Stamp Act, 1899

The Stamp Act, 1899 is the foundational law governing stamp duty - the tax paid on legal and financial documents (called "instruments") in Pakistan, such as sale deeds, mortgages, leases, bonds, and powers of attorney. Section 3 is the core charging provision: it lists which instruments are chargeable with stamp duty. Section 2 defines key terms used throughout the Act.

Chapter II (Sections 4-30) sets out detailed rules for how duty is calculated and paid: Section 4 addresses several instruments used in a single sale or mortgage transaction, Section 10 covers how duties are to be paid, Sections 11-15 govern the use and cancellation of adhesive stamps, and Sections 17-22 deal with instruments executed inside or outside Pakistan and how amounts in foreign currency are converted. Section 27 requires that facts affecting the duty payable be disclosed on the instrument itself, and Section 27A (a later addition) covers valuation of immovable property for duty purposes.

Chapter III (Sections 31-32) lets a party get an official "adjudication" from a Collector on the correct stamp duty for a document before relying on it. Chapter IV (Sections 33-48) deals with what happens when an instrument is not properly stamped - officials can examine and "impound" (seize) such documents, and Section 35 provides that an instrument not duly stamped generally cannot be used as evidence in court until the duty (and often a penalty) is paid.

Chapter VII (Sections 62-72) sets out criminal offences under the Act, including penalties for executing an instrument without paying due stamp duty (Section 62), failing to cancel an adhesive stamp (Section 63), and devices to evade duty on receipts or bills (Sections 65, 68). The extract does not show the specific rupee or percentage penalty figures for these offences, so they should be checked directly. Chapter VIII contains supplemental provisions, including the government's general power to make rules (Section 75) and its later-added power of delegation (Section 76A).

This is a very old law (1899), extensively amended over more than a century - the extract's footnotes reference dozens of provincial and federal amendments, including a 2024 Finance Act amendment. It applies to the whole of Pakistan (Section 1(2)) but the applicable stamp duty rates found in Schedule I have been changed piecemeal many times by federal and provincial legislation, so anyone relying on it for actual document-stamping should verify current duty rates with the relevant provincial revenue authority rather than this text alone.