Friday, 8 August 2014

An article about " Untapped Potential of low Cost Housing "

 untapped-potential
Guide Lines Value are the estimated minimum value fixed by the Government for a property In a specified area for purposes of registration of sale deed on which stamp duty and registration charges are payable. These are the values fixed by the Department of Registration & Stamps for purposes of registration of documents. It is needless to say that the guidelines value would vary from one area to another. This is also different from the prevailing market value of the property.
If the purchase value of a property is more than the guide lines value, the stamp duty and registration charges are to be paid on the purchase value. The guidelines value would change as and when the value of properties would go up or down at the discretion of the Government. The present guidelines value in Karnataka has been force with effect from 19- April, 2007.
Vicious circle
When the Government increases the guide lines value, the price of properties begins to soar, when the market value increases, the government enhances the guide lines value and thereby the guide line value and the market value are trying to catch each other in the race.
For many owning a house has become a day dream in view of high cost of land and buildings and with the reduction of their purchasing power due to under- employment and unemployment. At the same time, the property developers are finding it difficult to get buyers for their properties despite their voluntary reduction in the value of properties due to market crash on account of global recession. The rise and fall of rates are natural phenomena in any business and the Government should allow sector to have its natural course of settlement.


Government has a social obligation to cater to the housing needs of the public. Such affordable houses need not be small hutment, but should at least have minimum requirements like bedroom, kitchen, toilet, hall etc, with sufficient ventilation. By frequent abnormal increase in Guide lines value, the poor and the middle class people are finding it difficult to purchase the houses. Real estate investment is becoming the exclusive domain of rich and influential. The government has a duty to not to fuel the price rise. The Government itself is subverting its social obligations.
Stamp duty and Registration Charges Stamp duty and registration charges are very high in Karnataka. As and when the guidelines value increases, payment of stamp duty and registration charges also increases and thereby there is an additional burden on the purchaser of a property. Apart from these charges, the purchaser has to pay sales tax, service tax and charges for transfer of Khatha, power and water connection deposits, etc., and whereas the seller has to pay capital gains tax' in respect of the gain he made in the sale transaction.


Due to the increase in stamp duty and registration charges. naturally, the parties to a sale transaction prefer to disclose the deflated value of the property in the conveyance deed and avoid payment of higher stamp duty and registration charges. This, in turn, has lead to accumulation and circulation of black money in the country. Some people may even opt for holding the property by way of General Power of Attorney and by executing an affidavit declaring delivery of possession of the property to the purchaser. Through this method, the people avoid execution and registration of sale document which in turn leads to reduction in the collection of revenue to the State exchequer. State Government should adopt the well established principle that lower the stamp duty and registration charges higher the revenue collection for the State exchequer.
With the increase in the rate of the Guide lines value of a property in a particular locality, the property owner's liability of municipal tax also goes up and thereby an addi- tional burden is cast on the citizen. Home loans Banks and Financial institutions were very liberal in extending home loans till recently. Providing housing loan to people was considered as a national cause in fulfillment of the obligation of providing shelter to a large number of people. However, the quantum of housing loan granted to the borrowers would depend upon their repaying capacity. As the price of the properties increase on account of revised guideline values, the borrowers of housing loan may require higher amounts to purchase the properties and their regular income do not match with the requirement of the bank and thereby the borrowers have to curtail their actual housing requirement and may have to be content with a small or substandard property.


The tax on profit earned on transfer of an immovable property has to be paid by the seller. It may be kept in mind that if the value of the property disclosed in the sale deed is lesser than the guide lines value, capital gains tax is payable on the basis of guide lines value. In some cases, the market value of the property is less than guide lines value and the seller may incur loss. Even in such cases, the guide lines value will be taken as the basis for calculating the capital gains tax and the seller has to pay the tax accordingly. In cases where the declared value of a property in the sale deed is more than the guidelines value, the declared value shall be taken as the basis for calculating the capital gains tax.

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