Comparison of Section 2(105) "Stamp duty value" between the Income Tax Act, 2025 (as passed) and the Income Tax Bill, 2025 (as originally introduced).

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....tamp duty authorities, revenue officers and conveyancing practices; effective date is Not stated in the document. Background & Scope Statutory hook: Section 2 (Definitions) of the Income-tax Act, 2025. Clause 2(105) defines "stamp duty value" for the purposes of the Act. The definition operates within the preliminary definitions of the statute and will be applied wherever "stamp duty value" is referenced in the Act. The Old Version provided a shorter definition; the As Passed version adds a qualifying "where" clause clarifying the meaning of "assessable" and stating that such assessable value is to be the value the stamp duty authority would have adopted "as if it were referred to such authority" irrespective of anything to the contrary i....

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....ve of anything to the contrary contained in any other law in force" suggests that for purposes of the Income-tax Act the stamp duty value defined in this way must be used even if some other statute, rule or legal regime provides a different valuation mechanism or outcome. That is a statutory override in application to valuation for income-tax purposes. Legislative intent (as discernible from the text) appears to be to ensure a consistent and administrable valuation standard tied to stamp-duty benchmarks and to remove uncertainties where stamp duty valuations have not been formally determined or where other statutory regimes might yield conflicting values. Exceptions/Provisos Not stated in the document: any provisos, exclusions or special....

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....of an actual assessment. Interplay Interplay with other statutes and authorities: The As Passed addition anticipates interaction between stamp duty mechanisms (a State competence) and the central tax law. The text expressly posits that the Income-tax Act's use of the stamp duty value will be binding for tax computation "irrespective" of contrary provisions in other laws. This creates a direct statutory preference within the Income-tax Act for the notional stamp duty value over alternative valuation measures arising under other legislation. Not stated in the document: procedural mechanics for determining the notional value where multiple State schedules or formulae apply or where discretion exists with State stamp officers; also not s....

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....valuation even where no formal stamp assessment exists or where other legal provisions suggest a different value. This increases the risk of tax adjustments based on a stamp-duty benchmark that may be higher than transactional consideration or other valuations. * Record-keeping/evidence: Taxpayers should preserve documents that show the consideration paid, any communications with stamp authorities, and any local schedules or valuations used for stamp duty; where a stamp duty assessment exists, producing that assessment will be important. Where no assessment exists, contemporaneous market evidence will be important to challenge or reconcile any notional stamp-duty figure the revenue advances. Key Takeaways * The As Passed definition e....