Simplify stamp duty: Insurers

<div class="section0"><div class="Normal"><span style="" font-size:="">BANGALORE: Do you know that the premium you pay on your insurance policy also includes a 0.2% fee as stamp duty on the sum assured? If you don’t, here is another bit of information. </span><br /><br /><span style="" font-size:="">This fee could have been much lower if the same were to be on the premium amount, instead of the sum assured.</span><br /><br /><span style="" font-size:="">The insurance companies are hoping that FM would change the current practice.According to sources, the change would have a big impact on the pricing of premium. For instance, the cost of stamp duty for an insurance policy with an annual premium of Rs 30,000 with a sum assured amount of Rs 5 lakh, works out to Rs 1,000 under the current system while the same could be as low as Rs 60 if the premium was the basis of calculation.</span><br /><br /><span style="" font-size:="">‘‘Right now the stamp duty is paid by insurance firms but it is built into the price of the policy. It would be more sensible to charge the same on the premium amount,’’ said the head of an insurance company. Industry is hoping the budget would make the entire process of stamp duty payment much simpler. </span></div> </div>