Allowances for Stamps

The Explanation provides that the Collector's certificate under section 32 that the full duty has been paid is an impressed stamp within the meaning of this section, which is what lets an adjudicated instrument be brought within the allowance provisions.

Section 48: the time limits

Applications for relief under section 47 must be made:

(1) in the cases in clause (c)(5), within one year of the date of the instrument;

The proviso, a modern and practically important addition: where an agreement to sell immovable property on which duty was paid under Article 25 of Schedule I has been registered, and is afterwards cancelled by a registered cancellation deed for whatever reason, before possession of the property is taken, within five years of the execution of the agreement, the application for relief may be made within one year of the date of registration of the cancellation deed.

That proviso matters to any student who will practise conveyancing in Maharashtra: it is the route by which duty on a cancelled flat booking can be recovered.

(2) where, for unavoidable circumstances, an instrument for which another has been substituted cannot be given up to be cancelled, within one year after the date of execution of the substituted instrument;

(3) in any other case, within one year from the date of purchase of the stamps.

The period is one year throughout, having been shortened from the longer periods in the original Act.

Sections 49 to 52: the other allowances

Section 49: printed forms no longer required by corporations. The Chief Controlling Revenue Authority, or the Collector if so empowered, may without limit of time make allowance for stamped papers used for printed forms of instruments by a banker, incorporated company or body corporate, where the forms have ceased to be required, provided the authority is satisfied that the duty was duly paid. Note the absence of a time limit, which is the exception to section 48.

Section 50: misused stamps. Where a stamp has been used for an instrument for which it was not intended, or of greater value than was necessary, allowance may be made in the circumstances the section provides.

Section 51: allowance for spoiled or misused stamps how to be made. The allowance may be made by giving other stamps of the same or another description of the same value, or, at the Collector's discretion, by repayment in money, deducting the prescribed amount.

Section 52: allowance for stamps not required for use. Where a person is possessed of a stamp which has not been spoiled or rendered unfit or useless for its intended purpose, but for which he has no immediate use, the Collector shall repay the value in money, deducting the prescribed amount, on the person delivering up the stamp and proving to the Collector's satisfaction that it was purchased by him with a bona fide intention to use it, that he paid the full price, and that it was purchased within the period prescribed.

Section 52A: where the amount is large

As the consolidated text of 8 April 2025 stands, section 52A(1) provides that notwithstanding sections 47, 50, 51 and 52, where payment of duty was made by stamps or in cash under section 10(3), 10A or 10B, and the amount of duty paid exceeds five lakh rupees, the Collector shall not himself make the allowance, but shall, after making necessary enquiries, forward the application with his remarks to the authority the section names.

The Maharashtra Stamp (Amendment) Act 2026, in force 7 April 2026, changed this in two ways.

First, in sub-section (1) the words "five lakhs" were replaced by "twenty lakhs". So the Collector now retains the power to allow up to twenty lakh rupees, and only above that must he refer.

Second, sub-section (2) was substituted with a new tiered structure. On receiving such an application:

• the Additional Controller of Stamps, where the allowance is above twenty lakh and up to one crore rupees;
• the Joint Inspector General of Registration and Superintendent of Stamps, where it is above fifty lakh and up to one crore rupees;
• the concerned Deputy Inspector General of Registration and Deputy Controller of Stamps of the Division, where it is above twenty lakh and up to fifty lakh rupees,

shall consider the application and decide whether the allowance shall be given, and grant it accordingly. And where the amount exceeds one crore rupees, those authorities must submit the application with their remarks to the Chief Controlling Revenue Authority for decision.

The amendment also inserted, in sub-section (1)(b), a reference to the Joint Inspector General of Registration and Superintendent of Stamps alongside the concerned officer.

A caution about the commentary. A widely syndicated note on this amendment states that the Chief Controlling Revenue Authority takes cases "exceeding Rs. 2 crores". The enacted text says one crore. The figures above are taken from the legislature's own print.

Section 52B provides that certain stamps are not valid after the period it prescribes, and that stamps purchased but not used within that period may be dealt with as it provides, which is the companion to the allowance scheme.

A worked example

Manjiri buys stamp paper worth Rs. 3 lakh for a conveyance at Kolhapur.

She spoils it in writing before anyone signs. Section 47(a): allowance may be made for a stamp inadvertently and undesignedly spoiled before any instrument written on it is executed. She applies within one year of purchase under section 48(3).

