{"id":4317,"date":"2020-07-16T07:12:41","date_gmt":"2020-07-16T07:12:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/signdesk.com\/in\/?p=4317"},"modified":"2026-06-22T00:56:59","modified_gmt":"2026-06-22T06:26:59","slug":"does-stamp-duty-have-to-be-paid-on-electronic-instruments","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/melento.ai\/en-in\/blog\/does-stamp-duty-have-to-be-paid-on-electronic-instruments","title":{"rendered":"Does Stamp Duty have to be paid on Electronic Instruments?"},"content":{"rendered":"

At some point, most of us have registered our legal documents<\/a> <\/strong>by getting the document stamped and paying stamp duty. But does the same procedure hold for electronic instruments?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Before tackling this question, let’s first define precisely what electronic instruments are.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"stamp-duty-on-electronic-documents\"<\/p>\n

What are electronic instruments<\/a>?<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

To understand what electronic instruments are, we must first define what an “Instrument” is.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Indian Stamp Act (1899) defines “Instrument” in Section 2(14) as:<\/span><\/p>\n

Instrument–<\/b><\/span> instrument includes every document by which any right or liability is, or purports to be, created, transferred, limited, extended, extinguished or recorded.<\/span><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Therefore, for our purposes, Instruments are formally executed documents that express a legally enforceable act, contractual obligation, or right. Examples of instruments are – contracts, certificates, or deeds.<\/span><\/p>\n

Now, what do the laws have to say about electronic instruments?<\/span><\/p>\n

Although there is no mention of electronic instruments in the Indian Stamp Act (1899)<\/a><\/strong>, the Stamp Laws of some individual states do define electronic instruments.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Section 2(19) of the Rajasthan Stamp Act, 1998; Section 2(l) of the Maharashtra Stamp Act, 1958<\/a> and Section 2(14) of the Uttar Pradesh Stamp Act, 2008 define “Instruments,” this definition also includes electronic instruments:<\/span><\/p>\n

“instrument” includes every document by which any right or liability is, or purports to be, created, transferred, limited, extended, extinguished, or recorded;\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

[Explanation – The term “document” also includes any electronic record as defined in clause (t) of sub-section (1) of section 2 of the Information Technology Act, 2000].\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

The Tamil Nadu Stamp Act, 2013<\/a><\/strong> does not include electronic instruments in the definition of instruments; however, Section 2(10), which defines “executed” and “execution” includes electronic records:<\/span><\/p>\n

“executed” and “execution”, used with reference to instruments, means, “signed” and “signature”, respectively;<\/span><\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

Explanation.” The terms “signed” and “signature” also include attribution of electronic record as per Section 11 of the Information Technology Act, 2000 (Central Act 21 of 2000);<\/span><\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

From all this, we can say that electronic instruments are essentially digital counterparts to instruments. Hence electronic instruments include things like electronic contracts, electronic certificates, and so forth.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0Now that we know what electronic instruments are let’s get to the burning question.<\/span><\/p>\n

Should you pay stamp duty on electronic instruments?<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

For us to adequately answer this question, we must first determine when stamp duty must be paid. Section 3 of the Indian Stamp Act (1899)<\/a><\/strong> broadly defines two criteria to decide whether stamp duty is to be paid:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n