Stamp Duty

A stamp duty broadly refers to any tax a government entity levies on documents. The United States and Commonwealth of Nations countries such as Australia and Singapore are the most common users of the stamp duty. Documents used to require the application of a physical stamp to prove the stamp duty had been paid, but in the present day, an actual stamp is typically no longer required as proof of payment. Checks, land purchases and sales, marriage licenses, and military commissions have historically been subjected to a stamp duty. The federal government used to assess a stamp duty on assorted transactional documents, but today the stamp duty for these are imposed by state governments. For instance, the deed to a house may be assessed a stamp duty before it is transferred from seller to buyer. Mortgages and other property-related instruments of finance may also be subject to a stamp duty, payable at the time of registration.