Section 23 Stamp Duties Act

Section 23 of Stamp Duties Act 1939 is about Stamping of instruments after execution. It provides as follows:

(1) Except where other express provision is made in this Act, any unstamped or insufficiently stamped instrument may be stamped with an impressed stamp at any time within forty days from the first execution thereof (unless such period of forty days is reduced by an Order as provided in subsection (7) of this section) upon payment of the duty or unpaid duty only but after that time the said instrument may only be stamped upon payment of the unpaid duty and a penalty of twenty naira, and also by way of further penalty, where the unpaid duty exceeds twenty naira, of interest on such duty, at the rate of ten naira per cent per annum, from the day upon which the instrument was first executed up to the time when the amount of interest is equal to the unpaid duty.

(2) Stamps representing the amount of the unpaid duty together with the penalty shall
(a) in the case of impressed stamps, be impressed on the instrument; and

(b) in the case of adhesive stamps, be affixed to the instrument, in the presence of a commissioner, who shall thereupon in the case of adhesive stamps cancel the stamps by writing his initials and the date thereon, and in addition, in the case of those stamps whether impressed or adhesive which do not clearly indicate that they represent a penalty, write the word “Penalty” thereon, and any such cancellation shall be effective for all purposes.

(3) In the case of such instruments hereinafter mentioned as are chargeable with ad valorem duty, the following provisions shall have effect-
(a) the instrument, unless it is written upon duly stamped material, shall be duly stamped with the proper ad valorem duty before the expiration of thirty days after it is first executed, or after it has been first received in Nigeria if it was first executed at any place outside Nigeria;

(b) if any such instrument executed after the coming into operation of this Act has not been or is not duly stamped in conformity with the foregoing provisions ofthis subsection,the person in that behalf specified in paragraph (c) of this subsection shall be guilty of an offence and liable on conviction to a fine of twenty naira, and in addition to the penalty prescribed under subsections (1)and (2) on stamping the instrument there shall be paid a further penalty equivalent to the unpaid duty thereon, unless a reasonable excuse for the delay in stamping or the omission to stamp, or the insufficiency of stamp , is afforded to the satisfaction of the commissioner, or of the court, arbitrator or referee before whom it is produced;

(c) the instruments and persons to which the provisions of this subsection are to apply are as follows-

Title of instrument as described in the Schedule ————– Person liable to penalty
Bond, covenant, or instrument of any kind whatsoever. ————– The obligee, covenantee or other person taking the security.
Conveyance on sale ………………….. ————– The vendee or transferee.
Conveyances or transfers operating as voluntary dispositions inter vivos ————– The grantor or transferor.
Lease ………………………………….. ————– The lessee .
Mortgage bond, debenture, covenant, and warrant of attorney to confess and enter up judgmenl. ————– The mortgagee or obligee, In the case of a transfer or reconveyance the transferee, assignee or disponee or person redeeming the security.
Settlement ……………………………….. ————– The settler.

(4) Except where other express provision is made by this Act in relation to any particular instrument, any unstamped or insufficiently stamped instrument which has been first executed at any place outside Nigeria, may be stamped, at any time within thirty days after it has been first received in Nigeria,on payment of the unpaid duty only.

(5) Where an instrument is void unless it has been approved or sanctioned by the Minister or some public officer, the periods mentioned in this section shall be deemed to run from the date of such approval or sanction

(6) Where an instrument has been submitted to a commissioner for his opinion before the period within which it may be stamped has expired, the instrument may be stamped in accordance with the assessment of the commissioner within 21days after notice of the assessment.

(7) The date of the approval or sanction referred to in subsection (4) and of the notice of assessment in subsection (6) of this section shall be the date upon which such approval, sanction or notice of assessment has been sent by registered or ordinary letter post to the address of the person who requested the approval or sanction referred to in subsection (5) of this section or the assessment in subsection (6) of this section, as the case may be, or after notice of such approval, sanction or assessment has been handed personally to such person or his representative.

(8) Where the Minister or Governor, as the case may be, is of the opinion that the period of forty days specified in subsection (1) of this section or of thirty days specified in subsections (3) and (4) of this section is-
(a) being used in any manner for the purpose of evading the payment of stamp duties; or

(b) too long or too short in view of the fact that a commissioner is either easy or difficult of access for the purpose of assessing the duty payable upon any instrument or of having stamps impressed upon an instrument liable to duty, the Minister or Governor, as the case may be, may by order declare that for the period of forty days specified in subsection (1) and for the periods of thirty days specified in subsections (3) and (4) of this section or either of them there shall be substituted such lesser or longer period of time as may be specified in the said Order and thereafter such lesser period shall be substituted for the period of forty days specified in subsection (1)of this section and such lesser or longer period for the periods of thirty days specified in subsections (3) and (4) of this section or either of them, as the case may be, in the application of this section to instruments first executed or received in those towns, areas or places to which the Order relates.

(9) An Order under this subsection may specify different periods of time in respect of different places and may be restricted or increased in the case of a period of time referred to in subsection (3) of this section to instruments first executed in Nigeria.