She had signed, and the deed turns out to be void from the beginning. Section 47(c)(1). But the proviso requires that no legal proceeding has been commenced in which the instrument could have been given in evidence, and that the instrument is given up to be cancelled.

She books a flat by a registered agreement to sell on which duty is paid under Article 25, and cancels it by a registered cancellation deed three years later, before taking possession. The proviso to section 48(1) applies: she may apply for relief within one year of the registration of the cancellation deed.

She has stamp paper she simply no longer needs. Section 52: the Collector shall repay the value in money, less the prescribed deduction, on her delivering it up and proving a bona fide intention to use it, payment of the full price, and purchase within the prescribed period.

Now change the amount. Suppose the duty paid was Rs. 60 lakh.

Before 7 April 2026, section 52A required the Collector to refer any allowance where the duty exceeded five lakh.

After 7 April 2026, the threshold is twenty lakh, so the Collector must still refer. The amount being above fifty lakh and up to one crore, the application goes to the Joint Inspector General of Registration and Superintendent of Stamps, who decides.

Suppose it were Rs. 30 lakh. Above twenty lakh and up to fifty lakh, so the Deputy Inspector General of Registration and Deputy Controller of Stamps of the Division decides.

Suppose it were Rs. 1.5 crore. Exceeding one crore, so the application is submitted with remarks to the Chief Controlling Revenue Authority for decision.

Suppose it were Rs. 15 lakh. Under the amended section the Collector himself may make the allowance, which he could not have done before the amendment.

What it does NOT mean

Allowance is not automatic. The Collector must be satisfied as to the facts, and rules govern the evidence and enquiry.

It is not available at any time. Section 48 imposes a one-year limit in each case, save for section 49, which has none.

An executed instrument is not always allowable. The proviso requires that no legal proceeding has begun and that the instrument is given up to be cancelled.

Section 52A does not refuse the allowance. It moves the decision to a higher authority above the threshold.

The threshold is no longer five lakh. Since 7 April 2026 it is twenty lakh.

The Chief Controlling Revenue Authority's floor is one crore, not two.

Distinctions

Quick revision

• s.47: allowance for impressed stamps spoiled, in the listed cases, on application within the s.48 period and if the Collector is satisfied. The s.32 certificate counts as an impressed stamp.
• For an executed instrument: no proceeding begun, and the instrument given up to be cancelled.
• s.48: one year throughout; and a registered agreement to sell cancelled by a registered deed before possession, within five years, gives one year from the cancellation deed's registration.
• s.49: corporate printed forms, allowance without limit of time. s.50 misused stamps. s.51 allowance by other stamps or by repayment in money less the deduction. s.52 stamps not required for use, repaid on proof of bona fide purchase at full price within the prescribed period.
• s.52A, as amended 7 April 2026: the Collector may allow up to twenty lakh (formerly five lakh); above that the tiered authorities decide; above one crore it goes to the Chief Controlling Revenue Authority.
• s.52B: stamps not valid after the prescribed period.

Test yourself

1. Name four cases in which allowance may be made for a spoiled stamp. A stamp inadvertently and undesignedly spoiled before execution; a stamp on a document written out but not signed or executed; a stamp on an executed instrument found by the party to be absolutely void from the beginning; and a stamp on an instrument that cannot be completed by reason of a death, a refusal to act, a refusal to advance money, or a failure to perform an intended act.

2. What conditions attach to an allowance for an executed instrument? That no legal proceeding has been commenced in which the instrument could or would have been given or offered in evidence, and that the instrument is given up to be cancelled or has already been given up to the Court to be cancelled.

3. What is the general time limit under section 48, and which provision has none? One year, computed as the section directs in each case. Section 49, allowance for corporate printed forms no longer required, may be made without limit of time.

4. A registered agreement to sell is cancelled by a registered cancellation deed before possession. When must the application be made? Within one year from the date of registration of the cancellation deed, provided the cancellation occurred within five years of the execution of the agreement and before possession was taken.

5. Up to what amount may the Collector himself make an allowance? Twenty lakh rupees, since the amendment in force on 7 April 2026. Before that the figure was five lakh.

6. Who decides where the allowance exceeds one crore rupees? The Chief Controlling Revenue Authority, the other authorities submitting the application with their remarks for decision.

7. In what forms may an allowance be given? By other stamps of the same or another description of the same value, or, at the Collector's discretion, by repayment in money, deducting the prescribed amount.