Stamp duty on property transfers is waived in Punjab.

According to the terms of the Companies Act, 2017, the Punjabg overnment has announced that stamp duty on property transfers resulting from mergers and schemes of arrangement that have been approved by the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) or the courts will be completely waived.

In a press release released here on Saturday, the SECP stated that the notification comes after a ruling by Justice Jawad Hassan and Justice Malik Javid Iqbal Wains of the Lahore High Court (Rawalpindi Bench), reported as 2025 CLD 587.

The case looked at whether the Punjab government may impose stamp duty on merger plans that the SECP or the courts had approved.

Throughout the proceedings, the SECP updated the Court on the exemption from stamp duty on property transfers resulting from mergers or schemes of arrangement that have been approved by the Court or the SECP under Section 282(5) of the Companies Act, 2017 for companies with registered offices in the Islamabad Capital Territory.

But only once the relevant provincial governments have enacted legislation or issued notifications does this clause become operative in the provinces.

The SECP and the Punjab Chief Secretary were ordered by the court to confer on the issue.

The Punjab government announced that property transactions resulting from mergers or plans of arrangement approved by the court or the SECP would not be subject to stamp duty after a number of meetings and discussions.

Because stamp duty is a provincial matter and company law is a federal matter, this overlap has made it difficult for Punjabi businesses to restructure and merge.

The exemption is anticipated to assist corporate reorganization, investment, and business expansion in the province, as well as to ease such transactions and lower expenses.

The Punjabi government’s move was applauded by the SECP, which described it as a step in the right direction for the corporate sector.

The Commission also valued the Court’s initiative in helping interested parties find a prompt solution to the problem.