Dear friends,
Just to summarise:
1. Stamp duty on transfer of shares is governed by the provisions of Indian Stamp Act 1899 and is uniform all over the country. Article 62 of Schedule-I to the Act reads as under:
"TRANSFER (whether with or without consideration)-
(a) of shares in an incorporated company or other body corporate:
Twenty five paise for every hundred rupees or part thereof of the value of the share."
Section 8-A of the Act reads as under:
[Securities dealt in depository not liable to stamp duty.
8A. Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act or any other law for the time being in force,—
(a) an issuer, by the issue of securities to one or more depositories shall, in respect of such issue, be chargeable with duty on the total amount of security issued by it and such securities need not be stamped;
(b) where an issuer issues certificate of security under sub-section (3) of section 14 of the Depositories Act, 1996 (22 of 1996), on such certificate duty shall be payable as is payable on the issue of duplicate certificate under this Act;
(c) the transfer of—
(i) registered ownership of securities from a person to a depository or from a depository to a beneficial owner;
(ii) beneficial ownership of securities, dealt with by a depository;
(iii) beneficial ownership of units, such units being units of a Mutual Fund including units of the Unit Trust of India established under sub-section (1) of section 3 of the Unit Trust of India Act, 1963 (52 of 1963), dealt with by a depository,
shall not be liable to duty under this Act or any other law for the time being in force.
Explanation 1.—For the purposes of this section, the expressions “beneficial ownership”, “depository” and “issuer” shall have the meanings respectively assigned to them in clauses (a), (e) and (f) of sub-section (1) of section 2 of the Depositories Act, 1996 (22 of 1996).
Explanation 2.—For the purposes of this section, the expression “securities” shall have the meaning assigned to it in clause (h) of section 2 of the Securities Contracts (Regulation) Act, 1956 (42 of 1956).]
2. Levy of stamp duty on share certificates is governed by respective State Acts and hence will vary from State to State.
For example, in Maharashtra, Article 17 of Bombay Stamp Act reads as under:
"CERTIFICATE OR OTHER DOCUMENT, evidencing the right or title of the holder thereof or any other person either to any shares, scrip or stock in orof, any incorporated company or other body corporate, or to become proprietor of share, scrip or stock in or of, any such company or body. [See also Letter of Allotment of Shares (Article 37)];
One rupee for every one thousand rupees or a part thereof,of the valur of the shares, scrip or stock.
Explanation: For the purposes of this Article, the value of shares, scrip or stock includes the amount of premium, if any.
Thanks