Goa Stamp Duty Reimbursement Scheme — ₹100 Duty Cap for Startups — Frequently Asked Questions

There is no fixed figure, because the benefit varies with each transaction. The scheme caps the stamp duty you effectively bear on a land or developed-area purchase or lease at ₹100, and any amount above that cap which you have already paid to the concerned authorities is reimbursed. Your actual payout therefore depends on the value of the property transaction and the duty you paid.

Two categories qualify. The first is a startup that holds certification from the Start-up Promotion Cell (SPC). The second is an incubator or accelerator enlisted with the SPC. On top of that, the bank accounts of the company's Directors must be linked to Aadhaar.

No. It is a government subsidy delivered as a reimbursement, so it is not a loan that has to be repaid and it does not involve handing over any stake in your company.

The scheme runs on a rolling basis and stays open through the year, so there is no single closing date. The binding deadline is per claim: your application must reach the SPC within 6 months of the date the expenditure was incurred.

A single applicant can use the scheme only once in their lifetime, so it is worth planning your claim around the transaction that matters most. Across the state, up to 100 startups can avail the benefits in a year, subject to eligibility and availability.

The scheme covers stamp duty paid on land or developed-area lease and sale transactions. The expenditure must have been incurred from one year before the notification of the Goa Start-up Policy 2017, and it must fall within the validity of that policy. Payments are expected to have been made digitally.

A non-digital payment is not an automatic rejection. Where a digital payment was not possible, it is up to the SPC to decide whether to admit the expenditure, based on its own due diligence — so the outcome is at the SPC's discretion.

The eligibility criteria for this scheme centre on certification by the Start-up Promotion Cell (SPC), or enlistment with the SPC as an incubator or accelerator. DPIIT recognition does not form part of the stated requirements.

Incubators and accelerators are paid after they have operated successfully for three years. That condition can be relaxed for firms whose core business is setting up incubation facilities.

You can apply online through the Goa Startup Mission website. Register by verifying your email ID and mobile number with an OTP, then fill in the mandatory fields of the registration form — country, name, date of birth, address, PIN code, gender and so on — and create a login name and a strong password after reading and accepting the declaration and terms. Once logged in, open the application form for this scheme, complete the mandatory fields, upload the required documents (self-attested where needed) and submit, noting the application reference number so you can track it. Alternatively, you can print the application proforma from the Goa government website, fill it in, attach self-attested copies of the mandatory documents and email the signed form to spc-dit.goa@gov.in.

Goa Stamp Duty Reimbursement Scheme — ₹100 Duty Cap for Startups is offered by Department of Information Technology, Government of Goa, a government body. It is provided as non-dilutive funding.