photographed and their left hand thumb impression is taken by biometric scanner and such photograph and thumb impression is affixed on additional pages attached to the document apart from color photographs and thumb impression which a person affixes in the agreement while executing the document.From 06.062007 photographs,proper identity proof and thumb impression of witnesses is also taken, and attached to the document.
• V) He puts his official seal on each page and puts a unique numbering block with number on each page of the document including the additional pages. On the last page he signs the document as being registered.
• VI) After completing the above procedure,he records the content of the document, including the additional pages, either by photocopying the content or by scanning the content of the document. The photocopy or scanned image is permanently retained by him in his records so that in future whenever a copy of the document is required it can be obtained.This copy becomes a public document, which anybody can inspect by paying the requisite inspection fees and also can procure a certified true copy.
• VII) After taking a copy of the document, as mentioned above, on the record and after completing the above formalities original document is handed over to the party presenting the document for registration. This completes the process of registration.

Agreement for sale is a mere agreement wherein parties to the agreement agree to certain terms and conditions,part payment is made by purchaser to seller towards consideration amount,possession of the property may or may not be given to purchasing party at the time of executing the agreement and purchaser reserves the right to obtain possession,if not given earlier, and a conveyance in his favour from the seller,on payment of full consideration.Mere Agreement for sale does not transfer any right,title and interest in the property; hence it was stamped with Rs.5 only prior to 10.12.1985 under article 5(h). Conveyance(Sale Deed)is full and final document which transfers the right,title & interest of selling party to the purchasing party where in purchasing party makes full payment of the consideration to selling party and selling gives the possession of the immovable property to the purchasing party and when conveyance is fully stamped and registered,it becomes the conclusive proof of the such transfer.Hence it is stamped as a conveyance under Articles 25.