Chapter:	117	Title:	STAMP DUTY ORDINANCE	Gazette Number:	L.N. 267 of 2003
Section:	4	Heading:	Charging of, liability for, and recovery of stamp duty	Version Date:	13/02/2004

(1) Subject to this Ordinance, every instrument, wherever executed, specified in the First Schedule shall be chargeable with the stamp duty specified in respect thereof in that Schedule, and the headings, notes and explanations in that Schedule shall have effect accordingly.
(2) Subject to this Ordinance, the time for stamping any instrument shall be the point of time or, as the case may be, the period of time specified in respect thereof in the First Schedule; and where it is provided in that Schedule that the point of time for stamping any instrument is to be before execution, such provision shall not be construed as prohibiting the stamping of such instrument after execution.
(3) If any instrument chargeable with stamp duty is not duly stamped, the person or persons respectively specified in section 13(10), 19 or 20 or the First Schedule as being liable for stamping such instrument, and any person who uses such instrument, shall be liable, or jointly and severally liable, as the case may be, civilly to the Collector for the payment of the stamp duty and any penalty payable under section 9, and may be proceeded against without reference to any civil liability of such person inter se for the payment thereof.
(3A) A contract note which is stamped in accordance with section 5(2A) shall, if the amount of the stamp duty imprinted on the note has not been paid to the Collector in the manner provided by an agreement entered into under section 5A, be deemed for the purposes of subsection (3) to be an instrument chargeable with stamp duty which is not duly stamped. (Added 85 of 1991 s. 3)
(4) If a contract note is not made and executed as required by section 19(1), the person specified in the First Schedule as being liable for stamping such note shall be liable civilly to the Collector for the payment of the stamp duty chargeable thereon and any penalty payable under section 9.
(5) No action shall be brought by virtue of subsection (3) or (4) or section 45(5A)(c) for the recovery of any stamp duty with respect to any instrument more than 6 years from the expiration of the time for stamping such instrument. (Amended 43 of 1991 s. 3)
(6) Notwithstanding anything in this section, the Collector may agree to accept payment of any stamp duty or penalty by instalments.
(7) The return required by section 45(2) of the Companies Ordinance (Cap 32) to be delivered to the Registrar of Companies for registration in respect of any contract mentioned in subsection (1)(b) of that section which is not reduced to writing shall be chargeable with the same stamp duty as would have been payable if the contract had been reduced to writing, and subsections (2), (3), (5) and (6) of this section shall apply to the return as they apply to any such contract in writing. (Amended 28 of 2003 s. 128)
(8) Where, after the commencement of this Ordinance, any immovable property or Hong Kong stock is transferred to or vested in any person by virtue of any Ordinance, whether commencing before or after this Ordinance, such person shall within 30 days after the commencement of the Ordinance or the date of vesting, whichever is the later, cause an authentic copy of the Ordinance (including any subsidiary legislation giving effect to the vesting) to be stamped with the stamp duty chargeable on a conveyance or transfer of immovable property or Hong Kong stock as the case may be; and such person shall, for the purposes of subsection (3), be the person liable for stamping with respect to such copy.