The Bengal government has extended the rebate on stamp duty and circle rate for six months to provide relief to home buyers even though revenue collection from this source is projected to fall this year compared to the last fiscal.

First introduced in the state budget on July 7, 2021, to cushion the pandemic-induced economic hardships, the 2 per cent rebate on stamp duty and 10 per cent rebate on circle rate had been extended a number of times for home buyers.

Following the announcement in the budget on Wednesday, the rebate will continue till September 30, 2023.

The circle rate is the government-notified area-specific per square foot price, which is considered as the floor while calculating duties and taxes.

The budget fine print, however, suggests that the initial euphoria on the market over discounted taxes has subsided. The state is projected to earn Rs 7117.89 crore in stamps and registration fees in 2022-23, according to the revised estimate, 3.37 per cent lower than Rs 7336.44 crore it had earned in 2021-22.

The state was projected to collect Rs 7,473.79 crore, according to the budget estimate for the fiscal year 2023-24. Stamp duty now stands at 4 per cent and 3 per cent in urban and rural areas for properties up to Rs 1 crore and 5 per cent and 4 per cent for properties above that ceiling.

“This sop would surely impact the sales of the residential units in Bengal this year and will help the growth momentum witnessed in 2022. Given that the cost to customers has increased because of the rise in interest rate, this will be a good compensation for customers to come forward, do transactions in the financial year 2023-24 also and take advantage of the reduced stamp duty,” Sushil Mohta, president of Credai (Confederation of Real Estate Developers’ Associations of India), Bengal, said.