To fix the stamp duty rates for financial year 2017-18 in Kashmir division under provisions of J&K Preparation & Revision of Market Value Guidelines rules, a review meeting was convened by Divisional Commissioner Kashmir, Baseer Ahmad Khan, here today.Additional Inspector General Registration, ADC & Director Land Records, Survey & Research, ADC Srinagar, DC Stamps, AC Central, Chief Town Planner, SE Circular Road Projects and other concerned attended the meeting, while as Deputy Commissioners of valley districts including Kargil participated in the meeting via video conferencing.The meeting discussed fixation of stamp duty for different types of land as per the existing guidelines. It was given out that a specific formula for the purpose of calculation of stamp duty will be applied to calculate the stamp duty and the report thereafter prepared will be sent for final fixation.On the occasion, the Divisional Commissioner impressed upon the participants to take into account the importance of fixing prevalent rates to avoid ambiguity in the market rates, generate income for the Government and to make the rate simple for facilitating the transactions. He said it is imperative that rates are fixed genuinely which are practical and easy for the people. He said that rate escalation every year indicate that the real estate value increases manifold frequently and hence the stamp duty rates should be fixed/revised accordingly.Khan emphasized the need to chalk out effective strategies to assess the real value of the property to project realistic rates and to overcome the quantum of stamp duty losses.The meeting fixed stamp duty rates for Kashmir division on the basis of the rates notified by Deputy Commissioners of the valley districts after threadbare discussions.It was said that notification of new stamp duty rates for the new financial year (April 1, 2017 to March 31, 2018) will be issued before March 31, 2017.