Stamp Act 1949 · Updated to 1 Jan 2026 · Part VIII · Allowance for Spoiled Stamps
57. Allowance for spoiled stamps
Feedback & supportSubject to any rules which may be made under this Act and to the production of such evidence by statutory declaration or otherwise as the Collector may require, allowance shall be made by the Collector for stamps spoiled in the following cases:
Collector
“Collector” includes the Collector of Stamp Duties and every Deputy Collector of Stamp Duties appointed under section 3;
the stamp on any paper inadvertently and undesignedly spoiled, obliterated or by any means rendered unfit for the purpose intended, before the paper bears the signature of any person or any instrument written thereon is executed by any party;
paper
“paper” includes every material upon which words or figures can be expressed;
(Deleted by Act 851);
(Deleted by Act 661);
the stamp on any promissory note signed by or on behalf of the maker which has not been made use of in any manner whatever or delivered out of his hands;
promissory note
“promissory note” means any document or writing (except a bank note) containing a promise to pay any sum of money and includes a note promising the payment of any sum of money out of any particular fund which may or may not be available or upon any condition or contingency which may or may not be performed or happen;
the stamp on any promissory note which from any omission or error has been spoiled or rendered useless, although the same, being a promissory note, may have been delivered to the payee, provided that another completed and duly stamped promissory note, is produced identical in every particular except in correction of the error or omission, with the spoiled note;
duly stamped
“duly stamped”, as applied to an instrument, means — (a) the instrument bears an adhesive or impressed stamp of not less than the proper amount or the amount of initial duty or the amount of advance duty paid under subsection 37(1) and that such stamp has been affixed or used in accordance with the law for the time being in force; (b) any official receipt for the proper amount or the amount of initial duty or the amount of advance duty is affixed to the instrument; (c) a stamp certificate for the proper amount or the amount of initial duty or the amount of advance duty is attached to the *NOTE―The Securities Industry Act 1983 was repealed by the Capital Market and Services Act 2007 —see section 381…
the stamp used for any of the following instruments:
an instrument executed by any party thereto, but afterwards found to be absolutely void from the beginning;
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an instrument executed by any party thereto, but afterwards found unfit, by reason of any error or mistake therein, for the purpose originally intended;
an instrument executed by any party thereto, which has not been made use of for any purpose whatever, and which by reason of the inability or refusal of some necessary party to sign the same or to complete the transaction according to the instrument is incomplete and insufficient for the purpose for which it was intended;
an instrument executed by any party thereto, which by reason of the inability or refusal of any person to act under the same, or for want of registration within the time required by law, fails of the intended purpose or becomes void;
an instrument executed by any party thereto, which is inadvertently and undesignedly spoiled, and in lieu whereof another instrument made between the same parties and for the same purpose is executed and duly stamped, or which becomes useless in consequence of the transaction intended to be thereby effected being effected by some other instrument duly stamped;
executed
“executed” and “execution”, used with reference to instruments not under seal, mean “signed” and “signature”;
in the case of an instrument executed by any party implementing a sale under a duly stamped agreement for sale and purchase but afterwards became cancelled, annulled, rescinded or is otherwise not performed:
Provided as follows:
that the application for relief is made within twenty-four months after the stamp has been spoiled or become useless or in the case of an executed instrument after the date of the instrument, or, if it is not dated, within twenty-four months after the execution thereof by the person whom it was first or alone executed or within such further time as the Collector may prescribe in the case of any instrument sent abroad for execution or when from unavoidable circumstances any instrument for which
execution
“executed” and “execution”, used with reference to instruments not under seal, mean “signed” and “signature”;
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another has been substituted cannot be produced within the said period;
that the application for relief is made within two months from the date the instrument of transfer is rejected by the
Registrar of Titles; or
that in the case of an executed instrument no legal proceeding has been commenced in which the instrument could or would have been given or offered in evidence, and that the instrument is given up to be cancelled.