Government auditor CAG has revealed a short levy of stamp duty worth Rs 12.03 crore on amalgamation and demerger of three public limited firms - Kingfisher Airlines, Deccan Aviation and Deccan Charters.
The CAG’s report on revenue sector for year ended March 2013, tabled in the Karnataka legislative Assembly, said the Office of the Inspector General of Registration (IGR&CS) in August 2011 noticed a Composite Scheme of Arrangement (CSA) relating to demerger and amalgamation of three public limited companies was referred by Karnataka High Court for assessment of stamp duty payable on the instrument.
The IGR directed the Department of Revenue (DR), Gandhinagar for assessment of the same in April 2010, the report said. In his assessment,the department arrived at stamp duty payable at Rs 48.33 lakh and conveyed it to the court and the IGR in May 2011, it said.
However, the scrutiny revealed that the CSA contained two distinct transactions relating to three companies, but stamp duty was levied on only one transaction. This resulted in short levy of stamp duty of Rs 12.03 crore, the report said.