Rajasthan raises stamp duty surcharge from 10 to 20% for ‘cow protection’

Yash Goyal
Jaipur, September 7  

The Rajasthan Assembly on Friday passed a Bill raising the stamp duty surcharge from 10 to 20 per cent for “cow protection and propagation”.

Replacing an ordinance issued on June 13, the House adopted the Rajasthan Stamp (Amendment) Bill, 2018 under its Section 3-B emphasising surcharge for conservation and propagation of cow and its progeny.

Defending the Bill’s provisions and reasons, minister in charge RS Rathor said in order to generate the funds for conservation and propagation of cows and its progeny, the rate of surcharge payable under Section 3-B is proposed to be increased from ten per cent to twenty per cent by amending the said section in the Act. 

As the opposition Congress MLAs were holding protest in the well against fuel price hike and farmers’ crop loan issues, BSP MLA Manoj Nyangli strongly objected to any rise in stamp duty as it would cause burden on public saying that in the name of “cow it was the sole objective of the present saffron party”.

“The funds collected were being diverted, whereas the farmers who are rearing cows were in dire straits,” he claimed. 

In last year’s budget, the BJP government had imposed 10 per cent surcharge on stamp duty on all non-judicial instruments for the conservation and propagation of cows.   

Besides, earlier in June, the state government had imposed 20 per cent surcharge on all brands of liquor and beer for the welfare of bovine protection in the state. 

The state government had notified that the surcharge at the rate of twenty per cent shall be levied and collected, on the amount of tax or any sum in lieu of tax payable on the sale of foreign liquor, Indian-made foreign liquor, country liquor and beer sold by dealers registered with effect from June 23, 2018. 

As per Section 7A of the Rajasthan Value Added Tax, 2003 (Act No. 4 of 2003), the surcharge would be used for cow protection purposes.