Article posted to CNC3’s website on 18th June, 2021.
Link to original article: https://www.cnc3.co.tt/stamp-duty-applications-only-online-from-monday/
From Monday 28 June 2021, Stamp Duty Exemption Correspondence applications for South Trinidad will only be facilitated online.
“As such, manual applications for the Stamp Duty Exemption Correspondence and Status of Land Correspondence will no longer be accepted at the SRO effective June 28, 2021.”
The Ministry of Planning announced via a release yesterday that from June 28, the Town and Country Planning Division’s (TCPD) online platform for development permitting, DevelopTT, will launch the Stamp Duty Exemption Correspondence and Status of Land Correspondence e-Services at the South Regional Office.
The Ministry said, “As such, manual applications for the Stamp Duty Exemption Correspondence and Status of Land Correspondence will no longer be accepted at the SRO effective June 28, 2021. Stakeholders within the region are encouraged to register for the DevelopTT platform to utilise these soon to be launched e-Services.”
This is the latest region to be added to the platform, which was launched in March 2020 starting with the T1 and T5 Planning Regions; which meant property/sites located within the North Regional area inclusive of Diego Martin, Port-of-Spain and San Juan/Laventille Regional Corporations. T5 Region’s boundaries include: Chaguanas Borough Corporation; Couva/Tabaquite/Talparo Regional Corporation; Portion of Tunapuna/Piarco Regional Corporation and a Portion of San Juan/Laventille Regional Corporation.
By April, no paper-based applications were accepted in those northern regions.
The Ministry said in its release that this would also be the case in the Southern region as, “The SRO is currently being operationalised in preparation for its successful DevelopTT integration with continued training, registration and other key measures having been undertaken since the turn of the year.”
The release continued, “The Division would also like to note that upon successful integration of the Stamp Duty Exemption Correspondence and Status of Land Correspondence e-Services, the DevelopTT Planning Permission e-Service will be made available to the SRO. This e-Service will allow applications to be processed digitally at the respective South-based Municipal Corporations.”
Stamp Duty is a tax that must be paid when carrying out certain transactions that require legal documents. Deeds of Conveyance, Deeds of Gift, Deeds of Mortgage, Release of Mortgage Loan, Release of Life Insurance Policies, Transfer of Shares, Deeds of Lease, Deed Polls, Bonds, and any other deeds, require “stamping” which means users must pay duty.
The public is required to pay Stamp Duty tax to the Inland Revenue Division when buying real estate or a home, seeking a mortgage, or conducting other financial transactions.
Stamp Duty Tax Exemption can be requested from the Inland Revenue Division when buying, selling or disposing of residential properties valued at TT $1,500,000 or less.
