The fair value of land in Kerala has been increased after three years. As per Kerala Budget 2018-19, the fair value of land in the state has been increased by 10 per cent, along with a raise in service charge on fees for all services by five per cent. Finance Minister Dr. Thomas Isaac has said that this increase in fair value of land is to overcome the critical economic crisis that the state is now facing. The fair value of land in Kerala was fixed in 2010 and in 2014 it was raised by 50 per cent. Dr. Isaac has said that by increasing the fair value of land, the state would stand to gain an extra revenue of more than Rs. 100 crore. Also, the stamp duty on documentation of all land-related dealings have been made to a minimum of Rs. 1000 or 0.2 per cent of the selling price, whichever is higher. The government would stand to gain an extra revenue of Rs. 25 crore through this. Dr. Isaac also said that a two per cent of arbitration amount as court fees has been fixed for any arbitrations as per the Chit Funds Act. Also for obtaining copies of title deeds from sub registrar offices, existing fees would be applied for up to 10 pages, and an extra fees of Rs. 5 per page for more than 10 pages. Stamp duty for PWD contracts and other service contracts would be 0.1 per cent of the contract amount or up to a maximum of Rs. 1 lakh. Also the stamp duty on mukthiyars have been revised from Rs. 300 to Rs. 600.
