(1)Save where other express provision is in this Act made, any unstamped or insufficiently stamped instrument may be stamped after the execution thereof, on payment of the unpaid duty and a penalty of ten pounds, and also by way of further penalty, where the unpaid duty exceeds ten pounds, of interest on such duty, at the rate of five pounds per centum 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)In the case of such instruments herein-after 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 the United Kingdom in case it is first executed at any place out of the United Kingdom, unless the opinion of the Commissioners with respect to the amount of duty with which the instrument is chargeable, has, before such expiration, been required under the provisions of this Act:
(b)If the opinion of the Commissioners with respect to any such instrument has been required, the instrument shall be stamped in accordance with the assessment of the Commissioners within fourteen days after notice of the assessment:
(c)If any such instrument executed after the sixteenth day of May one thousand eight hundred and eighty-eight has not been or is not duly stamped in conformity with the foregoing provisions of this sub-section, the person in that behalf herein-after specified shall incur a fine of ten pounds, and in addition to the penalty payable on stamping the instrument there shall be paid a further penalty equivalent to the stamp duty thereon, unless a reasonable excuse for the delay in stamping, or the omission to stamp, or the insufficiency of stamp, be afforded to the satisfaction of the Commissioners, or of the court, judge, arbitrator, or referee before whom it is produced:
(d)The instruments aud persons to which the provisions of this sub-section are to apply are as follows :—
| Title of Instrument as described in the First Schedule to this Act. | 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. |
| Lease or tack | The lessee. |
| Mortgage, bond, debenture, covenant, and warrant of attorney to confess and enter up judgment. | The mortgagee or obligee; in the case of a transfer or reconveyance, the transferee, assignee, or disponee, or the person redeeming the security. |
| Settlement | The settlor. |
(3)Provided that save where other express provision is made by this Act in relation to any particular instrument:
(a)Any unstamped or insufficiently stamped instrument which has been first executed at any place out of the United Kingdom, may be stamped, at any time within thirty days after it has been first received in the United Kingdom, on payment of the unpaid duty only : and
(b)The Commissioners may, if they think fit, at any time within three months after the first execution of any instrument, mitigate or remit any penalty payable on stamping.
(4)The payment of any penalty payable on stamping is to be denoted on the instrument by a particular stamp.