duty/registration fees was not readily available. Nonetheless, government officials generally acknowledge that such discounts do lead to revenue losses they considered insignificant. Furthermore, some government officials noted the benefits of stamp duty/registration fees, as both of these measures facilitated formalization of properties and resulted in an increased number of taxed properties on their records.

# 6.3 Policy implications

States in India levy stamp duty on registration of property while cities and towns levy recurrent property tax. India is one of the few countries offering discounts on property-related taxes to female property owners. This study attempts to analyze the impact of such incentives on female property ownership in India, and tax revenues from property-related taxes. The study used qualitative tools, such as focus group discussions with female and male property owners. To verify information collected through focus group discussions, the study also conducted interviews with government officials from land registries and revenue authorities at the city and state level. Wherever possible, efforts to collect gender-disaggregated data on property ownership and property-related tax revenues were also made.

The predominantly qualitative design of the study does not allow drawing conclusions by statistical inferences. However, the information collected from interviews and in focus group discussions is sufficient to draw a number of valuable conclusions on the impact of gender-based discounts for property-related taxes in India. One of the study’s findings is that gender-disaggregated data on both property ownership and property-related tax revenues is not readily available. While it may be collected during registration or otherwise, it is not systematically tracked or published. As a result, government officials are unable to accurately assess the impact of incentives on the level of property ownership among females or on property-related taxes.

Further, both focus group discussions and interviews with government officials indicate that stamp duty and registration fee discounts are very effective in stimulating property registration in females’ names (for both joint and single ownership). The one-time stamp duty is a significant amount and creates an economically significant incentive to spur female property ownership. This finding supports earlier studies by Ayalew Ali et al. (2016) indicating that price incentives for registration fees stimulate female property ownership. This positive effect does not hold true for recurrent property taxes, however. In India, amounts paid for recurrent property taxes are very small and do not have a significant economic impact; therefore, discounts offered on recurrent property taxes are not sufficient to incentivize property registration in females’ names.

Finally, discussions with state government officials suggest that, while the discount to females reduces overall stamp duty revenue, it is somewhat counterbalanced by the large number of registrations that may not have been undertaken but for the incentives. The exact level of the net gain or loss in revenue to the states from this effect has not been ascertained by any state.

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